Powerbook G4 15 Inch

I am thinking about buying a used Powerbook G4 15 inch with photoshop and other programs for around 750$. Is the powerbook a good laptop, or is it slow and old. I was also thinking about buying the White macbook, cheapest you can get. I only have a budget around 1,000$ So would a new Macbook be better? or a 15 inch Powerbook G4 be better?

I love my PB but I suspect you'll be better off with a newer MacBook. Now most apps are universal and taking into account that the support of the Power PC computers will obviously fade (as we're seeing with Leopard - do people think the next OS after that will support Power PC's?) it seems to make sense. I do still LOVE my PB though and will treat it to an extra gig of ram soon to keep it spiffy.

PowerBooks are far from "slow and old" but without the exact specs of the PowerBook, it is hard to give a fair comparison judgement of the two machines.

One thing is sure... if all of the included "extra" applications that are installed don't have the original install discs for all programs and OS included with the sale, then it is not worth it to buy the PowerBook.
If they aren't included, chances are the applications are illegally pirated and bootlegged copies. Not only would they be illegal, but if you ever encounter any problems you will never be able to adequately or efficiently diagnose and correct the issue.

The specs are, Apple Powerbook 1.25GHz 15" Laptop • Airport Extreme Card (Built-In) • Bluetooth (Built-In) • 80 Gigabyte Hard Drive • Slot-Loading SuperDrive (DVDrw + CDrw) • 512 MB RAM • Ambient Light Sensing Backlit Keyboard • 2 USB 2.0 Ports • Has both FireWire 400 and 800 Ports. • Gigabit Ethernet • Built-In Modem • S-Video Out • DVI Out

And the seller stated the the Final Cut Pro and other applications he will include are his registered applications. So I suspect that it will come with install disks, since he must have bought the programs legally for it to be registered to him.

So would the PB be better?

eforbes said:

The specs are, Apple Powerbook 1.25GHz 15" Laptop • Airport Extreme Card (Built-In) • Bluetooth (Built-In) • 80 Gigabyte Hard Drive • Slot-Loading SuperDrive (DVDrw + CDrw) • 512 MB RAM • Ambient Light Sensing Backlit Keyboard • 2 USB 2.0 Ports • Has both FireWire 400 and 800 Ports. • Gigabit Ethernet • Built-In Modem • S-Video Out • DVI Out

And the seller stated the the Final Cut Pro and other applications he will include are his registered applications. So I suspect that it will come with install disks, since he must have bought the programs legally for it to be registered to him.

So would the PB be better?

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That is a fine machine. You probably could knock the price down a little, unless the software is genuine... then $750 is a steal for that package.
Before you agree to anything, though.. don't assume that the discs will be included. The lowball price is a tip off that the original discs are more than likely not included. The programs may very well have been legally purchased and installed, but if the seller doesn't include the original discs with the sale, then the software becomes pirated goods. In order for him to be 100% legit and sell you a machine with all of that software he must include the original installation media and registration codes. Otherwise, it would be no different than someone downloading the software illegally and installing it on the machine.
Check and make sure that you get all of the original media before you agree to anything with him. If you won't get the original retail media then I would look somewhere else.

that's a nice price for that machine. if the seller is not planning on giving you the discs for fcp, buy it and do a clean install. no harm done.

Honestly, I've just been using a macbook and a powerbook 17 inch back to back and i honestly like the macbook much better. It even was the cheapest one. The 17 inch is great but I felt like i wasnt missing much with a 13 inch. I guess I liked OS 10.4 more than 10.3. I'm guessing you can't run 10.4 with the powerpc. meh i'm new to macs so I honestly don't know much. But 10.4 had the dashboard with widget which I liked a lot. Also enjoyed using garageband which isn't on my powerbook now. I'm now using a powerbook G4 but i wish i had a macbook.

I have a PB and it came with 10.4 and has Garageband (and as far as I know any G4 PB will run these). I think you must have an older PB so those particular points aren't reasons to prefer the MacBook over a PB - you just don't have that software.