Home > Consumer Reviews > Apple Powerbook Laptop M8591LL/A (667-MHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 30 GB hard drive)

This Powerbook is my 7th Apple Laptop. My wife and I currently own three. I needed to replace my Powerbook G3 FireWire (Pismo) but didn't like all the specs on the Ti G4, which was first introduced in January of 2001. This generation added everything I had complained about. 1. Mic in port. 2. Higher Res Screen. 3. More VRAM (32mb from 16mb). and 4. the ability to drive an external monitor from a digital output. This machine is fast and an absolute pleasure to use.

I just picked up my first Apple computer after 20 years of working on PC's. I decided on the Powerbook after studying notebooks based on Windows as well as OS X. I kept coming back to the Apple's due to the quality and features.

After my first day on my Powerbook I'm not disapointed. The screen is beautiful and the quality of the notebook is top notch. Compared to the quality of PC notebooks the Apple's stand above the rest. I'm still getting use to where everything is located but over time I'm sure it will be as comfortable as working on my Windows machine.

I also purchased the Airport wireless so I could surf the internet from anywhere in the house. If you are setting up the Airport via dialup or broadband the setup is straight forward. If you are trying to setup on your home network it is not quite so easy. I had to make 2 calls to Apple support to finally get it connected to the ethernet lan. Now that it is up and running I love it.

All in all I give high praise to Apple for the job they did on the Powerbook and OS X. The only negatives so far are the battery time and heat output . The battery seems to drain faily quickly when you have the airport card and a cd running. The laptop does generate a good bit of heat. Not sure if its the case material that is transfering the heat more than a typical laptop but after a medium amount of use the laptop gets pretty warm.

This is an awesome laptop. My company bought me the powerbook and my coworker a HP P4 1.6 ghz- both with 512 mbs of memomry. He prefers the HP only because the applications that he uses (mis guy)is more available on windows (plus he's always been a pc guy). I've also have always been a PC user (and still am). I've compared using photoshop, quark, flash, microsoft office on both systems. Even when rasterizing eps files, i didn't really notice the speed difference. Both systems had plenty of memory and I haven't had any problems with it freezing up. The screen on the apple is so much nicer (and wider) than the HP. It is also so much easier and more reliable to burn cd's (both music and data) on the apple than the hp. Both systems hooked up to the network pretty easy- however the apple had a built in wireless (airport) while the hp needed a seperate card. The apple is also alot lighter and slimmer than the hp and you can tell the design is so much better. the apple is made of titanium and carbon fibre i believe and everything is designed so clean. Another nice thing about the apple over the hp was that all the included software was usefull and good (itunes, imovies, etc) while the hp was loaded with alot annoying junk software (including all the internet junk).

The only complaint about apple is that other than the essential softwares and even components - programs are harder to comeby and usually really expensive.

The Powerbook G4 is one of those computers that once you start using makes you wonder how you lived without it. I have owned by Powerbook G4 Titanium for about a month and it is great. I use my PBG4 at work where we have Airport and use it for everything. I do however get frustrated when I get out of range and I am annoyed that the Powerbook has a smaller range than my old iBook. The speed is what makes me amazed. In Mac OS 10.2 this baby clocks faster than the speed limit. I love the combo drive to burn and to watch DVDs on those rainy days. Sound is great and PC Card slot is great to have. Another cool feature is the LED lights on the battery that let you tell how much power you have without turning the computer on. Also, speaking of batterteries the Powerbook is great on long business flights when you're watching a DVD and it goes long. If you're like me and you carry a spare you can change batteries without shutting down, thanks to an internal 3-minute battery. Almost everything is great. There it is.... almost. As much as I love my PBG4 there are some cons. I am disappointed that with the new PB there is no IR port as there was with the older models. I also would have liked the computer to come with more than one Firewire port. Another thing that would have been great is a set of media keys either on the keyboard or somewhere on the case to control iTunes when listening to Cds or MP3s. Despite these cons there is no reason one should not go out right now and buy one! Do it, you will not regret it.

This is one of the best powerbooks I've ever owned expect for one minor bugger.... at times the chasis can get a little too hot to put on your lap. But with today's faster processors comes with more heat, so I guess it's no big-e. I used a coupon from UnderTag.com, so it was a bargain for me too.