I am typing on arguably the one of the best Netbooks ever manufactured by Apple prior to the release of the MacBook Air. Yes, Apple once did manufacture a Netbook.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFc-YtIgCpqBTQN3pjm-R7KUFX0pBb0liXDEDYqlYh3MC_ded_1X8pTE2WTKI_UmB1bn5YSANxx2VGPWET0I8xhQNjTx95nMAiOVfvYlZGMkbi0X-BIyDjvQnB5NR8r_BQtgYq/s400/12PBvNetbookv15PB.jpg)
By zxmacman
zxmac8384@yahoo.com
It runs Mac OS 10.5, has 1 gigabyte of ram and a 160 gigabyte hard drive. It is a 12-inch PowerBook G4 circa 2003. Read more about it here. Like
many Apple products, it was before its time and definitely before the Netbook idea of recent years.
It has a CD-DVD burner that current Netbooks don't have, but it lacks a dedicated webcam that many Netbooks have. For most Internet tasks its 867 MHz processor does just fine. However,
it chokes on streaming Internet media files. It plays DVDs and other media just fine, making it an excellent device for watching a movie in bed or on a plane.
Here is a photo comparing an PowerBook 12-inch, a Netbook and a 15-inch MacBook Pro:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFc-YtIgCpqBTQN3pjm-R7KUFX0pBb0liXDEDYqlYh3MC_ded_1X8pTE2WTKI_UmB1bn5YSANxx2VGPWET0I8xhQNjTx95nMAiOVfvYlZGMkbi0X-BIyDjvQnB5NR8r_BQtgYq/s400/12PBvNetbookv15PB.jpg)
Obviously, the footprint of the Netbook is much smaller compared to either machine. A big plus of the PowerBook 12-inch is a full-size keyboard which Netbooks do not have.
Overall, I am happy using the PowerBook as a Netbook, but I am exploring the possibility of purchasing a version of Dell's Mini 9 and installing the Mac OS.
zxmac8384@yahoo.com
May 2, 2009