Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
 The best thing ever, Dec 24, 2022
Ten years ago I had a Mac. Then I went to law school and discovered that I lived in a world dominated by Bill Gates's Microsoft. So I became a PC user. I spent this year in Iraq and I had a Compaq laptop with me that served me well. Then I saw the specs on the 12 inch G4 PowerBook with superdrive. It is all that people say and more. The keyboard is roomy and comfortable (hard to believe given the small size) and the iLife bundled software enabled me to take my hundreds of digital photos and MPEG clips and create a movie after just a few hours of work.
And for those who complain about the heat produced by the PowerBook, not true. The laptop, like all computers, gets a little warm, but at worse the heat is slightly uncomfortable.
The WiFi ability has me cruising the net wirelessly and easily. Simply put, this PowerBook has re-inventing computers for me.
As a lawyer and a soldier I primarily use MS Office. I bought Office for Mac and the stuff I produce at work runs seamlessly on my PowerBook, and the stuff I produce on my PowerBook runs seamlessly on my PC at work.
I flew from Kuwait to Germany to Newark this past week and the light weight of the PowerBook made it an instant hit with me.
This thing ranks up there with sliced bread and the TV remote control.
A little more room on the hard drive is all I would ask for, but, with my SuperDrive, I can save large files quickly.
6 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
 Apple: an inferior product with insulting Apple employees, Dec 9, 2022
Apple Computer Corporation's product that I purchased, a 12-inch lap top `powerbook G4' computer, has been having a number of significant problems since not long after I foolishly purchased it new some months ago. Apple's `customer service/technical support' was a fruitless waste of my valuable time. They offered little more than ineffective, evasive token `fixes' and openly admitted useless speculation as to the nature of the product's malfunctions; Apple's representatives were quite rude. Inquiries about a case number have been ignored.
Apple's manuals and tutorials are not helpful.
Having gotten nowhere and with yet a new malfunction, I tried to use Apple's web site `discussions' for help. My legitimate request for help as an Apple customer was met with offensive personal ridicule and virulent incivility by several Apple web site `discussion' participants, persons whose actual identities or motives are not verifiable by me. They could be anybody at all, assuming whatever identities they choose. It is reprehensible that Apple would allow Apple customers to be treated in such a highly offensive manner on Apple's own web site in their very ethically reckless `discussion forum'. If Apple feels that their web site participants can be trusted, then Apple should accept liability for, and stand behind, what is posted. This is a consumer's measure of credibility and integrity.
Apple's computers are more expensive than other sorts of similar computers, yet my purchase, and its accompanying `support', has not even met the standard of a far cheaper computer. Consumers could receive the same callous mistreatment provided by Apple for less money by shopping elsewhere.
This consumer's experience is that Apple Computer Corporation is all form and no substance. Sieg Heil, California Uber alles!
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Once you go mac you never go back, Nov 29, 2022
I was really in the market for a small lightwieght PC notebook. But as the only ones I could find below 2000$ did not match my basic needs (good grafics, linux compatible) and I could not afford the top of the line 3500$ notebooks. I decided to settle for a 12" powerbook.
Since I was visiting the US at the time of purchase I thought I would buy it from the Apple store and meet with my future companion first hand. At first I was rather mesmorised by how sexy it was... But I thought that was just puppylove and that it would wear off after a while. So I scrutinsed the screen, the ports, the graphics and the drives. As the only other candidate that still would stand a chance agianst the 12" PB specs was a slightly more expensive and physically larger Dell that I had never seen apart from a wonkey picture on thier website. I took the plunge.
I invested my meager student allowance into the beast.
At first I thought I would replace the OS with linux and that I would have alot of problems with a win2000 only GIS software that I have to use for school. But, now, 6 months down the line this amazing machine is still as sexy as ever. It runs my wonkey GIS software (requires almost 3 reboots during installation) through virtual PC much faster than my old PII400. And I have yet to get around to putting linux on it as OSX just keeps blowing my mind. Everytime I want to do something, someone has already thought of that and implemented it as default in the OS.
The only problem I have had is, after a month the computer failed to recognise the builtin bluetooth, even after re-installing OSX the problem persisted and none of the packaged diagnostic software could detect any probs. After a week without bluetooth I decided to go down to the local apple store and have them sort it out. But just as I picked up the PB of my desk my mobile connected to it. And as strange as it seems I have had no problems with bluetooth since, despite rigorouse testing.
Overall this laptop gives the impression of being EXTREMLY well built. And I have yet to encounter any other laptop of this build quality (having worked for advertising firms where a 7000$ was the standard for running powerpoint presentations, with the justification that -we have to show our power through our superior laptops), this is in fact quiete a acheivment for any laptop, especially a sub 2000$ one. The bluetooth failure had me worried for a while but the overall build of the laptop keeps screaming well built and as such I dont think about that problem anymore. I just keep throwing it into my bag, taking it with me to classes and seminars, guiding it throught the worst student town weather/storms without complaints.
And to all you peze lovers out there, my beast comes to life in under 2s. I just open the lid and it wakes up offering to perform the most complex mathamatical functions. I havent had a virus since I got it. And the battery last for 5 hours without any hickups. I dont think you can beat this with any PC. If you dont think any of this is REALLY important, as I did before i went mac. I mean its not REALLY that important... But to tell you the truth, it is... Just try it, and you will find you probably can not live without it.
To summerise my 12" PB has suprised my in ways i did not expect it to, and has by far surpassed my expectations so far. And although i, out of principle, never award anything the top mark, I am happy to award something that keeps surprising me a 5/5.
4 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
 Good machine. More software for MAC OS X will help, Sep 20, 2023
Good machine. I love the way it looks, works and handles things. Macs can do things so nicely that PCs can only aspire. But it does just [this] many things.
Windows based software may be poor and unstable, but they sure can do many (read aloud - many) more things, and sure are cheap. PC software is available in such abundance that there are always at least some options out there to meet your needs. Not as neat as its MAC counterpart, if there is any. Yeah, I said, if there is any.
Do more things = meet more needs. Hey you, guys at Apple! Get more people to make more software to meet more needs. Software domain for MAC OS X have a lot of catch up with. Wake up Mr. Rabbit!
Wannbe converts: MAC is a different animal. It might not replace your PC altogether. Not yet. Be careful.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
The Perfect Laptop, Sep 12, 2023
I've had this machine for almost 3 months now, and it has given me as close to zero problems as computers are capable of. It is very small and portable. The display quality is excellent. The power management works great (excellent battery life and fantastic standby/resume reliability). The wireless performance is very good, and the machine is fast enough to be used as a primary machine. You'll definitly want to upgrade the RAM (I recommend at least the 512MB upgrade).
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Based on 11 reviews.