12' iBook or 12' Powerbook?

Nope. An iBook will be just fine.

Well, if you need the graphics oomph or are afraid to try the spanning hack that is the only reason to go PB at the moment

Shasta

I agree unless you need the 64mb vram, dvi, or superdrive there is no reason to go with the pbook.

Didn't know they were making them with screens that big. Not very portable, are they?

powermac666 said:

Didn't know they were making them with screens that big. Not very portable, are they?

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I love the metric system.

I was faced with this decision about 6 months ago, and I decided on the ibook. Oddly enough, when I went to the store to buy my ibook, I walked out with a Powerbook.

By the time I upgraded the ibook to have BT, 60G's, and I forget what else, the difference was $300. I reasoned that $300 wasn't that big of a difference when I looked at the advantages offered by the PB. I don't know what has happened to this price difference with the ibook upgrade, it might have widened.

I don't want to urge anyone to spend money they don't have on something don't need, but I have found that I use the a few PB features that I never thought I would, and on top of that, if you like to keep up with the latest technology keep in mind that PB's generally have a higher resale value than ibooks.

I did the same thing yesterday I went to the store to get an ibook and walked out with a powerbook.... I love it....I just like the look and feel of it I also like the larger faster hard drive

davidcb13 said:

I did the same thing yesterday I went to the store to get an ibook and walked out with a powerbook.... I love it....I just like the look and feel of it I also like the larger faster hard drive

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I dont mean to hijack this thread, but I too have been pondering this question. This is the only thing that has been holding me back from getting the updated iBook, because there is not too much of a difference between it and the old PB.

I dont think there is any question that the PB looks better and is (slightly?) more powerful than the PB, but there is also the question(s) of WiFi and heat. Here, I think the iBook wins. So is the extra $300 justified, or is one better off waiting for an updated PB (also have to keep Student Union in mind)?

Buy my PowerBook... because now that I have my iMac, I don't need such a powerful lappy. Seriously though, I'd hate to feel at a disadvantage; when I got my PB (almost a year before my iMac) it was the only Apple around so I opted for some more power. But now that I have the power in my desktop, I really don't need it in my laptop as well.

I got the PB12 ... twice! (one for me and then 4 months later one for my gf) and we're very happy.

Do you really want a laptop that is not fully compatible with the current OS's bells and whistles? I don't like buying obsolete things...

-RS

quidire said:

I got the PB12 ... twice! (one for me and then 4 months later one for my gf) and we're very happy.

Do you really want a laptop that is not fully compatible with the current OS's bells and whistles? I don't like buying obsolete things...

-RS

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How is the current iBook incompatible? I thought the only issue was Core Image which w/ the new graphics card, the new iBook does support.

quidire said:

Do you really want a laptop that is not fully compatible with the current OS's bells and whistles? I don't like buying obsolete things...

-RS

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New ibooks can't run the current OS fully!?

AcousticDoc said:

New ibooks can't run the current OS fully!?

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What that poster said was FUD. The only possible issue was that the new iBooks might not support Core Image; however, it has been shown that CI apparently does /not/ require 64MB of VRAM, and 32MB will suffice.

wrburns said:

What that poster said was FUD. The only possible issue was that the new iBooks might not support Core Image; however, it has been shown that CI apparently does /not/ require 64MB of VRAM, and 32MB will suffice.

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Ah hah... so I was correct in my thinking... two posts up.

wrburns said:

What that poster said was FUD. The only possible issue was that the new iBooks might not support Core Image; however, it has been shown that CI apparently does /not/ require 64MB of VRAM, and 32MB will suffice.

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Oh. Er my apologies; when Tiger was about to come out, the specs seemed to indicate that CI would not support the chip type of the iBook's graphics adapter. If this is not the case, and CI is supported, well mea culpa.

The rationale for preferring a better graphics subsystem is the amount to which Apple is shifting towards having the graphics chip do OS interface acceleration (compositing etc that would previously have been done by CPU).

Ah I see, the iBook's bump included a graphics chip change. Well I'm wrong, the last three posters are correct

Allow me to apologise again about the mistake; it was unintentional. I stand by my recommendation thought; the powerbook is a great buy.

-RS

If you need a little more powerful portable computer then go for it. I opted for the ibook because I wanted a good everyday computer me and the wife could take to work/school and my daughter could use to watch movies and what not. I have a couple of really beefie home computers that I don't need to lug around to do all my heavy tasks....errmmm like gaming.

Jack

lfielder06 said:

I agree unless you need the 64mb vram, dvi, or superdrive there is no reason to go with the pbook.

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The PB also has a faster HDD, audio in, and IMO a better keyboard... These things are making me still favor the PB over the iBooks.

Simple answer to this thread, if you can afford the PB then get it. If you cant then get the Ibook you will be pleased either way. This concludes our broadcast day.

CaptainCaveMann said:

Simple answer to this thread, if you can afford the PB then get it. If you cant then get the Ibook you will be pleased either way. This concludes our broadcast day.

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I disagree. IMO, you'd be a fool to go with the powerbook at this point in time!

Capt Underpants said:

I disagree. IMO, you'd be a fool to go with the powerbook at this point in time!

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I don't know about a fool, but just make sure you need the things that the powerbook offers over the ibook. The powerbook isn't so much "power" as it is all the little things that it offers over the ibook. If you ask me it isn't worth the price difference especially with the new ibook updates (i.e. bluetooth, sudden motion sensor, and scrolling trackpad). No matter what you get you will be happy no doubt about that, but wouldn't you rather be happy with a couple extra hundred bucks in you pocket?

bought an ibook today -- on sale

Well, I've been content with my DVI Tibook 667 (sold my 400 tibook to a friend after a 550cpu Daystar upgrade) until I had to have a hinge repaired and, as it took longer than I thought, I called up my University Apple Store and lo and behold, they had the 14" iBook 1.33 for sale for $799 plus a free iPod or 175 buck rebate.

I jumped. Included with this was a one cent box of Tiger (which I'm not going to install until the 10.4.5 updates...) I got the larger iPod and a griffin italk and case also at discount. Will spend the rebate on three year Apple Care.

Meanwhile, I'd upgraded the tibook to a 7200 harddrive and 1 gig of ram with a superdrive. So my beloved Tibook will now be my desktop computer while the iBook will be my more portable one. Don't forget, Apple designated the powerbooks as "portables" while the iBooks are "laptops". Meaning, I'm not going to risk carrying the tibook around anymore. the top case's plastic frames are prone to cracking and too expensive to fix. I've been scared off the albooks because of bending frames and no heft to the keyboards.

All told I got the larger iPod and a griffin italk and case today also at discount. Will spend the rebate on three year Apple Care. Will upgrade through the store's techs with online purchased memory. They wanted 239 for a 1 gig chip. Cheaper to buy online and have them install for 15 or 30 bucks. My ONLY regret on the iBook is its SLOOOOOW 4200 hard drive. Why does Apple torture us with these slow hds? In order to get a fasterone, I'd lose the discount. So I'll be using that slooow drive for three years, I guess. Oh, and this one only had a combo drive, but so what?

Don't know if that helped with discussion of albooks and ibooks but I still adore the Tibook. Need it for os 9, for sure. Oh, and the 14" iBook is great for students, over ANY pb because you have a full sized screen for each page. Saves on scrolling time, which adds up when you are writing.

I went into my local apple store today to get a new ibook and indeed walked out with a brand spanking new 12" Powerbook with 768Mb Ram.... holy **** this thing is speedy and possibly the sexiest, most well built laptop ever produced!

Do yourself a favour when you are at the store... check out the condition of the demo ibooks compared to the powerbooks.. the new ibooks that they had on display since wednesday this week were already marked and the trackpad was going brownish from peoples dirty fingers! The PB's which had been on display for 3 weeks (apparently) were in pristine condition...

I know thats not a huge deal, but i cant be the only MAC user who takes a certain pride in the appearance of his/her machine! Also, i got a full 4hr 30mins of almost constant use on my first charge... thats just awesome!!

Oh, and IMHO the 14" Ibook just looked horrendous compared to the 12" PB/Ibook.. Ive never been this happy with a computer purchase.. it wouldnt bother me if a whole new line of PB's came out next month as this one does everything i need it to and more!

P.S Dont judged the screen until you can perform the advanced LCD Colour Correction... made it 200% better to look at! See if they let you do it instore if you have doubts..

I dont want to convince you to spend money you dont have, but i know i would have regreted buying the ibook once i got it home... now im just a happy broke person

Cheers

yea ive also been debating ibook or powerbook, but the powerbook just fits my needs better. i would love to spend $950 instead of $1399 but if i took that route i would regret it later. i plan on having a nice big lcd to hook up thru DVI so i would have the ultimate portable system with plenty of real estate when doing school projects. if you got the money at this point, (which i barely have ) i say go powerbook, unless your just web surfing and typing papers.

If all that you'd use your notebook for is what you have stated, I would suggest an iBook. This means that it will be cheaper, so you can upgrade/add to it, so I think this would be the best bet. This is unless you are considering using it for more advanced uses in the near future, which then I'd suggest a powerbook, for that little more power, as there's no ooint buying an iBook now, and then in a few months you realise you want to do more with it.

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