- The coveted 15-inch powerhouse
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Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description
Amazingly portable, extremely well connected and equipped with DVD burning capability, Apple’s freshly released PowerBook G4 12.1-inch M9008LL/A is a great choice for those who enjoy Apple connectivity and convenience but don’t need the larger, pricier 15-inch or 17-inch PowerBook models.
Surprisingly, the PowerBook G4 M9008LL/A is driven by the same CPU used in last year’s top-of-the-line 17-inch PowerBook, the 1 GHz PowerPC G4 processor with 512 KB Level 2 cache for rapid retrieval of recently accessed data. Apple has added 256 MB of medium speed PC2100 (266 MHz) DDR SDRAM memory (upgradeable to 1.25 GB) and an nVidia GeForce FX Go5200 graphics chipset with 32 MB of dedicated video memory, thus ensuring smooth operation during standard mobile tasks. Some performance degradation may be evident when running complex professional applications and high-end 3-D games or while multitasking.
At just 10.9 by 8.6 by 1.2 inches and a scant 4.6 pounds (with battery and optical drive attached), the brushed aluminum PowerBook G4 M9008LL/A is extraordinarily compact. Yet it’s packed with amenities. Standard features include a 12.1-inch TFT display capable of high-detail 1024x768 resolution, a 78-key keyboard with accurate solid-state track pad, a digital DVI output for flat-screen displays, integrated Bluetooth 1.1 technology for cordless peripherals, and two high-speed USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port for connecting plug and play devices such as external drives and digital cameras.
To help you handle your data, Apple has outfitted the system with a reasonably sized 40 GB hard disk and a versatile DVD-RW/CD-RW drive through which you can play and listen to audio CDs, archive files, enjoy the latest movie releases, and burn home video to long-lasting DVD media. A high-speed 10/100BASE-T Ethernet connection and low-speed 56K V.92 modem are standard, but wireless communications are available only with the purchase of an AirPort Extreme card. In ideal conditions, battery life is estimated at an impressive five hours.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent features in a compact Powerhouse,
By
This review is from: Apple PowerBook Laptop 12.1" M9008LL/A (1.0-GHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD-R/CD-RW SuperDrive) (Personal Computers)
Ah, the Powerbook. For many years, Apple's version of what a laptop computer should be. Then they created "consumer level" ibooks and the Powerbook was elevated to a status of Pro machines (which it always was). There used to be only a couple models (remember Pismo?). Then the Titanium wonder that shocked the portable world. Now, Apple has 3 different sized Powerbooks with various models inbetween those sizes. The compact little gem is the subject here. This is one of the finest Macs I have ever used. The weight is so light. The aluminum case is amazing. The slot load Superdrive which burns either CD's or DVD's is elegant compared to slide out trays that risk being damaged. The keyboard feels amazing. I could go on and on. Battery life I have gotten has ranged in the 4 hour range...excellent for a G4 equipped laptop. ALthough 256MB of RAM seems rather low, it surprisingly does well (Though I did add a 512mb module later, and watched performance grow). The power adapter itself has hooks to wrap the cord around (though admittedly, the old doughnut design was better looking). The 12" Powerbook is an excellent piece of hardware for those looking to tote a laptop. Two Thumbs Up!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great machine, with caveats....,
By A Customer
This review is from: Apple PowerBook Laptop 12.1" M9008LL/A (1.0-GHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD-R/CD-RW SuperDrive) (Personal Computers)
Ditto all of the lauditory comments of my esteemed colleagues here on the review page, with a few additional comments. AppleCare is a must since the "logic board" of MACs are notorious for going down. The plan is $300 additonal cost for a three year policy, and you absolutely have to have it (you may buy it during the first year after purchase). The shipping protocol of the computer is excellent, with prepaid shipping containers sent to you, but Apple will charge you an additional $50 to save your hard drive data in the event that it must be replaced, a cost that should not obtain in my judgement given the expense of the add-on policy. The quality of the call-in help line varies (as they all do with PCs), but it's necessary, particularly for PC defectors like me. Lastly, if you have a problem with the enormous heat generated by the unit, get an 11" x 14" zip folder at Staples or Office Depot to place under the unit and also to carry/protect it. And you will carry this unit since this is a truly portable computer with a 3 to 4 hour battery time (my old SONY Vaio pooped out after 40 minutes - it's like a dinasaur next to the PowerBook). Plus, truly amazingly, you can edit video and burn DVDs that work simply great on a home DVD machine. Unbelieveable.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The best computer I've ever owned,
By Zach Everson (Louisville, KY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Apple PowerBook Laptop 12.1" M9008LL/A (1.0-GHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD-R/CD-RW SuperDrive) (Personal Computers)
I bought a 12-inch Powerbook after I gave my old Sony Vaio notebook the Pete Townshend treatment - I put my fist through it. (Yes, it looks like a stained glass window.) I hadn't used a Mac in years, but I decided I'd had it with Microsoft and Windows. All it took was one weekend and a good book - "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual," by David Pogue - however, and I mastered the machine. SOFTWARE Safari is a great web browser. It has a Google search box built into the toolbar, prevents pop-up ads (I've never had one), has tabbed browsing (preventing a cluttered desktop), and allows for bookmarks to be added with one click. iChat allows Mac users to customize their AIM and Rendezvous chat sessions in ways that the normal applications don't allow, such as adding pictures from iPhoto to their profile. I haven't mastered iPhoto yet, but it is downloading pictures from a digital camera is as easy as plugging it into the USB port and clicking a button. Also, Macs are less likely to get a virus or be overtaken by spyware. The iCal and Address Book look good, but if you are going to sync a PDA with your Mac, you are better off using Palm Desktop software. Hopefully the functionality of those programs will be improved in the future though. Finally, most of the programs work with each other. For example, if someone on my iChat buddy list is online, a green dot will appear next to a message from him or her in my Mail inbox. I also use Microsoft Office, Quicken, Dreamweaver MX, and Palm Desktop - they all work well on the Mac. Office shares files perfectly with PCs. HARDWARE I'd recommend upgrading to at least 768 MB of memory and the 80 GB hard drive. Burning a DVD requires a lot of memory and can take a while - this way you can use other applications while burning a DVD (on my old PC, if I was burning a CD, I couldn't use anything else). The hard drive space is really cheap. Plus, if you load your CDs on your computer, they can eat up a lot of memory, even as MP3s (my 5,000 songs take up about 25 GB). Also, there is a lot to be said for getting the Airport Exteme card (although you can buy a third-party base station for less). I am able to browse the Internet in any room of my house - well worth the extra $100 or so. I have the 12-inch monitor, but that was because Apple hadn't released the 15-inch in the new style when I made my purchase. The 12-inch is fine - it's much clearer than my old PC notebook - but if I had the opportunity, I'd probably go with the bigger monitor. DRAWBACKS Regardless of those drawbacks, however, buying a Mac was an easy decision. If you have any questions about it, click on my profile and send me a e-mail. UPDATE: After 14 months, the hard drive started making noise and system performance got slow and I couldn't run as many programs as I used to. I called Apple and had to spend $300 for them to put in a new hard drive and some other hardware. They were unable to transfer my data to my new hard drive, so I've spent the past four days reloading all of my software and applications. No idea why the hard drive went. Hence I dropped the rating from five stars to four.
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