Everything you need: unbiased reviews, product specs and great deals.

Apple PowerBook G4 15.2 in. ( M8859 ) Mac Notebook

With its high-performance PowerPC G4 processor, DVD-burning SuperDrive, and 1-inch-thin, 5.4-pound titanium design, the PowerBook G4 is the... Read More

With its high-performance PowerPC G4 processor, DVD-burning SuperDrive, and 1-inch-thin, 5.4-pound titanium design, the PowerBook G4 is the world's best full-featured portable computer. The high-speed G4 processor and L3 cache delivers performance that outpaces Pentium 4-based notebooks. The built-in SuperDrive and iDVD 1 make the PowerBook G4 the lightest full-featured notebook that burns DVDs. The ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics processor with up to 64MB of DDR SDRAM delivers incredible 2D and 3D graphics. ??Up to 5 hours of battery life means staying productive on long plane trips, around campus, or at a client site. The 15.2-inch (diagonal) screen with 1280-by-854-pixel resolution gives you the largest workspace, best color saturation, and widest viewing angle ever in a PowerBook. AirPort wireless networking, Gigabit Ethernet, and a 56K modem configure automatically, giving you the flexibility to work in any network environment. With an optional Bluetooth adapter, it's easy t... Minimize

Compare Prices

Product Specs

Read Reviews (23)

Author's Rating:

23 Reviews from Shopping.com

Back to all reviews

Write a review at Shopping.com

By: simalex
May 14, 2003

Best computer ever made by anyone

Author's Rating:

Pros: Blazing speed, huge HD, DVD-R. Good monitor. 1" thick. Wireless internet. A desktop on wheels.

Cons: Expensive. Very expensive. Average battery life. Wide.

The Bottom Line:
This is the best computer ever made. If you can afford it.

Author's Review
Look, if you can afford it -- and they are getting somewhat cheaper -- the TiBook is the best computer you can buy for your money. It comes with everything you could possibly ask for in either a desktop or a laptop, and it is amazingly light and thin. This is truly a mobile workstation.

Let's start with the monitor. It's ok. Actually, it's better than ok -- it's a lot better than probably 90-95% of laptop monitors out there. Having said that -- it's still a laptop monitor, which means you'll give up at least a little quality. Let me put it this way: in Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Dreamweaver, and Final Cut (three of the most heavily paletted programs on the market) you will have no problems with the screen real-estate whatsoever.

Now for the guts of the box. The HD measures out at 60GB. That's huge. Ok, let me qualify that "huge." If you're doing video, 60GB is tiny. But, for any other use -- photos, art, sound, etc. -- its enormous. Not a problem.

The RAM -- coming at 1GB with a 1MB of L3 cache -- is destined to make your computing life a breeze. This maching friggin' flies. The beauty of the G4 (1ghz) processor is that as the computer is asked to do more, the processor speeds up. God bless Apple :-)

The SuperDrive completes this machine, turning it into a portable multimedia production machine. A wonderful, wonderful thing.

A word about the airport connection (wireless internet): I have had no problems with the reception. Some people, though, have had issues with it (as it is inside the titanium case.)

This is really targeted at creative professionals and hardcore programmers. If you want a word processor, stick to the iBook. After all, the PowerBook comes with a mammoth price tag. I really wish I had waited a bit longer to pick up mine.