Tech Goes Boom

Quick Powerbook Comparison

Just some quick notes for people trying to choose between the 12“ and 15” powerbooks.

1. Screen
15“ has more space than you would think from looking at the resolution numbers.

15” is much brighter and clearer.

2. Keyboard
Illumination is awesome.

12“ keyboard is much more firm. The 15” has issues with its adhesive coming unstuck and the keyboard flexing. Annoying.

3. Sound
15“ is much louder and clearer

4. Feel
12” feels like a tank. Very solid.

15“ has lots of flexing with various parts of the case ”giving“ when lifting it one handed. Nothing terrible, but annoying given how solid the 12” is.

5. Ports
15“ is a big winner here, most accessory ports are on the right side, and has one USB on each side, great for mousers who are left or right handed. On the 12” USB is on the left, which can make for awkward mousing depending on length of mouse cable. The 15“ has FW800 and Gigabit ethernet. Both a big deal for professional users. Love to see external SATA on the next rev.

6. Memory
12” maxes out at 1.25 GB. Not terrible but not enough for Photoshop work. With slow laptop hard drives, you want to swap out as little as possible to keep speeds up. The 15“ can take 2GB. Enough for any casual user, and good enough for moderate photoshop use.

Overall

The utility of the 15” for me far outweighs it's current shortcomings. I'd like to see a more re-inforced case, but I should mention that it's light-years beyond the flexing of the titanium powerbooks. The keyboard issue is an extremely annoying issue and a design flaw in my opinion. The keyboard is held down with both screws and adhesive, and apparently neither is enough to keep the flexing out. The adhesive seems to unstick as the machine warms up, then re-stick as it cools down. It also seems to get worse with age. Some people have claimed that this is better with the new 1.67 machines, but they are so new, it's hard to say what will happen in a couple of months. These keyboards also seem to have an issue with shedding keys as they age, which is probably a plastics issue. But it's not a big deal in comparison to the stinky ibook keyboards.