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eMac or iBook?

Regular_John

Regular_John

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Ok I think I've finnally got it narrowed down to these 2 machines.

eMac, 1.25ghz, 1gb ram, BT, wireless card, super drive, 160gb drive

iBook, 1.33ghz, 768gb ram, wireless card, super drive, 80gb drive

Both of these machines hit that sweet spot of about $2000-$2200 Canadian.

I'm leaning towards the iBook right now just because space is definalty a premium for me but the only real short coming I can see with it is the screen resolution. I know there is a hack for iBooks that allows screen panning to a larger monitor but I'd still need the space to actually keep that monitor.

Any thoughts?
 
I guess it comes down to how much you value portability and space with the iBook, versus resolution and an extra 80Gb with the eMac. Only you can answer this one. If you've got an Apple store anywhere near then you go try them out. Personally I'd go with the iBook for portability.
 
Depends. If you're going to travel at all with it then buy the iBook. Of the two however, I'd go with the eMac. As I have an iBook but don't really take it anywhere. Holiday once or twice a year? But then there's no internet... so.

The eMac is an excellent machine and i'd happily buy one if i had the dosh. The 17 inch screen is crisp and has great resolutions. Plus, the eMac doesn't take up much space at all. Why don't you cut down on the 1gb of ram (make it 768) and buy a bluetooth keyboard and mouse with the money saved. That way, you can keep the keyboard/mouse away in storage when not in use. Anyway - I'd buy the eMac if i could go back and change my iBook decision.
 
SpaceMagic said:
Depends. If you're going to travel at all with it then buy the iBook. Of the two however, I'd go with the eMac. As I have an iBook but don't really take it anywhere. Holiday once or twice a year? But then there's no internet... so.

The eMac is an excellent machine and i'd happily buy one if i had the dosh. The 17 inch screen is crisp and has great resolutions. Plus, the eMac doesn't take up much space at all. Why don't you cut down on the 1gb of ram (make it 768) and buy a bluetooth keyboard and mouse with the money saved. That way, you can keep the keyboard/mouse away in storage when not in use. Anyway - I'd buy the eMac if i could go back and change my iBook decision.
Click to expand...

hmm interesting. Actually with the eMac I would plan on going the blue tooth wireless mouse and keyboard way. Which is why the eMac is so damned appealing, all the bells and whistles and it don't cost an arm and a leg.

But when I said space is an issue that translates into "don't have really have room for a computer desk" I could stick one in my walk in closet I suppose but with the lack of a phone jack I dunno.
 
depends on how much you will be away. if you want to take your computer with you, every day, or at least a couple of times a week, then get the iBook. if you have never thought to your self 'man i wish i had a computer with me right here right now' (while being away from your normal computer) then you will probably enjoy the e-mac more. i, as a student prefer the protability of a laptop, because i will take it to class often! but once i graduate from college and get a job i will probably have a computer at work and will not need to bring my own. in which case i will enjoy a desktop more, because it will have more power!!!
 
wPod said:
depends on how much you will be away. if you want to take your computer with you, every day, or at least a couple of times a week, then get the iBook. if you have never thought to your self 'man i wish i had a computer with me right here right now' (while being away from your normal computer) then you will probably enjoy the e-mac more. i, as a student prefer the protability of a laptop, because i will take it to class often! but once i graduate from college and get a job i will probably have a computer at work and will not need to bring my own. in which case i will enjoy a desktop more, because it will have more power!!!
Click to expand...


ahh that actually does put it into perspective. I do see myself taking my laptop around town.
 
Sometimes i think the decision of a desktop is put off by the appeal of a laptop. Buy the desktop. If room really really is an issue. Then you've answered your own question.
 
get the ibook just because i think youll want portability at one point and then you can have it...the emac definetlye cant give you that the ibook also saves space
 
lazymuoio said:
get the ibook just because i think youll want portability at one point and then you can have it...the emac definetlye cant give you that the ibook also saves space
Click to expand...
Yeah I think I've pretty much decided to go with the iBook. The price is right and so is the size.
 
The question seems easy: Do you need a portable computer? If you don', you should go with the emac.
 
If you need it right now i say go with the iBook because the emacs are outdated pieces of trash.

If you can wait a couple of months I´d say go with the emac since they will be updated in december or january for sure.
 
my 2 cents

I own a 700Mhz emac and a 600mhz g3 ibook. In my case the ibook is not powerful enough to do what I do on the emac - however if it was, I'd buy the ibook in a second. Which as I see it, is your situation.
The 12inch ibook is one of the best treasures Apple has to offer and you'll find everyone that has owned one will tell you the same. Once you have set your house up with wireless broadband you'll never regret your decision! Taking it to friends and family's houses for slideshows etc is a big bonus. But overall it's the size of the beast - absolutely fantastic! Sitting on the couch, at a table, shove it in a back pack, take it to friend's house. I borrowed my mother's 14in and believe it is too big, feels clumsy compared with the 14inch.
On the other hand an emac will always leave you feeling like you need to upgrade. G5 ibooks are a long way off so I think this is the safest bet as far as keeping it for 4 yrs or whatever. I still use my ibook everyday as it's great for wordprocessing and internet, DVD's (600mhz g3 isn't enough for photoshop) and it's many yrs old now!
 
I can't see why you would even consider getting an eMac. The iMacs are so much better right now. With an education discount (shhh... there's a flaw in the Apple store website that lets you get one without going to University), you could get the iMac for the price you are looking at. I've used eMacs a lot, they're still very good value but they're simply not powerful enough, and they're a bit bigger and uglier than they should be. The iMac is... well, it's just so much better.
 
I would suggest the ibook, just because its so portable. However get the bluetooth built in, as you can not add it later internally. 😉
 
Patmian212 said:
If you need it right now i say go with the iBook because the emacs are outdated pieces of trash.

If you can wait a couple of months I´d say go with the emac since they will be updated in december or january for sure.
Click to expand...

....."Outdated pieces of Trash" ?
 
dornoforpyros said:
Yeah I think I've pretty much decided to go with the iBook. The price is right and so is the size.
Click to expand...
Wise decision. Having set up and used both, although an eMac might be a good budget machine if you have the space, definitely have no use at all for a portable, and really need the extra ~$300, the iBooks are really slick, you get more flexibility and features, and unlike the eMac, the iBooks just got updated.

Also keep in mind that the iBook, if you ever decide to sell it and upgrade, will have a much better resale value than the eMac--you'd be amazed at how well the prices on those things hold up.

For the small price difference, it seems like a no-brainer to give yourself the portability and save space.

Looks like the eMac you described goes for about CA$1,933 at the Apple Store, and the iBook about CA$2,322, so here's an alternate plan: Buy the base SuperDrive iBook + Bluetooth module (CA$1,964, right?). But instead of getting the extra 20GB of hard drive (CA$98) and 512MB of RAM (CA$260) from Apple, you can buy 512MB of easy-to-install RAM from Crucial or a similar place (US$138 - around CA$180), and get yourself an external firewire hard drive (you should be able to get a 160GB drive plus FW case for around US$140). Should cost you almost exactly the same amount in total, but for a little bit of do-it-yourself you now have a desktop-speed hard drive and more total storage than the eMac, and 60GB should be enough for most practical portable use.

Just a thought.
 
MacSA said:
....."Outdated pieces of Trash" ?
Click to expand...

Ok I know what you are thinking apple made it so it must be great. Well im sorry i dont agree. . . Apple is the best out there but everyone makes mistakes every once in a while and the emac is apple's mistake
Its Ugly , Slow, takes up alot of space(ok not like a windows tower ill give u that) and its very very outdated. Yes they are a good value but i would rather spend a bit more and get an imac.
Since the buyer needs the computer now i say go ibook because the emac right now are indeed pieces of trash.
 
The eMac hasn't been update in a longtime, its not outdated.
The eMac and iMac is very comparable speedwise.

The ibook is recently introduced, get it!

btw, resale value is much higher on the ibooks than on the eMac (which has a rather poor resale value)
 
Sounds like the iBook is your best bet if you're buying in the next few months.

Most of the time I could get by just fine with a desktop, but sometimes the portability of my PB is really nice. Case in point, just this week my sister had surgery. My wife and I got to the hospital at 7.15a to see her before she went in at 8.00a. We took our 3 year old son, as the people who typically watch him for us were also at the hospital for my sister. Well, her surgery was delayed for an emergency transplant, and didn't start until about 2.00p. The surgery lasted until 9.30p, and we finally left the hospital around 10.30p when someone told us she'd be in recovery until at least 1.00a.
Think about 15 hours in a hospital waiting room with nothing but a few crappy out-dated magazines and a TV with three local channels and a snowy picture...with a three year old. If not for my laptop, a few children's dvd's, and my inMotion speakers, it'd been a much longer day.

If you're on the laptop vs desktop fence, fall on the laptop side. If you later change your mind, I think the laptop will have more resale value than the eMac.
 
My friend and I are both college students. She was very excited to get her first Mac--an eMac--this summer. She loved it.

That is, until she played with the iBook that i bought two months later.

Her brother, her best friend, and I all own Apple notebooks. While we're all in the basement chillin' with our books, she's upstairs with her eMac. Which she still loves--just not as much as if she could take it around. Especially to the library, coffeehouse, etc.

By the 'Book. it's a decision you won't regret.
 
I think that if you buy the ibook you will force yourself to take it places. Once I got it I migrated everything on my work computer over to my mac and I take it to school to take notes on. What it came down to for me was why would I use a Dell when I can pop open my ibook and use that. Get the ibook you'll figure out some place to take it
 
ah yes I already have an external USB drive as well so no need for that 😛



Makosuke said:
Wise decision. Having set up and used both, although an eMac might be a good budget machine if you have the space, definitely have no use at all for a portable, and really need the extra ~$300, the iBooks are really slick, you get more flexibility and features, and unlike the eMac, the iBooks just got updated.

Also keep in mind that the iBook, if you ever decide to sell it and upgrade, will have a much better resale value than the eMac--you'd be amazed at how well the prices on those things hold up.

For the small price difference, it seems like a no-brainer to give yourself the portability and save space.

Looks like the eMac you described goes for about CA$1,933 at the Apple Store, and the iBook about CA$2,322, so here's an alternate plan: Buy the base SuperDrive iBook + Bluetooth module (CA$1,964, right?). But instead of getting the extra 20GB of hard drive (CA$98) and 512MB of RAM (CA$260) from Apple, you can buy 512MB of easy-to-install RAM from Crucial or a similar place (US$138 - around CA$180), and get yourself an external firewire hard drive (you should be able to get a 160GB drive plus FW case for around US$140). Should cost you almost exactly the same amount in total, but for a little bit of do-it-yourself you now have a desktop-speed hard drive and more total storage than the eMac, and 60GB should be enough for most practical portable use.

Just a thought.
Click to expand...
 
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