This page is intended to be an overview of certain apple laptop computers, namely the Powerbook series (mainly) and the macbook series (a little). It is intended as a layman's reference for someone considering the purchase of one of these models "used", but is unsure of their respective capabilities so I will make it as brief as possible.

The apple powerbook G4 Titanium looks very similar to the later apple powermacs and the first Aluminum powerbook models with the exception that the Titanium has it's external ports located on the back of the machine and the keyboard is black rather than silver. The Titanium G4 is the LASt laptop that will allow "booting" into apple OS9 which is NOT the currently available operating system. It WILL run OSX versions up to 10.5 Leopard, but the LAST version of OSX that will support "booting" into version OS9 is OSX 10.4 Tiger. The Titanium machine is the BEST choice if you need to run older applications under system OS9, but be advised that there is currently NO BROWSER available for internet applications, therefore you will need to run OSX if you want to access the internet with one of these machines. The system bus is 133mhz and what that means in laymans terms is that this machine is NOT fast enough to stream video but it will do most everything else, including the playing of DVD's if it is equipped with a DVD compatible drive, which all of them came with but NOT all were "superdrives" which allow the "burning" of DVD's. You will NEED a DVD drive if you intend to install OSX on this machine. These machines support USB 1.1 but NOT USB 2.0, they will work with USB 2.0 devices but will only transfer data at the slower speed of the USB 1.1. There have been issues with the "hinges" that support the screen on these machines, but they are easily replaceable.

The powerbook G4 Aluminum replaced the G4. The aluminum will support running OS9 but it will NOT "boot" into OS9. It runs OS9 in what is referred to as the "classic" environment, which means that it "shells" into OS9 from OSX, therefore it is running BOTH operating systems simultaneously, much like running "virtual pc" on a mac so that you can run windows operating systems. These machines will run windows xp with virtual pc version 5 or 6. (the Titanium will support windows xp with virtual pc version5, which works with OS9) These machines have a system bus of 167mhz, which is a little faster then the Titanium. They will NOT support the current version of OSX which is OSX 10.6 "snow leopard". The LAST operating system the Aluminum will support is OSX 10.5 "leopard". The aluminum powerbook is the last model with the apple G4 processor and the newest operating system runs only on an intel-based processor like the macbook. Please be advised that OSX 10.5 "leopard" does NOT support the older OS9 operating system AT ALL. These machines are also NOT fast enough to stream video smoothly off the internet, regardless of your connection speed. The aluminum offers the addition of a Firewire 800 port which is twice as fast as Firewire 400. The early aluminum models did NOT have USB 2.0 and the models smaller than 17" will NOT power USB devices, they offer power but do not have enough for external drives, so you will have to plug your external USB drive into a separate power supply. Like all of the powerbook series macs these machines are virtually "bulletproof".

The macbook series is the first series of apple laptops with the newer intel-based processors. They are also the first model that will support the streaming of video content over an internet connection due to their MUCH faster system bus of 667mhz on the earliest models. The macbook does NOT have Firewire 800 ports so if you need a Firewire 800 port then you will need a macbookpro. The newest macbooks do not have a firewire port (USB 2.0 only, but most firewire 800 external drives are downward compatible and can be accessed via USB 2.0) and the newest macbookpro does not have a firewire 400 port, but it has a firewire 800 port.

This is written ONLY in an attempt to help people who want to obtain a mac laptop but are unfamiliar with them. Sometimes the technical specs can be confusing and it wasn't until I had recently acquired an aluminum powerbook G4 that I realized it did not stream video at full speed. I love the apple computers and they are all solid machines in my experience, so I am sure you will happy with one but make sure you get one that supports your intended purpose.