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jbakosphoto
2005-06-18, 21:43
hi, I'm ready to upgrade from a windows machine to a mac for college. I'm between buying a 20-inch iMac and a 15-inch powerbook. I am leaning towards the powerbook because of the portability issue. I was wondering if any students could weigh in on that and give some advice. I need a fast machine for photoshop because I am majoring in photography. The iMac is a great machine also though, so it is a very tough decision.

Wyatt
2005-06-18, 21:59
Unless you plan on taking your computer to class, I'd go with the iMac. Portability is nice, but if you aren't going to take it out frequently, the iMac offers a bit more muscle and a larger screen at a better price.

Yontsey
2005-06-18, 22:45
im gonna be a senior and i bought a desktop going into college. it was ok but about a month ago i recently bought a powerbook because i want the option of being able to take my computer to class or to go to the library with it so i can work on a paper there and just get away or to take it to one of the buildings. also ive been living off campus for going on 3 years and i love the fact that now i can go chill in the living room and bring my PB with me and still be able to go online and what not or just lay in my bed and do work. overall i love the portability option because on my campus there are tons of wireless hotspots. me personally id recommend the PB but i dont think you can loose either way.

ps: another great reason for a PB is when you wanna go home you can just pack it up real quick and jet out. with me, im the only one in the house that uses a comptuer so when id go home id be bored and not have a computer to work on but now i can just take it with me. hope this helped.

flail
2005-06-18, 22:52
What's already been said is good. jbakosphoto: Just wanna make sure you've actually seen and/or used the 15" PB. Might want to check it out at an Apple store, the pictures online don't do it justice.

It's perfect for some people, but nearly everyone I know personally thinks it's too big to haul around. But see for yourself, if it works for you, great. Another option (and one I'm looking into myself) is getting the 12" for mobility coupled with an external monitor for more real estate.

Basically, five or six of my friends have already or will be getting PowerBooks for college and they're all getting 12 inchers. (Just like mine :p)

Yontsey
2005-06-18, 23:15
not to go against what was just said but i like the 15inch, i dont think its too big, i personally think the 12 inch is just too small...i dont think the 15 is too big to drag around because i just throguh it in a case and then toss it into my book bag and it fits perfectly. maybe if you went with the 12 and got the bigger screen that wouldnt be bad but i would think the 12 screen would be too small, for me at least. like it was said, i would definatly go to an apple store and check em out for yourself. mind you if you go with the 12 inch you will be sacraficing some speed 1.5 vs 1.67 and you said you need all you can get for your imaging.

Koodari
2005-06-18, 23:56
I question how much power one really needs to do some Photoshop work for photography studies. I would only be concerned about computer speed working with video or 3D. In any case the difference in the speeds of Apple laptops is small even if you compare the top end PB and low end iBook. If the 12" laptops are too slow, forget about laptops.

Screen space and color quality are probably the most important things for that work. This means external screen is highly preferable.

In practice I have seen that the 12" is greatly preferable for actually carrying and using the computer. I have had the 15" PB and now the 12" iBook, and the PB really did not fit well on lecture hall desk, nor airplane tray.

I recommend either 12" iBook, 12" Powerbook, mac mini or Powermac. Get a lot of memory, a good screen, good mouse/keyboard/tablet and you're set.

12" iBook for teh win! (http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?postid=207511#post207511) :)

jsk173
2005-06-19, 02:51
With WiFi everywhere and for a mobile profession, I'd go with the PB.

PBs also seem to be quite popular with the photographers I know.

dougiemac
2005-06-19, 03:50
I don't think there's in issue with the PB 15" being to big. I take mine around campus to every class for notes and such. It's the best. I mean, if you don't plan on using it for notes for every class then it's a toss up. But for 12" or 15" - definitely 15" because you're doing photo... more screen real estate and quality.

I'm telling you... PB for notes is genuis. Most people type faster that they write (and many profs talk very fast) and with Spotlight it makes studying a breeze when looking up specifics. I'm telling you dude, you'll love it. Shame that there's so much more muscle with the iMac though. You could always do a 15" now and in a year get an iMac... eh eh!!!

Jerman
2005-06-19, 12:23
I think buying the 15" Powerbook would be the best decision. I came to college a year ago with an 867 Quicksilver. Around November I worked out a trade for a 17 inch Powerbook. That was a bit too big, and I needed money, so I traded for a 12" and cash. A few weeks ago I traded the 12" for a 15" and like it the best. It is, in my opinion, the best trade off of portability and features. Doing music work, I may end up using the pc card slot. If you are taking pictures with a digital SLR, you could buy a pc card CF reader. I use Photoshop a good deal, and the Powerbook runs it great. (1.25 ghz, 1.25 gigs of ram). I am sure the iMac would be pretty fast, but I still recommend the Powerbook.

Wyatt
2005-06-19, 14:33
I think buying the 15" Powerbook would be the best decision. I came to college a year ago with an 867 Quicksilver. Around November I worked out a trade for a 17 inch Powerbook. That was a bit too big, and I needed money, so I traded for a 12" and cash. A few weeks ago I traded the 12" for a 15" and like it the best. It is, in my opinion, the best trade off of portability and features. Doing music work, I may end up using the pc card slot. If you are taking pictures with a digital SLR, you could buy a pc card CF reader. I use Photoshop a good deal, and the Powerbook runs it great. (1.25 ghz, 1.25 gigs of ram). I am sure the iMac would be pretty fast, but I still recomment the Powerbook.
Wow... the full range of experience there. Impressive.

Franz Josef
2005-06-19, 17:09
hi, I'm ready to upgrade from a windows machine to a mac for college. I'm between buying a 20-inch iMac and a 15-inch powerbook. I am leaning towards the powerbook because of the portability issue. I was wondering if any students could weigh in on that and give some advice. I need a fast machine for photoshop because I am majoring in photography. The iMac is a great machine also though, so it is a very tough decision.

Any new PB will cope well with Photoshop so this is a portability question. If you need portability, then a 15" (or indeed a 12") PB is the answer. Personally, I would tend to agree with jsk173 above - with WiFi everywhere, portability is priceless. The only reason for going for the iMac would be for heavy-duty 3D rendering.

The 12" PB is ultra-portable and I wouldn't trade mine for a 15". My wife uses a 15" PB because she likes the extra screen real estate for Keynote. To my mind, 17" is a little big to be easily portable.

ast3r3x
2005-06-19, 17:51
I got a powerbook when the albooks first came out and had it for my senior year in high school, and just finished my first year in college. I have found it invaluable for doing presentations during class. Nothing, not even a nicely prepared PowerPoint presentation can compare to a Keynote presentation. This has definitely gotten me some A's that on information alone would have been B's.

Just look at what you'll be doing, I love having wireless, and being able to go sit out on my deck and play on my my computer for a couple hours. However, I do wish I had a G5 so I could get into some light video stuff. The powerbook, even my 1.25ghz, works fine for Photoshop, although you'll definitely want more RAM, but the same is true for the iMac.

I had buyers remorse after buying this instead of a dual 2ghz G5, but looking back, I don't think I would do it differently.

eleazar
2005-06-19, 23:47
I bought the powerbook for school as well. The 15 inch that is. I think that it's a good size to carry around but some of the classes have smaller desks than others and so if your school is like that you may like the 12. We have Wi-Fi all over campus so it's nice to be able to be anywhere on campus and online.

I use office (yea yea I know) to take notes because word has a feature where it looks like a notebook page and you can record sound at the same time on different sections of the "page" so it's nice because I usually just sit back and let the powerbook record while I take notes that are helpful to me, then go back at night and listen again and type out the important stuff. Sounds like a lot of work but it's not really and I rarely have to study for tests because of it.

Wyatt
2005-06-20, 12:45
I've decided to go for it. Because of this thread I'm going to take out an extra student loan this year to buy a 12". Debt be damned, I need a laptop. Thanks for all the great input, everyone (even though I wasn't asking for the advice to begin with).

Franz Josef
2005-06-20, 12:51
I've decided to go for it. Because of this thread I'm going to take out an extra student loan this year to buy a 12". Debt be damned, I need a laptop.

It's gotta be the right answer. :smokey:

jsk173
2005-06-20, 22:13
Hey Franz, think we'll get a commission if we send a copy of this thread to Apple?

j/k

Franz Josef
2005-06-20, 22:48
Hey Franz, think we'll get a commission if we send a copy of this thread to Apple?

j/k

Free shuffles all round (Not.)
:lol:

jbakosphoto
2005-06-21, 15:35
thanks everybody for your comments and advice. I've just come back from college orientation and decided that i will be getting the powerbook 15-inch

jsk173
2005-06-21, 18:49
Fine choice. Welcome to the club.

NigrescentNizzut
2005-06-21, 21:15
I am heading off to college in the fall and I just bought my powerbook, 17" for the win! I figured it's only a little bit more weight, and I can haul it around at will. I just didnt want to buy a desktop and have to move it back and forth when I went home.