iBook G4 is the way to go...when should I buy one?

[Moo-Boo]

The iBook G4 - Deliberations

My dear Mac friends,

Sorry I took so, so long to get back to you. The iBook had to be looked over and set up properly, rather than going in gungho like I tend to do. Right now, I'm typing this message to you on the machine...with no adaptor! Apart from being a trifle slow due to the lack of RAM, it works well. I guess it's a bit of an anticlimax. It does all that I could want and more, but I feel strangely underwhelmed. I almost feel like a new mother who is experiencing post natal depression, though, nowhere near as intense. The screen is bright, the graphics good, the applications plentiful and stable and OS 10.3 easier to navigate in than OS 10.2. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get OS 10.3.2, but I guess that's the same with every iBook But overall, very nice indeed, and I'm sure as the next couple of days go by, I will grow to love it, as did all of you.

Take care,

Matt

 

[TheWitePony]

there is no time like the present. I was in the same boat last summer, I wanted a powerbook, yet the 15 inch Albook had not been released, I believe it was November or October before they were released.

What did I do? I bought the 15" Tibook in July, and you know what, I couldn't be happier. This was not only my first Mac, but the first computer I bought with all my own money so it is very dear to me now. I tell ya, it don't matter when you buy the thing, its a Mac, you can't go wrong.

Good Luck

 

[Rezet]

ibook is slow. ibook is cheap. That pretty much sums it up.
Not that it means it's bad. But that's what you will get.


P.S I doubt updates will happen any time soon.

 

[kaylee]

Macmall has the 512mb of ram for under AU$200 if you order through their site. I also noticed that they are offering the brilliant savings deal now - $AU800 rebate when you get a G5 powermac and a 23in cinema display.

i dont know if you are aware, but there is one authorised reseller in bundaberg and two distributors (rather than trekking down to the gold coast)-
Target Bundaberg AUTH RESELLER
Bourbong Street
Bundaberg 4670
tel: 07 4152 2499 fax: 07 4153 3332
web:
email:

D2k Solutions DIST
Level 3, Cnr Quay & Barolin Sts
Bundaberg 4670
tel: 07 4155 8500 fax: 07 4155 8585
web: http://www.d2k.com.au
email: enhanceme@d2k.com.au

Coast 'n Country Computers DIST
Shop 1 & 2, 270 Bourbong Street
Bundaberg 4670
tel: 07 4154 2436 fax: 07 4154 1341
web: http://www.coastncountry.com.au
email: mail@coastncountry.com.au

EDIT: mispelling in apple's info for one of the websites (i just copied and pasted).

 

[Moo-Boo]

i dont know if you are aware, but there is one authorised reseller in bundaberg and two distributors (rather than trekking down to the gold coast)-
Target Bundaberg AUTH RESELLER
Bourbong Street
Bundaberg 4670
tel: 07 4152 2499 fax: 07 4153 3332
web:
email:

D2k Solutions DIST
Level 3, Cnr Quay & Barolin Sts
Bundaberg 4670
tel: 07 4155 8500 fax: 07 4155 8585
web: http://www.d2k.com.au
email: enhanceme@d2k.com.au

Coast 'n Country Computers DIST
Shop 1 & 2, 270 Bourbong Street
Bundaberg 4670
tel: 07 4154 2436 fax: 07 4154 1341
web: http://www.coastncountry.com.au
email: mail@coastncountry.com.au

G'day there, Kaylee,

No, I did not know that. Thanks for the excellent info. I thought that only Coast'n'Country was the Apple distributor round here. I've previously ordered stuff from them, but they are way too slow. Why this is, I cannot fathom. D2k Solutions rings a very faint, tiny bell. They must be in the WIN building. The Target reseller, no, I've not heard of them. I'd love to go down there and just have a look, but I know I will feel obliged to buy something from them. As for MacMall, they are one of the cheapest dealers around, true. But if you use a credit card, they whack you with a 3% surcharge. Yow!! I got the iBook through Paleographics, based in Melbourne, and I had no trouble whatsoever, even blessing the product with free postage!

But thanks Kaylee so much for the wonderful info...I learnt something new and useful today, all thanks to you! I'm off to look at the urls you provided.

Take care,

Matt

 

[aswitcher]

As for MacMall, they are one of the cheapest dealers around, true. But if you use a credit card, they whack you with a 3% surcharge. Yow!! Matt

Yeah, MacMall have good prices (mostly, for example their pwoerbook batteries are currently $40 more than Apple Australia) but that 3% adds up on a $5k machine/software...$150. This is the 21st century, CC are the currency of the modern age, they should wear this rather than passing it onto the customer, especially when that $150 quickly erodes any savings that are made by buying from them and not Apple Australia or other resellers.

 

[kaylee]

sorry, i didnt realise macmall had a 3% surcharge for credit cards. the payment options page does not mention ANY surcharge at all, so i figured there wasnt any. but if you going into terms and conditions page in the payment options section of that page it DOES mention the surcharge (i only discovered this when i decided to go searching for any mention of the surcharge on the website)

 

[admiraldennis]

wednesday

I'm ordering mine this Wednesday.

 

[zen]

I was a little disappointed that I didn't get OS 10.3.2, but I guess that's the same with every iBook.

Erm...I bought my iBook G4 last Saturday (27th March) here in New Zealand, and it came with 10.3.2 installed and the Panther install CDs that came with it are also 10.3.2. All I needed to do was fire up Software Update and install 10.3.3.

Don't worry about the anticlimax - just take some time to sit back and admire the wonderful design, the clean white lines, and the little things like the pulsing sleep light and the lovely keyboard.

But you definately need more RAM. Mine is maxed to 640MB and the machine flies! I regularly play Warcraft III and Neverwinter Nights on it at full graphics settings (well, not quite for NWN because the highest settings require a 64MB graphics card).

It's a great machine!

Zen

 

[CrackedButter]

I'm waiting for updates and I really want a 12" PB G4 but considering the price i'm half tempted to go with the iBook, i've had one before so i know what its like but i had the G3 800 version so i don't really want the G4 800 version.

BUT

I'm intending to keep the machine for 4 years or so and thats another reason for going with the PB 12" and i'm not likely to buy until after September which is past WWDC and the Paris Expo, that *should* give apple time to release some new machines.

 

[sUn]

Reading this thread makes me want an iBook even more.