powerbook g4 notebooks

Like it or not, I've used Windows/PC for the past 12 years. Macintosh occasionally appealed to me, but I didn't get it partly because it's expensive, partly because of compatibility. At work and at home, I owned: Dell Inspiron, Thinkpad, Dell/HP Desktops, running Windows 98/2000/XP. Also I tinkered with Sun workstations running UNIX (I'm an EE guy and have a respect for UNIX).
After 12 years of Microsoft (and blue screens), I made a bold switch to Apple Powerbook 15" with 1.5GHz/512RAM/80Gb, and I'm so happy with this system that even 5 stars are not high enough.

- The sleek aluminum chassis and the wide screen generate Wow! effect.
- This 15" machine is lighter than my old Dell laptop.
- It's very quiet during operation, but the bottom side may occasionally become hot.
- The keyboard has a good depth and touch, and the backlit keyboard is simply cool.
- Using the built-in microphone, you can play the bundled 3-D chess game via OS X's voice-recognition. Isn't that futuristic?

About software compatibility (from EE guy's viewpoint):
- MS Office 2004 for Mac became my favorite patch of programs. Even better than the XP version - a very important factor in my decision to switch.
- Math tools, especially Mathematica 5 and Matlab, run well on Mac.
- Favorite design tools, Adobe Photoshop and Carrara 3, work well. After all, Mac was built for them.

- There are tons of open source programs you can use: GIMP, A/G BLAST, ...
- Some layout and CAD tools are not compatible. I have to use old PC. For those number-crunching jobs, however, I don't use laptop anyhow.

As much as I enjoy steering this elegant silver machine, I love to navigate through the Mac OS X. As Sun's Bill Joy said during an interview, "Mac OS X is rock solid". I like the idea of using UNIX commands on my Mac, although I can do everything with the user-friendly Mac interface.

Yes, Powerbook is more expensive compared with Dell and other PCs, but you get what you pay for: top-quality components, futuristic functionality, eye-catching design, and the enormous joy of owning a rock-solid elegant machine (like BMW!). You'll definitely like this one!

Hi,

If you are considering to purchase this PB because of Amazon.com's recent (as of 6/29/04) free double-memory promotion. Be aware! This configuration of PB comes with two DIMM slots already filled with two 256MB modules, and there is no open slot left. So, even if you get another 512MB memory module for free, in order for you to add it, you will need to remove one of those pre-installed 256 MB modules. So, that means instead of having 1 GB memory that you are dreaming about, you will only be able to upgrade it to 768 MB, which is not bad. In fact, that is how much I have for my iMac at home running OS X 10.3 Panther. In the end, you will have an extra 256 MB module.

Anyway, I just wanted to bring this to your attention.

I have to say I am glad I waited for this generation of the G4 powerbook. It has been said in reviews that the most significant new feature of this laptop is it's lack of problem exhibited in many of the previous generations of the g4 powerbook. I must agree. The powerbook is very refined and the technology is perfectly combined with the operating system. It does everything with grace.

BTW, I reccomend the Appld bluetooth mouse and keyboard. They are an flawless pair.

I am very hard to please and don't write such positive things often.