What to replace my 500Mhz iBook with?

[Jason_Bryan]

I have a first generation white iBook 500Mhz 12.1. It is starting to act up a little so I am looking to replace it, I paid £1300 for it and so would be looking to spend a similar amount now. I use it for word processing Word and Pages, layouts Omnigraffle, presentations using PowerPoint or Keynote and general stuff like picture and movie storage from my digital camera/camcorder. I have not really used a PC since switching in 2001 and while not adverse to going back I would miss Omnigraffle. Any ideas on which laptop is a good replacement for my iBook.

[Blue Velvet]

Why not get a 14" new iBook?

£999

And then upgrade the hard drive, RAM, optical drive (to a Superdrive).
You may still have some change for a nice bag for it and/or a Shuffle.

[SpaceMagic]

I agree with Blue Velvet. The 14" iBook is really nice. You could actually afford a 12" PowerBook with your budget... something i'd definitely recommend if you want to stick to 12". The Ram is 512, 5400rpm hard disk, better graphics card .. faster cpu... generally a much better built machine than the 12"iBook.

Also, I notice you're in the UK :p How much you willing to sell this 12" 500mhz iBook for? :D

[Jason_Bryan]

How much do you want to pay? I like the 12inch screen, it seems like the right size for the resolution, The 14 inch iBook just doesn't seem like good value to me. I thought about the 12inch PowerBook, but would like some feedback on the 15inch one also I would consider move to a Windows or Linux laptop if I could find a replacement for Omnigraffle.
The reason i haven't tried to sell the iBook on ebay is that it if you open the screen to much, the backlight goes off. I checked with my local dealer for a price to fix it and they wanted £40 just to look at the thing.

[SpaceMagic]

Hmm... i don't want to say this because I want the iBook and it'll increase its value... and i dont have money being a student :p (that's my plea over)...

But.. the backlight thing is the case pinching the cable inside the ibook. It takes some patience to take the thing apart... reposition the backlight cable in the base of the ibook so the hinges no longer pinch them. This is the infamous dual USB G3 iBook problem. I'll private message you for how much i'd pay.

[Platform]

As said 14" iBook with extras or 12" PB

[Blue Velvet]

...I would consider move to a Windows or Linux laptop...

:eek:

A rare person indeed. Someone willing to switch back...

[Jason_Bryan]

What ever works best. I switched from mac's to PC in 1995 because the organization I did most work with used Windows. I moved back to mac's with 10.1 because the iBook gave me every thing I needed. Change is good

[JzzTrump22]

The curretn iBooks are a really good deal/really solid performance. You just have to do what you feel would be best.

[bigsteve3]

I would like to add that, having owned a 500 MHz white iBook, the build quality of the newer iBooks is substantially better. That said, though, I upgraded to a 12" Powerbook and have never looked back.

-S

[Mord]

14|" ibook is silly unless your sight is not very good, get a 12" powerbook.

[cubist]

Yes, the 14" iBook is the same resolution as the 12", altho it does have a faster processor. I just got a 12" 1.2GHz G4, and I'm very pleased with the speed and airport extreme.

All that said... there is some expectation that a newer model iBook will come out in a month or two with a speed bump and an updated GPU...

[CaptainCaveMann]

I agree with Blue Velvet. The 14" iBook is really nice. You could actually afford a 12" PowerBook with your budget... something i'd definitely recommend if you want to stick to 12". The Ram is 512, 5400rpm hard disk, better graphics card .. faster cpu... generally a much better built machine than the 12"iBook.

Also, I notice you're in the UK :p How much you willing to sell this 12" 500mhz iBook for? :D" Generally a much better built machine than the 12" ibook" That is arguable. :rolleyes:

[tiselday]

I own a 12" G3 iBook (that my girlfriend uses these days) and a 15" 667 TiBook. My father has a 14" 933 G4 iBook and at work I spend most of the day with a 12" 1.33 Powerbook connected to an external display.

Quite an array of apple laptop machines.

Although the 12" Powerbook is a very nice machine, the screen of the 15" makes the overall experience much more enjoyable. I find the 1024x768 resolution of the 12" and 14" too limiting, and i do not really like the 14" screen as it is somehow "grainy" (due to the larger pixel pitch).

All in all, the 1280x854 mode of my tiBook is much more relaxing for my eyes and lets me have more things on screen or bigger fonts. Even though the 15" tiBook is the oldest of the lot, it is still my fav machine.

The newest 15" with 1.5Ghz/512Mb should be a joy to use as well, and within you budget.

Tomas

[isgoed]

If you are going to keep the iBook I suggest to get an iMac. I have an old powerbook myself and notice that it is just fine for doing "on the road" stuff. With a desktop you get yourself some nice processing power and a large desktop estate.

If you sell your ibook, never mind this suggestion.

In any case:

WAIT FOR THE UPGRADES. all pruducts except powerbooks get upgrades soon (see buyers guide)

[DakotaGuy]

I would like to add that, having owned a 500 MHz white iBook, the build quality of the newer iBooks is substantially better. That said, though, I upgraded to a 12" Powerbook and have never looked back.

-S

Not to mention a HUGE jump in performance. 8MB to 32MB Video Card, 500Mhz to 1.2Ghz, 67Mhz to 133Mhz FSB, DDR RAM, faster optical drives as well and last but not least with the G4 you will get Alti-Vec processing capabilities. You would surely notice a huge difference