Powerbook Update!, comming Oct. 19th? Options

[miaba]

So has anyone heard about these updates that apple scheduled to announce this afternoon? I heard mention of duel channel ddr2 included with the new computers. I am in the midst of purchasing a powerbook as soon as possible but I'm not sure if I should wait. Waiting kind of makes me nervous as I know that I can get by with a time-tested machine at a cost that I can afford. Maybe I could get a word on if I should wait to purchase or not. Does this mean the current powerbooks will disapear? My student discount is good only through the applestore!

[keybie]

I started slowly looking around for a new computer almost 2 years ago, deciding to get a laptop this time, and the Powerbook (12" or 15") seemed to be it
Since then I've been following the suggestion given by others: "If you need it, buy it now, if not -wait!"

There's always going to be something better just around the corner, but to me the 15" that I've decided on seems like a good buy now. It's a little cheaper than before and has the features of the top end 17" model and then some (dual-layer DVD burner and bigger, better screen), so I think this is it. I'm just going to wait a couple of weeks to hear what others say -if there are any bugs or issues that need to be ironed out.

But having searched the web for more information I hear nothing but whining and complaining, and frankly it's a little off-putting

Are all you guys saying that they're crap? I'm certainly not prepared to wait another 2 years for an Intel based Powerbook (and nobody knows how well they'll work anyway). The question is: is the current 15" Powerbook good enough, and is all the whining about numbers and specs, while in "real life" it's a very powerful and nice computer?

So, if the newly updated 15" Powerbook is a worthless pile of crap, what alternatives are there? I'll be using it for the usual things (web, mail, word-processing etc.) but also for creating music (audio/MIDI) and video-editing, most likely with an external hard-drive.
Are current PC laptops so much better?