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Apple Powerbook Laptop Review
Author: Daniel Topler
Date Posted: October 27th, 2003
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Bottom Line:
SLCentral took a look inside the Apple Powerbook 12" laptop, the smallest Apple to date. Our editor was impressed, this fast little machine performs well when the heat is on but what about the side effects? Read on to find out in our official review.......
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Features
What's a computer without features, right? Don't worry, the 12" Powerbook doesn't upset, for the most part.
As I said, the Powerbook 12" has quite a few ports. Namely, a Firewire 400 port, two USB 1.1 ports, a Mini-DVI port, a ethernet port, and a 56K modem port. Honestly, I wasn't impressed. I mean, come on, it's 2003, USB 2.0 should be standard on all PC's. Luckily, Revision B of the Powerbook has USB 2.0, so do not worry. Firewire 400 is OK, but Firewire 800 is better. Revision B does NOT have Firewire 800, either.
I have no complaints about the CD-RW or DVD burner. DVD's were played back excellently, and CD's burned very fast. I burned a 400MB CD in Toast 6 in appx. 2 minutes.
The display is nice and bright, but as I said, the 15" and 17" models have nicer screens. If only Apple didn't cheat us out of a better screen. Never fear, though, I love this Powerbook screen.
The keyboard is the real winner. It's just incredible. The keys press to the touch, and you can really just speed-type easily on this keyboard. Kudos to Apple!
The lack of gigabit ethernet is disappointing for a few, but for me, as well as the majority, it is virtually no problem. Professionals that need the gigabit ethernet may want to check out the 15" or 17" models instead, as those models have it.
The GeForce 4 420 is fine for day-to-day tasks, but for games, it's completely unacceptable. I'll go into the gaming performance later.
All in all, features on this laptop is acceptable. The lack of USB 2.0 is disappointing, but the new models have 2.0, so I can't really complain. Firewire 800 is omitted, which is also disappointing, but since few devices support the speed, it's OK. The screen, although not as good as the higher models, was bright and crisp. The keyboard was unexplainably good.
There are a few things Apple needs to change features-wise, but for the average user, it's not a problem.
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