12" Powerbook Screen Options

[spotheball]

Can anyone give me opinions on the 12" powerbook screens -
Does the size cause any problems with viewing sequencing software such as pro tools? I would like a 12" because of it's portabilty and relative cost. Would I be better getting a 14" ibook -or even waiting and saving more for a 15" powerbook.
Opinions please.

Thanks

[lyryck]

I bought the 12"powerbook for portability and becuase I had had a 12" Dell before this.

There are no screen problems using the audio editing tool w/ Garageband, and I wouldn't expect there would be any problems with ProTools either.

There are days I'm frustrated with how tiny the screen is. Sometimes I get a glimpse of a 15" screen and how incredible the resolution looks and easy the viewing is, and I admit to screen envy.

So... final analysis... If I had it to do over again... I'd spend my money to get the 15" and spend my time oohing and aahing at the screen. Let's face it, it's still pretyy darn portable.

Nothing against the 12" - - but anyway...

Good luck!
KP

[spotheball]

Thanks for your swift reply.
I like the the portability of the 12", but don't want to regret for any reason the book I buy. SO, I might go for the 15" powerbook - which in the long run will be more beneficial than the 12", due to it's expandability...(RAM).
ANY MORE OPINIONS?

[sethjacquay]

Dudettes,

You might notice that the resolution on
the 14" iBook is the same as the resolution
on the 12" iBook and the 12" Powerbook.

This actually translates to:

14" and 12" iBook(and Powerbook) have the same amount of pixels
on the screen 1024x768.
You aren't gaining any working area (with in the software) with the bigger screen.

Now look at the Powerbooks:

12.1-inch (diagonal), 1024x768 resolution, TFT [b](same as the iBooks)[\b]
15.2-inch (diagonal), 1280x854 resolution, TFT widescreen
17.0-inch (diagonal), 1440x900 resolution, TFT widescreen

You'll notice that as the actual screen gets larger so does the resolution.
Which means more working space and typically a sharper, tighter picture.

[PristineRec]

ProTool scan quickly gobble up a lot on screen real estate as you add more tracks. I found myself switching back and forth between the mix window and the edit window constantly. If you are working on a session with more than 4 tracks, both windows pretty much nned the whole screenfor you to work efficiently.

What about this...

Get the 12" Powerbook to keep your portability, especially while recording. Buy a 17" CRT (cheaper) monitor to plug in to while you are doing editing and misdown. You can have your faders on one screen while your edit window fills the other screen.

I think you might be able to buy that extra monitor for about the price difference between the 12" and the 15" Powerbooks. And you'll be getting a LOT more screen real estate and a LOT more convenience because of it.

I myself bought a 15" Powerbook a couple months ago and am saving up to buy an LCD monitor to add more space, the switching back and forth from mix to edit makes me nuts!

[editbrain]

i also have a 12" powerbook. i have screen envy also sometimes, but the most thing that bothers me about my 12" powerbook is the lack of Level 3 cache.

editbrain

[spotheball]

Thanks for all your input.
After posting the message, I went back to the apple shop and had another look at the options. The 12" powerbook is lacking in the both the CPU and the amount of RAM available.
I want the portability - but I also want to be able to run sampletank/logic applications alongside the M box. So really the future expandability of the 15" powerbook RAM makes more sense. I will just have to save some more and be prepared to lug the extra size and weight.

Paul