Apple PowerBook Laptop 12.1" M9007LL/A (1.0-GHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW

I bought a 12-inch Powerbook after I gave my old Sony Vaio notebook the Pete Townshend treatment I put my fist through it. (Yes, it looks like a stained glass window.) I hadn't used a Mac in years, but I decided I'd had it with Microsoft and Windows. All it took was one weekend and a good book "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual," by David Pogue -

however, and I mastered the machine.

SOFTWARE

The computer comes with some great software. iTunes is the best media player on the market. I have almost 5,000 songs stored on mine. With the search function and browser display, it is easy to find a particular song. iTunes also keeps track of the number of times you've listened to a song and it allows you to rate your songs. It's easy to create a playlist. Also, burning one of those playlists onto a CD can be done with one click.

Safari is a great web browser. It has a Google search box built into the toolbar, prevents pop-up ads (I've never had one), has tabbed browsing (preventing a cluttered desktop), and allows for bookmarks to be added with one click.

iChat allows Mac users to customize their AIM and Rendezvous chat sessions in ways that the normal applications don't allow, such as adding pictures from iPhoto to their profile.

I haven't mastered iPhoto yet, but it is downloading pictures from a digital camera is as easy as plugging it into the USB port and clicking a button.

Also, Macs are less likely to get a virus or be overtaken by spyware.

The iCal and Address Book look good, but if you are going to sync a PDA with your Mac, you are better off using Palm Desktop software. Hopefully the functionality of those programs will be improved in the future though.

Finally, most of the programs work with each other. For example, if someone on my iChat buddy list is online, a green dot will appear next to a message from him or her in my Mail inbox.

I also use Microsoft Office, Quicken, Dreamweaver MX, and Palm Desktop they all work well on the Mac. Office shares files perfectly with PCs.

HARDWARE

Spend the money and get the superdrive (CD-RW/DVD-R). DVDs have more memory than CDs and blank DVD-Rs are becoming more affordable. If you are into collecting videos of concerts, a DVD-R is a must.

I'd recommend upgrading to at least 768 MB of memory and the 80 GB hard drive. Burning a DVD requires a lot of memory and can take a while this way you can use other applications while burning a DVD (on my old PC, if I was burning a CD, I couldn't use anything else). The hard drive space is really cheap. Plus, if you load your CDs on your computer, they can eat up a lot of memory, even as MP3s (my 5,000 songs take up about 25 GB).

Also, there is a lot to be said for getting the Airport Exteme card (although you can buy a third-party base station for less). I am able to browse the Internet in any room of my house well worth the extra $100 or so.

I have the 12-inch monitor, but that was because Apple hadn't released the 15-inch in the new style when I made my purchase. The 12-inch is fine it's much clearer than my old PC notebook but if I had the opportunity, I'd probably go with the bigger monitor.

DRAWBACKS

-While most software is available for Mac OS X, there are some programs that aren't (Google toolbar, Yahoo! toolbar, Kazaa, AvantGo) or minor problems in software that is available (Quicken can't access accounts on Ameritrade via Macs)

-The PowerBook doesn't have a fan, which is great for the battery, but can cause it to get a bit hot underneath where the user rests his left hand.

Regardless of those drawbacks, however, buying a Mac was an easy decision. If you have any questions about it, click on my profile and send me a e-mail.

UPDATE: After 14 months, the hard drive started making noise and system performance got slow and I couldn't run as many programs as I used to. I called Apple and had to spend $300 for them to put in a new hard drive and some other hardware. They were unable to transfer my data to my new hard drive, so I've spent the past four days reloading all of my software and applications. No idea why the hard drive went. Hence I dropped the rating from five stars to four.

I recently bought an apple powerbook laptop 12",that was listed as used but in very good condition.I was concerned about making a purchase like this from an unknown seller that seemed to be new to the site-but I trusted the Amazon site.The price was really good and the description impressive;so although I knew very little about the item I decided to risk it.I had been using a dell for about 4 or 5 years;the last 2 or 3 of which were computer hell.And I had been vowing to next time get a mac since I heard they were less aggravating in regards to things like freezing up for no reason,bogus error messages that I couldn't possibly understand,e-mail that wouldn't open for 5 minutes & then didn't like to receive or send mail some days,15minute boot-ups,and web pages(when I finally got on) that got stuck when I tried to scroll.Well, needless to say I am ecstatic! Everything actually does what you tell it to and almost instantaneously.I have made the adjustments without all that much hassle.Thought I might mind the smaller screen but not at all.Within the first week-I had done mail,gone on the internet,installed my mouse,the font I wanted,had it reading stuff for me,installed games,have it tell me the time etc etc etc.It is that user friendly.There is just too much to love about it to even list.I would NEVER go back to any other pc again!I am in computer heaven!

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Read Best Reviews of Apple PowerBook Laptop 12.1" M9007LL/A (1.0-GHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Here

A fantastic ultra portable laptop. I bought the 12" Powerbook G4 1Ghz, and have been blown away by it. It has a good metallic design and its size is very easy to carry around, this is the major disadvantage of larger bulkier notebooks. I have had mine upgraded to 1.25 GB Ram, and the performance of applications like Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop is great. You can even play games like Halo on it pretty well, if that is your thing. You can have up to 80GB of HD, and my advice is to buy the largest you can afford. I also have an Airport (802.11g) card installed, and it allows wireless connectivity with a pretty good range. In addition, Bluetooth built-in allowed me to use a very nice wireless mouse with it. The Keyboard is of good quality, an important feature if you have to write long documents in Word! The LCD screen is of good quality too. All in all it made a pleasant switch from my previous bulky Sony Vaio Lap. I would recommend this computer very highly.

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This is the computer that turned me onto apple products. It is sincerely the best computer I have ever used, and I regret not taking better care of it. Even the newer macbooks don't hold up to this little guy. I rarely have any problems, and it's going on 7 years! It's been through so many drops, spills, and accidents, I'm amazed it keeps going. The screen is literally falling off, I've gone through three chargers and two batteries, and half the keys are missing and it still starts up faster and crashes less than my new macbook pro! It's a great, hardy little computer.