Apple's 17-in. PowerBook isn't for everyone. But if you work from home -- or even spend a few days out of the week there -- you'll want to seriously consider it. This laptop has all the power and features of a desktop, but you can tuck it under your arm and take it with you wherever you go.
The largest of Apple's portable computers, this PowerBook is big on features and performance as well as size. It has a 1.33 GHz PowerPC G4 processor, 512K SRAM on-chip L2 cache, 167 MHz system bus, built-in Gigabit Ethernet, two USB ports at up to 480 Mbps, FireWire 400 and 800 ports, a DVI output port, and a PC Card/CardBus slot for Type I or Type II cards.
In addition, the PowerBook comes with both AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth wireless networking built in. AirPort Extreme is based on the 802.11g standard and is fully compatible with all the 802.11b devices. Bluetooth provides wireless connections to Bluetooth-enabled peripherals.
And when it comes to storage, this portable has a whopping 80 GB hard drive and a slot-loading SuperDrive that writes DVD-R discs at up to 2x speed, writes CD-R discs at 16x and writes CD-RW discs at up to 4x. Making the movie-making process even easier, the PowerBook comes with iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD.
I was quite impressed with the speed of this machine. The increased processing speed was evident in every application I used. Even browsing the Web was noticeably faster. Not to mention the fact that it takes just one second to wake the PowerBook from sleep (or standby) mode.
Even the display, by far the best feature on this machine, was more than I expected. Its 17-inch TFT display with native resolution of 1,440 by 900 pixels makes even reading spreadsheets exciting.
The second best feature on this machine is the illuminated keyboard. The fiber-optic, backlit keyboard dims and brightens automatically depending on the room's darkness, which is helpful if you have to work in low-light environments.
Although I loved the fact that the keyboard is lighted, I was not so thrilled with its placement. As is the style for all laptops, the keyboard is placed up against the screen. But with such a large area on this machine -- combined with the fact that the edge of the machine is not rounded -- this position becomes cumbersome and sometimes irritating.
The only other thing I took issue with is the PowerBook's size. It is only one inch thick and weighs just 6.9 pounds, but its width can be an issue for road warriors. It doesn't fit in most laptop bags, and getting it to fit on an airplane tray is a challenge.
The bottom line: If you don't travel much, the 17-in. PowerBook is an excellent option. It's powerful enough to replace your desktop and the display is so great that it eliminates the need for an external monitor.
