Editorial Product Review:Item Description:Included Accessories: Modem cable, power adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, lithium-ion battery
The M9970LL/A 17-Inch Powerbook is a study in power and functionality. This easy-to-use portable has everything needed to organize your digital life. It combines faster processing, more (and faster) storage, more advanced graphics, and other powerhouse features for your professional endeavors. With Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, optical digital audio and a new display, it's the gotta-have notebook for the pro. And thanks to its durable design and built-in wireless, it's ready to travel in backpacks and tote bags just about everywhere. It's easy to warm up to the SuperDrive-with fast DVD burning with Dual-Layer capability. At 15.4 x 10.2 x 1 inch, under 7 pounds, you're getting lots of power and a 17' screen in a very mobile package. Make it yours! 8x SuperDrive DVD+R DL, DVD+/-RW, CD-RW slot-loading optical drive Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) Ethernet 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme (Wi-Fi 802.11g) wireless; built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR 56K V.92 modem Full-size, illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor Video out - DVI, VGA, S-Video and compsoite Combined analog and optical digital line-in & line-out, stereo speaker and microphone Two FireWire ports (1 FireWire 400, 1 FireWire 800), two USB 2.0 ports, one Type I/II PC Card slot Includes S-Video adapter, DVI to VGA adapter Operating System - Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger (incl. Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Xcode Developer tools) Included Software - iLife '05(iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, GarageBand), Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive, FileMaker Pro Trial, OmniGraffle, QuickBooks for Mac, Zinio Reader, Art Directors' Toolkit, GraphicConverter Footprint - 15.4 x 10.2 Thickness - 1 Weight - 6.9 lbs. Battery Life - Up to 5.5 hours Your PowerBook G4 come
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Buyer Reviews
Average Buyer Rating:
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Great notebook doubles as desktop
This was my first Mac and it has been all it was supposed to be. The display is huge and clear; the software works well; the notebook actually plugged and was usable straight out of the box.
I upgraded to Tiger recently and found I like the computer even more. The PowerBook has completely replaced my PC desktop although originally the idea was to use this more out of the office. Well, it is large and not as easily hauled around as I imagined originally. I do take it to my job occasionally and after buying the right carrying case find it works BUT I am getting a second, smaller Apple Notebook for out in the field. This one shines at home especially paired with that 23" Apple monitor...I completely stopped using the other PC with the big screen which I bought strictly for photography and it is on it's way to a new home.
The battery life of this PowerBook is short - an hour is about right. I can live with that. Finding a carrying case took a little work as it is both big and heavy--found one I love. One truly time saving aspect of the Mac is the time I DO NOT spend on downloading virus updates. It got to the point with my PC that I was downloading daily; I don't expect to be virus free without a little work but daily?? Even with the learning curve going from Windows to Mac I recommend this without reserve.
LOVE this notebook and easily give it 5 stars.
Customer Rating: 
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Very Fragile
Wonderfull machine. This machine is a looker. Wherever you go with this baby you will be noticed. The screen is the best. Performance wise was not so astonishing even at 2 gb ram. The superdrive is good, but still i have a few coasters from this baby lying around. The screen is very fragile and expensive to fix. Wouldn't recomend it for a road warrior. Still an amazing machine if you like the way it looks and don't plan on moving it much.
Customer Rating: -
After this, everything else looks so miniscule...
I could never really afford a new 17" BowerBook, nor a new MacBook Pro 17" that is coming out. But when the Apple Store manager told me I could get a new 17" PB for $1,500, I had the credit card out in 1 second.
And man do I love this machine!
it's big, it is true, but it has the same resolution as an Apple 20" Cinema Display. You can get alot of work done on this screen with room to boot.
The greatest benefit for me is the ability to use this in presenter mode with Keynote. I can see my notes, and slides across the stage. Best use yet of the 17"
Buy one if you need the screen size and ability to take your desktop with you on the road.
Customer Rating: 
-
A $2500 paperweight
My new (dec. 05) P'book 17" - fully loaded - is in for it's third repair.
I am now getting my 3rd replacement logic board, 3rd replacement hard drive, and 2nd replacement display. In the 2 months I have owned this I have gotten 13 days use of it. Apple keeps replacing components but either their components are all dodgy, or there is an underlying problem (e.g. power supply) that they are incapable of looking for and/or diagnosing.
4 hard drives, 4 logic boards and 3 displays on a brand new machine?
The Apple Warranty states that refurbished parts may be used; but seeing as the technicians are not even fully documenting all that they do, I have no way of knowing if I am having bad parts put in. When I asked for Apple ot simply replace the machine, one particularly-condescending tech support person told me that it has not had enough 'downtime' yet; but one more catastrophic failure would be enough and they would replace it.
From Apple's customer-help site, I am not the only one with this ongoing problem.
Don't get me wrong - I am a complete MacHead, no way I will switch to a Windows machine yet (though I am currently using my antiquated 2002-vintage Powerbook-G4, oh the screen resolution sucks by comparison to the new 17"). Given my track record with previous Powerbooks and desktops I am simply not happy with the possibility that I can work away on my laptop and lose the day's work when everything dies with no warning. Apple tech support helpfully suggested I backup my data DAILY. (Given that I have NEVER had any failure of any other mac, ever, this is simply unacceptable). I can not trust this machine. (On the bright side, I only get a days worth of use out of it before it dies again... is that a GOOD thing?)
Be warned.