powerbook questions

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kjm

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Hello everyone,

I'm looking at purchasing a PowerBook, either the 12" or 15" with Super Drive and had a few questions that I'm hoping your "mac pros" would be kind enough to help me with.

1) Is the 12" capable of being plugged into a tv or overhead projector?

2) Is the graphics processor on the 12" vs the 15" significant in difference?

3) If I'd like to use my PowerBook on the road would I need to purchase the AirPort Extreme Card or just connect with my cell?

4) Would I be able to walk into an Apple store and purchase a PowerBook and have them install the "extras" (bigger hard drive, more RAM, etc) in store?

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! ;)
 
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1. Yes
2. There is a large performance boost in the 15 when you get the 64 mb over 32
3. Extreme card is only for networks which has nothing to do with plugging into your phone. i am not familiar with using cells as an ISP so I am not sure how that would work.
4. Yes
 
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kjm

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trpnmonkey41 said:
1. Yes
2. There is a large performance boost in the 15 when you get the 64 mb over 32
3. Extreme card is only for networks which has nothing to do with plugging into your phone. i am not familiar with using cells as an ISP so I am not sure how that would work.
4. Yes
Thanks!

1) Do you know by any chance what the specific cable/adapter that would be? I've seen a few that seemed similar.

2) okie dokie

3) So the airport extreme card would only be useful if say I was at home using dsl or at starbucks? I read somewhere that with the right cables I could use my Sprint cell and connect? (something different)

4) awesome! It wouldn't void any type of warranty if they opened it up to add the extras would it? Also, if I upgraded the hard drive to 60gb would I be allowed to keep both the 40gb and 60gb hard drives?

My apologies for all the questions. I'm trying to do as much research on the PowerBook before purchasing my first Apple laptop :)
 
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hokiethang

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kjm said:
Thanks!

1) Do you know by any chance what the specific cable/adapter that would be? I've seen a few that seemed similar.

2) okie dokie

3) So the airport extreme card would only be useful if say I was at home using dsl or at starbucks? I read somewhere that with the right cables I could use my Sprint cell and connect? (something different)

4) awesome! It wouldn't void any type of warranty if they opened it up to add the extras would it? Also, if I upgraded the hard drive to 60gb would I be allowed to keep both the 40gb and 60gb hard drives?

My apologies for all the questions. I'm trying to do as much research on the PowerBook before purchasing my first Apple laptop :)

1. No idea, if you use a multimedia projector with standard VGA input, there is a DVI to VGA adaptor included.

3. It can be done, im not sure how, I havent tried to hook my sprint phone to my powerbook as of yet.

4. It doesnt void any warranty as long as apple is the one opening it up and adding the extras. Unfortunately, when you pay for the upgraded hard drive when you buy it, you are paying the difference in price, not for an additional hard drive, so you only get the 60.

No problem, research is good especially when making an investment like this.
 
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I can access the net with my AT&T wireless cell.. it has bluetooth so I just connect through Bluetooth to my computer and then my computer uses that connection to dial up to AT&T.. it's pretty kewl, but expensive.. so I've only done it once and I wouldnt recommend it on a regular basis :)
 
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kjm

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Murlyn said:
I can access the net with my AT&T wireless cell.. it has bluetooth so I just connect through Bluetooth to my computer and then my computer uses that connection to dial up to AT&T.. it's pretty kewl, but expensive.. so I've only done it once and I wouldnt recommend it on a regular basis :)
Wow, sounds pretty cool! I was hoping to figure out how to set up my cell with my PowerBook to connect to the net for only a few minutes to check email,etc while on the road or away from home. I deffinately don't plan on using it on a regular basis. I am curious though, to find out exactly how the AirPort Extreme card works? From my understanding, if I use the AP Extreme card at home, I would have to purchase the AirPort Extreme Base Station correct? The only other time the AP Extreme card would be of use to me would be if I was at a Starbucks or something like that right? I was looking into purchasing the AP Extreme card at the same time as the PB, but if this is the case I guess I could be without it for now if I plan to connect to the net mostly from home.
 
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airport extreme is 802.11g which goes at 54mbps at up to 50 ft range. starbucks uses 802.11b which is 11mbps at a 150ft. Airport extreme will work with starbucks but you wont be going to the "extreme" speed. for it to work at home you would need some sort of 802.11g WAP or router with built in access point.
 
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kjm

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Just wondering which of the following has a better optical drive (speed, quality, etc) - Combo Drive on the 900mhz iBook or the Super Drive on the 1ghz PowerBook? Heard somewhere that the Super Drive on the 12" isn't as good burning or reading wise; I'm hoping this is not true.
 
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greylnx

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IIRC, the only difference between the Combo Drive and the Super Drive is the Combo's inability to burn DVD's. You're welcome to take my word for it on that, or read some reviews if you like. ;)
I've had a 12" PowerBook for a few months, and have had no problems whatsoever reading/writing CD's. I've also had no trouble watching DVD's. I've been very happy with my little 12". :)

~g
 
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kjm

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greylnx said:
IIRC, the only difference between the Combo Drive and the Super Drive is the Combo's inability to burn DVD's. You're welcome to take my word for it on that, or read some reviews if you like. ;)
I've had a 12" PowerBook for a few months, and have had no problems whatsoever reading/writing CD's. I've also had no trouble watching DVD's. I've been very happy with my little 12". :)

~g
Thank you all for the replies thus far - you've all been extremely helpful :D

Anyone know where to find the older 12" PowerBook G4 867mhz with SuperDrive? Are they even still available at apple.com or at a retail store location? Lastly, anyone know what the price is for this slightly older model? Thanks!
 
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kjm said:
Just wondering which of the following has a better optical drive (speed, quality, etc) - Combo Drive on the 900mhz iBook or the Super Drive on the 1ghz PowerBook? Heard somewhere that the Super Drive on the 12" isn't as good burning or reading wise; I'm hoping this is not true.

Here is the information I was able to find. iBook's Combo burns CD-R at up to 24x, burns CD-RW at up to 10x, reads DVD at up to 8x, and reads CD-ROM at up to 24x.

The Super on the PowerBook burns CD-R at up to 16x, burns CD-RW at up to 4x, reads DVD at up to 8x, and reads CD-ROM at up to 24x. It also burns DVD-R at up to 2x (the major cabability difference between the two drives).
 
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kjm

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Padawan said:
Here is the information I was able to find. iBook's Combo burns CD-R at up to 24x, burns CD-RW at up to 10x, reads DVD at up to 8x, and reads CD-ROM at up to 24x.

The Super on the PowerBook burns CD-R at up to 16x, burns CD-RW at up to 4x, reads DVD at up to 8x, and reads CD-ROM at up to 24x. It also burns DVD-R at up to 2x (the major cabability difference between the two drives).
Thanks Padawan! Looks like specs wise there is a difference :rolleyes: I wonder if this will be noticeable? I can't seem to make up my mind on which PowerBook to get. Question now is, which of the two optical drives - Super Drive or Combo Drive is better (quality, speed, etc)?
 
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F

Fomer

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kjm said:
Thanks Padawan! Looks like specs wise there is a difference :rolleyes: I wonder if this will be noticeable? I can't seem to make up my mind on which PowerBook to get. Question now is, which of the two optical drives - Super Drive or Combo Drive is better (quality, speed, etc)?

Superdriver overall is better (obviously) But it just depends if the few increasements, backlit keyboard, and dvd burner are worth it to you for another 500

To me it wasn't I just picked up my combo yesterday and its everything I had hoped it to be.... still having slight hard time getting adjusted to a laptop and to a apple, both first for me. :)
 
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Fomer said:
Superdriver overall is better (obviously)

Actually, the specs seem to show that, unless you have a need/desire for DVD burning cabability, the Combo is actually the better drive (at least as far as write speeds are concerned).
 
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Fomer

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As you said though that is only for write speeds, unless that's a big problem to you everything else seems to be better on the powerbook... But my combo is fast enough for me and I don't have to wait moon ages to get my cd burned.

Still seems to impress me by the higher specs though

Super Drive:
1.25GHz PowerPC G4
512MB DDR333 SDRAM
80GB Ultra ATA/100

Combo Drive
1GHz PowerPC G4
512K L2 cache
256MB DDR333 SDRAM
60GB Ultra ATA/100
 
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kjm

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I wonder what's the difference (in time) for the combo drive to burn a regular cd vs doing the same on the super drive? Anyone currently own this model that could help with that information?
 

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