Home > Consumer Reviews > Apple PowerBook Laptop 15.2" M8981LL/A (1.25-GHz PowerPC G4, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD-R/CD-RW Drive)

It's been 3 years since I joined Apple's bandwagon, courtesy of 2nd generation top-of-the-line PowerBook G4. Back then, it represented state-of-the-art with 1" thick titanium-finished chassis and 15.2" widescreen LCD, filled with many desktop-like features: 667 MHz G4 processor (up from 500 MHz of 1st generation PowerBook G4), gigabit ethernet (up from fast ethernet), built-in AirPort (was optional), and DVD/CD-RW combo drive (was DVD-ROM or CD-RW only).

Two more generations of PowerBooks later (3rd added 1280 by 854 LCD, DVI output, faster graphics, and 800 MHz G4; 4th added 1 GHz G4, faster graphics, and SuperDrive), we get more substantial upgrade. No, this 5th generation PowerBook does not have a G5 processor. Mobile G5 probably isn't due for another year or so (Apple and IBM are busy at work cranking out PowerPC 980).

The most radical upgrade has to be aluminum alloy chassis. While not as hip as titanium, aluminum alloy is about as strong as titanium, while looking beautiful and providing one important benefit: nothing's painted over it. Pure aluminum alloy finish. Titanium PowerBooks were notorious for paint chipping off. Now the PowerBooks will stay beautiful year after year. As an added benefit, every keys on the keyboard are painted in aluminum alloy to give more complete metallic look and feel.

Other notable improvements include:
- 1.25 GHz G4 processor (10-25% faster than 1 GHz predecessor)
- AirPort Extreme (802.11g) and Bluetooth
- USB 2.0 and FireWire 800
- Faster 167 MHz FSB with DDR RAM support
- Up to 2 GB of DDR RAM
- ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 graphics card
- Backlit keyboard
- 3 speakers

Last generations of PowerMac G4s lacked many bleeding edge technologies (e.g., PCI Express, Serial ATA). And it being a generation or two before PowerBook G5 arrives, lacks some cutting edge technologies as well: high resolution 15.4" LCD, 7200 RPM hard disk, PCI Express card, faster FSB, digital audio I/O, and higher capacity battery with advanced power saving technologies.

Until then, you should proudly carry 5th generation PowerBook G4, knowing it is among the most powerful and certainly MOST beautiful notebook on the market.

Pros:
- Feels very fast (helped by 1.25 GHz G4 processor with large 512 KB L2 cache, DDR RAM, and ATI Mobility Radeon 9600)
- Very well equipped -- no additional hardware purchase required (although some will want more memory and/or extra battery)
- Simply beautiful... the most beautiful PowerBook yet
- Fantastic connectivity options
- Light and slim for a desktop replacement notebook

Cons:
- Among the most expensive notebooks in its class
- While it feels fast, it is slower than many Centrino notebooks
- 15.2" LCD is limited to 1280 by 854 resolution, which is among the lowest in its price range
- It is slightly larger and heavier than previous Titanium PowerBooks
- Shorter battery life than earlier PowerBook and many Centrino notebooks
- Earlier builds are plagued with white spots on the LCD and lid not closing evenly (both issues should be fixed by now)
- No docking station option

I've used macs and pcs for the past 10 years and owned both windows and macos machines. This powerbook is simply the best you can get for your money. For every one person who writes a bad review here, there are 1000 happy ones - just keep that in mind.

Pluses:
Aluminum case is extremely strong, scratch resistant and solid feeling
Keyboard is firm with excellent depth of th keys
Display hinge is sturdier than any other laptop I've seen
Ports on sides are easily accessible and thoughtfully layed out
Slot loading cd
Speakers are unusually good for a laptop - great separation
Display is gorgeous, crisp and bright - and enormous
Weighs only 5.6 pounds and is only an inch thick
SILENT: have never heard a fan go on in this baby. T O T A L L Y silent!

Minuses:
Display seems slightly warped - hardly detectable, but still.
Bottom of the casing gets very warm
can't think of anything else! Maybe price? It's always nice if things are cheaper, right?

Quite frankly, the fit and finish of this computer is second to none - beats the old titanium powerbooks hands down.

Macos X panther= fast, rock stable, beautiful, fun and intuitive

the combination of powerbook and macos x panther= unbeatable.

First of all, I'll begin by saying I've been a long time PC user for years. I've always admired the Macs, but they never had the right OS. The 10.2 version of OS X definitely changed that for me.

You see, I use PCs because frankly, they were cheaper and had more software compatibility, but they have security issues and stability issues. I like the UNIX systems (Linux and Solaris) for their robustness, but frankly, I never could get into XWindows.

Now, w/ Mac OS X, I have a great UI and a UNIX shell for power use -- sounds like Nirvana!

So I finally caved in and picked up a Powerbook 15. The 12" is a little too small, and the 17" is too large to be portable. I took the wraps off the 15" Powerbook and set it next to my Dell Inspiron. Never has my Dell looked so ugly than when next to this aluminum beauty.

I powered up the Powerbook and quickly figured out my way around. My only gripe was that the Terminal application was buried two levels deep in the menu, but that was quickly fixed by pinning it to the dock. All my favorite UNIX tools were there: perl, awk, gcc, and vi. What do you know SSH is there out of the box.

Within minutes, I had downloaded eclipse, set up an SSH tunnel to my office and was working on the same Java application that I had been working on my Dell. The only difference is I didn't have to download 15 applications to get it all working. Beauty!

One downside -- the laptop is so beautiful that I'm being extraordinarily (picky) about how I put it away. I kept some of the packaging and continue to use it. I put the foam sheet between the keyboard and the screen when I close the powerbook and I cover it w/ the foam cover to prevent it from getting scratched when I stow it away into my bag. :)

i have been actively looking for a new computer for the past six months. with so many variables, i found it hard to to fall in love with just one. price was a huge concern but i knew i didn't want to settle for a product i wouldn't want to use in 6 months. I knew OS X was a superior product compared to windows but i was apprehensive about compatibility problems. Once the aluminum came out though, i had to have it. it was more expensive than the titanium and the dell (d600), but after using mine for about twenty four hours now, i can honestly say you get what you pay for. Its as fast as you could ever want, the wireless is awesome, the whole i-suite is so easy and pleasing to use, windows office works seemlessly, and its all grounded by the best OS available. i have seemlessly set up the wireless using a netgear mr814v2 (they tried to convince me to spend an extra $100 for the airport ext base station but i'll never get more than 10mps over the cable anyway), my hp psc 2210 was easy to install as well (i have yet to put it through its paces though). as a student, my primary needs for the laptop were portability and word processing with wireless internet. I kept telling myself: "bare essentials." that pretty much went out the window (no pun intented) with this purchase but i have no regrets. its awesome. They should ship this product with a disclaimer though, in the past twenty four hours, i've left the house twice and both times i couldn't wait to get back and play with my toy. buyers remorse? only for windows chumps.

While Apple's 12" and 17" new PowerBooks were great, they tended to be for niche markets. The 12" was aimed at journalists and others who needed a full-function laptop as small as possible. The 17" seems to be used more in place of a desktop than as a laptop. Now all the new technologies previously only available in the 17" model, such as built in AirPort Extreme, the back-lit keyboard which adjusts automatically, the high-speed system bus, and built in 800Mbps FireWire are available in the most convenient laptop size. I have been able to use the system in an advance release at my university and it is stunning. It is fast, the SuperDrive is excellent, and the features are great. Of course it ships with OS X and Apple's iSoftware, all of which are great. I used to use a Windows based PC, but have really appreciated both the power and ease of use of OS X. And now I can use two mouse buttons. It is certainly a laptop well worth waiting for.