Frustrated, Giving up hope on iBook

[Val-kyrie]

My Dilemma

10. Buy the closest to the state-of-the-art you can afford, buy a machine for the future.

Exactly. I was prepared to buy an iBook and needed to buy software to switch from x86, but with the upcoming Mactels this would be foolish given the needed financial investment on my part. However, I do NEED a notebook NOW! The only two options I can see is (1) wait and lose time or (2) buy a PC notebook. Apple has really put me in a quandry. Advice???

 

[Alasta]

Like everyone else here, I would like to see an iBook update sooner rather than later, but I'm happy to hold out for another six months if I have to, because my 800MHz G3 is still meeting my requirements adequetely. If I were desperate for a new machine now, then I would be buying one now rather than sitting here moaning about it, because my G3 was near the end of its product life when I bought it, yet I will have had almost three years of good service out of it by the time I replace it.

Most people who buy iBooks are not too fussed about performance. Sure, those of us in the know are holding out on the expectation of updates, but most people in the market for a new laptop would not be as familiar with Apple's product cycles are we are. I would therefore doubt that the lack of an update is having too much of an impact on sales.

It has always been my belief that, when the Intel switch occurs, the Powerbook will be the priority and the iBook will follow later next year. In the short term, I think we will soon see the the Powerbook take on Freescale's 7448, and the iBook will then take on the specs of the existing Powerbook. I'm not sure how soon the 7448 will be available in sufficient quantities, but I'm guessing we might be looking at a MacWorld Paris update for both portable products.

 

[Crikey]

I've never quite understood why people feel they have to have their new computer before they go away to school. It's not a security blanket! ;-) Why not go there without it and see if what you think you'll need changes after you've been there a while? Once you're there, you get the educational discount on anything you buy.

The bookstore at the university where I work periodically runs specials that beat the regular educational discount. The last one was kinda lame -- just $50 off the 12" combo-drive iBook, so it was $900 instead of $950. The one I wish I had snagged was the 1GHz 12" combo-drive iBook clearance when the 1.2GHz was released: $650. Last week they were sellling 20" 1.8GHz iMacs for $999 (but that's a story for another thread ).

Anyway, the start of school isn't the end of the world, it's the beginning.


Crikey

Seeing as many college bound students are raining on the ibook parade, I'll join in. It was a matter of hoping for updates in march/april, now it's getting close to the deadline and apple still hasn't delivered. Sure I can do most everything I need with the current Ibook, but if that's the case, why does apple update their computers at all? If I'm gonna buy new hardware for school, I wan't it to be new, not 9 months old. It just goes against the consumer in me to buy a laptop that old. I was gonna switch, I just need apple to update the mini or the ibook and I'm all set. However, given thinksecret's latest reports on the mini, and the fact that it's looking more and more likely that the ibook won't be released until the paris expo(which is after my school starts), I'm scrambling to find a good x86 alternative to apple. Sure I'll be happy if the ibook is updated after all this time, but many of us have a deadline to buy the ibook, and for us students that the ibook is targeted at, that deadline is early september. I haven't owned a mac since I was 15 (a performa) and I was hoping to own a new one, but it seems steve's boat left without me this time.

 

[hulugu]

Yes, an iBook is long in the tooth and doesn't meet Tiger's recommended specs, and that's a shame. I'm still thinking about getting one, based on what it is rather than what it isn't....I'd much rather have a 1GHz or 1.2GHz iBook than the earliest G4s, though. I seem to recall there were some important specification upgrades in there...

I think CoreImage, while an impressive technology can be overrated. I have an old Powerbook and the main difference between mine and my wife's (see sig) is Dashboard items have that cool ripple effect. I like my wife's machine, but I still really like my Titanium Powerbook even as it is getting long in the tooth—ultimately the computer is just a tool, and my tool is merely a little slower than the newest, which is to be expected.

 

[AP_piano295]

OK, I know we are all rather disappointed about the lack of updates, and you aren't the first to suggest irrational purchasing decisions. Come on, people!

I know that sooner or later (though preferably sooner) Apple will release updates to the iBook. I, for one, will be waiting for those updates.

I also suggest that you learn to spell "Ubuntu" properly before you even consider using it as your primary OS.

its friday two just a couple of days till next tuesday i swear if they dont show up then I will do something.... I havent tried linux yet how is it?

 

[AP_piano295]

You need to define help. I think you're right about Apple users outside of "the know", they are going to buy an iBook or PowerBook whether they know they're at or nearing, respectively, the end of their product cycle. And I think they would do this whether or not Apple updated their products tomorrow.

But I think Apple announcing there will be no new updates until September would do to things, both I feel 'beneficial':
(1) Let people who are eyeing the iBook for back-to-school purchases know that they should go ahead and pick up the current iBook model and in some sense, put them out of their anxious misery because regardless they are going to be thrilled with whatever they pick up (pretty ripples or not)
(2) Demonstrate to the "in-the-know" Apple community that Apple trusts us and that we should trust them during this difficult time

Like I said before, I aknowledge Apple might be frustrated about their notebook line-up right now. But how are they reaching out to the Apple community for ideas, suggestions, and input? How are they enhancing their relationship with their core base, including you and me, by staying silent about new, promised products? No one on this board has spoken to my comments on this, which I welcome.

mebe u can shell out a cool thousand bucks + for a premium price product that is very underpowered by todays standards and will need to to be updated quickly if you want to do something even a little bit demmanding but not all of us have that kinda of money I can afford to buy a new mac mebe every 3-5 years so I want some bang for my buck..

 

[AP_piano295]

Also people need to remember that things that start out as purely decorations can latter evolve into more practical uses ripples now and something... not sure what I dont know what because I have a limmited understanding of core imageing, but if this feature takes a hefty bit of power to run and is likely a complicated invention I dobt that apple would put alot of work into something pretty but worthless, it probably has alot of potential right

 

[windowsforeyes]

The hard drive in the 12" is my pet peeve. Not only is it small, it also comes over half full of software and OS.

Really? I'm going to be getting a 12" iBook soon (with or without the update) - I was planning on a 60gb HD. Will that still be enough to hold music, some video, and digital pictures, once 15gb are taken up by Apple? I do have a 40gb ipod as back up.

 

[Deepdale]

Really? I'm going to be getting a 12" iBook soon (with or without the update) - I was planning on a 60gb HD. Will that still be enough to hold music, some video, and digital pictures, once 15gb are taken up by Apple? I do have a 40gb ipod as back up.

It should be enough unless you plan to store a prodigious amount of material from those three categories. Keep this in mind ... I have 2,200 songs in iTunes (mp3 format) and those take up a combined 8.85 GB. That should serve as a quick guideline.

 

[cooknwitha]

Really? I'm going to be getting a 12" iBook soon (with or without the update) - I was planning on a 60gb HD. Will that still be enough to hold music, some video, and digital pictures, once 15gb are taken up by Apple? I do have a 40gb ipod as back up.

60GB woud be adequate. I have a 60GB HD with this iMac and after doing a recent clear-out, I've got 30GB spare (I've deleted a lot of pre-installed software though). But when doing video editing, I use an external HD. But provided you don't plan on doing lots, that should be okay.

But, and this is going to sound obvious, if you can afford that bit extra, go for the 80GB.

 

[Blackheart]

I think people on this board have a distorted sense of what it is they need in a computer. I have a 400MHz G4 Powerbook that I was using as my main computer up until July of last year. It's a fine computer, and given more RAM (it only has 384MB right now) could be VERY usable. People like to b*tch and moan about how the iBook is oh so slow. It's only slow because you want to be able to open Safari, Mail, and iChat 3/10 of a second faster. The iBook serves its purpose in Apple's lineup; it's a low-end consumer laptop (that, mind you, is still blazingly fast in comparison to my powerbook). Sure you don't get your fluffy little ripple effect but why does that matter? Are you buying a Mac so you can woo your PC friends? Or are you buying it to get the job done? Trust me, if I can get the job done with my old powerbook, you people will function just fine.

 

[shadowmoses]

I think people on this board have a distorted sense of what it is they need in a computer. I have a 400MHz G4 Powerbook that I was using as my main computer up until July of last year. It's a fine computer, and given more RAM (it only has 384MB right now) could be VERY usable. People like to b*tch and moan about how the iBook is oh so slow. It's only slow because you want to be able to open Safari, Mail, and iChat 3/10 of a second faster. The iBook serves its purpose in Apple's lineup; it's a low-end consumer laptop (that, mind you, is still blazingly fast in comparison to my powerbook). Sure you don't get your fluffy little ripple effect but why does that matter? Are you buying a Mac so you can woo your PC friends? Or are you buying it to get the job done? Trust me, if I can get the job done with my old powerbook, you people will function just fine.

Thats exactly right i had a powermac 400mhz G4 as my mine computer up until a few weeks ago and it did everything fine....

SOme people fail to appreciate how fast a 1.2 and 1.33 G4 is and how well it will handle Tiger even with just 256mb Ram increase that to 512mb and beyond and the little iBook will fly...

ShadOW

 

[dcv]

Really? I'm going to be getting a 12" iBook soon (with or without the update) - I was planning on a 60gb HD. Will that still be enough to hold music, some video, and digital pictures, once 15gb are taken up by Apple? I do have a 40gb ipod as back up.

If you want to completely fill your 40gb ipod and store all that music on your ibook then perhaps consider an 80gb hard disk (or you could store some of the music or other files on an external hard disk). If you're not going to fill the ipod as much as that then 60gb will definitely suffice.

I've only had a PB for 2 weeks now and was starting to think that I was going to run out of space on my 60gb hard disk (well in actual fact a "60gb" hard disk is really 55.something gb). I was importing all my CDs into iTunes this week and realised my hard disk was filling up really quickly. So decided to be really ruthless with my music and ended up deleting about 9gb that I probably wouldn't listen to much. I've now used up 38gb of disk space (23gb of that is music) and have 17gb free on the disk. I still have some more software to add but even after that I think i'll have about 12gb free, which is plenty for documents and more music etc. Anything else can go on my external hard disk anyway.