Depends on what you intend to do with your Powerbook. The only real issues are cost, processing power and repair/expandability.
My own personal observation is that most laptop screens are too small to do any serious CAD/Design/Music/Gaming apps. No doubt there will be some users with a 12" iBook creating A0 life sized architectural drawings, or running various audio packages to record 48 live tracks in one take, so this is just my generalised observation. You are stuck with the bog standard graphics and sound chips with no way to upgrade them. To add a decent Audio Input, I have to rely on either USB or Firewire breakout boxes. The "mouse controls" on laptops are awkward and clumsy compared to a mouse, but you can use an external one. I personally find laptop keyboards cramped. Whilst I like the 17" Powerbook, they have not used the extra space to expand the keyboard. Laptops are always far more expensive than their tower counterparts and also lag behind towers in processor power and speed. Remember that just because a laptop processor is rated at say 500MHz, it will often actually run at far less than the rated speed to prevent overheating as there is no room for a huge heatsink and fan. The speed drop is even more noticeable when you use only the battery as higher processing speed equates to shorter battery life. Hardware upgrades are also more expensive, ie a 40GB Hard drive for my ThinkPad set me back AUS $280, yet the PC Tower equivalent is only $89. USB and Firewire external devices are very expensive compared with internal versions found in a typical tower. You are locked into a specific and very limited upgrade route since most parts are specialist. If you hate the thought of having external hardware hanging off it, a tower may be the best option. There's also the wear and tear factor too whereby the constant plugging and unplugging will hammer contacts and connections on a laptop, whereas you tend to plug in a tower and leave it. Most laptops have RAM and hardware limitations, but if you are OK with a DVD/CDRW drive and a hard drive, plus a few Firewire,USB and Ethernet ports then you will be fine. For most things I don't really see a downside to using a Powerbook. Pete -----Original Message----- From: iMac List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Claire Hart Sent: Thursday, 22 April 2004 2:35 PM To: iMac List Subject: Comparing Powerbooks to i/eMacs & towers Here's a question that I hope generates some discussion. Would there be a downside to getting a powerbook as your main or only computer? What can you NOT do on a laptop that you CAN do on an eMac, iMac or tower? Thanks, Claire -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> 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/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com --------------------------------------------------------------- -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> 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/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
