Apple 12" PowerBook or 12" iBook for the long mc trip?
 

What's more resistant on the motorcycle trips from macintosh laptops - small slot-loading iBooks or aluminium PowerBooks, the small ones? Any experience with them of the vibrations on CD-DVD-RW module and harddrive resistance?

As i know new iBooks have harddrive mounted on the anti-vibrant rubber holding and the frame is made from very resistant magnesium, but does the 12" aluminium made PowerBook have that option too for HD?

Don't know witch one to choose...

The PowerBook has one excellent advantage - Superdrive, so it's possible to produce High quality digital movie DVDs on the way to send them back home, but how does the Superdrive resist compared with simple Combo drive (DVD-Read, CD-RW)?

Margus

[This message has been edited by Margus (edited 02 March 2004).]

PS: Please no Windows PC stuff recommendations in here.

Hi,

I've just bought a 12" Powerbook, with superdrive for our trip away at the end of the year. I also have a 15" iBook for work. Not sure on vibration resistance yet, so can't help there. There are lots of people who take laptops away though, and they seem to hold up fairly well if packed properly.

I went for the powerbook over the ibook so I could get a DVD writer (Superdrive). I also took the AppleCare (3 year warranty), so if I have problems I'll hopefully get it sorted.

I think the ease of downloading MiniDV tapes to DVD and sending them home will be very useful. It's simple and no fuss. The last thing I want to do is to mess about with external DVD writers, or writing to multiple CDs.

Plus I can backup the whole lot to DVD, rather than multiple CDs.

[This message has been edited by DougieB (edited 03 March 2004).]

We got the 12" Powerbook and are really pleased with it so far. We've only just started the trip but I've managet to drop the laptop onto concreate from 3 feet and it still works fine (apart from the dent in the corner of it!) Had no problems with vibration yet. We've done som corrogated dirt roads and its been fine.

My iBook lasted from Japan through most of Russia and was still working after I ran into a Russian Lada at at least 50 km/h. It faired better than the F650 in the crash (F650 r.i.p.). The iBook was in my panniers.
If you go for iBook (maybe for PowerBook too), get some screen protection film. For some reason, my screen is skuffed up, most likely from slight contact with the keyboard.
Also, the iBook touch-pad key is in slight contact with the frame of the screen when closed. This caused it to jam up on me a couple times. But some persistant tapping got it loose again. Works fine now.
I don't think I will take a notebook again. Just too takes up much room in the panniers, and you need to be carefull to keep it padded.
Next time, I go for an iPod with digital media adapter to hold digital camera pictures. Music and photo storage that fits in a pocket!

[This message has been edited by Chris in Tokyo (edited 04 March 2004).]

for info, the new powerbooks (not sure about the ibooks but I suspect them too) have feet on the screen so when it's closed it's not flush against the keyboard. it's a design change based on feedback from the last model which had that problem. So the screen shouldn't get scratched/marked.

Cheers.

i've had a 867mhz 12" powerbook for almost a year now and love it. the main difference between the two i'm aware of is the additional video memory for driving external monitors, quality of internal speakers and additional L2 cache.

the ibook doesn't get quite as hot, the 12" powerbook is notorously hot. i kind of like it on cold nights http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif

my 12" made it on two 5,000 mile trips without trouble. no screen protector, but that's a good idea. i use a Timbuk2 notebook sleve. it has thick rubber padding and doesn't add much bulk. they redesigned it and now it's much nicer (waterproof too i think). small fits my 12" perfectly (not something i normally say http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/wink.gif

http://redirx.com/?g3qg

one trick to really improving the performance of any notebook is to get a 7200 rpm replacement HD. the power draw is a bit more, but not significant.

[This message has been edited by sashapave (edited 25 May 2004).]

Just got my 1.33Ghz 12 inch model. I must say it's almost runs the same hot as Rev A PB (867Mhz model) or even runs cooler, Apple has done some improvements on heat issue. But yeah - it's a greate way to warm your hands with it on cold situations. Aluminum frame and casing looks very reliable, haven't seen that much metal casing and "strong feel" on PC notebooks yet. But that's why 12 inch model runs hot - metal dissipates heat very good and the computer is so small indeed - not much surface to cool with.

My PB fell down from my MC seat too yesterday badly with the bag, so my first test is done - works OK after the accident.

But it's the first laptop that fits into my small tank bag. Previously i had 14" iBook and 15.2" PowerBook, both didn't fit.

For travellers, who use macintoshes on their MCs - i'd sure recommend 12" Powerook G4.

But i look forward finding waterproof plastic bag for it too for nasty situations (i.e. falling down when crossing the small river etc). Anyone has experiences with such waterproof bags?

Margus

I spilt coffee on mine today, and it's still going. Do you charge it off the bike? I need to find the correct cables to charge it up on the move.

Anyone charge any other laptops on the move, how do you find it?

I was looking for it too:

http://www.madsonline.com/

There you'll find a 12V charger for PB. Looks like 12" model is the only one from PowerBook series that can run at the same time when charging from 12V source.

Margus

[This message has been edited by Margus (edited 05 June 2004).]

We have carried our 12" iBook G3 for the last 18 months in Africa and South America. It really got a serious beating at times (thousands of kilometers offroad with corrugations, potholes, stones...)

iBooks are less tech-pointy as PowerBooks but I had the feeling that they were more resistant, maybe because they are more targeted towards students (the original clamshell iBook had even a handle so that you could carry it without a bag).

We pack it in clothes, verticaly, with some padding at the bottom of the suitcase, inside a plastic bag and (important) with the sheet of styrofoam-like material that came with the original packaging to protect the screen from scratching with the keyboard.

Also, you might want to put a piece of tape or some drops of superglue over the piece of soft plastic between the power cable and the plug that goes into the laptop. It tends to wear off and, over time, it can cut the cable.

Finally, I would not worry about a 12v adapter to recharge your laptop on the bike. We had one but we used it maybe once in a year, so we sent it back home. A tiny surge protector would probably be more useful. An external mouse too.

Pierre (& Merritt too)
http://www.photobiker.com

Umm hope this works.
As a reply to the iBook Vs Powerbook for traveling with then from my experience and all advice given (a friends owns a mac shop) the iBook is definately the more durable of the two laptops.
The new iBooks also have a superdrive so you can burn DVDs whilst on the road, just make sure to up the amount of ram so everything is quicker.
Another bonus is that they are cheaper, so you can spend some $ on other gadgets.