Home > Consumer Reviews > Apple PowerBook Laptop 12" M9183LL/A (1.33-GHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

This is my first Apple computer and I am asking myself why did I waited so long. I am a part time wedding photographer and avid computer hobbyist. After much research, I decided to buy my first Apple computer, a 12" Powerbook. First of all the Powerbook is a piece of art. It is solid, elegant and very well designed. It is small and light. The keyboard feels good, the screen is bright and clear. Te battery life is among the best, I get about 4 hours with the Airport Extreme enabled. The Powerbook came with a great suite of software.

If you decide to buy a powerbook, make sure you buy additonal ram for it. 256 mb is not enough, get a least a 512.

I was looking into buying a new computer this summer. I needed something very portable, compatible with Windows and of course, stylish. (Style is KEY!) I was working in a very relaxed office setting over the summer in a web development company, and the girl I sat next to is a hardcore Mac addict. She urged me at no end to get a Mac. She let me use her iBook a few times to get a feel for it, and in the end, I blew all the extra money I made last summer and bought a PowerBook (12inch, the only upgrade was to 512MB Ram and an extra battery,).

It has become an invaluable asset, replaceing all of the notebooks and binders I used to carry. It's about 5 pounds, so that's not too horribly heavy, but it does pack some weight if you've also got a yoga mat, lunch and two textbooks to carry as well.

I had used iMacs before in computer labs, but had grown up on PCs. I must say that I am thrilled to have switched. This interface is beautiful to use, easy to pick up and adjust to. With a little bit of tweaking and a few, "Where's that key?" moments, it's become my computer of choice. I've had it for four months, and the biggest stumbling block I've ever had with it is when I pull it out of my backpack to start taking notes and the idiot sitting next to me says, "Ewwwwwww! a Mac!" It is completley compatible with all the Windows programs my groupmates use, so there isn't an issue with file sharing. My friend liked mine so much, that two weeks later when her parents decided to buy her a laptop, she got the same one!

I only have a few dislikes about it. It doesn't come with any port covers, so I can only imagine how easy it might be for a paper clip to get stuck in the CD slot. Same goes for the Ethernet and USB ports. It only has two USB ports, and could certainly use more of those. I don't get the 5 hours of touted battery life; average is about 3.5, but longer if I turn down the brightness. Thankfully it recharges very quickly.

All in all, an awesome purchase that I don't regret.

One of the things I had heard a lot about was the PowerBook's long battery life, and they weren't kidding. While 5 hours is a bit high, for normal use 3 to 4 is a very rough range. Even so, 3 hours is a long longer than some PC laptops gets, such as my old Compaq Presario 2195US. Even more so than the long battery life, though, which in itself is amazing, is the seamless transition from running from the power adapter and running from the battery. Unlike the Compaq I mentioned before, in which XP would switch to the battery settings, dimming the screen and slowing it down (and even when I set it to maximum performance it still seemed slower) everything stays the same. No kidding. Unplug. No difference. Plug it in. The same thing. While trying to setup my wireless network, I forgot to plug it in, running off the battery the entire time without even knowing it. When I finally did, I was amazed that I wasn't running from the wall: it was exactly the same experience as when it was plugged in. So for that 4 hours you get the most amazing experience due, in part, to Mac OS X.

In terms of power--RAM, CPU, etc.--I am impressed. The standard 256MB RAM that comes with the computer is simply not enough, and I've had a few slow-downs even with an extra 512MB installed (for a total of 768MB RAM). Albeit I was running a dozen large applications, the point is that extra RAM is a must and that maxing it out is the best thing you can do, so long as you have the extra money to spend. It really makes a difference. As far as raw processor power goes, I found it a bit slow at first (though much faster than a 1.33GHz PC). My experience here is sordid, though, because I at first owned an 867MHz Rev. A PowerBook for about a month or so before trading it in for this Rev. C beauty. Regardless, whatever slowdowns I experiences at first are all but gone--or I've grown used to them. Either way, this thing runs like a Ferrari.

I can't really comment on its size and weight, as I have yet to carry it around with me much, but I will make a note of the screen size: despite it being merely 12"--quite smaller than the 15" screens I have been using on laptops for the past year--I was accustomed to it almost immediately. I remember using my mom's laptop at one point a week after buying this that looking at her 15.4" widescreen was just.. I was thunderstruck at how large it was. Afterwards, I went back to my laptop, and saw a normal-sized screen. I was incredulous before making my purchase, people who said the screen was fine being quite unconvincing, but I have to say that they were absolutely right. You get used to it in an instant, and everything else is, well, huge in comparison.

And how quiet it is! I've never been one to be bothered by the sound of computer fans--though the ones in my old desktop were outrageously loud and annoying--and thought my old laptop to have been quiet, but after using a PowerBook for two months, I know better. I would classify my old Compaq as not loud, as it truly wasn't, but definitely not quiet. Quiet is this, my PowerBook. More than a few times I've made a reach for the power button, and even begun to press it, before I realized that it was asleep, usually brushing against my mouse and awakening the computer, the screen glowing as it came to life. That is quiet.

I simply must mention Mac OS X, even though it isn't a hardware part of the PowerBook. It has made my experience exponentially better. Though odd at first--I had to relearn how to make line breaks in IM clients, how to use the Command key as often as the Control key, and even learn the combos (Command+Shift+Letter, for instance)--it really has made computing more fun. I know it sounds corny, and at first it wasn't that way, but having grown used to it, seeing some of the applications out there, using them, etc., I couldn't be happier. On top of a different way of obtaining most apps--that is, paying for them via credit card and simply buying the CD key, then downloading the trial software and unlocking all the features--there is such a diverse selection to choose from. For instance, there's iComic, which, using Perl scripts, allows you to view [web]comics from within it, and even download them to your hard drive automatically. I don't know of any PC program that does this. As opposed to doing everything with one program, you have multiple, smaller, more efficient applications. For instance, instead of using Photoshop to slowly and painstakingly fade the ends of my images out to a white, I can simply set a template in, say, Yellow Mug Software's EasyFrame, drag all my files into it, and it'll do the same thing automatically. Which brings up arguably the best part: the widespread use of drag 'n' drop. The most basic and amazing use being that, when you want to open a file in a non-default program, instead of right clicking, going to Open with..., etc., you can simply drag the file to the application in question and drop it on it, automatically opening it in that application.

Overall, my experience with this PowerBook, and its OS, has been nothing short of stunning; amazing; the greatest computer experience of my life. Not only is it fun, but the OS is unparalleled and it finds the balance PC laptops can only dream of achieving: being portable without sacrificing performance.

I've been a Windows/Unix user all my life. This is my first Mac and I love it.

Pros :
- Mac OS X is way more stable than any Microsoft Windows available
- Did you know that Mac OS X is UNIX-based? I love real unix shell.
- Light & small
- Slot-loading optical drive is better than the regular one, IMO
- Wi-Fi 802.11b/g + bluetooth now included
- über-long battery life. My 5-month old battery lasts about 3 hours when I'm just browsing the web (wifi-on, bluetooth-on)
- not likely to get infected by virus/malware/spyware.
- iLife suite included
- supports dual display - I use this PB as a desktop replacement
- high quality soundcard - i've seen some PC laptop that has crappy soundcard. It's bad to the point that your MP3 sound really bad

Cons :
- Admit it, there are less software for Mac OS X. Make sure that you know everything you need has Mac version available. Don't depend on Virtual PC. It's tad slow on this 1.33GHz cpu.
- Software running on Mac is not as optimized as it should.
- This is the cheapest powerbook available. It's LCD screen isn't as good as 15"/17" ones. It's acceptable, reliable but you cannot expect something as good as
- 256 meg of ram is NOT enough for you to run regular software smoothly. Consider adding at least another 256.
- internal fan is sometime annoying when you do heavy graphics/calculation. You cannot watch DVD fullscreen without headphone. It's THAT noisy.

First things first! When you buy an Apple, you are far far away from all those bulky, dirty Wintels. A Wintel PC which claims a 2.8 GHz PC with windows and the same RAM, cannot match the power of this tinytot. Mac OS X is an awesome OS. Since Apple makes its own hardware and software, I believe macs have an advantage over PCs, which are a smorgasbord of components from a lot of diverse companies. Apple takes care of every minor issue you can think of, so you dont have to bang your head about it later.
About the Powerbook 12", I bought it after the recent upgrade coz it just seemed irresistible. The 256 MB RAM is still not sufficient. You'll need to upgrade it to atleast 512 MB, and I could do it myself in 5 mins flat. Mac OS X has some great applications for video, however Quicktime disappoints me when playing avi files. But you can find a host of other freeware that you can install on a mac.
Among all the Apple computers, the 12" Powerbook seems to be the best in terms of value for money. The design is fabulous, the keyboard the best among all the laptops I've seen so far. It tends to get a little warm under the left palm, but it doesnt bother me that much. The display is awesome. If you care, even the charger is beautiful. (compare the charger to those bulky Dell ones and you'll know what I mean).
To any avid PC-user who is doubtful of being comfortable with this powerbook, I'll just say 'go for it, you'll love it'. And dont worry abt the software, you get everything for a mac, except the games.
The world would have been a much more beautiful place, had Apple been in Microsoft's place.