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Please help me switch to a Mac!

Z

zpmqxonw

macrumors newbie
Original poster
I am a high school student, soon to be college freshman at our state university.

My Dell continues to turn on and off on me, the power supply keeps short-circuiting, and to top it all off the keyboard likes play a little game with me where it decides to not type random letters, so that on all my papers I have to go back and decide which letter I typed, but it ignored.

Fed up with all of this, I ordered a Mac Mini on February 6. I cancelled the order though because I realized I would really like a portable to take with me to the library and classes. The Mac Mini also was a lot more expensive then I had thought with all of the upgrades and I realized if I was gonna spend $800, I could get a decent portable with specs close to the Mac Mini.

Ideally, I'd like to buy a used/refurbished Titainum PowerBook, because I think they look a lot sleeker then the iBook, but I don't know if it's worth it to buy a slower powerbook vs. an almost new iBook.

In conclusion, I was just hoping that people on this board could give me a little advice about what would be best for my needs an 867 mhz PowerBook, or 1.0 Ghz iBook?

Thanks in Advance, you guys always give great advice! 😀
 
dferrara said:
12" iBook.
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I second that notion. However, I think the iBooks look better than the PowerBooks. It just seems like a better idea to get the newer computer, and the iBook will satisfy most people's needs.
 
mad jew said:
I second that notion. However, I think the iBooks look better than the PowerBooks. It just seems like a better idea to get the newer computer, and the iBook will satisfy most people's needs.
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Definitley the 12" iBook. Great machine, especially for under a grand.
 
I would also go with the iBook. Faster, newer, maybe not as cool-looking (but then again, that's just a matter of taste) but more cooler looking than that Dell of yours.

It shivers me bones to think back to my days when Windows would freeze on me every day.

Enjoy your mac! you'll never look back! (I didn't)
 
Thanks for the replies. 🙂 Is the 1.0 Ghz iBook really that much faster than the 867 mhz PowerBook? Also, do any of you know if the iBook will be updated soon? Is it worth waiting till later?
 
The iBooks will probably be updated sometime in April. Take that with a pile of salt though, because I have no idea. Look at the Buyer's Guide, you'll see why I said April. Still, get an iBook. Those guys above know what they're talking about.
 
I'm guessing that since you're going into college in the fall, you'll have time to wait until the updates in April - which would be best.

Also, take advantage of the Education discount. You can save a good wad of money.
 
Yeah, my b-day's April 30, so I guess I could wait till then if I haaavvve to. But I want one so bad! I guess I'll just keep my DELL/DELviL laptop until then. LOL(I just realized if you add an i and v to Dell it spell devil- some type of discrete symbolism I think)
 
talk about symbolism and Catholicism.....
 

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Unless you really don't need a new computer anytime soon, I wouldn't wait until April personally. An update is far from guaranteed for April. The laptop lineup might be slowing down as they try to move the PowerBooks to a new design. I doubt Apple wants to narrow the iBook-PowerBook gap to a place like it was in from November-January, so iBooks might be at their current place for a while. But who knows; buy when you need it.

As for which one to buy, I can think of few situations where someone should choose an older, slower, used computer over a newer and faster one. Go for the iBook, or a rev. C PowerBook on closeout. Used might also have battery issues, too.

Someone who knows better of what they speak as regards the caches on the 867 MHz TiBook (larger L1, smaller L2, 1MB L3) might disagree as to it being slower than a 1GHz iBook, and of course the TiBook has a nicer screen. But I'd still probably lean iBook.
 
Well, if you can't wait until April, get one now! You're never going to have the most up to date model for very long anyway.

To continue with the TiBook / iBook debate, there might be instances where a powerbook will seem faster than an iBook. I remember a couple of friends who were working on a website together: one had a Pismo and the other a G3 iBook with a higher clockspeed (can't remember off the top of my head what) and the Pismo seemed faster in most instances. However there are other factors to take into account. First of all, you have the chipping paint problem associated with the TiBooks. Battery life might be an issue like McGarry said before. Also, the video card might be better in a newer iBook (but I can't back that up with any proof), and iBooks now come standard with Airport Extreme. The TiBooks used the regular Airport, I presume, and those cards are difficult to find.

Anyway, it's up to what suits you the best. 🙂

But I'd personally go with the iBook. You can get a 1.2 ghz iBook for $949 with the edu discount (or $899 if all you need's a CD-ROM) - sounds like a steal to me.
 
iBook all the way. Girlfriend just got hers, loves it. up the ram if you can, even if you get it used. Makes a difference. 512 will be sufficient for your needs it sounds. Really try to go with a new one though.. at that price with what you get.. you couldnt touch an equal computer software/hardware wise in the windows world. hooray for iBook users!
 
I agree w/ the iBook posts... Surprisingly no one has mentioned that you need to get at least 512 MB RAM in it... While that's kind of a given around here, since you're a new Mac user I figured I'd throw it out there, because OS X with less that 512 isn't very savory... Also I'd recommend upgrading from the 30 GB hard drive if you're thinking low end... 30 gigs is just a joke... Also, I agree with those saying you should wait, when I went off to college I waited a bit, and by late June that year Apple introduced the G5, and the rest is history... 😉

(Disclaimer: That is in no way a PB G5 release date guess.)
 
Yeah, I think I'm just gonna get an iBook from Good Guys. They have a brand new iBook 12 inch 1.0 Ghz with Airport for 900. Is this a good deal? Also, one last question, what size do you recommend. I probably would only take it with me to like the library and stuff, so I was thinking a 12 inch would be best because it is very portable, but I have heard they're have been problems with the screen warping?
 
I would go for a new iBook - it's a difference of $100, and will be 20% faster, and well, new.

The iBook is a nice machine - you'll like it.
 
zpmqxonw said:
Yeah, my b-day's April 30, so I guess I could wait till then if I haaavvve to. But I want one so bad! I guess I'll just keep my DELL/DELviL laptop until then. LOL(I just realized if you add an i and v to Dell it spell devil- some type of discrete symbolism I think)
Click to expand...

Only get a computer when you really NEED one, rather than beacuse you simply WANT one. By the time you actually need it, Apple will have released an iBook with even better specs than the current ones, and possibly at an even better price.
 
zpmqxonw said:
Yeah, I think I'm just gonna get an iBook from Good Guys. They have a brand new iBook 12 inch 1.0 Ghz with Airport for 900. Is this a good deal? Also, one last question, what size do you recommend. I probably would only take it with me to like the library and stuff, so I was thinking a 12 inch would be best because it is very portable, but I have heard they're have been problems with the screen warping?
Click to expand...

I don't really think this is a very good deal at all. This is a old model. You will be going to college, so you will qualify for Apple's educational discount, and this is the price and specs for a 12' Combo Drive on the Apple Store for Education:

$949.00

1.2GHz PowerPC G4
512K L2 cache @1.2GHz
12-inch TFT Displays
1024x768 resolution
256MB DDR266 SDRAM
30GB Ultra ATA drive
Combo Drive
ATI Mobility Radeon 9200
32MB DDR video memory
AirPort Extreme built-in

And for $899, you get the same thing with a CD-ROM Drive.

I think you could do better on a 1.0 GHz if you do a little searching.
 
Definately get the iBook new from Apple with your educational discount. Here are the upgrades I recommend:

768MB RAM
Bluetooth
60Gig Hard drive

All of this adds up to $1196 before tax. Also, remember you get 1 year of apple care. You can buy the extended plan for $183 any time during your 1 year of apple care.

And wait for Tiger in June.

lasuther
 
Get a mac mini. Its cheap and fast enough. Besides, the whole portable computing thing is a little over hyped.
 
I'll just reiterate that it might be worthwhile to look for last-rev PowerBooks on closeout. I was in my campus bookstore today and saw the last of the Rev. C 12" PBs on sale for $999 (SuperDrive for $1099)... that's a lot more computer than the current base iBook, in almost every regard, for only $50 more. If there's any deal like this where you go to school, I think it's hard to pass up.

Although, as you are still a high school student, you are not eligible for edu pricing and college-specific deals like this one, it still might be worth looking around.
 
I found a 12 inch refurbished iBook for 799 at the Apple Store. Are the refurbished ones in good shape or kinda beat up? I listed the specs below and thanks for all the great replies.

iBook G4 1.2GHz/ 256MB/ 30GB/ CD/ E/ 56K/ 12-inch TFT - Apple Certified
 
zpmqxonw said:
I found a 12 inch refurbished iBook for 799 at the Apple Store. Are the refurbished ones in good shape or kinda beat up? I listed the specs below and thanks for all the great replies.

iBook G4 1.2GHz/ 256MB/ 30GB/ CD/ E/ 56K/ 12-inch TFT - Apple Certified
Click to expand...

Refurbished are a great deal! They look new, and they still have the same warranty and service. I got my iMac refurbished (and it came with 512MB of RAM and internal Bluetooth) for $1299.

Refurbished could also simply be a return that someone did not want, and there was nothing wrong with them at all.

By the way, I would get a CD-RW (not the CD-ROM), and make sure you get the version with Airport built-in to take advantage of any Wi-Fi connections your college has.
 
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