Customer Reviews

Apple PowerBook Laptop 12.1" TFT M8760LL/A (867-MHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had this laptop for almost a month now. The heat was never unbearable - while the palm rest does get warm, I cannot call this hot. If you plan to use your laptop for an extended period of time, I highly recommend an external keyboard and a bigger monitor - then the heat and small screen becomes a nonissue.

That said, the 12 in monitor is wonderful - I can comfortably read and work on quite a variety of tasks. Color, as far as I can tell, is pretty accurate. You can attach a much larger monitor for work that requires large screen estate, as I do. With extended desktop (ala Xinerama), you have a dual monitor setup! OS X is quite capable in this aspect, and does remember the settings for different monitors that I attach it to (X11 needs a little more work on extended desktop - some X applications can't take advantage of two screens). I do have a complaint that you need to carry an extra dongle to attach external monitor - I've had quite a few times when I forgot to bring the dongle to my work. But that's a minor issue.

Processor speed is acceptable for almost all the work. Firewire support is wonderful - This solves much of my storage problems. Bluetooth support allowed me to wirelessly dial into to modem pool (using T68i, but it is slow) and use my phone as a remote (okay, that's a toy). Wifi worked without a hitch with various routers (Dell and DLink). Printing is a snap to configure, unlike my linux box. I must admit that the hardware integration is FAR superior to my Dell WinXP box. To those that still have some strange grudge against Apple - you HAVE to own this laptop to appreciate how smoothly this thing works in a mixed environment. Comes with adequate development environment and my analysis tool (R, Bioconductor, etc.) compiled properly, albeit a few tweaks were requied. Some useful things (like pybliographic and xgobi) didn't work well, but there are multitudes of other tools that can replace them. If you are thinking about playing video games on this machine, please, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON A LAPTOP. Buy a desktop instead. This laptop is definitely not for casual users.

For people who say one can get more function in other models - as any truly seasoned laptop user will tell you, that in a portable environment, a little bells and whistles won't save you if the core function fails when you are about to give a presentation (a very ugly sight), or working at a remote location. Usability and dependability is far more important to a laptop than an ability to attach a little toy here and there (that is a desktop mentality). This is NOT a desktop replacement, although it can nearly be one with proper peripherals.

My coworkers balked at the price tag at first, then when I started to actually accomplish so many tasks using it, they became impressed by the quality of the product and agreed that the price was reasonable. I saw a Dell laptop that costs 1kUsd more which had questionable quality - this PB is solid. I highly recommend this laptop to anyone who is looking for versatility without compromising on quality.

Note to Asian language users - foreign language display AND input(incl. Chinese, Japanse, and Korean) is PERFECT on this OS - especially Japanese. This is not trivial as XP and Linux cannot handle foreign language half as well, and if you are bilingual or trilingual, you *need* this platform.

This notebook is tiny, fast, and impeccably designed -- the most full-featured ultraportable notebook available.

While Apple's desktops and desktop-replacement notebooks lag behind their PC counterparts in processor speed, this G4-powered 867mHz PowerBook is very competitive with most PC ultraportables, which are still using the mobile PIII 1.2ghz.

This notebook is as small as Sony's R505, yet the R505 does not include a CD-ROM drive without the docking station.

The 12" PowerBook has Bluetooth included, and is ready for 802.11G, the newest broadband wireless standard.

Unfortunately, the tiny form factor leaves no room for a PC Card slot, and there is only one RAM expansion slot, which means you can currently add only 512mb of RAM, which combines with the motherboard-soldered 128mb to give you a max of 640mb.

Positives:
Tiny size -- 112 cubic inches
Bright screen
Long battery life
ready for 802.11G

Negatives:
No PC Card slot
Reduced cache compared to other Powerbooks
Only one RAM expansion slot (128mb soldered to motherboard)

It is.

No flaws here. The successor to the popular Titanium G4, this little beauty feels like a Swiss watch in construction, style, and durability. Where the Titanium felt flimsy and was subject to pits, scratches and dings (because of the painted surface), this one can take a pounding with its anodized aluminum exterior. Less exotic than Titanium, but superior in every respect. The solid form and fit are astounding to feel. It really is like a finely crafted watch. The size, of course, is perfect for the traveller. The 17" version is amazing in its own right, but this is the real laptop of the bunch.

OS X flies on this little gem. It has built in wireless connectivity, a combo drive for burning CDs and watching DVDs (and for $200 more you can add a DVD-R drive, but it really isn't practical for a screen this small). The screen itself is the best LCD I've ever seen on a laptop, bar none.

So, for all you travellers who've been waiting for a great laptop to take on the road, this is it. And the price is right, too.

Out of the box, this laptop was the finest notebook I have ever used. It's beautiful to look at, more than a capable machine for OS X 10.2, and very comfortable to use (keyboard, ergonomics). I feel I need to warn potential buyers that there are issues with the early production run of this PowerBook, though.

First, the machine has a tendency to get very hot. The Aluminum case is designed to dissipate the heat by convection, but it can warp as a result. Many users are reporting warped screens or a "wobble" noticeable when resting flat on a table after a few days of use. The power management for the PowerBook is buggy - it sometimes does not accurately reflect full battery charge or shows problems with sleep mode. I've had to replace the battery which may have been the cause of these problems, but many other users are reporting similar issues.

I'm using an AirPort Extreme card (802.11b network only) with no trouble at all. Also, the standard 256 MB DDR RAM has been just fine for average use.

This PowerBook is truly elegant, but lacks the quality level of the 15" PowerBook gained only though mature production. I recommend waiting until Apple has had a chance to work out the early production glitches. Then, you will have a truly great machine.

I've long been a devotee of highly-portable notebook computers and Macs. I was doubly pleased, then, to see Apple introduce the 12" PowerBook in January 2003. Here at last was the computer that combined a travel-worthy form factor with a reasonably powerful Mac.

I didn't get my hands on one until more recently, and I am very happy with it. The computer is powerful enough for all of my general productivity tasks, with a nice keyboard feel and a bright, readable screen.

I've had great experiences connecting via the all of the various networking technologies built-in. I use Bluetooth with my phone and PDA (including wireless connections to use my phone as a GPRS modem), AirPort for WiFi connections, dialup when there's no broadband or GPRS available, and the built-in 10-BaseT networking at the office.

Battery life is decent, though not extraordinary at around 4 hours on a full charge. The power management is unobtrusive, and as with other Mac notebooks running Mac OS X I love the instant sleep/wake capability.

I have one complaint with this machine: heat. All notebooks emit some, but this computer seems to be particularly hot. I've used it once or twice on my lap while wearing shorts, and frankly found it uncomfortable.

Other than that, this computer comes as close to a perfect portable as I've seen.

I purchased this amazing piece of a computer approximately a week ago, after selling my Windows notebook (Gateway) ... . I could not be more pleased, this is my First MAC and it doesn't look like I myself will be going back to Windows again. As I said I've had this for a Week now, and it has not crashed or even froze once on me. and that's how a computer should be. I purchased the model with the Superdrive ... it's worth it the slot-loading drive is really high-tech, then again everything in this small but powerful computer is and it easily blows away my P4 2.0ghz laptop, even though is only 867mhz it may seem slow but it's not. The software that came bundled with this comp. is more than i've seen on any computer out there and it works great. Become a MAC Switcher like I did, trust me You Will not Regret it!.

i am an apple user from way back (15 years!) who has also had plenty of windows experience. i never got the windows thing. my last laptop was a powerbook G3 400 firewire. After a month of use, i can say this 12" pb is lovely! i don't like reading small print, but have found no discomfort with the size of screen (and websites and documents are easily zoomed, but i have only needed to do this once this month).

i have noticed "the heat thing." but i have to tell you, i almost never find cause to sit with a laptop ON MY LAP, which is uncomfortable for me personally, and so, if like me, you usually use these things on a table or airplane tray or whatever, you will have no problems with the heat.

the cd burner is effortless, Jaguar (OS 10.2) is fabulous (this is my first time on OS X too) and intuitive. i don't know why anyone would prefer classic OS 9 to jaguar, but if you do, it is here and you can use it any time, to run old software, for example. it is so much easier to use than even classic OS 9.2, my previous system software.

enjoy this attractive, extremely portable machine!

Update (2006): after a year, heat did cause the aluminum case to warp. 3.5 years on, the machine works great! Cosmetically, though, the heat did take its toll.

Another Update (2008): five years out, still works fine. I upgraded to 2G RAM so it's much swifter. The warping did not get any worse.

i just got my laptop and we're best friends. the sound quality is amazing, itunes ROCKS! What in the world is roxios easy cd creator, pc user please tell me.But dont be fooled by what they say, the battery life is only 3:30 hours, even though that is very different from 5 hours, its still alot. its light as heck! i could carry it around all day. And in the house using the internet is amazing!! super FAST, and amazing graphics. i just got to say that apple is amazing. Always thinking of new things. i used to hate macs cause i thought it was impossible to save something, but os x rocks this WORLD!

I initially bought a Sony Z1A but soon discovered a serious flaw in the keyboard design - the shift key is the same size as other keys, and I ended up too frequently hitting the up arrow key next to it.

So I returned it and tried the new Toshiba laptop with Centrino chip - the keyboard felt cheap. And at the same time, I found that Virtual PC 6 on the iMac worked great, allowing me to use the few Windows XP programs that were unavailable on the Mac.

The 12" Powerbook I ended up with is the best laptop I've ever encountered. Quality level is a cut above the PCs. This was evident even when opening the box. I love the keyboard. The screen is crisp. And I really can carry it around much more easily than the larger PC laptops.

I just received my 12" Powerbook from Apple, and I have to say this is the sweetest machine I've ever owned or used. I'm a professional Java developer, and this little notebook has become my workstation of choice.

The screen is bright and crisp. I originally worried that the size of the screen might be an issue, but it's not. It's beautiful.

The keyboard is amazing. I had been using a Powerbook G3 at home and an iBook at work... the keyboard on this machine puts them both to shame.

There have been some complaints about the case getting hot. Mine has been running all day and yes, it gets warm where the hard drive is, but nothing bad. I don't plan on putting it on my lap much.

Apple offers a custom-built version of this machine with a 60 GB hard drive and a SuperDrive (lets you burn DVD-Rs). I opted for this, and maxed the RAM out (currently, you can only go to 640 MB of RAM, which is plenty for me).

Mac OS X, of course, is a marvel. This is one of the first machines that will NOT boot OS 9, and I don't miss it a bit.

Apple includes some interesting software (mostly targeted at business people), which I find useful.

In short, this is the first new computer I've bought in a LONG time and I'm so glad I did. It rocks!