Many thanks to reader, Don Koeberle for letting us share his story and first impressions:
As my extremely well-worn and battle-scarred G3 Wall St. Powerbook had pretty much given up the ghost the night before, I walked into my local Apple reseller yesterday (Advanced MicroSystems in Redondo Beach, CA) thinking I’d have to live with an iMac for a bit as a stopgap solution. Glory be, as I was making that begrudging decision between indigo and red, a delivery guy showed up with a whole boxload of brand spanking new G4 Titaniums. 15 minutes (and $2,549 + tax later- they even gave me a discount for paying cash,) I was walking out with a 400 mhz silver beauty to call my own. I don’t know how many they’ve got left, but it didn’t seem they were spoken for. Let the stampede begin…
As far as the G4 goes, oh Lordy, It’s a beautiful thing…
I can say it’s everything everyone has said it is… fast, light, huge glorious screen, extremely sturdy construction, very tight fit & finish, etc. a huge improvement over my last Powerbook, needless to say. If I’d quibble over anything (not that I have any real complaints, of course, this thing is awesome…) it’d be that the keyboard is a tad flimsier than that of Powerbooks past (the thinness of it all has something to do with that, I’m sure) and the hand position takes a little getting used to as it’s much flatter than G3 models and feels deeper, though i don’t know if it actually is. Also, because of the way the screen is hinged (very sturdy looking hinges, by the way) it’s pretty tough to remove ethernet cords, phone lines, etc. as everything is recessed. But again, very minor quibbles. iTunes was not pre-installed, though there was a card included in the software pack telling you where to go to download it if you want it. Again, all in all, it’s awesome…
Ishir Bhan also writes:
The first thing I was struck by when I unpacked the PowerBook G4 was how thin and light it was. It’s one thing to read about it, but to hold it in your hands is a neat experience. However, the PB G4 does look big…it is quite wide, perhaps even more strikingly because of its thinness. The screen is quite impressive. The colors seem accurate and it is very easy on the eyes.
The trackpad seems quite sensitive. I notice that sometimes I accidentally trigger it while typing (though this doesn’t seem to matter that much). The keyboard is very comfortable and sturdy. The keys are responsive and quiet…the noise won’t disturb your neighbors.
The overall design is very impressive. One warning though: because of the light color of titanium, marks will show up quiet easily. After placing the PowerBook in a bag with a spiral-bound notebook, I noticed that some of the metal from the notebook had rubbed off onto the PowerBook. An eraser removed most of the marks, but one was particularly persistent. Erasing further only served to remove some of the matte finish the book has…fortunately, you can only tell if you look at a certain angle, but it is frustrating nonetheless (if anyone has any advice about restoring the finish, I would appreciate it, though it is a small issue).
Who else is jealous?
