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Buy an iBook.... now or later?

B

Butler Trumpet

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
So I have an iMac G3 500 Mhz... just got 10.3.4 (which is awesome) and Im looking into getting a new iBook. Here is my problem, Im not sure if I should buy now, and risk June 28th WWDC coming out with either a new model or well 10.4 will be out soon after. So I can get it now I guess and be on the cutting edge of technology but risk being on the cutting edge of envy in a month or two, or just wait and see what happens. let me know what you think

-Thanks
Butler Trumpet
 
I can almost guarantee that iBooks will not be updated at WWDC. Also, they are only previewing OS X 10.4 at WWDC - not releasing it. Buy now - you won't regret it.

Best wishes,
JOD8FY
 
Butler Trumpet said:
So I have an iMac G3 500 Mhz... just got 10.3.4 (which is awesome) and Im looking into getting a new iBook. Here is my problem, Im not sure if I should buy now, and risk June 28th WWDC coming out with either a new model or well 10.4 will be out soon after. So I can get it now I guess and be on the cutting edge of technology but risk being on the cutting edge of envy in a month or two, or just wait and see what happens. let me know what you think

-Thanks
Butler Trumpet
Click to expand...

iBook is already not on the cutting edge, there are PowerBooks with better specs. so what's the problem?

iBooks were recently updated. if you choose to wait now, you will find even more reasons to wait later. stop the madness of waiting - waiting for a computer is silly because you cannot enjoy what you don't have in your hands!
 
I would maybe wait until the new powerbooks come out so you can get yourself an unopened current powerbook. Much better, more expandable, more beautiful than the ibooks.

Wut do you plan to do wiht your laptop.
 
Don't waste your money on the iBook. It has terrible performance (no offense to any iBook users; I myself have a 4-year-old 500 MHZ G3 Pismo as my only Mac). If portability is an issue, you might as well get the 12-inch PowerBook. If portability it not an issue, you might want to look into the updated iMacs (TBA at WWDC).

All of Apple's notebooks are old, and outdated. The G4 is an old processor (early 2001?) and will be updated soon, either with the G5 or an e600 or e700 from Motorola.
 
wide said:
Don't waste your money on the iBook. It has terrible performance (no offense to any iBook users; I myself have a 4-year-old 500 MHZ G3 Pismo as my only Mac).
Click to expand...

I realize you didn't intent any offence, but I'm sick of everyone in the forum harping on the iBook. The current 12" has the same specs as the Rev. B Powerbook! I just got one and the performance is fine. Sure, I would've preferred a powerbook but some people (students!!) just don't have that kinda cash (it's a big difference, especially for the 12").
 
I'm in the same boat. I've got the money for a new 12" iBook now, and I'd LOVE to have it, but the honest truth is, I really don't need it now. So, I'm going to wait until the Keynote on the 28th before making any moves. That way, I can see what Steve has up his sleeves. I don't think it'll affect my decision at all - I'll be ordering my system on the 29th - but at least I'll feel safer about it!

If you can wait, wait. It'll be a long 4 weeks, but the peace of mind will be nice. However, if you really need it now, I think it's a great time to buy!
 
nina said:
I'm in the same boat. I've got the money for a new 12" iBook now, and I'd LOVE to have it, but the honest truth is, I really don't need it now. So, I'm going to wait until the Keynote on the 28th before making any moves. That way, I can see what Steve has up his sleeves. I don't think it'll affect my decision at all - I'll be ordering my system on the 29th - but at least I'll feel safer about it!

If you can wait, wait. It'll be a long 4 weeks, but the peace of mind will be nice. However, if you really need it now, I think it's a great time to buy!
Click to expand...

Yeah exaclty... its not that I wouldnt love a power book, but I'm a college student, and more than that a musician. I just spent $4,000 on two new trumpets that I HAD to have, so that is why I am going for the iBook, much more in my price range. Im probably going to get the 14 inch, with 512 Ram, so it should run fast Im going to guess. My sisters is an old 500Mhz, and it runs well. And I still think I am going to wait until after Keynote on the 28th, because you never know, the iBook hasnt had a major release in a while now (talking like a new look or whatever) so Im just going to play it safe. Thanks all 🙂
 
wide said:
maybe people are just forgetting what real performance means. and real prices..
Click to expand...

sorry, but you really picked a bad example. whatever you mean by "real" performance, how fast the computer opens up MS Word got very little to do with it.

just as an example, my old apple LC III running OS 7 opens its MS Word app no slower than my PB 12" opens Word X. 😉
 
wide said:
I understand what you mean, but even the current line of PowerBooks (and the Rev. Bs) are damned slow (yes, even the 1.5 ghz). Apple really needs to get a hold on it's notebook line. Am I the only person here who thinks the G4 is slow? My Centrino 1.7 ghz (which I bought in August of 2003) is super-fast. I can open Microsoft Word while multitasking (5+ programs open) and it will come up in under a second, literally. Why can't apple deliver this kind of performance? even a 500 mhz g3 or g4 is acceptable for most average tasks, but the more power the better, and apple is charging outrageous prices for computers that really don't have that much power. why do i have to wait for the little MSWORD icon in the dock to bounce up and down a few times before opening it, even on one of my school's 1.25 GHZ powerbook g4s?

maybe people are just forgetting what real performance means. and real prices..

and for the record: i am a student, and currently i cannot afford an ibook (let alone the powerbook). I will have to wait until december EARLIEST until i can get a new computer, and i will have to work my @$$ off until then. my PC may be really, really fast, but that does not and will never change the fact that i HATE it.

ok my rant's done now.
Click to expand...


no offense but people like you are never happy with much. how much speed do you really need? if apple laptops are too slow for you then don't buy one.
 
wide said:
I understand what you mean, but even the current line of PowerBooks (and the Rev. Bs) are damned slow (yes, even the 1.5 ghz). Apple really needs to get a hold on it's notebook line. Am I the only person here who thinks the G4 is slow? My Centrino 1.7 ghz (which I bought in August of 2003) is super-fast. I can open Microsoft Word while multitasking (5+ programs open) and it will come up in under a second, literally. Why can't apple deliver this kind of performance? even a 500 mhz g3 or g4 is acceptable for most average tasks, but the more power the better, and apple is charging outrageous prices for computers that really don't have that much power. why do i have to wait for the little MSWORD icon in the dock to bounce up and down a few times before opening it, even on one of my school's 1.25 GHZ powerbook g4s?

maybe people are just forgetting what real performance means. and real prices..

and for the record: i am a student, and currently i cannot afford an ibook (let alone the powerbook). I will have to wait until december EARLIEST until i can get a new computer, and i will have to work my @$$ off until then. my PC may be really, really fast, but that does not and will never change the fact that i HATE it.

ok my rant's done now.
Click to expand...
My powerbook WAYYYY exceeded my expectations speed-wise. I was going to also buy a rev. B g5 as soon as they come out, but I think that this machine will last me at least a year as my primary. I would consider myself a "power user"- I use Pro Tools, Photoshop, Flash, etc.

p.s. the new ibooks are faster than my dual 500 g4 that I just sold which worked for me all these years. Very capable machines.
 
to address all of your responses.......

blue&whiteman said:
no offense but people like you are never happy with much.
Click to expand...

yeah, it's true..i'm much nicer in real life, i assure you. but really i don't get the point of forums unless someone is not happy much, what would be the point in all saying "I agree"? 😕

blue&whiteman said:
how much speed do you really need? if apple laptops are too slow for you then don't buy one.
Click to expand...

i need a lot of speed because i do a lot of gaming (another reason to switch to mac: so i will stop gaming). i'm not buying one because i can't afford one right now. i would buy one if i had the money, but even then i would think it to be a ripoff because of the high price when my older PC would get better performance in a lot of things.

and don't you worry, the only reason i have been posting so much lately is because i have been stuck at my desk studying for finals and writing essays, except all i really do is browse the internet. Come early june, i will stop posting so much because of camp, and summer. maybe i;ll be a little more optimistic when i get back.. 🙂

Bhennies said:
I think that this machine will last me at least a year as my primary.
Click to expand...

That's what I mean. Just a year--my PC is going to last me for at least two more years with good, above average performance. I don't know about you, but I'm in high school and can't really get a job--so it's much harder for me to buy a computer. 🙁

jxyama said:
just as an example, my old apple LC III running OS 7 opens its MS Word app no slower than my PB 12" opens Word X.
Click to expand...

So are you saying Apple's newer lines of powerbooks are the same speed as your apple LC iii? 😀
 
wide said:
i would buy one if i had the money, but even then i would think it to be a ripoff because of the high price when my older PC would get better performance in a lot of things.
Click to expand...

you just don't get it. people don't buy macs because they are fools and don't know a good deal. people buy macs because they want a mac. I wouldn't use a pc if it was free. this is why I bought a mac. you talk like there is no difference other than price. speaking of price many pc's cost more once you get into high end components and systems.
 
ABOUT TO BUY A MAC FOR THE FIRST TIME

Hey, i'm new to all of this. I have never owned a mac, but have an ipod... thats probably a dissmissable offence in itself i guess. However, i am shortly going to be getting a mac, a laptop so i hope this pays off for my crimes...

I have done my research, but was wondering if anyone had any final pointers to someone who has yet to own a mac.

I am a student who will be going into 6th form, um not to sure what that would be in other countries... (16/17 years of age?)

Anyway...

I have decided that i am going for the 14.1 inch 1.2GHZ ibook, upgraded to 512 ram. I have looked into the powerbooks, but have come to the conclusion that they aren't really as suited as the ibook to a student such as myself. Perhaps maybe because of the price... I am never really going to afford the price of the powerbook. I could possibly stretch to the 12 inch pb, but then i loose my screen, which would be ever so slightly awkward... seeing as thing has to last me through uni as well. I also loose my 512 ram and would have to 're-upgrade' which is something i couldnt afford. And seeing as this thing comes with the APE i feel as though my wireless options are open... (someone say the reception was better with ibooks? or was that just speculation...)

All respect... i realise that the powerbooks are faster, they have a faster processor and of course the extra side buss, but do i need it?

I won't be designing the mars mission, just doing general school work which as you know consists of listening to music, making movies, watching DVD's. I don't do games... and there will be the occasional spreadsheet and word processer.

One thing, i will be buying at late july... they aint going to do another upgrade slash price drop shortly after then will they?

Anyway, feedback would be greatfully recieved.
 
Open-Your-Eyes said:
I have decided that i am going for the 14.1 inch 1.2GHZ ibook, upgraded to 512 ram.

I could possibly stretch to the 12 inch pb, but then i loose my screen, which would be ever so slightly awkward... seeing as thing has to last me through uni as well.
Click to expand...

the max res on the 14" ibook screen is still 1024x768 like the 12". so with the 14" you only get a slightly faster cpu and the same res on a bigger screen. if the 14" did 1280x1024 I could totally see the point in going with the 14. I have seen both the 12" and 14" ibook in person and to be honest the 12" ibook screen looked crisper and had slightly better color. save even more money and get the 12" ibook. with the money you save you could get extended apple care and have anything that goes wrong covered for free for 3 years.

something to think about.
 
ah

Cheers, i see your point but i was referring to the twelve inch powerbook, not the ibook... but what you said now makes me consider the 12 inch ibook... that wouldn't mean i'd be sacrificing any sound quality does it? that is to say.. are the speakers of the same power on the two ibook models?

Main thing... i need the specs that this 14 inch ibook gives... and when i upgrade to the same specs using the 12 inch... the price difference is really very little.. making it tempting to go for the extra processor power...

guess i will just have to buy some 'pixel enhancing goggles' and grin and bear the screen of the 14 inch
 
Open-Your-Eyes said:
Cheers, i see your point but i was referring to the twelve inch powerbook, not the ibook... but what you said now makes me consider the 12 inch ibook... that wouldn't mean i'd be sacrificing any sound quality does it? that is to say.. are the speakers of the same power on the two ibook models?

Main thing... i need the specs that this 14 inch ibook gives... and when i upgrade to the same specs using the 12 inch... the price difference is really very little.. making it tempting to go for the extra processor power...

guess i will just have to buy some 'pixel enhancing goggles' and grin and bear the screen of the 14 inch
Click to expand...

to get the higher speed cpu you would have to spend 325$ US more.

12" with ram bumped to 512 and hd bumped to 60GB:

• 512MB DDR266 SDRAM (256MB built-in & 256MB SO-DIMM)
• 60GB Ultra ATA drive
• Combo drive (DVD/CD-R)
• Keyboard/Mac OS X - U.S. English
• 12-inch TFT XGA display
• 1GHz PowerPC G4
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32MB DDR video memory
Subtotal $1,274.00 ...if you don't need the 60gb drive you could save another 75 so it would be 1200!


14" w/512MB 60GB drive:

• 512MB DDR266 (256MB built-in & 256MB SO-DIMM)
• 60GB Ultra ATA drive
• Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Keyboard/Mac OS X - U.S. English
• 14.1-inch TFT XGA display
• 1.2GHz PowerPC G4
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32MB DDR video memory
Subtotal $1,599.00

you need 512+ to run osx well so 512 is a must.

so if you bought the 14" you would pretty much be paying 325 more for a 200mhz boost. not at all worth it in my mind.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?family=iBook
 
wide said:
Don't waste your money on the iBook. It has terrible performance (no offense to any iBook users; I myself have a 4-year-old 500 MHZ G3 Pismo as my only Mac). If portability is an issue, you might as well get the 12-inch PowerBook. If portability it not an issue, you might want to look into the updated iMacs (TBA at WWDC).

All of Apple's notebooks are old, and outdated. The G4 is an old processor (early 2001?) and will be updated soon, either with the G5 or an e600 or e700 from Motorola.
Click to expand...

Lots to disagree with here! The recent revision of the iBooks gave them a G4 CPU with 512KB L2 cache, same as the PowerBooks. Previously, they had a much smaller cache which hurt their performance. The current ones are nice, though. A 1GHz iBook isn't going to be as fast as a 1.3GHz PowerBook, but for many purposes it's "fast enough".

The G4 has been around a while. So has the Pentium 4. So what? Apple's notebooks are sweet portables. To me, they are more desirable than the latest PC notebooks. Maybe they don't have the raw CPU speed (that's always debatable, across platforms) but the whole package is fantastic. Apple's features and build quality are good, and the software is better.

I'll be surprised if Apple can make G5 notebooks that are as nice and portable as the G4-based line. I'd hate to see Apple's notebooks start looking like the bulky "desktop replacement" notebooks on the shelves at the local big-box store. On the other hand, I don't see them ever making ugly products like that, so I'm sure they will devise some wizardry to cram all that power and heat into a package little larger than the current ones. Go Apple!

And go, Butler Trumpet. I think it's a great time to buy an iBook.


Concierge Bassoon
 
wide wrote in complaining that Word opens in 1 second on his 1.7GHz Centrino but takes much longer on a Mac. I shouldn't respond, since he's subsequently erased his post, but people might be interested in why.

When you install Microsoft Office on Windows, Windows is reconfigured so that many of the Office core DLLs (program modules) are loaded when you boot the computer. That way, when you click the Word icon, zing!, Word pops up. Wow! The truth is, you already waited for it, while your PC was booting up. You wait for the Office preloader every time you boot Windows, whether you end up running Office or not.

Granted, in Windows XP they've done wonders with reducing Windows' load time, so practically it's not a big deal. But that explains the seeming difference in load times between Word on Windows vs. Word on the Mac. Funny how much difference a few seconds seems to make.


Crikey
 
blue&whiteman said:
you just don't get it. people don't buy macs because they are fools and don't know a good deal. people buy macs because they want a mac. I wouldn't use a pc if it was free. this is why I bought a mac. you talk like there is no difference other than price. speaking of price many pc's cost more once you get into high end components and systems.
Click to expand...

My PC was extremely expensive, and I bought it because I wanted it. It had (and has) top-of-the-line performance for a notebook computer. BUT I didn't pay for it--I needed a new computer for school so my parents bought it for me. Now that I hate PCs, I'm saving up for a Mac.

But I do maintain that Macs are overpriced.

Considering that I can get a PC notebook with a 3.4 ghz P4 or a 3200+ Athlon 64 processor for less than a 1.5 GHZ powerbook, and that all of the specifications are as good or better (RAM is the same, graphics is better, faster processor, bigger screen (15.4 inch widescreen), faster 7200 RPM hard drive), I do think Macs are overpriced. Now, I know that you are paying for quality and beauty--all Macs are beautifully designed--but the other thing about PC companies, such as Dell, is that if you NEED support, they will get it to you ASAP. They will come to your home, and all you pay is about $179 for three years! Apple costs $349 for applecare for a powerbook, and then you have to go wait in line at the Genius bar for 2 hours.
 
Crikey said:
wide wrote in complaining that Word opens in 1 second on his 1.7GHz Centrino but takes much longer on a Mac. I shouldn't respond, since he's subsequently erased his post, but people might be interested in why.

When you install Microsoft Office on Windows, Windows is reconfigured so that many of the Office core DLLs (program modules) are loaded when you boot the computer. That way, when you click the Word icon, zing!, Word pops up. Wow! The truth is, you already waited for it, while your PC was booting up. You wait for the Office preloader every time you boot Windows, whether you end up running Office or not.

Granted, in Windows XP they've done wonders with reducing Windows' load time, so practically it's not a big deal. But that explains the seeming difference in load times between Word on Windows vs. Word on the Mac. Funny how much difference a few seconds seems to make.


Crikey
Click to expand...

you are right..i knew microsoft did something like that. but why can't apple?

a friend told me that the next MAC OS might include embedded apps...that would be awesome if it could increase the performance.

the thing I dont like about having to wait for programs, like msword, to start up is that if it takes a long time, i think my computer isn't working the way it should. but the truth is, it makes all the difference..to me, it still opens faster than on a mac
 
Crikey said:
Lots to disagree with here! The recent revision of the iBooks gave them a G4 CPU with 512KB L2 cache, same as the PowerBooks. Previously, they had a much smaller cache which hurt their performance. The current ones are nice, though. A 1GHz iBook isn't going to be as fast as a 1.3GHz PowerBook, but for many purposes it's "fast enough".

The G4 has been around a while. So has the Pentium 4. So what? Apple's notebooks are sweet portables. To me, they are more desirable than the latest PC notebooks. Maybe they don't have the raw CPU speed (that's always debatable, across platforms) but the whole package is fantastic. Apple's features and build quality are good, and the software is better.

I'll be surprised if Apple can make G5 notebooks that are as nice and portable as the G4-based line. I'd hate to see Apple's notebooks start looking like the bulky "desktop replacement" notebooks on the shelves at the local big-box store. On the other hand, I don't see them ever making ugly products like that, so I'm sure they will devise some wizardry to cram all that power and heat into a package little larger than the current ones. Go Apple!

And go, Butler Trumpet. I think it's a great time to buy an iBook.


Concierge Bassoon
Click to expand...

Apple does make beautiful, high quality computers. But isn't the G4 itself an old architecture? i agree, the pentium 4 is very, very old too, but intel has been able to make SUPERFAST chips, like the 3.4 ghz EXTREME EDITION, that blow the competition away. i'd really like to see some benchmarks on the 3.4 P4 EE against the DUAL G5 2.0.

And about it being "fast enough"...when someone says their computer is "fast enough", they are acknowledging that it is slow. sure, most of us may get along fine with a 266 mhz toilet seat ibook, but i don't want to pay a premium price for a computer that I know is behind its times in terms of speed.
 
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