Thirty Months with a 12-inch PowerBook G4

In January 2005 I made the switch to Mac. I turned in my Dell Inspiron 3800 and crossed over to a 12″ PowerBook G4. It was like going from olive loaf to Kobe, American to gouda, or Kia to BMW. I was blown away.

I was given a freedom that can only be given from a machine that has been “built by people who get it–and by “it” I mean UI/VI design and industrial engineering.”* In Laymen’s terms: Apple’s hardware coupled with OS X make for a consistently enjoyable and captivating user experience.

Thirty months later I am still using my PowerBook every day. For 28 months it has been my primary machine. Seeing me through emailing, note-taking, web-surfing, graphic designing, web-site developing, AIMing and Quicksilvering.

All this time and no official review? Well, that’s all about to change. Read on, my friends. Read on.

The Specs – Numbers and Acronyms

  • 12″ PowerBook G4
  • 1.33GHz PowerPC Processor
  • 1.25 GB of RAM
  • 80 GB HDD at 4200 RPM
  • 1024 x 768 Screen Resolution
  • CD-ROM Combo Drive
  • 13 Stickers featuring an old-school Apple logo, Ableton Live, Ride Snowboards and Dakine.
  • Affectionately named Reepicheep

Why the 12″?

It was a toss up between the 15″ and the 12″ PowerBooks. I knew I needed a laptop for portability and the iBooks lacked the punch I needed. I liked the size and feel of the 12″ but also liked the extra pixels on the 15″. But ultimately it was my budget that made the decision.

There have been a few times that I have regretted not waiting a bit longer to save the money for the 15″. But for the most part, I have loved this little guy. He can go anywhere, and the custom fitted Brenthaven bag (which they don’t sell anymore) is one sweet accessory.

900 Days of Consecutive Use

I have used my PowerBook to some capacity nearly every day of the 900ish that I’ve owned it. Virtually every area of my life exists on my computer. Work, home and play. As I mentioned earlier – not only do I use it for standard daily tasks, but also for processor-intensive tasks such as print and web design.

It has held up like a champ and a faithful friend. However, I am beginning to notice some lag and general slow-down. The CPU heats up hotter and quicker than it used to, causing the fan to turn on more often. Also, after getting a Mac Pro as my main computer the G4 now seems much more sluggish than before.

What’s Next?

I plan on running my PowerBook into the ground. When Leopard comes out I’ll clean off my hard-drive and give it a nice fresh OS install, and clean app installs as well. Something I’ve only done once in all the time I’ve owned it.

Knowing that my PowerBook won’t last forever, I’ve already begun saving for another laptop. However, 5 minutes with an iPhone at the Apple store diverted the attention of that savings account. But eventually I will need to get a new laptop and when I do it will be a MacBook Pro. Since there is no such thing as a 12″ MBP, and probably never will be, I expect to get the 15″ model. But even if I had the option of a powerful sub-notebook, I think it would be a nice change to go for something with extra screen real estate.

Thirty Months with a 12-inch PowerBook G4

Get Smart The Movie

The all-new action comedy Get Smart –

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) is on a mission to thwart the latest plot for world domination by the evil crime syndicate known as KAOS.

I used to watch this show on Nick at Night all the time when I was a kid. Alas the movie is still 11 months away and has Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a key role.

I wonder what his shoe phone will look like.

Get Smart The Movie

sentenc.es

Mike Davidson –

I’ve written about e-mail overload issues in the past, and today I’m presenting what I believe is a simple, low-fi solution: sentenc.es.

I am adding a link to five.sentenc.es in my email signature for 7 days as an experiment.

UPDATE: The first response to the sentenc.es link – “I read your tag – you wouldn’t believe this email I have that’s so long I have been waiting years to reply to it. It’s like twenty pages and I keep meaning to . . . argh!”

sentenc.es

Why Apple Will Never Make a 12-inch MacBook Pro

At WWDC last month many fans of the 12-inch PowerBook G4 were hoping to see an announcement of it’s counterpart within the MacBook Pro lineup. Despite rumors going back and forth over the past 18 months nobody was certain. But sadly, no mention was made.

Since WWDC there have been the updates on the 15- and 17-inch MBP screens and the rumors of the new iMac line and the death of the 17″ iMac. But still no rumors of an ultra-powerful ultra-portable.

Apple’s product line

After reading John’s article on OS X-Based iPods, it became apparent as to why we will not see a 12-inch MacBook Pro. John says, “Apple treats its product line-up like a product itself — it is designed to be obvious and easy to understand.”

Look at the computer lineup. It’s incredibly easy to pick just the right computer.

  • Do you work from home and need something with 20,000,000 horsepower? Get a MacPro.
  • Do you only check your email and want a little remote control to pump the jams? Get an iMac.
  • Do you work hard whenever and wherever you want? Get a MacBook Pro.
  • Do you check your email from the local coffee shop, and still want a little remote control to pump the jams? Get a MacBook.

No Room

Take a look at their MacBook page. Apple hasn’t left any place for a 12-inch MBP.

The plastic MacBooks are marketed towards iLife and Front Row users – something you don’t need the power of a MacBook Pro to do; while the pro lineup is marketed towards video and image editing – something you need more screen real estate for.

Buried

Apple has told us that a person needing more punch from their laptop also needs more pixels. Although many of us would love to see an ultra portable powerhouse it’s obvious that the 12-inch PowerBook has been buried in order to leave less clutter in the Macintosh product line.

Why Apple Will Never Make a 12-inch MacBook Pro

Multi-Touch on the Desktop

If you’re one of the people who think that a multi-touch monitor is a good idea, try this little experiment: touch the top and bottom of your display repeatedly for five minutes. Unless you’re able to beat the governor of California in an arm wrestling match, you’ll give up well before that time limit. […] The bottom line is that we’ve only just begun a journey that will fundamentally change the way we interact with machines

I love furbo.org because Craig actually knows what he’s talking about.

Multi-Touch on the Desktop

My Five Favorite Apps as a Multi-Mac User

At home I have a Mac Pro I use as my main workstation. I also have a 12″ PowerBook that I take everywhere I go.

The more identical these two computers are the better. I want them to have the same desktop wallpaper, the same dock apps, the same everything. I want my project lists, my emails, my RSS feeds and my web-development to all be synced and mirrored on both computers.

It took me a while, but I found applications that work with my daily routine that will sync between two computers, making it easy to have a seamless work-flow from my Mac Pro to my PowerBook and back again.

.Mac

Dot Mac
This is the first step for anyone with more than one Mac computer.

Dot Mac will sync the bulk of your most important, ever changing info. Such as

  • Safari bookmarks
  • Your grandma’s new email address
  • Your friends’ wireless network password
  • Your latest email signature
  • That hot date next Friday
  • … and more …

Email – Go IMAP

Apple Mail
If you’re using a desktop email client such as Mail.app or Entourage, you want organize your email on the server. It will be oodles easier to read and manage your email from several different computers. To do this, simply use an IMAP email.

With IMAP set up you can create folders on your mail server to help you stay orgainzed. These folders are automatically synced between your two computers. On my .Mac email account I have a ‘Reply’ folder, a ‘Follow Up’ folder and a ‘Hold’ folder.

If I’m on my desktop at home and can’t respond to an email right away, I drop it into the reply folder. Then, when I am on my laptop checking email later, I view what’s in the reply folder to see what emails I need to respond to. And since it’s IMAP I don’t have to re-sort all my email when I check it on a different computer. It stays synced.

Feed Reader – NetNewsWire

NetNewsWire
I prefer to use a desktop feed reader so I can catch up on feeds when I’m traveling. But there’s nothing worse than checking my feeds in the morning on my desktop computer, and then opening up my feed reader later in the afternoon on my laptop only to have to re-read 150 posts I already went through.

NetNewsWire flawlessly syncs with multiple computers so my laptop knows what I already read on my desktop, and vice-a-versa.

Project and Task Managment – iGTD

iGTD
Four letters: iGTD.

I can add, delete and edit anything and iGTD keeps itself identical between multiple computers. Making projects, ToDo lists, and everything else easily available on both computers.

Web Development – Coda

Coda Web Development
I have fallen in love with Coda.

With Coda it is extremely simple to do server side editing. Making it an ideal program for average web developer who codes at home and at the coffee shop.

My Five Favorite Apps as a Multi-Mac User