By Pete Czech - 3/14/03

For a long time, the Macintosh platform was regarded as a haven for the "creative types." Often, most of us PC users regarded Mac users as a fanatical group of people (I'll admit it) - kind of like Volkswagen drivers. Volkswagens are really fun to drive, but cost a little more, and customers tend to stay loyal to the company, even through tough times and sometimes less than excellent performance.

So, as a PC user, I never really thought much about the Mac, instead choosing to stick with my boring, beige PC. However, the more I was exposed to the MacOS X platform, the more intrigued I became. Could it really be crash-proof? Could it really run PHP and MySQL smoothly? Upon seeing that Apple introduced a 4lb, 12" model of the PowerBook, I knew it had become time to attempt to make "The Switch."

The Specs

First, I can honestly say that the 12" PowerBook is the most powerful notebook in its class. In this tiny package, my PowerBook has 256 MB Ram (easily upgradable), a 60 GB hard disk, an 867 MHZ G4 Processor, and a Superdrive (Apples DVD Burner/Reader). The 12" PowerBook is enclosed in an aluminum alloy casing - which is strong yet lightweight, and just over an inch thin. My configuration includes an Airport Extreme card, for wireless networking up to 54 MPS, if your Wireless Access Point supports it. Users can use various devices via the 2 USB and 1 Firewire connection offered. Other ports include a VGA Monitor adapter as well as a RCA/SVideo connection.

MacOS X

MacOS X is a great OS. Easy to use, and fairly stable. I say fairly only because as I was proceeding with the initial setup, the computer hung up as it was syncing its clock. Whoops. So, it isn't 100% crashproof, but close.

MacOS will never be as fast as windows in certain aspects. I noticed that simple browsing and moving about text and spreadsheets is slower than my Pentium 3, 1 Ghz PC. This takes some getting used to for a ex PC user, and can be frustrating at times. However, something about the clean aqua interface makes the pain a little less... umm... painful.

Great Features They Don't Mention

• The speakers - they produce great audio quality. Located in the back of the casing, you can listen to your music while you work and it will sound better than 95% of most notebooks out there.
• Locations - MacOS can configure multiple locations for internet access. I have it set up for travel dial-up, home network, and a work network. How great is that?
• The dock - The dock is great. For some reason its just a more appealing user experience than anything windows has offered.
• Photo editing - MacOS has always displayed digital photos better than a PC, mostly due to the different gamma setting. And the clear 12.1" XGA TFT display makes it even better!
• Slot Loading CD - This is such a great feature. It saves you from having a CD slide out by accidentally hitting an eject button, and from ever breaking a flimsy loader.
• Bluetooth - With built-in Bluetooth capabilities, I set up a Ericsson T68 phone to operate as a modem. Cool!

Drawbacks

• Heat - This notebook gets HOT. It has no built in fan, and the aluminum casing simply conducts the heat even worse. A user who is working in shorts with this computer on his lap could get burned. I'd keep it away from anything remotely flamable as well!
• iChat - Why does it shut down when the screen goes to sleep? I must be doing something wrong...
• Expandability - No PCMCIA slots... So future expansion is limited. No USB2 either. But, at 4.6lbs, what more do you want?

Ideal for Web Developers

The PowerBook and MacOS is an unbeatable combination for a web developer. Macromedia and Adobe support MacOS and offer all of their products on the platform. A simple installation of PHP and MySQL (we used the binary distributions at www.entrophy.ch) lets you test server-side code right on your laptop. I managed to develop an entire database-driven website on the PowerBook and then upload it to my server for the final product.

Conclusion

The Mac is all that, and more. It can do everything that Windows can do, and in most cases do it better. However, it will take a while for advanced windows users to get acclimated to the new OS and some of its quirks. However, if you are looking for a machine for web development, video editing, publishing or anything creative - and want to take your work all over with you - the 12" PowerBook is the way to go!

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