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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A joy to use, and road-ready to a T, February 2, 2004
By A Customer
This aluminum-shelled gem marries beauty and brawn so well that that owners of lesser laptops will surely have a hard time hiding their envy. It's fast and capacious and, like other Apple products, a joy just to take out of the box and see how Apple has thought about every step of the user experience, from unpacking to setting up the built-in wireless networking (a total breeze, and I'm a klutz at that kind of thing). In that same vein, there's the G4 Powerbook's keyboard that automatically lights up with a soft glow from underneath the keys as the light in your office or your airplane cabin dims. It's a small thing, but indicative of a genuinely respectful, design-centric, user-oriented mindset that no other computer company can match.The display is lovely to behold and s-h-a-r-p, and the wealth of (count 'em) 1.3 million pixels makes it hard to go back to my 15'' flatpanel iMac desktop screen. Watching a DVD on a Powerbook screen this big and this good is about as satisfying as visiting my local cineplex, sans the sticky floors. Like the new G5 desktops, the G4 Powerbooks strike me as quite hi-tech and futuristic. That's not a bad thing, but it's a far cry from the happy candy-colored iBooks of a few years ago. The G4 Powerbooks are also not as "warm & inviting" as the current generation of elegant white Powerbooks. The persona of the G4 machines is a bit more stand-offish, stark even, and you either like that or you don't. I think they're plenty gorgeous but, at the risk of sounding sexist, my hunch is that it's a 'guy' computer, and that a lot of women won't take a shine to these machines. But I'll let Apple's marketing department worry about that. Finding Panther (Mac OS 10.3) loaded on this machine was a greater boon than I'd imagined. I've used 10.2 (Jaguar) since it came out in August 2002, but Panther is such a big step forward, it almost qualifies as a whole new operating system -- without the learning curve. You can log out without quitting open applications, for instance, in a matter of literally seconds. The improved Finder -- which appears to be modeled in part on Windows XP, though no Mac user would admit that without the benefit of thumbscrews ;-) -- makes navigating through complex hierarchies of folders and files a snap, and it's easy to customize. Also, Apple has brought back color labeling of files and other items -- an OS9 staple it stupidly discarded when the company launched OSX a few years ago. There are more than 150 other big and small improvement (wait'll you get a load of a feature called Exposé, which displays all your open windows, across applications, at the roll of a mouse!), but this is supposed to be a review about the computer, not its operating system. Well then, the G4 17'' Powerbook is a tactile and esthetic pleasure to use. The fit is tight, the finish beautiful. Everything just works right out of the box without the user having to study manuals or spending time on the phone with tech support. I would gush about this machine (and so far I have!), but there are a few minor points of criticism, too: - Apple does sometimes put good looks over practicality. The shell of this Powerbook has no ridges on it -- it's just this sleek, smooth expanse of aluminum. Very purty, but since this is a large and relatively heavy laptop, you're quite likely to let it slip from your grasp at one point or another. Some kind of grip would have been a good idea. Also, there's a latch at the front of the machine that you push to unlock the screen. The latch is almost perfectly flush with the front of the case (so as not to visually break the sleek line of the shell, I'd wager), and I find that it sometimes takes two or three pushes before the screen pops open.
- The material looks like it might scratch easily (but I'm trying not to find that out first-hand). At this price -- 3,000 semolians! -- Apple should have included a soft leather sleeve or something, so that you can toss the thus-protected Powerbook into a shoulder bag or backpack and not worry about it. I ordered a neoprene third-party solution called a Sportfolio (40 bucks) that does the job.
- I've been forced to use them for years and I still don't like 'em: trackpads. Ugh. Get a mouse. Kensington makes one that works well with a Powerbook; it has a retractable USB cable that stores inside the device when not in use.
- The power cord plugs into the side of the machine. That's a bit unsightly. It should have been in the back, where it essentially doesn't show.
- More visual clutter: the sides of the machine. They're outfitted with a bevvy of ports, including a Firewire 800 port and an S-video socket (excellent!) and no cover (not so excellent). I realize doors can easily break off, but maybe a molded rubber strip would have (a) been better-looking, and (b) kept dust, dirt, and lint out.
- Apple should take a cue from the automobile industry and its included standard 3 year/50,000-miles warranties. The Powerbook has a one-year warranty and only 90 days of phone support. To extend coverage to three full years, you're supposed to purchase a protection plan for -- gulp -- 350 bucks. I guess I'll do it, but I have the uncomfortable feeling I'll be paying for a few years' supply of Steve Jobs's black turtlenecks. I'm OK with him playing hardball with Disney, he just should let up on his own loyal customers a bit. ;-) I've had the G4 17'' Powerbook for a week and intend to really put it through its paces in weeks and months to come. So far, the verdict is very positive. The first Apple Powerbooks, in 1992, also cost multiple thousands of dollars, just like this one. For the same money (less if you count inflation), you can now buy a super-good-looking supercomputer that is a kick-ass music player, an excellent movie-playback machine, a top-notch number cruncher, a high-powered portable recording studio, a serious photo- and video-editing tool, and on and on... I shrugged when I heard about Apple's plans, three or four years ago, to turn their computers into "hubs for the digital lifestyle." But the company did just that, and no portable computer today is a more capable, pleasure-to-work-with digital hub than this gorgeous 17'' G4 Powerbook. Addendum: A few weeks after I wrote this review, I'm on a plane, with the Powerbook in its neoprene sleeve tucked safely in the overhead luggage compartment. Well, maybe not SO safely after all. After touchdown, people start grabbing their bags, anxious to get out -- and some idiot yanks her own luggage out so hard and carelessly that my computer goes flying. It drops in a graceless arc, like a limply flung brick, and lands with a thud that churns my stomach. I actually gasp. This is more abuse than any consumer laptop can handle. After all, it's a fall from almost seven feet high; surely the case is cracked, or the screen broken, or the hard drive knocked out of whack and my data lost -- or all of the above. Absurdly enough, though, I'm wrong. I zip open the sleeve, fingers trembling, but all is as it should be. The aluminum case is un-dented and as tight as ever; the screen unblemished; the hard drive unperturbed. Now, I wouldn't care to duplicate this little involuntary experiment. Clearly I got lucky. But it's also proof that Apple builds its Powerbooks with real structural integrity -- equipped to deal with the rigors of the road, and with the abuse inflicted on it by hapless users and clumsy strangers alike.
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