Which PowerBook is it? If it's one of the later PowerBooks (Pismo/Lombard), you can order yourself a new trackpad/palm rest assembly for under $100. www.pbparts.com

Oops, sorry! It's a Rev. B 550MHZ TiBook with the plain ol DVD Is the trackpad installation pretty easy?

Quote: Originally posted by SuperGroove: <STRONG>Oops, sorry! It's a Rev. B 550MHZ TiBook with the plain ol DVD Is the trackpad installation pretty easy?</…

Well he tried installing a hard drive, and what ended up happening was, he said, him tearing the trackpad cable. He told me that it would most likely cost $80-90. Still a go?

Apple quoted a $310 repair charge for the trackpad cable. Should I still try and get the Powerbook 550? Thanks, Paul

Is it a huge deal? Why doesn't he just get it repaired and sell it for a better price on ebay. Sounds like there might be something else wrong. Unless it's a really good deal... an…

He's giving me full versions of Office for OS9, the version before Office v.X, and a full version of Virtual PC with WindowsMe, and some various games. He's giving me Airport and 1…

Is there a way to upgrade the video chip in this machine?

I'm sure it's possible with hours and hours of soldering and hacking work. I would say it's impossible, but everything's possible. In other words, the task is impossible. http://…

The DVD kit uses a hardware processor on a PC card, so I'd guess that you can do some video off of the motherboard. As far as replacing the onboard processor, forget it.

Sony seem to have to have really raised the bar with their new laptops. Check them out here. I can't wait to see Apple respond at MWNY withthe next rev of the Ti.

Well maybe, but how hard can it be to raise a bar that was never really off the ground in the first place?

I've owned two Sony Vaio notebooks and both were poorly-made headaches. Both froze constantly, probably due to all the proprietary junk that runs in the background. And the track…

It's still too heavy and thick. It looks like the TiBook will hold it's ground/bar for 6 more month. That's not saying it won't be revised.

For those who would use a notebook as a desktop replacement, i think this new sony really ups the ante. If i remember correctly, it has the same video card as the low end power mac…

Ummm, I fail to see what the big deal is with that computer. The screen size? I kinda like not having to tote around an LCD that should not ever be moved of the desk. That thing is…

Desktop replacement? How about just a desktop? 8.5 pounds and 2.5 hour battery life means the TiBook is safe for now in my humble opinion. cheers, JB

Quote: Originally posted by Azerty: <STRONG>Sony seem to have to have really raised the bar with their new laptops. Check them out here. I can't wait to see Apple …

Sony with 16" screen is 8.4 pounds including one battery and optical drive. Battery life is described as 2.5 - 3.5 hrs with one battery, or 5 - 6.5 hrs using two batteries. I ca…

The bigger screen is nice, but I'm not willing to lug around 8.4 pounds of garbage with me. The TiBook's classier. The Pentium 4-M won't run at its full clock speed without being …

I don't even see how adding an excessively large screen and an overheating processor is raising the bar, either. The Pentium III-M is faster than the Pentium 4-M.

Quote: Originally posted by Azerty: <STRONG>Sony seem to have to have really raised the bar with their new laptops. Check them out here. I can't wait to see Apple …

The sad part is that it has an antiquated graphics chipset. They should at least include 64 megabytes of RAM in a notebook that size.

It's too big, and too heavy... that said, it still has a 1.7GHz chip, 400MHz bus, 512 Mb DDR RAM, and 1600 x 1200 screen resolution. Those are impressive specs by themselves, too …

They won't be faster than the Pentium 4. I've basically given up hope that a Mac will be comparable in performance to a Wintel. However, it will enable the PowerBook to be the mos…