>> I checked, they were Rev A, and I gave them a pass and got a 14" G4 >> iBook for my wife instead.
> Whoa, I missed these posts, what were the reasons for avoiding rev. A?? > > (I picked up a 1st-gen 17" CompUSA store demo at Christmas, and hadn't > heard anything bad about it - at least, anything that an iBook was > better at.) First, you probably did not miss these posts. I may have made my inquiries about the Albook on another List, either iBook or OS X List. It was suggested that I read the very detailed Ars Technica report on this model PowerBook, which I did and which I recommend to you. <http://arstechnica.com/reviews/003/laptop/powerbook/pbg4-1.html> ...is the URl for the Ars Technica review. It mentions lid-closing problems, lid gap problems, and "The Dead Pixel Dilemma". The reviewer's Summary: **************** The Big Picture The 15" Aluminum PowerBook G4 is a balanced, capable laptop computer that is experiencing some significant first-production-run jitters. If you are a perfectionist (like many Mac users, including me) then you may start to see small problems everywhere. For example, my up-arrow key cap is slightly higher on one side, and my battery has a tiny bit of in-and-out play when seated in the PowerBook's base. All of these things can build up to the point where you are no longer satisfied with your PowerBook. There are several stories on the web of people who have reached this point, returning their AlBook's and sometimes paying a large restocking fee to do so. As I wrote earlier, this is not the route I chose. Despite its quirks, my AlBook is still a functional and useful product. It also helps that I will not be the primary user of the PowerBook. My wife motivated the initiation and timing of this purchase. She's been waiting for a laptop for a long time (I had convinced her to wait for the TiBook's successor, which was due "any day now" for nine months) and she didn't want to wait any longer. My wife is even more reluctant than I am to give up her new toy and send it away for a latch repair. She also thinks I'm slightly crazy to care about "details" like the lid gap, and couldn't care less about a slightly-crooked keycap. Hey, if she's happy, I'm happy. *************** You might also find this discussion thread on the Albook interesting: http://tech-geeks.org/tiny.php?url=1058 In short: I was about to buy my first laptop, I was undecided as to whether to get an iBook or a Power Book and I was doing a lot of investigation on the subject. Along came the DealMac info that SmallDog was selling a passle of Albooks for a very attractive price. Information on the Albook indicating problems with bad pixels, latch problems, case warping, etc., led me to look at and purchase a new 14" iBook instead. Hope you find this helpful, bob -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
