What Do You Guys Think? Gateway Or Powerbook

Christmas is coming up and I want to get a new laptop. I've always wanted to swtich to a mac, so I've been thinking about buying the 17 inch powerbook G4. My old laptop is low on diskspace and slightly dated and most importantly I want a DVD burner. So what do you guys think I should pick.. (leaving out the OS's)

Which is faster, a Gateway 3.0 GHz Hyperthreading Tech Pentium 4 laptop or the 17 inch powerbook?

I'm kinda stuck choosing which one to get, but I'd hate to get a Powerbook only to find out that its a lil slow compared to the beastly PC notebook.

So basically, can the Powerbook compete, and is it just as powerful? Or is the only selling point the sexy Panther OS. Theyre just about even in every other category, for hard drive space, wide screen, wireless etc...

#85038

I bought my first Mac last summer (an iBook) and haven't regretted it. Not only is Mac more stable than Windows, they can run way faster on slower clock speeds (although this isn't a perfect comparrison because they operate on a completely different architecture). Whie any OS transition takes a little time to adjust to, for the most part moving from Windows to Mac is pretty painless...there are a few features that you may miss, but you'll figure out pretty quickly that most, if not all of them are in OS X, they might just need finding. Really the only thing that I miss a lot on Mac OS is Avantgo for my Palm Pilot, and I supposed I should mention PocketPCs aren't supported at all (which makes sense since obviously MS wants to encourage users of PocketPC to stick with Windows). Appart from AvantGo Palms are incorporated into the OS far better than in Windows, which doesn't have any native Palm support whatsoever.

Apart from running smoother, OS X has such a crazy nice interface due to the fact that it's 3D rendered by your graphics card, my favourite is Expose, new in 10.3 Panther. Once you start using a Mac you'll honestly wonder why the majority of computers aren't built on the superior OS. While I do miss some aspects of Windows such as hacking into dlls and the registry, the stability OS X offers far outweighs the losses of WinXP.

So basically, as someone who was making a similar decision last summer (between a Gateway 3350 from ebay or an iBook) I would hands down recommend making the switch to Mac. After you adjust to the changes, you'll honestly never miss Windows again.

ALSO: if you're a student you'll likely qualify for at least a couple hundred $$$ off your apple purchase through their online store. I'm not sure what the discount is in the US, but in Canada it's $450 off the 17" Powerbook! (mind you it's still $3850 CDN)

#85043

Get a Powerbook if you have the cash to put some decent RAM in it (512MB minimum if your going for heavy apps). It's not blisteringly fast but is well fast enough for most Pro users, so it should be okay for you.

Although it's really up to you. Enjoy whatever you buy!

#85049

I would suggest getting what you feel you need. You can ask all you want about what is better, but the bottom line is that it comes down to the needs of the user. Everyone is going to have an opinion, but the choice is ultimately for you to make.

My two cents is that you should not get either. While I like Mac's I am still not sold on getting one myself. However, I would never get a Gateway machine. I have always had Dell, IBM or Home Built. I have had all my machines for longer than anyone I know that had a Gateway.

#85102

Chocolate

#85104

Originally posted by Seph@Dec 2 2003, 02:56 PM

Chocolate   

Triple-choc-chip with cookie dough chunks.

#85105

mmm !

i wish for u to have a powerbook

i have an old gateway notebook and i know that is good too

but u may experience on a mac !!

#85120

I think I'm gonna get the Gateway. I was almost sold on gettting the Powerbook, but it just comes with so many more problems than I care to deal with. I would have to find software thats compatible with Macs for my Lexmark scanner printer, Sony Clie, Digital Camera, and other scientific programs like Labview. Plus, most of my buddies chat on MSN. But I still have one more question. Does the Powerbook have an intergrated wireless card, or would you stil have to buy the apple wireless card? If thats the case, no way I'm gonna pay 100 to get wireless, I'll stick with the suped up Gateway.

#85378

Regarding the sony clie, there is enough software to be run on a mac to sync it... i know cause one of my mac user friends has a clie s30.

And you know theres Mac MSN dont you?

#85383

With factory-built laptops stability isn't much of an issue. I have an HP notebook that hasn't crashed. I have heard a lot of good things about Sony laptops as well. If you need to use specialty software, I would say go for a PC because that is what most of the smalled developers create software for. You can get Linux for both platforms so that also isn't much of an issue. The only problems I have had with Macs is Apple's "it just works" approach to developing software. It can be nice, but I prefer to have advanced options handy. In the end, though, it all comes down to what you are looking for in a computer. Try both systems out if you can. It's the best way to find out.

#85639

how about taking 2 minutes of your own time and energy to compare the two computers for yourself?

#85717