offer me your sympathy (or judgement...) (iBook purchase)

Hey Mopppish,
Is there any reason for the iBook discount on Amazon? It is possible that they are anticipating an Intel iBook release in January so they are trying to clear their inventory beforehand. This is purely speculation, of course.

If you are worried and believe that the Intel iBook will be released next month, I would recommend that you sell the iBook ASAP on eBay or Craigslist. That way, you can at least pocket the difference and make a nice little profit, while curbing any regret you may have if the Intel iBooks do come out. However, you also need to take into consideration the ramifications of getting a Revision A Apple notebook. Historically, they have been known to be buggy, so in this case you may want to keep the iBook (if you really need it) and wait for a couple of revisions to go through before you buy. In my opinion, though, if you can make a 10% return on your purchase, I would sell it if you bought the iBook purely for its discount rather than for your use. Good luck.

mopppish said:

Well, I just tracked the shipment of my new $800 ibook from Amazon, and it's currently out for delivery.
However...
I may be crazy, but as of now I'm looking to wait until MWSF to open it. You see, I was origininally going to wait until then anyways to order a recently outdated ibook G4 at an discount price, but the Amazon deal looked too good to pass up. I don't plan to move to intel (no prejudices, just practical reasons) and I save money.
If Steve announced new intel ibooks in January, I'd be happy as a clam with my "obsolete" PPC model. Now though, I'm staring to doubt the inclusion of intel chips this early and am worried that I'll open this puppy up only to find out in a few weeks that Apple's put out another G4 update to the ibook. If it was just a small processor bump, I wouldn't care, but what if they do the dual-core G4's? What if they update the video card? What if, what if, what if?
AAAAHHHH!!!
My logic is that by not opening it, I can return it to Amazon and spring for the new model (if it's still PPC).
I'm not trying to be batty. Just trying to get the most out of my money (I'm a college student).
Well, back to waiting for the brown truck to pull up...

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I offer no sympathy. Decline the delivery if you want to wait, otherwise enjoy what you have and stop sweating it. No need to get your panties in a bundle over a small speed bump. If you need more speed, you should have got a Powerbook.

Don't open the box and return it asap.

Returning it unopened ASAP, seems to defeat the purpose. In that case you may as well have never ordered it in the first place.

If you have the superhuman strength not to open it, OK, don't. Wait to hear what Steve has to say, and then either return it, or finally open it.

Personally, I doubt you'll see another PPC update to the iBook. In fact I think the chances approach 0. Why would Apple deal with a huge change like dual chips for a production run that'll at most last for a few months? The economics say it doesn't make sense - you need R&D and support for years afterwards, and there's just not enough $ in a few months run worth to bother. Note, that all the other refreshes involved small speedbumps and inclusion of formerly optional items that are now standard (airport, bluetooth etc.) - that makes for essentially very little R&D over that time, allowing for years of returns on their investment. Asking to go dual means you have to re-engineer the motherboard, and generally go through a period of testing - and all for a run that'll last at most a few months before it's obsolete (because of mactels). NO ECONOMIC SENSE.

Incidentally, I also ordered the $800 iBook from Amazon Friday (actually $785), and I totally agree with your reasoning re: new mactels. Why suffer the inevitable depradations of a rev A., which Apple has never been especially good at, and which are sure to be pretty bad given the size of the transition. I'd much rather enjoy the true and tried iBook (if it was a powerbook, things become much more complicated, and I'd wait, cause the 15" PB is a dog). Plus, yes, exactly: software will actually run WORSE on the mactels if under rosetta... I'd rather run PPC software natively, particularly for speed sensitive stuff like editing. All IMHO, of course.

I plan on enjoying my iBook, and I'm curious but not envious about the new intel Macs to come out January. Only sad thing, I ordered my iBook Friday early morning (1:20 AM) and it still is showing "getting ready to ship" instead of "shipped" as of now...

OldCorpse
quietly rotting

I think some people missed the point of your post. They ARE NOT going to release updated ibooks with dual core g4's so don't sweat it.

Old Corpse,

Your still showing "Getting ready to ship?" My ibook was ordered Friday morning also and should be here tomorrow. It was in ready to ship status until Sat evening and then it was shipped. I did pay for Standard shipping if that makes a difference?

mopppish said:

Alright, sorry everyone. I was being a bit paranoid (I do have mild OCD...).
Anyway, I went ahead and opened it when it got here (who could resist?).
I got a good deal on a sweet laptop, and that's all there is to it. I can't wait to get home tonight and boot it up for the first time!

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Yeah, we all get the mac ocd's once in a while.

You got a great deal on the last best iBook before being mactelled, so take care of it and be happy.

I think that you should keep it, use it, and enjoy such a fine portable computer. I love my 12" 1.33GHz iBook G4- and if new ones came out tomorrow, I would not love it any less!

Tigger7 said:

Old Corpse,

Your still showing "Getting ready to ship?" My ibook was ordered Friday morning also and should be here tomorrow. It was in ready to ship status until Sat evening and then it was shipped. I did pay for Standard shipping if that makes a difference?

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Aaah, yes, I think it makes a difference. I chose free shipping because they indicated that I should still receive it dec. 22 or 23. Now, I regret it. I wish I had it here earlier, and I'd be willing to pay the $10-$15, but hey... I wanted to be able to tell my buddies (who also have the 12" iBook) "lookie here, I only paid $785, blah, blah, blah, ain't I smart"... shows you what a dumaxx I am for trying to save a couple of bucks

OldCorpse
quietly rotting, the brain goes first

LOL, now thats funny. My husband only ordered it by Standard shipping which was 15.00 more or so because he was afraid of the "free shipping" so close to Christmas. Here's hoping you get yours very soon! UPS says "out for delivery" on mine right now....thats not really true because the UPS trucks don't leave for delivery until around 9am but its still got me really excited.

Merry Christmas

Tigger7 said:

LOL, now thats funny. My husband only ordered it by Standard shipping which was 15.00 more or so because he was afraid of the "free shipping" so close to Christmas. Here's hoping you get yours very soon! UPS says "out for delivery" on mine right now....thats not really true because the UPS trucks don't leave for delivery until around 9am but its still got me really excited.

Merry Christmas

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Well, Amazon finally sent me an email that the iBook has shipped. UPS only shows notification, but I'm optimistic that it'll arrive dec. 23 as Amazon promised. Meanwhile I already ordered extra memory from:

http://www.datamem.com/

1GB stick for $125 (+$7.0 for shipping = $132 total), not the very cheapest, but many on this board recommend datamem (mac compatible + warranty)... only bummer, I ordered it yesterday, and it won't arrive (by UPS) until 12/27

And I also ordered a bag, a slingpack style Buzz from Tom Bihn:

http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/200/TB0151

black/steel/crimson which will arrive 12/22 woo hoo !

So yes, I'm accessorizing like crazy !

In time, I'll get an external HDD for backups (plus the 40GB internal is rather small), prolly a nice external 20" monitor, and maybe an external DVD burner, and a lapstand, and and and...

Merry Christmas to you too, and a Happy New Year!

OldCorpse
quietly rotting

mopppish said:

Alright, sorry everyone. I was being a bit paranoid (I do have mild OCD...).
Anyway, I went ahead and opened it when it got here (who could resist?).
I got a good deal on a sweet laptop, and that's all there is to it. I can't wait to get home tonight and boot it up for the first time!

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If you bought it already it sure is hard to resist using it. After all there is no definite date when the ibooks will be switched over, it could be three weeks or three months.

NYmacAttack said:

If you bought it already it sure is hard to resist using it. After all there is no definite date when the ibooks will be switched over, it could be three weeks or three months.

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So I have a question, if they are announced in 3 weeks - that means they will be in retail stores right away and start shipping immediately??? I'm confused.

BrewCityGirl said:

So I have a question, if they are announced in 3 weeks - that means they will be in retail stores right away and start shipping immediately??? I'm confused.

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The osbourne effect will hurt sales in the interim, it is dumb to announce something better that you don't have on hand.