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Can a MacBook replace a 12-inch PowerBook?

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About a month ago, I finally had to let go of an old friend. After a couple years of propping him up, it was time to retire my 12-inch PowerBook. No, you didn't read that wrong: I was still using a G4-powered Mac. Sure, there were a lot of things I couldn't do anymore, but it was still fulfilling the requirements I set before it: primarily email, Web browsing, and writing.

But it was small and it handled all those tasks. However, after replacing the screen and the hard drive, the battery decided to give out while I was at Macworld Expo. I limped by, trying to justify to the very amused Scott, Dan, and Aayush that I could still work. It was then I began to realize it was the beginning of the end. How could I sanely justify purchasing a new battery for the aging laptop, pumping over a hundred dollars into a machine that was able to do less and less of what I needed?

The virtual gun was put to my head when I had to head to Hawaii for several weeks. I couldn't get by with a laptop that had a faulty battery and a screen that would sporadically give out (also much to Scott's amusement as I tried to coax it back to life). I bit the (again, virtual) bullet and bought a MacBook (a very fine 2 GHz unibody model that I promptly outfitted with 4 GB of RAM). Overall, I'm thrilled with my purchase, but a few things took me by surprise.

First, the speed simply blew me away. I shouldn't be surprised that a machine with over three times the RAM, twice the clock-speed (the G4 was a 1 GHz), and double the cores is that much faster, but the speed was still startling - particularly startup and shutdown. I don't dread restarting anymore, which is good, considering my second observation.

My second observation is centered around sleep battery usage. With my PowerBooks, I became accustomed to the idea that sleeping my laptop was nearly as good as turning it off. I could sleep it, leave it unplugged for days and lose maybe a couple percent of the charge.

Now, I sleep my MacBook, unplug it and leave it overnight or over the course of ten hours and open it only to find that it has dropped by about 12 per cent of its max charge. It's maddening.

Third, I find it hard to believe that it's so inconvenient to replace the RAM, but so convenient to replace the hard drive. Yes, I will only max out my RAM once, but undoing all those screws was a practice in delayed gratification when compared to both my Pismo PowerBook G3 and my 12-inch PowerBook. Meanwhile, the hard drive (the one piece of equipment I paid to have swapped in my 12-in) mocked me. To my face.

Fourth, though I think I like it overall, the ambient-light-sensing backlight is a little disconcerting when you don't know that it exists. I began to think I was slowly going insane (and perhaps I still am).

Finally, the form factor is taking a little time to get used to. I love the newfound menu space afforded by the wide screen. At the same time, I miss the squat proportions and size of the 12-inch.

In reality, the MacBook isn't that much larger, but that little change is just enough to notice. I won't be going back to my 12-inch, but it will always have a special place in my heart—a very small, but important place.

Note: This blog first appeared on our sister site Macworld.com

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Comments received


Bob Caygeon said on Wednesday, 08 April 2009

I have a 15" 1.25GHz Powerbook G4 running Leopard as my only machine and I'm still surprised with what it will still do. although it grinds sometimes it's still a useful machine. And a new battery is still way cheaper than a new Macbook. Not that I don't want a Macbook...

Bob Caygeon said on Wednesday, 08 April 2009

I have a 15" 1.25GHz Powerbook G4 running Leopard as my only machine and I'm still surprised with what it will still do. although it grinds sometimes it's still a useful machine. And a new battery is still way cheaper than a new Macbook. Not that I don't want a Macbook...

vader said on Wednesday, 08 April 2009

i too still use my 1.25ghz g4 15" powerbook and, although the battery was always terrible, it still performs well with imovie and idvd. the screen is rather dim though. i will be upgrading to a dell or a mac mini later this year as the other apple products are far too expensive.

leahk said on Wednesday, 08 April 2009

I miss my 12in iBook - even the 13in MB I replaced it with seemed just too big.

At 13in it was getting too big for real portability but the screen resolution was too low to make it a viable desktop replacement.

My key portable requirements are:
Light
Compact
Durable
Good Battery life
10 inch screen with ideally with 768 vertical resolution
Web Browsing
Blog Updating
Email

Currently a high res 17inch MBP fulfills my desktop replacement needs and a Lenovo s10e my portable requirements.

I really hope Apple let's me get rid of the Lenovo soon.

drphunt said on Wednesday, 08 April 2009

Yes, I have made this move too. The one thing that really bugs me is the Trackpad. I find it takes only toe slightest touch to zoom in and out crazily and then all too often when working in Keynote the images get rotated.

Unfortunately, I'm told it's not possible to turn these features off. Otherwise this new Macbook is the best "on the road" system for lecturers.

boywoolner said on Wednesday, 08 April 2009

My first generation 12" PowerBook is about to be retired. It has been dropped too many times on the power corner so a slight current runs through the whole thing. It charges your hand as you rest it beside the trackpad; it also play havoc with the wireless antenna and disrupts the signal on my DAB radio. I too have got to the point where I can't be bothered to spend £90 on a new battery. My wide currently uses it for eBay and email, so I'm sad to say that I won't be replacing it with another Mac but some sort of 12" netbook PC (where's the MacBook nano when you need it?) I will be buying myself a new MacBook Air to restore the balance in the force. I have to.

Boywoolner said on Wednesday, 08 April 2009

Did I just call my wife 'wide'?
Oh dear.

Minja said on Wednesday, 08 April 2009

I don't understand vader's remark that mac products are too expensive yet he bought a powerbook when mac portables were much more expensive than they are now: the 15" powerbok cost 2800euros a few years ago and now you get a 17" model for that amount of money plus loads more performance!, plus the new 24" iMacs have a new low price of 1400!! this is not meant as an advertisent for macs but I simply want to state that macs have never been this cheap before

Simjue92 said on Wednesday, 08 April 2009

Go powerbook 12" mine still lives, in fact it is now in use by my daughters partner until he gets into teaching and can afford a mac of his own. no its not cutting edge but its a great "netbook" and i bet u can get one at netbook prices on ebay, you see apple doo have a netbook :)

Minja said on Thursday, 09 April 2009

I don't understand vader's remark that mac products are too expensive yet he bought a powerbook when mac portables were much more expensive than they are now: the 15" powerbok cost 2800euros a few years ago and now you get a 17" model for that amount of money plus loads more performance!, plus the new 24" iMacs have a new low price of 1400!! this is not meant as an advertisent for macs but I simply want to state that macs have never been this cheap before

vader said on Tuesday, 14 April 2009

my powerbook cost £2200 6 years ago. i want to buy a desktop but apple have put the imac up by £150 and the cheapest mini is now £499. simply not good enough from apple. dell offer better spec for the money.

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