Apple PowerBook G4 17inch
This is my second Apple PowerBook. My first, a 667MHZ Titanium machine is still being used and apart from the battery and a few scratches is still giving good service. I found myself running out of horsepower and after fitting a 7200 rpm drive to it without too much improvement I thought I would get a new one. In May 2004 I bought a brand-new Apple PowerBook G4 1.5 GHZ, 17 inch screen and 512MB RAM. Since then I have used it everyday making music, building websites and a lot more. I call it "Kundun" after H.H. the Dalai Lama, as it means "Ocean of Wisdom" in Tibetan; I thought this was very appropriate.
Love the screen
The most noticable improvement over the Ti Book it replaced was the larger screen display. I found this very useful designing web pages. Now I have an additional 20inch Apple Cinema Display which is lovely. It makes the PowerBook screen seem tiny and dull by comparison. I don't tend to move about as much as I did though because of the increased number of connectors that need to be un-tethered.
Horsepower
The PowerBook zips through most tasks easily enough, GarageBand or Logic show it's lack of power when compared to my Wife's Apple iMac G5 2GHZ machine but most of the time I am happy with it. I found that using iPhoto and PhotoShop ground it to a halt - until I maxed out the RAM to 2GB. Which I highly recommend if you have many apps on the go at the same time.
Wireless Joy
I love the built-in bluetooth and airport. I sync my phone with bluetooth and have airport at home so I can surf without wires. I love this technology and Apple's implementation of it. First Class.
Niggles and Giggle
My latch is a little clunky and the trackpad button clicks a little - they were both like this when I bought it. It's only my laziness that have stopped this being fixed and the fact I can't be parted from Kundun. Overall I am very happy with Kundun, but look forward to the not-yet-available Intel powered PowerBooks.
