Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iBook users - display question

G

ghostee

macrumors 6502
Original poster
How many of you iBook users do NOT use an external monitor with your book? I'm debating whether to go with a 12" or 14" iBook, or possibly 12" powerbook, and would really like to not have to use an external monitor. I'm very much used to 1024x780 on my PC's 17" Flat screen CRT, so the resolution would not be bothersome. Do you guys find the lcd on your book to be good enough for everyday use? Anything you dislike about it (brightness, size, etc)?

Would the screen on one of Apple's refurb Albooks (G4 867 12", rev A) be any better or worse? One of these would only run me $100 more than the 12" iBook I priced and is quite tempting..
 
I highly reccomend a 14" or larger display if you do not get an external. Of course, the benefit of an external monitor is much higher resolutions
 
I purchased a 12" iBook back in January. Rarely do I use an external monitor...pretty much only when I want to edit video (because I'm used to having a dual monitor setup at work).

The 12" is perfect for me due to the portability factor. I've had no problem staring at the screen for hours on end (mainly because the LCD is brighter and sharper than the 19" CRT on my desktop). In short, I positively love everything about my screen, and prefer to my desktop.

I can't answer any iBook vs. PowerBook questions. The reasons I chose iBook were 1) $$$$, and 2) it felt sturdier in my hands than the PowerBook.
 
i love my 12'' iBook and use it on a daily basis for sending emails, searching the web and writing letters. it is just perfect for that! for anything else (photoshop, iMovie, iPhoto) I use a 17'' iMac.
 
Does anyone know, is the apple symbol on the back of the ibooks backlit like on the Pbooks? Not that it would affect me buying one, I was just wondering.
And another thing, if I am wanting to buy at the end of the year, am I better off getting the new ibook incarnation, or get an old (today's current model) PB 15"? What's the chances the new ibooks will have a superdrive?

I have never used a mac by the way. I want to switch, but I need more info.

Thanks.
 
I have a 12" iBook, mostly becuase that's what someone was wanting to sell for a measly 400 bucks... But this 600 is really feeling slow, and hardly a day goes buy that I don't think about running up to the apple store to get a G4 iBook.

But the 12" is only 800mhz, I want the 1ghz, but not a 14" (answer is get the PB I know). First I really like the fact that my 12" is the size of a stack of paper, not bigger. The screen is great, and yet the 14" screen looks like crap IMO. When I go in the store to browse the 14" it looks like muddy water, like I need to clean my glasses (or better yet put them on) It's just not sharp.

It's probably an optical illusion to me. the 14" screen has bigger pixels. and that's really the main reason I dont like it. If I'm getting 2" bigger screen I really should be able to get 2" more worth of resolution. but the max res on the 14" iBook is still 1024x768, creating the blurry look. I've only plugged my iBook into a monitor 2 or 3 times because the screen looks that great, better than on a CRT, and I have an iMac for desktop work. I have a feeling I wouldn't be so happy with a 14".

OTOH, I plug my iBook into my svideo on the TV a lot... to play videos into the TV. That works great. 🙂
 
I have had my ibook since november '03 and do not have a single complaint to make. The 12" screen is crystal clear and i have had numerous comments by my PC laptop using friends about this. It always seems bright. Not once have i wished i had more physical or desktop space. I do all of my university work on it as well as some minor video editing and DTP (although i have found a second monitor coupled with a certain well known spanning hack for the ibook has been useful for the latter).

And yes, the apple on the back does glow; the light is the backlight from the screen itself, so its brightness varies with that of the screen.

Hope that helps,
ac2102
 
Yep the light glows on the back on all Apple laptops as ac2102 said. It's a nice feature and one that doesn't take any more power up.

Just to let you know I have a 12" PB (beautiful machine, same screen as 12" iBook) and do not yet have an external monitor (on wishlist!). I've never had a problem with the screen size or resolution and it is my main computer while I'm at uni! I don't even struggle when using Photoshop [Elements] or Final Cut Express. Don't know what other people whine about! Of course, I'm used to my old Win 98 desktop running at 800x600 (17" display). Even my parents' new Dell only runs at 1024x768 (they don't want any higher) and I still think there's plenty of screen real estate. You'll be fine. I personally wouldn't bother with the 14" unless you need a bit more power, but then you might as well get a 12" PB..
 
theman2004 said:
I highly reccomend a 14" or larger display if you do not get an external. Of course, the benefit of an external monitor is much higher resolutions
Click to expand...


the 14" ibook is pointless. the only thing it really gives you is a slightly faster cpu. why pay for 2" more screen when you get the same resolution?

sorry to say but that was very bad advice...
 
12" good enough

I think that there's no point in getting the 14 incher ibook. it has the same resolution as the 12 incher... unlike the 15 inch Powerbook.

i've been using my 12 inch iBook for over a year now and the screen is good enough for me. i use it... over 10 hours a day, for note taking, note reading, typing, email, surfing, garageband these days... etc. no problems. and i do some intense note taking in medical school.

save your money, get the 12 inch and use the saved money to get an external monitor if you really feel you need it. it will double your screen space if you don't mirror the screens. CRTs are plenty cheap if you don't mind. 🙂
 
Demon said:
I think that there's no point in getting the 14 incher ibook. it has the same resolution as the 12 incher... unlike the 15 inch Powerbook.

i've been using my 12 inch iBook for over a year now and the screen is good enough for me. i use it... over 10 hours a day, for note taking, note reading, typing, email, surfing, garageband these days... etc. no problems. and i do some intense note taking in medical school.

save your money, get the 12 inch and use the saved money to get an external monitor if you really feel you need it. it will double your screen space if you don't mirror the screens. CRTs are plenty cheap if you don't mind. 🙂
Click to expand...
Just remember you need to use a hack to enable more than mirroring with the iBook
 
A few weeks ago I was using a 15" ThinkPad with res maxed out at past 1024x768, and was worried about my screen space going with the 12" iBook. Since I got the 12" iBook, I've never been worried about space at all. I don't use an external monitor, ever. Since the 14" has the same resolution, I don't think it's worth the extra 200 bucks (or how much more it is). Oh well, my "too sense."
 
I also have the 12" G4 iBook. I battled with myself at first about the extra speed vs. the small size between the 14" and 12" but I decided that having the tiny computer was what I wanted.

I used to use an external monitor at home, but FH got me an iCurve for Christmas. Since then, I have used only the iCurve or the laptop alone. The screen size is perfect for me and I have NO problems with any of the applications (as far as viewablilty is concerned). I love this comptuer.
 
For what it's worth, I just bought a 12" ibook g4, and it's great! I am used to my 21" CRT at work, and was really worried about the size, but I couldn't justify a 15" Pbook financially. I figured if I had to, I'd buy an external CRT refurb somewhere, but I won't have to. It's amazing how well you can adjust yourself to such a huge difference.

Speed was another issue for me as I just bought the standard config. with only 256mb of ram. Turns out, I was wrong there too. I will eventually max the ram out, but for now this will work just fine. I did some pretty intensive Photoshop work over the weekend, and was really astonished by Panther's use of resources. I could have all my graphics apps open at once, and as long as they're minimized, it's like they don't exist. Spectacular!

Again, buy the 12". You won't be sorry!!

-Jason
<><
 
I've been using my 12" iBook for a month and its been great. I initally thought that the small resolution would be a problem, but it hasn't been bad. I end up using expose a lot to move between open windows and clearing the screen, but it is very easy and smooth.

I downloaded the spanning hack and highly recommend it. No problems and it has allowed me to set up a dual monitor with my 17" flat plannel. I rarely use it, though. The 12" screen has been fine for almost everything I do.

I would also recommend not getting the 14" iBook. It doesn't make sense to pay more for the same screen resolution.

lasuther
 
I have had my 12" iBook for 2 years and find that the screen brightness, resolution and "size" is better than or equal to a 15" CRT. If I need more screen real estate, I just hook up my used 19" CRT.

I have been nothing but happy with the size and sharpness of the 12" screen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back