I need a new laptop (have a 4 year old Dell running Windows 98 which is stretching these days) and am very interested in a 12" Powerbook G4. Used to be a dedicated Mac user, but changed to PC's 8 years ago (got married to a PC geek who knew nothing about Mac's, seemed reasonable at the time althought I have never really liked Windows). My question now is this: I use this primarilyfor business. Need to hook into hotel high speed connections, give PowerPoint presentations on random LCD projectors that are provided (yes, I have one, but I don't fly with it) etc. When I used Mac's before there was a lot that was not Mac compatible. Have things changed enought that I can be on the road with a Mac and not worry about being compatible? Is there any reason (I hope not!) I should not get the Powerbook??

trivial, both wired and wireless. 802.11g (aka airport) and bluetooth are standard on all powerbooks as well as ethernet and a 56k modem. powerpoint is part of microsoft office for the mac, and apple offers keynote which has additional capabilities (including compatibility with powerpoint). if you are going to share the presentation files, you might want to stick with powerpoint, but if you are just giving presentations, then see if keynote might work for you.what do you need to do? the major software packages exisit on both platforms (photoshop, microsoft office, etc.). and if there is something you really need to run in windows, you can run virtual pc.

Open Office is free and available for the MAC (instead of MS Office).

-David

If the key issues are using PowerPoint, plugging into projectors and hooking up to various internet connections, you should have very little trouble with a Mac PowerBook. To go further, there is really nothing significant I know of that can be done on Windows but not on Mac OS. The only issue I can think of that comes up sometimes is that someone will suggest you use XYZ application to do something, and you may have to come up with ABC substitute application because XYZ is only for Windows. But I've never had trouble finding such a substitute. And even then if all else fails, you can use Virtual PC to run Windows on your Mac.

At work we use Macs anyway, but I'm confident that I could get by in most Windows environments with only a Mac.

There was a thread here several months back started by someone grappling with the same question. He/she made the switch but then switched back because, in the final analysis, he/she was more used to Windows. The best OS for most people is the one they know, since their mind expects the computer to work the way that OS does.

This wouldn't apply in your case because you already have some Macintosh experience and basically like it. Starting from there, I wouldn't expect any problems. My experience using a Mac in a number of business environments parallels that of previous posters: no trouble. I spent four years in a multi-platform company where we exchanged all sorts of documents, including some industrial-strength FileMaker Pro databases, routinely. And I regularly see people who are not familiar with Macs amazed at how easy it is to do things that require three trips around the mulberry bush in a Windows-based system.

One funny story, which I'll take advantage of having the floor to bore readers with:

I was at Compaq HQ in Houston (before HP bought them) for a presentation. We hooked up my PowerBook to the projector installed in the conference room. Nothing happened. Not a photon out of the thing.

There were about 20 people in the room. About 15 of us had solid technical backgrounds. We spent at least five minutes trying everything we could think of. (Yes, we checked the power cord.) I endured a certain amount of "if you had used a Compaq, this wouldn't have happened," but since I had used that PB with over a dozen different projectors by then I was fairly sure that wasn't the problem.

We finally called tech support. Someone came over in less than a minute. He walked to the front of the room, to a switch clearly labeled "PROJECTOR." He moved it from a direction clearly labeled "OFF" to a direction clearly labeled "ON." As my Mac desktop emerged on the screen in full color, he turned to us, smiled, and asked in the nicest possible voice "Anything else I can do for you folks?"

I doubt you'll have any worse problems with your Mac than that.

There is a reason (and maybe several) why Macs are 5% market share at best. And even less in business, as most of their sales are in schools.

I'd recommend an IBM Thinkpad T41.

I work for a newspaper in the IT department and we use both Macs and PCs. Here's my $0.02 on what questions you need to ask yourself before you replace your laptop.

Other then Powerpoint, do you have any other applications that you currently use on your PC that you would like to use on a Mac?

If so, is the application available on the Mac and does it use the exact same file format as your PC version? In earlier releases of MS Office the Mac version would be 6 months+ behind the Windows release and this causes some headaches whenever Microsoft changed the file format.

Does the Mac version of the program you currently use offer the same feature set that you current use on the PC? Again, I've seen this a lot with Microsoft and a couple of other vendors where the Mac version may be missing a feature that the PC version has. This is only important if you use that particular feature. I use MS Outlook on the PC and need the ability to assign tasks to people, that feature is not available on MS Outlook on the Mac. BTW, the Mac version of Outlook will only work if you connect to an Exchange server and can either run OS 9 or classic mode in OS X.

If there is not a Mac version available of your current program, can you find a substitute program that can read your existing data? I've found some great substitute programs for a number of applications that I think work just as good as the programs that I would normally use under Windows, but if you cann't read your existing files a substitute doesn't do any good, unless of course you don't mind recreating all of your files.

What is the cost involved in replacing the applications for use on a Mac? You may still qualify for upgrade pricing, in other cases you may have to buy the full version which is more expensive.

Are there any programs may want to run on the laptop in the future that are only available on one platform or the other?

Have you used Mac OS X? It is nothing like OS 9 and eariler. If you have used it do you like using it?

Under OS X, it is less likely your computer would get infected with viruses or spyware but still possible.

Virtual PC is an option if you need to run Windows programs on a Mac but be warned it is very slow. I just installed Virtual PC 7 on a dual processor 2.5Ghz G5 with 2GB of ram, and well I think my 4 year old PIII 600 at home ran programs faster.

It is hard to find a laptop anymore on either platform that does not come with or offer wireless networking (802.11 b/g aka Apple Airport), wired networking (usually a 10/100 NIC card if not 10/100/1000), a 56kbps modem built into the laptop.

Most USB devices I've found are Mac compatible, usually via Apple's built in drives or from the manufacturer.

I still think Macs need much more ram then Windows does to perform well. I wouldn't recommend running OS X with less then 512MB of ram, and for most applications under Windows 512MB is more then enough.

The 12" Powerbook will come with a Firewire port, so you could connect a Firewire device to it. This may or may not be offered as an option on a PC.

The 12" Powerbooks only offer a MiniDVI video out, so you would need an MiniDVI to VGA adapter to connect the laptop to a projector. Most Windows laptops still have VGA video out.

The Powerbooks just have a touchpad for the mouse. On a Windows laptop the pointing device can vary by manufacturer, you can have a touchpad, the "eraser" style, or Dell gives you both.

After all of that since you are going to be taking it on the road the laptop needs to be reliable. I would suggest checking out PC Magazine's 17th Annual Reader Satification Survey.

After all of that, which one would I go with? I'd go with what ever one was cheaper for me after I added in the cost of software, hardware, and any tweaking (adding extra ram, adapters, etc), I wanted to do to the system.

Many thanks wr_schwab and all of you for the thoughtful and helpful responses. The easiest, cheapest and lightest thing to do (the 12" powerbook is still heavier than I would like) would be to get a new PC laptop, but I am going to spend the time and money to make the change. When I was using macs exclusively 10 years ago there were so little ability to use them easily in a mixed and business environment, but that has all changed. Plus there is that G5 I have been lusting after and my desktop PC is getting a bit old too.....

I was in your same situation 2+ years ago when the 3 pound ThinkPad had to be replaced. I finally decided on a 15" PowerBook - mainly because of the display. The reason for the move to Mac, however, was that I travel on 3 - 4 week overseas business trips and did not want to be exposed to the various bits of mal-ware (virus attacks, worms, etc) that PCs are exposed to.

I did have one small proprietary Windows app and picked up VirtualPC to take care of that.

Since then I have moved everything to the Mac - except for that one proprietary app. The need to reinstall Windows on the office Dell was the last straw.

This year has been a good one for Apple - I upgraded the PB in April, replaced the original iPod with a 40GB version (my back up drive on the road), ordered the new 20" iMac the day it was announced, got my wife an iBook for her job (and an iPod so she wouldn't want mine) two iSights for when I'm on the road, a 23" display for use in the office with the PB, Airport for home wireless and Airport Express for wireless on the road.

(Pretty much shows that I have had it with the battles of Windows!)

MS has a new version of Office out that is current (or ahead of the XP version) and also includes VPC in the top of the line version. Other programs are generally compatible on both platforms, unless it is a proprietary app.

I have also found that there are a lot more apps than I ever used on PCs. The Apple site has a good list as does

http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps/cats.php

which lists 11,000+ apps for OS X, from freeware to commercial.

Now I'm really having a ball. No worries about malware, lots of digital pics (I'm a grandpa) starting to play with digital movies, scanned in a ton of old family pics that I am cleaning up with Photoshop Elements 3, and a lot more things than I ever thought about when using a PC. A hell of a lot more fun.

The 12" PB is great, but if you are on the road a lot also look at the 15". I buy a lot of cheap (or second hand) DVDs for watching on planes and in hotel rooms and it's a nice size. It is heavier, but offers a bit more.

As for the G5 iMac, it is to droll for. I ordered at 6AM on Day One and have loved it. I do get Applecare for all Macs and buy the memory from Crucial as Apple really charges for memory. I always max out the hard drive and get the wireless card.

(Note - your DO have at least one kid in school, you know the name of the school and the ZIP code so you will be able to get your education discount on the Apple web site. Two kids, as I recall, equal 2 computers at the discount per year. PLUS a free printer each time you order a computer - based on a $99 rebate.)

Go have fun with the Mac - if you enjoy yours half as much as I enjoy mine you'll never go back to PC!

I had been using Macs then switched because of the instability of the OS. Probably about the same time you did. I switched back not long after OSX and the new 12 inch powerbooks came out. I got started travelling with it and giving presentations with it about a year and a half ago, maybe more. I have had a couple resolution issues with projectors but I have seen that with PCs as well. One reason I switched was because I thought the networking would be easier while travelling and I think it is. I more recently bought a 17 inch PB to use as a foldable desktop at home and on the few trips where I may want the larger screen. Two weeks ago I bought an airport express wireless port and it took me all of 3 minutes to set up a wireless network in my hotel room using it. Im really sold on the Mac notebooks. My main desktop in my office is a Dell and I can remotely mount drives from it or the rest of our Windows storage system using a Cisco VPN on the Powerbook to hook up. The new OSX has better security and is less likely to get viruses than a PC system. I use Outlook, MS Office and Firefox on the Mac without difficulty.

A big reason Macs have a lower market share is historical. Some of it dates back to the early dominance of Lotus 123 for business users. That isnt too relative now. OSX is more or less Unix. It has a huge amount to offer over Windows. There are some limitations with the Macs, handheld compatibility being one, but so to are there limitations with PCs. Go with the Mac.

I have two Apple laptops and both came with a DVI/VGA adapter cable as standard equipment. Additionally, many new projectors also have DVI connectors (i.e., digital), so having a DVI connector on the laptop can be an advantage.

I am now really struggling with the 12" vs 15" decision. My current laptop is a Dell Latitude w/o drives and is compact and light. I have loved the fact that as a relatively small woman I can haul it around airports without getting back pain. I have already decided on DVD/CD drive this time (the lack of weight was nice, but the lack of drive got to be a pain at times...) but am balking at the difference in weight with the 15" (although I must admit that when it comes to the screen size matters!)

Any input from anyone on the "under the hood differences" btw the two? I know there are some, but am just not sure how much they matter.

MTIA

I have the 12 and 17 inch and my wife has the 15 inch but she doesnt travel. The only difference I have noticed is that the 12 inch doesnt have a OC card slot. Initially that was a problem for me because I wanted to read IBM microdrives and CF cards and used a PC card adapter to do that. However, I recently bought a memory card reader that plugs into a USB 2 slot from ecost.com for like $14 that solved the problem. It plugs into the USB slot and reads reads most all memory card formats including microdrives and is really compact so it stays in my briefcase.

I think the real difference between the 12 inch and the larger ones is as much or more form factor than weight. The 15 inch and especially the 17 inch are really wide. They wont fit in all of my various bags well. The 12 inch will fit in about anything I have. I can even fit it in my little Head Porter metrosexual bag if I leave the padded case off. To me the flexibility in packing is really important. Ive travelled with the 17 inch once or twice and it is a struggle to get it out of the bag going through security and crap. Really depends on whether the portability or size are more important for you.

The 12" PowerBook includes a MiniDVI to VGA adapter (as well as a MiniDVI to DVI adapter). Even so, if you do get one, I would recommend spending the $19 and buying a second adapter. They're small, and very easy to lose.

Aside from not having a PC card slot, the 12" PB also has slower Ethernet (no Gigabit, won't matter if you use only the more widely available 10 and/or 100 MB/sec versions); slower FireWire (one 400 MB/sec port vs. one 400 and one 800, not likely to make a practical difference); and a slower internal graphics card, which won't matter unless you're heavily into role-playing games or other applications that stress the graphics.

The 15" PB can also be bought at 1.5GHz, vs. 1.33 for the 12" and the slower 15". The faster one has a larger disk drive (80 GB vs. 60, which should be adequate for anyone not storing huge amounts of multimedia) and an internally illuminated keyboard, which looks really cool in dark rooms but is IMHO otherwise seldom worth spending real money for.