I don’t know if you’ve heard, but my PowerBook “Wallstreet” died last month . Many have given me suggestions on how to fix it, but they don’t get it!

I’m GLAD that it’s dead. My wife has now given me the nod to buy a replacement ;D

My problem is, though, which laptop do I buy. Do I buy an iBook and have the durable laptop, or do I buy a PowerBook and treat it like I’m carryiing around a thin-shelled egg?

Here’s my dilemma: I like the dual monitor support in the PowerBook. I like the RAM upgradeability. OS X likes G4s better than G3s.

The iBook, however, is sturdier, lighter, and (most importantly) cheaper ($1499 for hte DVD option is great, since I already have the QueFire external CD-RW drive).

Then, there’s the eternal problem with buying a machine, just to see Apple release a machine to die for right after that. Part of me wants to wait for Macworld San Francisco; the other part wants to buy one now, so that I can write it off of my taxes.

Arrrrggggh.

Wait for the rev 2 PowerBooks in September.  I say that as if I *know* there will be an update, but that is not the case.  I base that only on Apple’s own timeline as set forth by their VST CDRW PowerBook incentive which ends in September.

Anyway, if you can afford the PB, get it.  The G4 will be good for X, and you’ll appreciate the size of the screen. 

I can just hear you at MWSF if you get the iBook.

Rodney: “Bryan, man.  I love this iBook, but the screen just too damned small.  You know what?”

Bryan: “What, man?”

Rodney: (grinning a wry grin) “Oh man, you know it.  You gonna make me say it? Don’t make me say it.”

Bryan: “Sorry, man.  You’re gonna have to say it.  We both know you won’t be happy unless you say it anyway.”

Rodney: (grin/smirk/grimace) “Oh, man.  You know me too well.  I’m gonna have to start writing more for LEM; next thing I know you’ll start thinking you know me so well you’ll start wanting to fire me.  #%&$ it.  I’ll say it.  I should’ve gotten the damned PowerBook.”

Bryan: {grinning too) “Yeah, man.  Pretty much.  I told you to, and I’m gonna say it, just to piss you off.  I told you so.”

****

Don’t start thinking that I have something against the iBook, because I don’t.  The price and size (weight) make that machine a dream come true, but the PowerBook is more what Rodney needs.

On 2001-08-06 09:57, Bryan wrote:
Don’t start thinking that I have something against the iBook, because I don’t.  The price and size (weight) make that machine a dream come true, but the PowerBook is more what Rodney needs.

Cuz he’s a geek !

Well I would hafta say Rodney you should get the Powerbook, I have the TiBook and my wife has the new iBook and there really is no comparison to the two when running OSX. I have 512mb in mine and her’s has 640 and I still out perform it almost 2:1 on most compute related tasks and mine is just the 400mhz model. Get the Ti you’ll love it, since you are a cube owner especially. You have taste

Munger says “cuz he’s a geek!”
A: nowhere near the level of geekiness seen in my friends, who actually snort when they laugh… to the point where they almost lose their pocket protectors

dcantrel and Bryan, you’ve given me the push I need. I will wait until after the Paris Expo and see what my new Xmas present will be

Now… which of you will plead my case in front of The Wife (aka, CFO and head of household).

Gotta go. I’m at home and need to give my wife the pants back after she let me wear them to work

_________________
“Free your mind & your butt will follow…”

Rodney O. Lain
Mac Observer Columnist, iBrotha’s page at TMO

iBrotha.com, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: iBrotha on 2001-08-06 13:52 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: iBrotha on 2001-08-13 11:35 ]</font>

Well Rodney just use the argument I used, “you get all the other toys so why can’t I get the one thing I need to work with” seemed to work for me. Plus giving her my old iBook didn’t hurt.

DAVE

I used that argument last time. This time, I just told her the truth: I will die if I don’t get a new laptop. Actually, there’s some truth in that…

On 2001-08-11 01:18, iBrotha wrote:
I used that argument last time. This time, I just told her the truth: I will die if I don’t get a new laptop. Actually, there’s some truth in that…

Rodney, here’s a little advice. Now, this is tbone1 here. I know whereof I speak. I have guitars, computers, power tools, and guns, and I’ve known that women don’t understand that a guy can never have enough of things like this. A friend of mine is a hunter and gun collector. Not in any “Janet Reno is after us!” way, he just collects hunting rifles. Now, his wife is convinced that he has enough guns already, but we all know what collectors are like. Once they start, they can’t stop, and it’s almost like an addiction. So he has to sneak around whenever he decides that he just HAS to have another gun for his collection. Perhaps his methods will be of help.

First, there is the old “spare parts” ploy. He just brings in boxes of “spare parts”. You know, has to replace a barrel on a rifle, then the stock on another one has started to split, etc. Soon he has all the parts for the gun snuck in and he assembles it and voila! (Italian for he has snuck in the gun) he has snuck in the gun. This won’t work too well with Macs, but it is worth looking into.

The second ploy he uses is the old “borrow” deal. I show up at his house one day with his new gun and say “Hey, Terry, thanks for loaning me the squirrel rifle. I think you may want to check the sights on it, though, I kept shooting left.” We go into his workshop, which is kept dirty and cold to discourage his wife from showing up, and tada! the new gun is in the cabinet. This has two potential pitfalls, though. First, make sure the friend will actually bring the gun over instead of keeping it for himself for a month. This is why Terry relies on me instead of his brother. Second, make sure you don’t try this when it isn’t squirrel season. Wives may not know hunting, but they are often clever enough to be inconvenient. For example, if it’s squirrel season, why hasn’t Terry been squirrel hunting?

A third trick is the old ‘repair’ bit. I bring over a gun for Terry to look at because, say, trigger feels a little loose. He looks at it, says “Hm, we may have to replace this.” We pop off to the shop, then come back with him saying he’ll let me know when he gets the new trigger from Portugal (Browning has a facility in Portugal, so this is surprisingly effective). Of course, I never come back for the gun because he’d bought it three days earlier.

Now, I’m not advocating dishonesty in marriage, but men, let’s face it. Women don’t understand the important things in life, like how to run a pick-and-roll, why you need a different rifle for squirrels than for bear, how to replace a manual transmission, or (to bring this back to Macs and computing) why having one computer as a firewall, one as a server, one for image rendering, one as a personal website, one for work, one for gaming, and of course a laptop, all connected wirelessly, is a good thing. Women, God bless them, tend to concentrate on frivolous things like birthdays, family weddings, who has died, and the names of their own children. They can’t help it, the poor dears, and I don’t think there is any cure. The chivalrous thing to do is to sneak computers, etc, into the house behind their backs so they don’t get stressed out. I also think that wives are inherently suspicious, and by doing this, they suspect you of having extramarital affairs instead of (in their eyes) the more heinous crime of buying more cool stuff. It’s the surgeon’s knife, really.

heheh
heheh
heh
he
hehe

that was funny

(sad, but true)

-
Jon

The discussion with your wife should come from a consultive approach:  “Honey I am not looking at right now.  This is a large investment.  If we buy the cheaper $1500 iBook now it MAY be able to do what I need at this point in time but a year or so down the road, with the progress of technology, I may be back on the bottom of the computing chain.  My work will suffer and soon enough financial difficulties will set in.  However, if I plan for the future,  this TiPB will last at least 3 times as long in the technology world and it only costs around (big stretch) twice as much.  So i am meeting all of my needs and saving us money in the long run as any large investment should if well planned.”

If that doesn’t work you can always hide it in the closet and work from there until they come down in price. (Thank goodness for Airport wireless internet)

Now that I own a tibook, I can give an honest and I think a somewhat helpful answer to your question.

The powerbook.

Kudos to Bryan to suggest waiting. I did not, and that’s because of all the catalog store that I bought from was offering, from 512 mb of free ram to the free burner (of course), $19 next day air, etc. Just too good to pass up, and I realize that the moment I buy, or you buy, or joe schmo down the street buys, there will always be something better just around the corner. So if you keep waiting, you’ll never buy.

But yes, wait. it’s only a month or less until the revision, and it could be pretty amazing if there’s a new video card, a little faster processor, etc.

My tibook has 512 mb ram and is the 400 model. The day before mine was delivered, some dude at work got an ibook with 128 mb ram. He launched X from shutdown and I timed it. It took 1:21 seconds to launch including classic. Mine launches in 44 seconds on average. That’s more than 30 seconds, and that’s pretty significant when you think of how fast this thing may be when you consider what else you will be doing. Of course, that time difference has nothing to do with altavec. It’s the overall speed of the G4, and as Bryan said, X likes the G4 much better. I think when you think about what machine will last you longer in the longrun, getting what may soon be outdated technology (G3) would be a step backward for a mac guru like yourself.

And as for how you treat it—I do not doubt that this thing would scratch easily. I have had it for about a month now and have transported it in my G4 eclipse bag (Great bag!!!) and I carry it from the bedroom to the living room. There isn’t a scratch on this thing. There are no little feet coming off (knock on wood) and overall it is in great shape. You have to be careful with any piece of machinery. It’s delicate. But so is the ibook. I don’t think you can judge what to buy based on that.

And, once again quoting Bryan, you will appreciate the screen. When I look at my co-workers ibook, I think it’s small. I think it’s inferior to the tibook. The ibook may be a great machine with a much lower price tag than the tibook, but I don’t think you can really compare and still be able to sleep at night.

Go titanium, young man. I have a titanium mp3 player, a titanium digital camera and now have the printout for a titanium scanner. Silver is the way to go!

Good luck.

Where did you get that Eclipse bag?

And, I agree with you and Bryan. I took my wife out to the Apple store tonight to show her the iBook and the PowerBook. She agreed that I should get the PowerBook.

Rodney and Others—

I’ve had my shiny new TiBook for about a month now, and wanted to toss out some various tips and suggestions to help you get the most out of it.

1) Despite the talk of titanium, the case can get minor scuffs.  I have no deep scratches, but a couple of scuffs that can be seen in certain light and at certain angles.

2) The AirPort reception is definitely not on par with other models.  Go for a Lucent range extender antenna and attach it to the Lucent card in the base, so that you’ll get the range you are used to with other Macs.

3) Being so thin, the tolerance between the screen and keyboard is especially tight.  So tight that many have reported scratches on the screen.

When scanning for dead pixels one day, I noticed a pixel-sized spot which was somewhat grey on a pure white background.  Turns out it is a teeny tiny little pit, which I either didn’t notice before, or was caused by a piece of dirt or something rubbing between the screen and trackpad.

Also, because of the close proximity of keyboard and screen, you will get icky stuff that your fingers leave on the keyboard transferred to the screen.  This is not unique to the TiBook; I’ve seen this on many other portables, both Mac and PC.  I use the nifty Klear Screen cleaner to take care of it, but have one of those leather keyboard/screen inserts on order.  A plus is that it will help keep the distance between the screen and keyboard, avoiding further scratches.

4) Although my CD/DVD ejects just fine, some discs need a bit of a push to be fully inserted.  Most common with discs with lots of artwork, or labels.

5) Taking off the bottom of the case, in order to install an AirPort card, is somewhat of an adventure.  Definitely not for those who are uncomfortable taking things apart.

Other than these minor quibbles, I’m absolutely thrilled with the machine.  It gets constant raves from coworkers in a PC-hostile environment, exhibits blazing performance (at least when compared with my PowerMac G4/450), adding RAM is about as easy as it can get, and the overall design and look is too cool.