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Flyinace2000

Flyinace2000

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Ok, so it looks like my new job is a go. I start Jan 10 and would like to get myself my own mac. Looking at the current line up of Apple laptops i am leaning towards a iBook (14"). But if Jan 11th somenew new comes down the lines from Steve i will go powerbook. Since i am a communications major i will be doing some sort of multimedia production eventually. Basically right now i don't see enough of the difference the the pbooks and the ibooks to warrant the price difference.

Question: If new pBooks come down speced at the conservative rumors on page 2 will the performace difference be enouugh to warrant the price. I have no problems spending the $ as long as i am getting a machine that will last. (as i type this froma borrowed wallstreet pBook) 😀
 
Flyinace2000 said:
Ok, so it looks like my new job is a go. I start Jan 10 and would like to get myself my own mac. Looking at the current line up of Apple laptops i am leaning towards a iBook (14"). But if Jan 11th somenew new comes down the lines from Steve i will go powerbook. Since i am a communications major i will be doing some sort of multimedia production eventually. Basically right now i don't see enough of the difference the the pbooks and the ibooks to warrant the price difference.

Question: If new pBooks come down speced at the conservative rumors on page 2 will the performace difference be enouugh to warrant the price. I have no problems spending the $ as long as i am getting a machine that will last. (as i type this froma borrowed wallstreet pBook) 😀
Click to expand...
Well that is really ultimately up to you but if you dont mind spending the extra money i would definately go powerbook. The powerbooks really are awesome the ibook is more for someone who does not have the money for a powerbook as in everything if you can afford it go for it the pb has plenty of features to justify its higher price. Im assuming your comparing the 15 inch to the 14 inch ibook. The powerbook has better screen resolution, a bigger wider screen,faster system bus on the processor and if you get the 1.5 then its obviously a step up from the 1.33 ibook, the ram on the powerbook runs at a faster mhz and that will also better the performance. You can connect an external display with high resolution without hacking into the computer on the powerbook. The powerbook has a better gpu with twice the ram 64 compared to the ibooks 32. If you have the money go PB ull never look back and you wont regret it. The pb also has a pci card slot and u can do so much with that. A friend of mine has a verizon pci card and he can basically go anywhere in the us and have internet pretty cool.
 
captain
can u explain more about pCI card? or something
internet wherever he goes???
im confused..

thansks!!!
 
Jdm_rsx said:
captain
can u explain more about pCI card? or something
internet wherever he goes???
im confused..

thansks!!!
Click to expand...
I believe he is referring to PCMCIA with a card from a wireless provider to provide internet access.
 
natebg said:
I believe he is referring to PCMCIA with a card from a wireless provider to provide internet access.
Click to expand...


i would use the built in BT to connect to my phone. Right now i use the d-link adapter to surf with my wallstreet
 
Flyinace2000 said:
I have no problems spending the $ as long as i am getting a machine that will last. (as i type this froma borrowed wallstreet pBook) 😀
Click to expand...

whatever you get, it will last you quite a while.

it's more dependent on the use, rather than the hardware, esp. if you are talking about the diff. between PB and iBook. there will not be one day (or month) when PB can keep on going but iBook suddenly becomes "obsolete."

when i bought my PB (over an iBook) two years ago, there were some "real" differences, as iBooks came with a G3. i don't see such an "overwhelming" difference between those two right now.
 
jxyama said:
whatever you get, it will last you quite a while.

it's more dependent on the use, rather than the hardware, esp. if you are talking about the diff. between PB and iBook. there will not be one day (or month) when PB can keep on going but iBook suddenly becomes "obsolete."

when i bought my PB (over an iBook) two years ago, there were some "real" differences, as iBooks came with a G3. i don't see such an "overwhelming" difference between those two right now.
Click to expand...


I don't start work till Jan 10 so i won't get paid until 2 weeks later. So i got some time to think about it.
 
Right now, there is no reason not to buy a iBook, unless you really need the 15" screen size. Other than that iBook wins hand down.

But after the conf in january we should see some improvement, I hope...

Think hard about the size of your laptop because it does make a big difference if you have to carry it around. Unfortunatly, my 12"PB wasnt fast enough for my work (3D) so I replaced it with a G5PM but I would never have gone with a 15" because it was just too heavy/big for me. Also, dont forget that you can always plug the computer in an external display (which I always did) so the screen size is only a consern when you are on the go.
 
I'm in the market for a new mac laptop too. Right now, i'm torn between the ibook and the powerbook. I find it hard to justify over 1k more for the powerbook. Sure there are alot of features in the powerbook that aren't in the ibook, but i don't think it adds up. I'm hoping for a powerbook upgrade at MWSF. Performance-wise, these laptops are seriously outdated. Not to speculate, but i would venture to say that they'll put the 6800go in the high end powerbook so that people can hook 30" up to them. The FSB on the G4 is a serious bottleneck for any demanding user. I don't think the current G4 powerbooks are worth the cost. The prices have come down considerably over the years, but they're still using the same old architecture.
 
I would say that is probably impossible to put a 6800 is a laptop because of its size and power requirement. But I think there is a 6600 for laptop so they would probably go with this.

And you are right, PB dont justify such a high markup right now which is why I said that the iBook are the way too go. They arent top performer but are strongly built, good battery and can run any mac apps.

Personnaly, I am waiting to get a low end used G4 iBook for my GF, I think they are the best price/performance for casual user.
 
You get a G4 in both the iBook and Powerbook right now, so unless you're doing major-league intensive stuff like pro graphics work or digital video, or specifically need monitor spanning or the PCMCIA slot, a Powerbook isn't strictly necessary. Especially when an iBook costs so much less, can take more of a beating, and gets much better wireless range.
 
Mantat said:
I would say that is probably impossible to put a 6800 is a laptop because of its size and power requirement. But I think there is a 6600 for laptop so they would probably go with this.
Click to expand...
It's called the 6800go. They're in alienware, hypersonic-PC, VoodooPC, etc

It's just nvidia's answer to the 9800m chip. Both these mobile GPU's push ~3 gigapixels per second, which is over three times better than the 9700m chip from ATI currently in the powerbooks.

Edit: Also of note... The 6800go is PCI-express. So they'd need to implement the new bus architecture... maybe this is a far stretch away....🙁
 
natebg said:
I believe he is referring to PCMCIA with a card from a wireless provider to provide internet access.
Click to expand...
Yes that is what i was referring to. Its a pretty cool set up i think my friend pays 50 bucks a month and he got the card and now he can use internet anywhere and i think the download rate on it is not to bad either. Pci card slot is a very useful feature u can do a lot with it as many companys have various cards you can use for various purposes. Just go to compusa.com and look at the selection of pci cards and you can see if they offer anything that could be of use to you and make your decision from there. Good luck and i hope that helps 😀 Macs rock!
 
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