EightyOne

If you’re one of the many people who I’ve been gloating to recently, you’ll know that I recently acquired a new 17″ Apple Powerbook. It’s quite possibly the smartest bit of kit I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning. Jane has even described the silver notebook as ’sexy’.

For a long time I felt like Macs were the enemy - at University they were responsible for much lost work and wasted hours due to crashes - but they really have moved on in leaps and bounds since Mac OS X was released back in 2001. In the last year or so, I’ve become more and more intrigued by Apple’s machines, both for their stunning designs, stable operating system, and their heavy use in both the music and web development communities.

I hid my guilty secret for some time, until, back in July, I bought my first ever Apple product - a blue iPod mini. I was impressed by its ease of use, its simple but unique design, and its top build quality, and that’s when I decided - I wanted a Mac.

The Powerbook is probably the last in the line of PowerPC-based Powerbooks, before Apple begin selling Intel processor-based models. For this reason, a lot of potential new buyers are shying away from a purchase at the moment. However, I’m more than happy, because I know it’s still the most powerful notebook that Apple have ever produced, and it’s way faster than my Windows PC!

An Apple computer is a double-act between hardware and operating system that can’t be matched in the PC world simply because they are never created by the same company. The real defining feature of the Powerbook (or any Apple product, for that matter) is the sheer quality. Every little feature, from the rounded corners at the top of the menu bar in Mac OS, to the light on the power-supply plug that tells you when your battery is charged, reminds you of that.

In use the Powerbook is a dream. At the risk of sounding like a Mac zealot, it’s everything that Windows isn’t. It boots quickly, the user interface is beautiful, there’s no waiting at the desktop for all the various processes to load. To use a slightly clichéd phrase often used to describe a Mac, “it just works”. Want to install an application? Just drag the single file to your ‘Applications’ folder. There’s no registry to clog up, so uninstalling an app is often as simple as deleting it from the folder.

The Powerbook has a bright, sharp screen, and comes with ‘Airport Extreme’ (or IEEE 802.11g) wireless networking, which is easy to set up if you have a router or hotspot available. It also has Bluetooth as standard for wirelessly hooking up peripherals and mobile phones. Battery life is good - quoted at 5.5 hours, it should provide at least 3 hours of general use between charges. Also in the box are a host of accessories (matching, naturally) for connecting the machine to a monitor, TV and phone-line and a power supply with extension cord. Also provided are backup CDs for re-installing the OS and apps if necessary.

And what about the supplied software? The iLife application suite, which comes with all new Macs, features software for organising and manipulating your photos, creating movies and DVDs, and - my favourite - Garageband, which is a multitrack audio and MIDI sequencer. Just perfect! These apps are all easy to use, but perform well never-the-less. Obviously they’re not going to be replacements for, say, Photoshop or Logic, but they’re a very good starting point for hobbyists or those who want to begin creating on their Mac.

I have been completely won over by my new Mac, and I’d choose it over a Windows (or GNU/Linux) PC any day of the week. The real test, however, will be once I begin using the Powerbook for recording Left Hand Red’s next demo. It may be that Garageband is enough to put together a good quality demo, or their’s always my old favourite, Tracktion, to fall back on should it prove limiting. Either way, I’m sure the Powerbook will prove an invaluable tool.