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Rating: - Fix for battery problem
I eagerly awaited the arrival of the PowerBook G4 and plugged it in to charge the battery while using the Software Update feature to obtain the latest versions of the applications and security updates. There were quite a few updates and after installing them I checked to see how the battery charge was going. Much to my dissapointment there was 0 charge and the battery appeared totaly dead as described in some previous posts on this website.

I was ready to contact Apple but decided to run Software update again and after I installed the operating system update another update showed up titled: "Aluminum PowerBook (15-inch) Battery Firmware Update". I installed this update and my battery started charging and has worked fine ever since. This update did not show up in the list of updates until I had installed most of the other updates.

Hope this helps others solve this problem without having to send their battery back.

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Rating: - One of the best laptops I've ever owned (and I've owned many!)
The last iteration of the Apple Powerbook G4 like many have said is a work of art. It's thin and light, but still very powerful. The video card is high end but still the machine is still not adept at playing graphically intensive games like Doom 3. Comparable PC laptops with the Radeon 9700 mobility graphics engine could play these games much better.

I would have preferred a glossy screen but the extra resolution (which is actually greater than the MacBook Pro) is VERY nice. Being able to fit more windows on the screen is a delight over older powerbooks/ibooks.

The laptop was very useable with the standard 512MB of RAM but I did add a 1GB sodimm since the price of RAM was very cheap. There is a major difference in day to day activities with the extra RAM so I suggest getting an extra 1GB when you can. I doubt maxing the RAM out would be of much benefit over 1.5GB.

Overall I'm very happy with this computer.

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Rating: - Best G4 Powerbook
Most Powerful G4 Powerbook w/ a 15" screen. Could use more RAM, at least 1 gig. Trumped by the new Intel MacBooks.

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Rating: - as always, apple makes another great laptop
This laptop had a dead battery on arrival and it would not charge. However, it worked from the power adaptor. Seems it was a bad battery, there was a batch of them apparently. Of course this would not have happened if I had purchased from the Apple Store or other retail place but I would have paid more and amazon.com had a $200.00 rebate for this model. Anyway the day it arrived I called Apple and after they checked the serial numbers and ok'd it, a new battery arrived the next day. Other that, it has performed above expectations. I would suggest you add more RAM as that will speed things up. This machine is a work of art.

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Rating: - Excellent choice!
I was a Windows home user and now I'm a very happy Mac user. I'm still getting to know the Mac OS features, but the Powerbook is working pretty well until now. The screen is excellent!!

It's very thin, light and has a very nice design.

It comes with 512Mb but I bought an additional 1Gb memory from Transcend (excellent price!).

The only problem I have until now (I've been using since Jan 14, 2006) it that after a sleep due to battery ending it seens to freeze the keyboard and trackpad and I need to turn it off and on, but this I still don't know if it's a hardware problem or a software bug.

I'd recommend it!