15" Powerbook or 14" ibook? Worth the difference?

sorry to nitpick but it is AUTHORING not AUTHORIZING 😛.

if you are in the market to purchase NOW, i'd get the iBook. the pBook is obviously a better machine, but they are both significantly "aged" hardware all things considered, thus the pBook doesn't justify the large price differential.

if you are in no hurry to buy, you may consider waiting for the next pBook iteration. should the 970gpx or whatever it's code name is be ready in time, that will be a killer machine, and even if not, the next G4 is already in line as a backup; this processor is supposed to be a pretty significant jump from today's G4.

the 15" screen, resolution, video card, PC Card slot, Firewire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, etc. do still tend to justify the price however, so again it really falls on your preference, and budget. nobody can give you a finite answer since none of us know your financial situation, absolute NEED for a new computer, etc.

if you will USE the 15" pBook's features it is worth the difference. if you don't take advantage of them, they are wasted, thus not worth it 😛.

You will need the power

I currently do a little video stuff with iMovie on my 12" powerbook and my 17" iMac. I avoid using the PB because of the speed difference. Although I preferred the iBook case (I have one of these too) because it is significantly more durable, you will want more power to encode and burn the DVD. I would either get the PB or wait for the G5. If you can't wait you might want to consider the new G5 iMac.

I just got the 14 inch iBook, and my wife has the 15 inch 1.5 Ghz powerbook, and I can assure you, there is very little difference in speed. The screen size is the only significant difference. So, if you can handle a 1024*768 screen, get the iBook.

I would go with the PowerBook, i used both latop and i can tell you that the PowerBook is faster. I would first recomend you wait till Jan and see what Jobs has up his sleaves before buying a new laptop.

jefff said:

I am currently in the market for a new laptop. I have a g3 14 ibook (2002) and am looking to upgrade to a laptop with a superdrive. I am also looking to do video editing and DVD AUTHORING.

Is the powerbook worth the $800 more then the ibook (with equal RAM, equal HD)? I have been extremely pleased with the ibook but need something faster. I believe the ibook is the best value for the $$ but believe the PB would be the machine of chocie.

This question has been asked before, so i apologize but any input would help my purchase and the role that the computer will fulfill.

jf

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is portability a must? the lowest-end G5 would probably be the best value for you if you were interested in desktops. its in the price range of a 14" iBook, and has expandability for future-proofing.