[geeks] Daily Dose of Unix

[Chris Byrne]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: geeks-bounces at sunhelp.org 
> 
> 
> What about a good Apple Powerbook? There are some pretty good 
> OSses for 
> them.
> 
> -- 
> Frank Van Damme

I love them. I want one. 

They USED to be a hell of a lot more expensive than a good x86 laptop,
but with the recent update they're really competitive with Sony and IBM
(the two most expensive major x86 laptop brands).

To match the specs of my two year old IBM would cost me $2299 for a
PowerBook. The powerbook would have a significantly lower screen
resolution, and a slightly higher speed, so I'd say that balances out.
That happens to be a lot less than what I paid for the IBM when it was
new, but at the time it was top of the line. The equivalent new IBM is
just over $2000. I've seen this model of powerbook and it's nice. I
almost bought one a few months ago, but in comparison I'd probably keep
my IBM. 

The mid-range brand new IBM is about $2500 vs $2799 for the apple
version (if you add optional integrated 802.11b, bluetooth, and a combo
drive to the IBM). The IBM has double the clock speed (probably 20%
higher performance realworld), but no superdrive. Once again I'd say
that makes the value proposition a wash, and the apple is is still the
nicer notebook. 

To match the new absolutely top of the line IBM I may be getting, I'd
have to go to the $3299 17 incher. The equivalent IBM is almost $4000
and to be honest I'd rate the apple as superior in every way to
excepting clock speed and graphical chipset, and those are balanced off
by not having superdrive or FireWire 800. 

I recently saw a demo at my local mac retailer. Its simply the best
looking laptop I've ever seen. Were I paying for the new laptop with my
own money, I guarantee I'd be buying the PowerBook. 

Chris Byrne