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buy 12 powerbook or 12 ibook now, or wait for 12 powerbook after update?

S

steelfist

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
school is starting in augest 18, and ibook lines are just updated. so i have a nice backup now. but, i am going to wait for the 12 inch powerbook updates when they are updated, and i am going to upgrade the hard disk up to 100 and 120 if possible. but, i heard that the 12 inch powerbooks won't exist anymore. what's up with that? what does that really mean? so the powerbook will turn ibook white? or will it not be updated? please advise. should i buy the 12 inch powerbook now without the update?
 
Lol, when I first saw your title, I was like,"Uh oh. Someone is going to get chewed out for not using a search engine..." I don't think you can get 120 gb internal hd. I believe the maximum is 100 gb. It all depends on how pressing your needs are. If you can wait it out until the next powerbook update, then why not? Who's sprouting nonsense about 12'' powerbooks that will turn white? i also doubt that 12'' pb's are in danger of becoming extinct anytime soon. I'll wait until someone more knowledgeable on this subject comments on that, though. My vote is to wait, if you can handle it...which is doubtful, because Macs are addicting! 😛
 
MacVM said:
Lol, when I first saw your title, I was like,"Uh oh. Someone is going to get chewed out for not using a search engine..." I don't think you can get 120 gb internal hd. I believe the maximum is 100 gb. It all depends on how pressing your needs are. If you can wait it out until the next powerbook update, then why not? Who's sprouting nonsense about 12'' powerbooks that will turn white? i also doubt that 12'' pb's are in danger of becoming extinct anytime soon. I'll wait until someone more knowledgeable on this subject comments on that, though. My vote is to wait, if you can handle it...which is doubtful, because Macs are addicting! 😛
Click to expand...

You were right on the money by saying " Macs are additing"...they are also a very expensive hobby...but its all good in the end!! 😀 😀
 
Simple reply,

if you can wait wait

if you can afford it and can't wait get a Powerbook (they are better than iBooks)

If you can't really afford a PB and can't wait get an iBook. Unless you really REALLY need that extra .17GHz, faster bus, extra video memory (iBooks graphics card is faster ATM), DVI and audio in the iBook is a brilliant little machine.

I have the 12" iBook and i'm very pleased with it. With the screen spanning hack i can use my Dell 2005FPW with it, which even on VGA input looks impressive off the iBook. It's quite powerful and will do almost everything you want.
 
You might also be able to find a good deal on a used PowerBook. Much like autos, you pay a premium for a brand new model. But the moment you drive it off the lot, the resale value takes a big dive.

Do you have Craigslist in your area?
 
you're a student. get a maxed out iBook, buy your girlfriend something nice, and pocket the rest. the PB isn't worth the premium.
 
rinseout said:
you're a student. get a maxed out iBook, buy your girlfriend something nice, and pocket the rest. the PB isn't worth the premium.
Click to expand...

haha, perfect. everybody wins and you keep your girlfriend happy, well worth not getting the PB 😛
 
Can the 12" Powerbooks do video out to a TV like the ibooks or not?

Are there any rumors about the new Powerbooks adding the ability to do video out so you can hook them up to the TV?
 
PowerBooks have video out right now; the larger ones have S-Video ports right on the side; the 12" has a mini-DVI port that comes with an S-video adapter.
 
I'd wait. The next PowerBook revision MIGHT be scrapped (as AppleInsider suggests is possible), but then you can still get the current model even so.

And they MIGHT drop the 12", but it's popular and I highly doubt it UNLESS an alternative shows up--like a 13" widescreen. Worst case, you might snap up one of the current ones after the news is out.

So I'd at least wait and see what other likely rumors come out. We should know soon enough. And the PowerBook IS a better machine (but of course it costs more).

(And Macs aren't an expensive hobby... total cost of ownership is lower than PC 🙂 Partly due to having a great software bundle included, partly due to having a longer useable life than PCs, and partly due to lower security/stability issues that cost PC owners money.)

EDIT: Hmmm.... a 13" widescreen PowerBook would connect several of the less reliable recent rumors... 13" iBooks and loss of 12" PowerBook... Long shot but it would be cool! It need not be much larger on the outside than the current machines. (Probably too big a change to make before Intel... unless... they'd already designed it anyway...)
 
These things change, so don't quote me unless someone confirms... but I don't think iBooks are meant to run with the lid closed. (There may be a hack for it--and I KNOW there are hacks to run higher than 1024x768--but make sure it's not a cooling failure issue.)

PowerBooks can do that.
 
thanks for your reply. i need to point out some things.
1. i don't have a girlfriend. girls tend to hate me 😡

2. what's with this spanning hack? so. it allows higher resolutions on what? ibook monitor or the external display? does it allow Dual monitors instead of mirroring?

3. i am a lurker in this forum for 3 weeks now, and i did a lot of searching. but, my questions concern the september update, so it's a bit diffrent.

4. the appleinsider article said that powerbook 12 inch will now be in the ibook line, so i thought that meant that 12 inch will be ibook white. 🙄

5. i'm very concerned about gaming, but i'm quite moderate. i will play unreal tournament 2004, neverwinter nights, warcraft 3 and expansion, and hopefully generals zero hour. can ibook play these fine? i mean at 1024 resolution with medium quality?

6. gaming the only reason why i want to buy a powerbook over an ibook really. other than the fact that i will use imovie, garageband, and photoshop frequently and i wanted a more future-proof computer and wait for intel to shake out for four years until i need a new notebook.

and, this is the second post have ever made in this forum! 😛
 
from what it looks like the next pbook revision will only be the 15 and 17" pbook and will probably just be screen and graphics, why do just a 30 mhz increase in speed. I would get what you want now, both the ibook and pbook are great machines, but think price differential because there is a huge price difference between the two machines and not as big of a performance differential
 
OK... here goes. I have a 14" iBook and I went this route becuase it was $300 cheaper than the powerbook 12" and the screen is easier on my eyes. Unless you need to output to an external display with the full 64MB of VRAM the iBook will be fine. However, if screen spanning is a priority then go with the powerbook! You can't change this later and you will regret your choice if you are going to have the computer hooked up to an external display all the time.

As far as games go, I play WoW on my iBook at 1024x768 with about a 20FPS average in most places (higher in buildings, caves or small areas). I can play UT 2003 very well and if you like I will download the demo for UT 2004 and let you know if that can even run and if so how it performs (although I would say probably not great). The graphics chip in the 12" powerbook was simply too old for me to justify spending that kind of money. The NEED to update that baby to at least a Radeon 9700 in the next update! It all depends on your needs but I can tell you this.... IF YOU ARE DOUBTING SOMETHING THEN DON'T GO AGAINST THAT FEELING! You will only end up hating yourself later.
 
I just ran the UT2004 demo and it ram SMOOTH AS SILK on the 14" iBook in my sig. I had the video set at 800x600x32 and I never got a slowdown or anything after the first 10 seconds or so of play. When I upped the res to 1024x768 I did get some slowdown when a lot of activity was taking place but it was still playable. This little thing ran that game so well I am floored! 😀
 
Chrispy said:
I just ran the UT2004 demo and it ram SMOOTH AS SILK on the 14" iBook in my sig. I had the video set at 800x600x32 and I never got a slowdown or anything after the first 10 seconds or so of play. When I upped the res to 1024x768 I did get some slowdown when a lot of activity was taking place but it was still playable. This little thing ran that game so well I am floored! 😀
Click to expand...

Excellent. Now download counterstrike and let me know how it goes 😀
Awww.... I so want an iBook/Pbook.. but I don't NEED one... I'm going to get some job sometime, somewhere.
 
I hope they don't cancel the 12" PB; it's my favorite mac!

I personally would not buy a powerbook right now. The 12" PB compared to the 12" ibook is not a good deal ATM.
 
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