iBook or Powerbook for parents?

[Whigga Spitta]

After recieving a new 15" Powerbook and taking it on a family vacation, my Mom has come to love working on a portable. And my not-to-internet-savvy father has taken a liking to how OSX "just works". My parents love my Powerbook, but unfortunately for them, I'll be taking it to college with me.

They have expressed an interest in me picking out an Apple portable for them to use around the house (we have a functioning wireless internet connection) before I leave for college. Looking at the Apple Store online is kind of overwhelming for me, just because I am used to having much higher standards in computers than they do.

I am debating between a 14" iBook or a 12" Powerbook (with Educational pricing, they cost the same). Will it be hard for them to use the 12" screen after being used to the 15" widescreen? But my thinking on the otherhand is to steer away from the iBook, which really has little to offer over the Powerbook other than screen size.

Can someone help me make this decision? I think I need a second (or third) opinion.

[Ryan1524]

if they don't mind the extra cost, maybe you can get them a base model 15". or an older model of the 15".
but the best thing to do would be to let them play around with the 12" and let them decide if they don't mind the size of he screen. since they'll be using it for casual purposes around the house, i doubt they really need the extra space of the 15", although it may seem nice to have that spacious a screen.

[jxyama]

i'd consider the 14" iBook. your parents may appreciate the bigger pixels more than bigger resolution... i know my parents would, given their eyesights...

[Chip NoVaMac]

Found this refurb on Apple for $1699:

PowerBook G4 1.33GHz/256MB/60GB/Combo/AP Extreme Card/GigE/15"TFT-Aluminum-Refurbished


You can keep your eye out for the model before that one for even less.

[jtgotsjets]

Try and get them a low level 15" PB. Since it's a home computer and not something that's going to be toted around a college campus, size isn't much of an issue and you should go with the biggest screen you can get. 12" macs are nice for one thing and one thing only: carrying them. I have a 12" iBook and I love it to death, but it is waay tiny. Even beyond the screen, because the body has to match the screen size, it can almost be uncomfortable to type on.

So I guess what I'm saying is that is all else fails, get the 14" iBook. Your parents probably wont care about the extra features of a PowerBook.

[Whigga Spitta]

Thanks for pointing out that refurbbed one, that is always an option too.

As for the 15" Powerbook idea, I was just wondering if (for their uses, mainly using Safari) they will notice ANY difference between the Powerbook or 14" iBook. I get to thinking that there will be alot of power, no pun intended, for minimal gains with the Powerbook, BUT I'm steering away from the iBook strictly because of the 32MB of VRAM. Will that matter down the road (Tiger and beyond?)?