667 Tibook or better vs. 900 iBook?

coachingguy · Jun 30, 2003

I've decided to get a new PB befofe the end of the summer. My Lombard just isn't getting it done anymore :-( My question to the experienced members here is this: For roughly the same money I can get a 667mhz DVI Tibook or better... or a 900mhz 12" combo iBook. I'm planning on waiting a few weeks to see what happens to the speed bumps and what not. I go back and forth weekly about which way to go. Used G4 vs new (faster?) G3. 15.2" vs. 12.1". Paint peeling, flexible Tibook vs. virtually indistructible polycarbonate iBook. Which do you think will work better with Panther? I do a lot of word processing, web browsing, some video and photo editing, a lot of itunes etc...
Whattya think?

evil · Jun 30, 2003

personally i prefer buying new stuff over used stuff. theres the whole fun factor.
it seems that the ibook would be good enough for you anyway, unless youre getting pretty involved in the video stuff.

im sure you will enjoy either though.

hvfsl · Jun 30, 2003

I would get a PB G4 12in since it does not have the paint issues and is a lot faster than the ibook. Although I would wait at least until Macworld New York (or Create as it is now called). Going by Apples past record, new Powerbooks will be released by October, so if you wait till then, you will be able to get much faster powerbooks (or an old one even cheaper).

Alte22a · Jun 30, 2003

Me thinks ibook for a total peace of mind. I own a blue berry ibook, still going. Nice enough for emails and WP. Got a 1Ghz Ti gets all the heavy stuff done. Its fine. But definately get new, cause if things go wrong you can give abuse to someone...

ibookin' · Jun 30, 2003

Originally posted by hvfsl
I would get a PB G4 12in since it does not have the paint issues and is a lot faster than the ibook

There are many who would contest that. The PowerBook is not a lot faster in non AltiVec enhanced tasks, and is even beaten by the iBook in some things. Check macspeedzone for benchmarks. While I do love that the 12 PB is smaller than the iBook, and I do believe that it is worth the extra money for the Airport Extreme, BT, etc., it is not that much faster than the iBook 800 combo that I already own.

On the issue of what machine he should get, the 667 DVI is a very nice machine. My friend has one and it is quite fast, especially with Panther. If you do decide to get the 667, make sure you get the DVI model, which has an L3 cache, lacking on the first 667 model (Rev. B).

Pete_Hoover · Jun 30, 2003

I say go for the iBook. You will be pleased to have a newer product. You never know what you're going to get from a site like eBay. Some people just got busted for not shippig notebooks on eBay once the payments had been sent. Apparently they had many hundreds of thousands of dollars. I would go for the newer iBook.

MacBoyX · Jun 30, 2003

Go for the iBook.

I sold my 667 DVI and got a 12" 900mhz ibook. It's more durable than the TiBook and no joke it's faster.

Max out the RAM. That's worth it.

I love mine...more than my TiBook.

MacBoyX

macphoria · Jun 30, 2003

If you only do "some" video editing, then go with iBook. It is a genuine portable computer where as PowerBook is on more fragile side.

And if you are comparing 667mhz G4 to 900mhz G3, G3 will be faster in majority of the things you say you do, like word processing and web browsing.

And as far as Panther is concernd, I read somewhere that it will be much snappier than Jaguar, even on older G3 machines.

coachingguy · Jun 30, 2003

Thanks!

Thanks for the thought out responses. This week I have been leaning towards the iBook, maxed ram and airport. The group seems to think new is better than used. I should say that if I went with the Tibook, I'd go with refurbished/open box etc... from a reputable site. Ebay, at least for apple laptops has become a blackhole. I agree, certainly not worth the risk. Is the L3 cache really that important in the G4? Also, what do you guys think the chances are that the next version of the iBook will have the Gobi chip?

MacBoyX · Jul 1, 2003

Re: Thanks!

Originally posted by coachingguy
Thanks for the thought out responses. This week I have been leaning towards the iBook, maxed ram and airport. The group seems to think new is better than used. I should say that if I went with the Tibook, I'd go with refurbished/open box etc... from a reputable site. Ebay, at least for apple laptops has become a blackhole. I agree, certainly not worth the risk. Is the L3 cache really that important in the G4? Also, what do you guys think the chances are that the next version of the iBook will have the Gobi chip?

It's only important if you are doing major league stuff and the 667 doesn't have one either. Nor the 12" PB.

I think there will be a Gobi chip in the next iBook especially with the annoucnement today of when it will be available.

MacBoyX

macphoria · Jul 1, 2003

Gobi might end up being 1Ghz G3 in next iBook update. But don't hold your breath, it will be a while.

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