ibook 12" or powerbook 12"

[dudewheresmymac]

I am in the market for a new laptop for school..... i am still in high school and am not old enough to work so my income is not very high... i get 5 bucks and hour for watching my little sister so...

i should have enough money to buy an ibook by the end of summer but should i wait and save up some more for the PB.....

also is the superdrive worth it....

also wat about ebay.... what do you expect prices for a used powerbook 12 will be then and what about prices for a used ibook g4...


my primary use for the mac would be taking notes in class syncing my ipod, managing multimedia like video and such

thanks for the help

[thehuncamunca]

i've heard the superdrive is extremely slow at best though i haven't used it myself
the ibook sounds like a better bet if money is tight, the powerbook does have better video more L2 cache and is 1ghz instead of 800 mhz but i don't think those are worth the extra $400

[pdrayton]

No one wants to pay $400 more than they have to.

However, you mention you want to do video work, and that means getting a SuperDrive would be very useful for you and you could keep using that notebook for many years to come.

Should you not get a SuperDrive, you may find in a year or two that your notebook no longer meets your needs and that you need to get a new and more powerful notebook. Suddenly, the $400 you "saved" a year or two previously doesn't look like a bargain compared to the $1500 MORE that you are faced with spending now.

So, why not focus on PowerBooks with SuperDrives and look for bargains in refurbished units, overstock (perhaps an 867 PB that Apple or Amazon or some other retailer have)... I bet you can get a decent price in a 12" PowerBook with SuperDrive that will then meet your needs for many years to come.

[QCassidy352]

ibook is the much better deal (though i have the 12" PB and love it). Especially if you don't have that much to spend.

The superdrive on the PB isn't worth it, IMO. We're talking $1800 base price for the 12" PB with superdrive, $1100 base for 12" ibook with combo. For $200 you can buy an external superdrive that is twice as fast as the sloooow superdrive in the powerbook, plus you get the combo drive already in the ibook.

The PB has some advantages, but it doesn't sound like you'd really use them, and it does sound like the extra money matters a lot to you. Go ibook, definitely.

[maclamb]

I would reccomnd the ibook - you can get an external DVD writer that is less and the ibook will probably hold up better.

[stefan_km]

hi!

don't mean to hijack your thread, but since there's so many of these threads i thought I'd just ask a quick question since I'm in basically the same boat :)

I really want to get my first mac and I'd prefere a laptop (since I'm still keeping my pc desktop - sorry!). I really like the 12"'es, and most of the time my use for it will probably be school, websurfing, mail etc. But other than that, I'd like to be able to start on a little music production, probably with Logic, Reason and the likes. Now, would the iBook be powerfull enough for this ? I know its not really that powerfull, but could it be done without getting too frustrated over the processing times?

thanks - stefan

EDIT: Btw. i'd of course max out the ram and use a second display when i'm at home (and producing music) furthermore I'd probably get a faster desktop in a year or so, so this wouldn't be my only computer for that long.

[pinto32]

Hijacker, while the iBook would be "acceptable", it doesnt have an audio import jack. You could get a USB device, but that obviously is up to you.

Hijacked, I agree....get the iBook, and add a firewire/USB 2.0 drive later if you are tight on cash (granted, you won't be able to use iDVD with an external drive.......). Also, since you are a student, check out the discounts Apple offers us! 10%-15% really makes a difference when you get over $1,000!!!!!

[cmx08]

if you dont hv the $ and use it for school mainly, ibook g4 is the best

with taht 400, u can easily get
ilife 04 that has idvd4 for 29 and
150 if DIY or 200 retail and
this reduces the heat,
increases the batt life
and saves the optical from reading unimportant stuff life CD
your optical will last longer and
you can use the DVD recorder with other computer and not stuck with the PB

if you do dvd, we assume that u will have to be in a place and waste 20% of ur batt and can not close the lcd

leave the dvds at home. you'll be able to stuff ur ibook very full with 400$ and i can do it lil by lil

unlike a PB that will be std

[abhishekit]

well...my two cents..
If you have the money get the pb..,else
get the ibook..
If you get the ibook, there is still a consolation. There's gonna be a g5 Pb, I guess by the end of the year. So I dream, that I will save enough money by then to get that beast. So I win in both choices:p

[QCassidy352]

Originally posted by abhishekit
well...my two cents..
If you have the money get the pb..,else
get the ibook..

sure the PB is better, no one disputes that, but as he said above, money is tight, so it's all a question of bang for your buck, and the ibook provides more.

[virividox]

since your still in high school and just starting out, i suggest the ibook, later in college when you already know ur usage better and what your really leaning to then get yourself a performance machine. the ibook is money well spent.

[johnnyjibbs]

The PowerBooks are slick but the iBooks are such good value. It sounds like you should get the iBook, as others have said.

[dudewheresmymac]

Hey guys thanks for the info i think that it is obvious that the ibook is right for me.....

However, what i dont like is that the 12" ibook has to be cripplped to make sure that it doesn't compete to much with the powerbook. Do you that the powerbooks will have G5s by then specifically the 12incher so that the ibooks wont have to be crippled......

thanks

BTW is there an OSX version for att Global Network Client

[johnnyjibbs]

PowerBooks may be G5 by the end of summer, but it'll probably be touch and go. When they go G5, however, there may be a slight price increase.