The 12” G4 Powerbook is regarded by many as being one of the best ever notebooks produced by Apple. Despite being replaced by the original plastic intel based MacBooks it still remained a highly sought after model long after it was discontinued. Many users preferred it’s aluminum casing to the cheaper looking plastic of the MacBook and because it had a smaller screen (12” vs the MacBook’s 13”) it was the ideal choice for users looking for an ultra portable Mac.

I owned the 1.33 GHz model and was very happy with its performance. It came installed with Mac OS X Panther, but thanks to 768 MB of RAM it also ran Mac OSX Tiger with ease.

The one aspect of the 12” PowerBook that I was a little disappointed by was the screen quality, it was a cheaper spec than the 15” & 17” models and as a result colours looked a little washed out. Thanks to a little app called SuperCal though I was able to improve the quality significantly, and if you're intending to use the PowerBook 12” with an external monitor you won’t have any problems.

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Apple launched the iBook Clamshell in 1999 as an affordable portable Mac for the consumer market. In contrast to the more understated design of Apple’s PowerBook range, the Clamshell’s design was a continuation of the radical all in one, curvy, multi coloured iMac. Many people loved the unusual design though some cruelly likened it to a toilet seat. Despite the detractors the Clamshell was hugely popular, no doubt some of it’s success came from it’s prolific placement in many movies of the time - it was instantly recognisable on screen and had a futuristic look that other laptops didn’t have.

The first two Clamshells were available in tangerine or blueberry colours, had PowerPC G3 300 MHz processors, and could be fitted with a then new AirPort wireless network card. With an AirPort card fitted the Clamshell could be used to browse the internet without the need for wires - one of the first mainstream laptops to have such a feature.

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