We just had an Organizational Behavior exam.

For the uninitiated, OB is to organizations as psychology is to a person

The exam was an open book one. We could bring in computers to write out the answers.

The answers could then be either emailed to the professor, put on a CD to be handed up or put on a USB flash device and copied over to the professor’s notebook computer.

I used the 12″ Powerbook for the exam (yes, I finally decided to keep it) and it was pretty good.

There were a several advantages :

1. Small size. The Powerbook was probably one of the smallest computers among the multitude of 14″ and 15″ Windows notebooks. That left a lot of space on the desk for the exam questions, case study materials and past materials which I had to used to answer the questions.

2. CD burner. I burned the Word document containing my answers to a CDROM and handed that to the professor. I won’t have been able to do that with my 12″ HP notebook.

3. WiFi. I also emailed the Word document to the professor. Maybe I’ll double the score

4. Great keyboard. The 12″ Powerbook has a very nice keyboard. Great for typing out things in a hurry.

Will I sell the Powerbook in the future?

I’m still not sure. The refurb 15″ Powerbook sold out at the Apple online store within 24 hours. But an Ebay seller claims to still have about 14 of these (complete with receipt and AppleCare). So the jury is still out…

Low End Mac is one of my favorite Macintosh websites.

When I first started collecting compact Macs in the late 1990s, Low End Mac was where I could get pretty accurate specs, desirability and unique characteristics of these machines.

Over the past year of so, I have graduated to buying new Macs. And I still use Low End Mac’s Best Deals index to find out the market values of these machines.

Unfortunately, Dan Knight’s recent article on notebook batteries left a lot to be desired from a technical point of view.

The original article referred to all notebook batteries as NiMH ones. The fact of the matter is that notebooks have been using LiIon batteries for a number of years. Perhaps the original 68000-based Powerbooks had NiMH batteries but a quick check on Low End Mac itself showed that the infamous Powerbook 5300 had a LiIon battery that was prone to self-destruction.

Dan Knight then changed the article, replacing all instances of NiMH with Li-Ion. Which still left the article pretty inaccurate.

The reason for that is the assumption of the original article : that high capacity NiMH cells in AA form factor are common and cheap and could therefore be easily used in NiMH notebook batteries thus reducing the total cost of such batteries.

Replacing “NiMH” by “Li-Ion” made the second part of that assumption factually correct, but also made the first part of the assumption incorrect. Li-Ion batteries in AA form factor are rare and the 18650 form factor of the Li-Ion cells used in the iBook battery remain pretty expensive. You are definitely not talking about $30 of cells.

This is pretty sad because the last thing us Mac users would like others to think of us is technologically ignorant.

This morning, the online Apple Store had in stock again the refurbished 15″ Powerbook with the high definition screen. That’s the last generation Powerbook that was introduced in late 2005 before the Intel switchover.

The price? $1349 plus tax.

It is soooo tempting.

The question is, of course, what would I do with it?

A 12″ notebook is somewhat more physically practical. It is certainly more portable although the 4.9lbs and 4.6lbs of the iBook and 12″ Powerbook respectively are actually high numbers. You can surf the web while in bed or draped over an armchair. If, like me, you intend to carry a Powerbook to class, a 12″ model will definitely fit better while leaving room on the desk for written notes and other stationary.

A 15″ will be a little large.

I already have a 15″ HP notebook with dimensions that are similar to the 15″ Powerbook. I though that the HP was very nice and light when I first bought it. That was a couple of years ago. That HP notebook is certainly not very portable today when compared to the iBook or 12″ Powerbook. Mrs Svgeek certainly prefers her 12″ iBook to the HP. The HP weighs 6.5lbs, about 1 lb heavier than the 15″ Powerbook, but it is the size that will be a constraint.

Sigh. Decisions…

The 12″ Powerbook is listed on Craigslist. A woman who claimed to be completely computer ignorant (she’s probably truthful as she doesn’t know Fry’s Electronics) called on Friday but has not called back. I guess that if I can sell off the 12″ Powerbook, I will. Otherwise, I’m just going to continue using it.