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[iced lightning]

Should I get a 12" powerbook for $1499 or a dell laptop or something else? I'm mainly using it to work on web graphics (Photoshop) and for composing music... I feel like the powerbook is overpriced because I could get way better specs w/ a dell but I've never used a powerbook and I've heard good things. What should I do??

 

[God's Hand]

That's easy... Dell. Cheaper, more powerful, more programs, blah blah.

 

[iced lightning]

are apples just all flash for more cash?

 

[B'z-chan]

Dell sucked and Apple didnt give me much. But damn this Toshiba rocks. I love me Toshi

 

[olimario]

Im more than happy with this HP Pavilion Notebook... So much bang for my buck.
It's the Athlon 64 one... Wonderful... Great rating in Consumer Reports, too.

 

[mattiewheels]

I have an ibook, and it's been a great computer for me. there's a counterpart to anything I used on the PC side for macs (except games, but I'm starting to care less and less). If you need to play games, stay away pretty much.

 

[iced lightning]

Dell sucked and Apple didnt give me much. But damn this Toshiba rocks. I love me Toshi

what didn't you like about the dell and apple exactly?

 

[Aruarian Reflection]

are apples just all flash for more cash?

Pretty much. Dell laptops aren't too shabby.

 

[Pellham]

I work for Dell so I might be biased, but I haven't had any problems with my Dell laptops. I do agree though, that Dell's biggest advantage is the pricetag. An app like photoshop doesn't really require that much processing power, you just need a decent pentium chip (3ghz or so) and a WUXGA for 1920x1200 resolution (REALLY nice for applications like photoshop). You can get refurbished Inspiron 9300s for less than $1000, and they have all the fixin's (WUXGA, 80 gig HDD, 512 meg RAM, etc.).

 

[iced lightning]

well, with the dell laptops I'm assuming those $750 off $1899+ coupons would be the best price I could get. They seem to be throwing out a lot of those lately.

 

[cvxfreak]

If you're a student and you buy today or tomorrow, then you get $100 off student discount and a $100 rebate on an Apple computer (all except Mac mini I believe). I enjoy using my PowerBook. I believe GarageBand is a good program for music although I'm not a music composer.

 

[Macam]

It depends what you intend to use your computer for more than anything, but as the proud owner of a Powerbook, there's not a snowball's chance in hell I'd ever use anything else. This is one case in particular where the hardware design is immaculate, including my own favorite part of it, the backlit keyboard that automatically adjusts to the light conditions. That and OS X is leagues beyond Windows to me.

 

[FreakyFink]

It depends what you intend to use your computer for more than anything, but as the proud owner of a Powerbook, there's not a snowball's chance in hell I'd ever use anything else. This is one case in particular where the hardware design is immaculate, including my own favorite part of it, the backlit keyboard that automatically adjusts to the light conditions. That and OS X is leagues beyond Windows to me.

I share your sentiments. Once you go PowerBook, you will never go back.

That said, always add on $350 to the price of PowerBooks; that's the cost of Apple Care. Each of the 10 or so PB owners I know used (or could have used) Apple Care within three years of purchase. And especially with refurb PBs—which I assume the OP is considering seeing the price he quoted for the 12"—Apple Care is a must.

The good news is Apple has the best customer support; it has been number one in Consumer Reports for as long as I can remember. Earlier this year it replaced my keyboard, trackpad, and Titanium casing when sent in for a screen change. Good stuff.

 

[Companion Cube]

I'd try to stay away from Sony's laptops. I've had so many problems with these two Sony laptops with the keyboard and mouse and dvd drives... so not cool.

I can't pick a winner from your two options, but I can say that Toshiba makes some very nice reliable machines.

 

[Thraktor]

I'm mainly using it to work on web graphics (Photoshop) and for composing music...

You've pretty much answered yourself right there. I'm a Windows user myself, but if you're working with Photoshop or any music composition/editing program, a Mac is definately what you should be going for. Make sure you've got a good deal of RAM for Photoshop, though, whichever you end up getting.

 

[Shogmaster]

You've pretty much answered yourself right there. I'm a Windows user myself, but if you're working with Photoshop or any music composition/editing program, a Mac is definately what you should be going for. Make sure you've got a good deal of RAM for Photoshop, though, whichever you end up getting.

I don't know much about music production, but Photoshop runs much better on Intel and AMD than Motorola/IBM. Adobe's Photoshop evangelists always demo on PCs.

 

[Deg]

You've pretty much answered yourself right there. I'm a Windows user myself, but if you're working with Photoshop or any music composition/editing program, a Mac is definately what you should be going for. Make sure you've got a good deal of RAM for Photoshop, though, whichever you end up getting.

Wasnt that years back? I dont think thats the case anymore.

 

[AB 101]

[Shog mode on]If you want a sexy case, get the Powerbook. If you actually want to be productive, buy the Dell[/Shog mode off]

 

[Thraktor]

I don't know much about music production, but Photoshop runs much better on Intel and AMD than Motorola/IBM. Adobe's Photoshop evangelists always demo on PCs.

I wasn't talking about speed really, I just meant that, if the primary reasons he's using the laptop for are Photoshop and audio editing, then he's better off with a Mac; more stable OS, (arguably) easier to use, and much better music apps. I would go with a Mac for Photoshop myself simply because I prefer the OS for that kind of thing, rather than any strict speed comparisons.

 

[fart]

woah, woah, slow down there turbo. if you want a wintel laptop, STAY AWAY FROM MOST DELLS. yes, they are cheap, but there's a reason they're cheap (ok, a couple reasons...). needless to say, the really cheap ones (not really cheap via crazy dell discount but base price almost nothing) are not worth buying. needless to say, if you go with a dell and don't follow fatwallet or what have you well enough to get a big discount, you're going to need to spend nearly as much as a powerbook anyways.

the operative questions are how long do you plan to keep it, what is your computing background, and what do you intend to do with it

oh, you answered some of these... what apps do you use for your audio stuff?

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Adobe Evangelists use PC's to show off Photoshop these days? In the past, on high level functions in Photoshop, the Mac would clean the clock of a PC. Apple use to demo it when ever they would roll out some new hardware, and the PC didn't even come close to keeping up.

The Powerbook is a lot more than just flash. It's a great laptop. They do tend to run more money than a PC, but when you consider all the software that comes installed (iMovie, Garage Band, iDVD, etc.), it evens up pretty quickly.

On the other hand, for the same money, you can get a larger screen, more ram, faster processor, etc. The other consideration is Windows vs. OS X. Both are good and have their pluses and minuses. If you don't play games though, OS X would be my choice. (I would note that I play a lot of games, so I do have a Windows machine myself)

Finally, as someone else has already noted, if Photoshop and music compostion are your thing, I'd go with the Mac.

 

[Mr. Lemming]

I would go with either a Powerbook or a Toshiba (leaning towards the Powerbook, but mostly cause I'm a Mac guy). In my experience both rock hardcore.

 

[Juice]

I'd go with the P-book. They're sturdy as hell (aircraft grade aluminum, rubber stopped drives, and a gyro that locks up the disk when it senses that it's falling), the tech support is in a completely different league than Dell's, the operating system is downright enlightening once you get used to it (I switched from Windows last summer), and they're sexy mother fuckers.

That said, you'll almost assuredly end up spending a bit more for it than for a comparably speeded Dell. The difference is that what you lose in horsepower you gain in stability and battery life.

I personally own a 12" 1Ghz iBook with 1.25GB of RAM and I couldn't be happier. Oh yeah, I also get 5.5-6 hours of battery life per charge.

 

[StrikerObi]

People who bitch about horsepower are retarded. Since when do you need a 4Ghz processor to run Word?

Are you gaming? If not then there really is no reason to run a 4Ghz machine.

Regarding "more cash for more flash," I'm going to repost this from the last Apple/PC thread we had last week.


Macs aren't a "style over substance" computer. That's retarded. Think of the computer industry like the car industry. You can go out and buy a Kia or a Toyota and it will work just fine, though it'll probably end up in the shop a few times during its life. Your other option is to spend a little more and get a Lexus or BMW. Sure it costs more, and yes it most certainly does look better, but there is more under the hood. The car is better designed and will have less problems than the Kia or Toyota will. It's also got a lot of fancy features you won't find on a $14,000 car.

Computers are the same way. You can buy the Gateway or the Dell, but it's sure to have problems. Why do you think those companies (much like Kia) talk so much about warranty and customer service? They do so because you actually need to use these features. Instead, you could buy an Apple. A damn fine computer that is well designed and more stable than almost anything else out there. It also comes with a lot of nice features (iMovie, GarageBand) that other computers just don't come with.

Bottom line: You get what you pay for. If you spend the dough on an Apple, you get an Apple, the "top of the line" for personal computers.

 

[monkeymagic]

I have an Apple and Dell (desktop) actually - Apple Powerbook 1.67 GHz G4 w/ 2GB RAM and Dell 8400 3.0 GHz P4 w/ 2GB RAM

Photoshop CS2 is noticeably faster on the Powerbook and 600 DPI files that crawl on the PC swim on the Mac

Whether it's the OS, the CPU or Photoshop code itself I don't know and I don't care - everything 'just works' and there is a level of trust I have with OS X/Mac that I never enjoyed with a PC

If you want a stable, more productive creative environment to work with then definitely pay the extra $ and go with the Powerbook

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I have an Apple and Dell (desktop) actually - Apple Powerbook 1.67 GHz G4 w/ 2GB RAM and Dell 8400 3.0 GHz P4 w/ 2GB RAM

Photoshop CS2 is noticeably faster on the Powerbook and 600 DPI files that crawl on the PC swim on the Mac

Whether it's the OS, the CPU or Photoshop code itself I don't know and I don't care - everything 'just works' and there is a level of trust I have with OS X/Mac that I never enjoyed with a PC

If you want a stable, more productive creative environment to work with then definitely pay the extra $ and go with the Powerbook

You basically just confirmed what I thought. Photoshop on the Mac rolls over the PC. Last time I saw a compairson, it wasn't even close, and Mac users with Photoshop are more productive than those on a PC.

 

[shantyman]

and Mac users with Photoshop are more productive than those on a PC.

Shog is going to eat you for lunch.

I would go for an iBook myself. Much more durable than a powerbook and cheaper too.

 

[Mr. Blonde]

Kia is a cheap reliable car, and Toyota is pretty much the best non-luxury car you can get. That and Honda. And how many Camry's and Avalon's cost $14k new? Bad comparison, imo.

 

[Ollie Pooch]

i've used a pc for years, i still own and use a p4 3.2 toshiba laptop... just bought a dual 2ghz g5 and i'm stoked with it. i *am* far more productive on the mac (i do illustration/graphic design/3d work), it's easier to find files using spotlight, the machine hasn't crashed once, it's fast and stable, and i don't have to worry about stupid spyware/antivirus programs. and the os is just so pretty

get the powerbook

 

[Macam]

i've used a pc for years, i still own and use a p4 3.2 toshiba laptop... just bought a dual 2ghz g5 and i'm stoked with it. i *am* far more productive on the mac (i do illustration/graphic design/3d work), it's easier to find files using spotlight, the machine hasn't crashed once, it's fast and stable, and i don't have to worry about stupid spyware/antivirus programs. and the os is just so pretty

Do we have a sheer envy emoticon? I'm dying to replace my desktop PC with a proper OS X one, but I'm quietly waiting for the Mactels.