Bare Feats' Rob Morgan benchmarked the PowerBook G4 17" from the Macworld Expo show floor, and has posted his results, with comparison to current and former Powerportables.

I have to agree with Rob’s assessment of the 12" PowerBook G4; the more I think about it, I love the size, but I really want the power one finds in its 15" and 17" brethren: 1 GHz proc, L3 cache, and faster graphics with more VRAM. I know a PC Card slot is still out of the question, because of its size, but you add in those things, plus the SuperDrive you can get it with now, and it’s a sure-fire winner.

I’m beginning to think that an updated 15" PowerBook G4 with similar specs to the 17" is what I’ll be looking for in the future.