Miha Hribar, freelance web developer, student of computer and information science

I always wanted an Apple PowerBook but did never buy/get one ... I hope I will, someday.

I have some good experiences with HP Compaq notebooks, so I can recommend it to you.

Thanks Miha K for the info. Right now the best option I found is Prestigio 1590W:

• 15.4" LCD TFT 1680 X 1050 WUXGA
• Intel 915GM & ICH6-M
• Centrino™ Pentium - M 1.86 GHz
• nVidia GeForce 6600 Go module 128MB
• DDR 512 MB 533 MHz DDR2 (perhaps another 512 MB)
• hdd 60/7200
• DVD+/-RW +R9
• Bluetooth, 4-in-1 Media Card Reader

The price is aprox 1482 Euro. Looks real promising :)

get a Mac (in other words...PowerBook 15" would do nicely for you... I'm buying the 14" iBook soon)...

but if you want the PC one...I'd say HP.


Although Chili green are nice too :)

Yeah, thanks doen. I got some negative feedbacks from people who used Prestigios, so I'm looking at HP Compaq again. And I think I'm in love with the nx7 series, but I just can't seem to find them in shops anymore. Did they stop making them? If so it's a darn shame...

Ok, with all seriousness now...

I've seen a lot of people with HPs and worked a lot on them also, and they are really powerfull and it's really great to work on them (David would certanly agree ;))

But the thing with HPs is that they are really expensive (if you decide to buy one that has everything you want)...

On the other hand, Chili green (http://www.chiligreen.com), has really powerfull computers also, but they are a lot cheaper than HPs (given the same specifications). I have a 15,2" Chili at home with a AMD Athlon 3000 proc. and 512MB ram...with a built in DVD+RW and all that other crap...and I must say I love working on it...even though it's a PC :D It's also small, light and nicely designed... plus it costed just about 1.000€ which is cheap for a computer like that.

But as far as powerbooks are concerned (and other Apple laptops)... If you intend to use it for serious work, I would have to advise you to wait for the next generation of them (even though I am a total Apple fan, but these G4 notebooks are really outdated (although the G4 is still a quite powerfull proc.)...They'll release the intel based notebooks soon and then, it'll be poetry :D

/me has nx7010, you can find them in lots of shops but only if they have any left ... nx8___ is the next generation of nx7____ ...

btw, chili and mac, no go doen :P

Thanks for the info doen and david. OK I'm down to just two candidates: HP Compaq nx7010 and nx8220. Anybody got a spare one just laying around? :)

I just bought a Prestigio Nobile 157 (Pentium Centrino 1.7, 512 RAM, Radeon 9700 Mobile, 15.1 inch LCD, Res. 1400x1050) for 256.000 SIT (convert it to Euros if you want, I'm too lazy :)) and I'm very satisfied. Believe that with buying a HP you definitly pay only a brand.

I recommend Prestigio (Unless you have a really really big pocket :))

I'll have to try them all out, to see wich one I'm most comfortable with. Cause that what it will come down to. That and if the payment can be made though monthlyinstalments :)

Check for IBM/Toshiba notebooks ;)

If you want monthly payments, you can just forget about a Mac ;)

Thanks Rok, I'll do that. Doen, how come?

Well, at least in Slovenia, you mostly have to pay the whole sum up front for a Mac (at least at EPL and Aris...of course at Aris there is only the 20% advance and you pay the rest when the order has shipped, while at EPL, there is a 100% advance payment...)

It's a bad thing that the market here is too small for Apple to put it's own Apple Store™ here :(

Em, isn't there an Apple Store on Tr

Well, that's E.P.L.... That isn't Apple's official store. That is the official reseller for Slovenia... And quite honestly... they suck donkey balls ;)

Thanks for the info everybody. I guess I'll have to sleep on this for a few days and then I'll decide what I'll get. To be honest, I'm even looking at some handhelds...no I don't even dare to ask :)

I\'ve been using Powerbooks since they came out in 1991, and I\'ve never looked back.
Besides the obvious reason (unbeatable O.S. and software), Apple laptops are *not* more expensive than equivalent-quality MS-Windows-laptops, if you\'re comparing models with similar specs.

My current machine is still a (quite abused) 2002 PBG4 Tibook, it even fell on the floor upside-down while turned on and open (!!!) and nothing happened to it. Luck? Maybe yes, but also excellent manufacturing. Try that with a VAIO or a Dell...
If you are a student, you can\'t go wrong with the once-in-a-lifetime student developer discount. Check:
http://developer.apple.com/students/sthardware.html

Get a Powerbook, you won\'t regret it!

I'm with happy PBuser. I've seen 12" PBs and iBook, 15" and 17" Powerbook (too big, since 15" has an excellent display anyway, I'd go with 15" and my dell has UXGA display!!! Hard to go back down once you have so many pixels on your screen), I worked on an eMac that has way worse spec than my Dell Inspiron 8200. You know what!? eMac performed way way better than my Dell.
Also, touchpad, mouse dongle (whateverit'scalled), Combo drive (6 months old), vents in the back, keyboard... everything is dying on me. I can't install anything unless it's on the harddrive because my rom won't work. I have 2 weeks fresh OS and it sucks donkey balls (haha, I love that one). Get an Apple computer. That's my opinion. Price!? Seems way more expensive, but when you really really compare the prices, you realise that you are on the same level or even better off with an Apple computer. It just brings so much more value into your results when working with the computer. But in the end it's still your choice, of course. For me, I just hope my portable will not die completely on me before the new intel based Powerbooks come out.

Damn, those Macs look more and more appealing. The only downside (ok, besides no monthly payments) is a completly new OS enviroment. And if I'll like it so much, I'll need to change this desktop computer as well :)

What are your experiences when switching to a Mac? How fast did you catch on and how different is the OS acctualy. OK I know the core is FreeBSD, so it isn't so different. And what about comunication between a PC and Mac? Any comments on that?

The new OS environment? Don't be silly. With Mac everything is so intuitive. Of course, some keyboard shortcuts are changed but you get a hang of that really fast. You don't waste your time with administration of the OS, securing it (well, too much). Everything is on the reach of hand and all there's to do with an Apple computer is make extra value! I haven't worked on Mac OS9, but I was told it sucked. I've only seen Tiger and Panther in action and it's way better than anything else I've worked on. When you get the computer, you can start working on it, not wait another day or two to set everything up, install needed applications and all that mumbo jumbo. There are plenty of opensource applications and some that cost in average of $25us. Integration in Winblows network? Are you kidding? Easy ko pasulj. No issues, bro.
And you've seen what the lowest end eMac 1GHz with 640MB SDRAM can do, how many apps at once and no issues with performance, remember? If I were you I would wait for the intel powerbook. It will be worth the wait and in the mean time put more $$$ on the side for some extra muscle!
My friend has a 400MHz, 256MB RAM, 10GB hdd 15" powerbook (the old one) and it's still performing the same as my Dell 1.6GHz P4 mobile with 640MB RAM running Winblows (and it's a clean install). Go figure.

Thanks for the info Mark! I'm now seriously considering the PowerBook G4 15 inch ComboDrive. Looks real nice and if you compare it to equivalent HP laptops, the price really isn't so different.

Also I did check up on the Intel PowerBooks, but the only info I could gather is that they will come out in late 2006...

Hi
Are here some people that have an prestigio 1590W at home? It is good?

Hi Simple.

Guess not. I haven't gotten around to buying one, but from what I hear they aren't so bad. But for the time beeing I'm sticking with HP :)