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Apple iBook G4 or Centrino-Windows notebook?

K

keirius

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hi there everyone. I have been a Windows user practically almost my whole life, I've not own or use any Mac before. Now I am actually considering buying the 12" iBook G4 1.2Ghz to replace my old LCD blown Acer notebook after admiring and hearing the marvels of using a Mac all these while. Problem is, I wondering whether I am making the right choice or not.

After surfing a number of Mac forums and review sites, I've got the impression that iBooks are practically no match to those Centrino powered notebooks in an overall aspect (especially speed and processing power) based on what I read. I was in some way; disturb to find out this fact. I’ve always admired the machines that Apple produce. The price of some of the Centrino powered Dell notebooks (which in a way, offer much better specs) are close to the price of the 12” iBook. I certainly cannot afford anything other Mac other than the 12” iBook.

Is OS X really superior to Windows OSes? People say OS X rarely crashes, but so does my Windows XP. How can getting an iBook be an advantage for me rather than choosing a Centrino – Windows powered notebook?

I’m wondering whether the body of the iBook is durable or not, considering the white colour and nice design. I’m afraid that it will be difficult to maintain its good looks considering the fact that I will bring my notebook everywhere. It would be sad to it scratched all over.

I am a still studying for my business degree and will be starting a small online business with a friend together with my own blog / review site. I normally do my assignments, reports and reports on my notebook. I will need a notebook that will not fail me throughout at least a couple of years. My Acer notebook LCD gave way after 3 years. I would most probably venture into web developing, maybe graphics and also a little bit of programming. My notebook is my productivity tool. Again, it comes to my mind, will an iBook really serve me better than other Centrino - MS powered PC’s?

Will there be a problem to conduct work and share files with my friends which basically 99% of them holds MS powered notebook/PCs? What about going Wireless on a non-apple Access Point?


All in all, I was thinking to wait for the next iBook upgrade (if there is one next year?) for a higher speed boost? And also because OS X Tiger is going to launch sometime soon? On the other hand, I might not be able to wait any longer.

Do you think the 12” iBook would suit me? My budget is more or less fixed, and I’ve mentioned I can’t afford the other Mac notebooks for sure. Or perhaps I should stick back to a Windows / Centrino powered notebook like Dell or HP??

Thanks for reading…and do give me your opinion… =D
 
I would definetly say the ibook will suit you well. Im still using my almost 3 year old ibook right now and it is working like a charm(other then the battery :-/) As far as waiting for a new ibook, if you can you should wait like 2-3months for new ibook revisions that will come out with 64mb video cards and faster processors. But if you really need a new laptop right now, go get one! Make sure you use your student discount too!


As far as the ibook getting uglier over time. No, like I said, my ibook is almost 3 years old and it still looks rather good, you dont notice the scratches on the white case much. And the ibook itself tends to be VERY VERY durable, Ive dropped my ibook multiple times and it didnt have any problems whatsoever. Its so durable, when im at school I tend to just toss my ibook in my bag, or on top of my bed(yeah I abuse it, but it likes it ;-) )


You will also be able to get onto any 802.11b/g network be it with an apple router or not with an apple router. And File Compatibility will be perfect with PC's as long as you are using MS Office 2004.
 
Look at me: I'm selling my Centrino Acer to buy a 12" iBook!
True, the Acer has all the features you can possibly want (DVD burner, 15" widescreen, wifi, bluetooth, big hard drive, 512megs, ...), but in the end, I just noticed, for what a student does (web, emails, iTunes, photos, a bit of p2p maybe), the iBook is just perfect.
And iBook is so small and so light!
 
I just purchased a 14' iBook about 1 month ago. This is my first mac ever.

I also had a hard time deciding on what to buy... I chose the iBook because I wanted something different. I already have a PC with windows. So why would I want to get a laptop that will have windows on it? Just a slower, lesss powerful PC that I already have. Meaning I would probly rarely ever use the laptop. But since I got the iBook.. I use it alot, I like OSX, its new, Intresting and Everything works... I know people kringe when that is said, but everything just works. I used to think everything just worked on my windows box... and it did for me because I am a poweruser / going to school to be an administrator. I know how to manupulate windows. However, people like my dad, does not... the iBooks is just smooth as butter for him with no bumps in the road.

If you are not going to play intensive 3d games, get the iBook... if you want to DOOM 3 all the way, get something else
 
If you don't want to worry about viruses, spyware and adware, get the iBook.

If you are not going to be playing games, get the iBook.

If you're doing just about anything else aside from video rendering or 3-D modeling, get the iBook and pack it full of RAM.

If you don't want to restart your computer when an app fails, get the iBook.

If you want a far more intuitive and easy to use OS, get the iBook.

You'll never regret the switch.

A little more than a year, I owned a room full of PC's. Look at my signature now. I LOVE my Macs.
 
The only downside of the ibook in my opinon is the 32mb graphics card...Aside from that the ibook beats every windows notebook remotley close to $999.
Get the ibook, you wont regret it!
 
Well member on this site do give good advise, if they think a windows based laptop would be better then they would say it, so would i.

I nearly stoped using PC's, unless i am playing games that are not on the mac or if i have a LAN party going on. I was a windows user for a long time and decided to try the macs since one of my friends really liked them.

If you feel comftible with windows then stick with them but as for me i would never buy a windows pc for theses reasons:

1 - I dont like to update my windows and an anti virus every 1-2 days.

2 - Windows laptops seem to get much slower after using them for a while, my PB and friends iBook just run they came out of the box.

3 - I dont worry about virus's at all.

4 - They come fully loaded with digital software, iPhoto for my pictuers which i use a lot, iTunes for all my music needs and iMovies/iDVD for editing and burning movies.

5 - I am not afread of it crashing, since i have used my PB i have never had it crash, sometimes 3rd party programs crash but not the OS or software from Apple.

6 - I can be writing my something while listing to music, burning a cd, chatting on messenger, downloading 3 movies and it would not crash

This might seem like a post from someone who works at apple but trust me i am just giving you my opinon. You would need some time to understand how the OS works because its diffrent from Windows, here an example:

- To burn a cd just put the cd in, drag the files on teh cd, eject the cd. As a windows user it took me 30 mins to find that out, i was looking for a software like nero or something.

If you have any question send me an email or post here i am sure people will be glad to help you out
 
my .02

The ibook has a lethargic graphics card, and the G4 is not an especially fast chip.

OS X is way nice, and using windows causes me great personal pain.

If you are on such a limited budget, replacing all of your windows software with macintosh equivalents will be pricey.

You only need so much processing power to do your daily tasks, and an ibook probably will meet your needs as OS X doesn't need as much processing power as windows XP.

I think that's all I have to say. The ibook doesn't meet my lofty standards, but I would use any macintosh faster than 500mhz over anything on the PC side of the house.
 
I'd be honest and say that from a hardware point of view there's probably a few decent Centrino based notebooks that are a good deal ahead of the iBook. But I'd not exchange mine for anything. Bump the hard drive up, get Bluetooth and put the memory up as far as you can afford, and you'll be pretty much set for the next few years with it.

I do pretty much everything on my iBook, and as a student, it's practically perfect for my needs. As something of an amateur webmaster, it's great for that too. I make music with it, it stores my digital music and photo collection - it's a joy basically. Runs rings around XP. Only use my PC now really for the odd game and for file storage.
 
I would also look into finding a Refurb Powerbook 12inch.
The powerbooks will support Core image in Tiger and I think it Looks cooler than the White.
 
You would definitely find OS X vastly superior to Windows. As you mentioned that your windows does not crash often, but you still would have to deal with the viruses and spyware. No such problems with OS X.
Body of iBook is very durable, its very hard plastic.
There won't be any problem with sharing files with windows machines, infact it would be a lot easier than their end.
Wireless connections to any access point is a breeze. Unlike windows you don't have to do ANY setup. Just turn on the airport card, it will do the rest itself.
Centrino would be faster. But the things you mentioned you would be doing do not require that much processor anyways.
Basically for what you do, you can have any laptop. Anything will serve the purpose. But with the iBook you definitely would get a much better OS.
Having said that, I guess that a visual effect included in Tiger requires a better video card than what iBook has. But thats just eyecandy anyways.

cheers
 
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