Would I be stupid to buy an iBook?

[Haouka]

I want to order an iBook this week (I cannot justify a PB -too expensive- as I already have an iMac and Dell Latitude laptop -grr, from work-) ...
... However reading through the Tiger preview, I have seen that Core will require a graphic card that cannot be found on iBooks but well on PB

I want the iBook for web surfing, email, AV iChat, iPhoto, ... but nothing heavy like Photoshop

Any advice?

 

[mkrishnan]

... However reading through the Tiger preview, I have seen that Core will require a graphic card that cannot be found on iBooks but well on PB

Hmmm...tough Q. What's your usual MO on PCs? Do you ever upgrade, or do you still have old OS's laying around? I guess the really tough thing to predict is whether there will be really cool software in these categories that you won't be able to use when Tiger comes out. With the iApps, I think its safe to say there probably will be. But then again, they might not run so great on today's PB either.

So is it definite at any rate at the point that some/all of the currently for-sale Macs will *not* run Tiger? I'm kinda surprised and disappointed that my computer was minted in Dec. 03, and ~15 months later an unsupported OS upgrade is coming out....

 

[michaelrjohnson]

I use an iBook, and it does everything I ask it to quite well. I dont' spend (hardly any) time waiting. And, as a graphic design major, I use Photoshop and Illustrator, and Quark intensively. My iBook handles it gracefully, but I want to upgrade to a PowerBook for the extra Graphics performance anyhow.

For things like Internet, iChat, Word Proc. an iBook is more than you need. They're great machines, I'm glad to have owned one! No regrets.

 

[DGFan]

The current Macs will run Tiger. What it does mean is that some graphics features will be disabled or be offloaded to the CPU (slowing things down). For instance, the water ripple effect (which I find horrendous) will probably not appear on current iBooks.

 

[Horrortaxi]

I want the iBook for web surfing, email, AV iChat, iPhoto, ... but nothing heavy like Photoshop

So nothing graphics intensive. iBook will be fine.

 

[jsw]

Note that my 1999 400 MHz G3 PB runs Panther. Some of the cool graphics stuff (i.e., "Ken Burns" effect on screen-saver slide show) is disabled, but it doesn't obviously affect my ability to use the OS. And that's a five year old system. I'm sure an iBook will be fine next year.

 

[dethl]

My G3/900 iBook runs great, even as a developer machine (although a good full build of an application I made takes around 15 to 25 seconds, with zerolink it takes much less).

I also play Neverwinter Nights on it. I have the resolution at 1024x768 with the 32mb graphic textures on and it runs at a better framerate than a 2.0ghz celery laptop I was using a bit ago.

 

[mkrishnan]

The current Macs will run Tiger. What it does mean is that some graphics features will be disabled or be offloaded to the CPU (slowing things down). For instance, the water ripple effect (which I find horrendous) will probably not appear on current iBooks.

Thanks...as I read more I started to understand this too. So its analagous to things that a G4 cube for instance, does differently because it lacks QuartzExtreme? Is that right?

Anyway, I like most of Aqua's effects on my iBook but I tend to progressively turn off special effects in favor of speed. I was playing with NT4/SP6a recently and I love how you can even turn off window updates during window moves and resizes.

I think its more likely that I'll buy a new Mac in late 05 than it is that I'll get Tiger in early '05 anyway. I'd like to get a fairly good long use out of my iBook G4/800 and to me usually that means no upgrades. But we'll see. I'm still installing almost any incremental upgrade that becomes available.

 

[Haouka]

Thanks for the answers

With nothing else coming from WWDC, I'll order the iBook tomorrow!

 

[jhomayne]

i HATE buying electrical stuff..

i buy my mp3 player.. 2 months later it's ceased to be supported
i buy my digicam.. 3 weeks later the model is updated AND the price is reduced

and i foresee this..

i buy an iBook.. 30min later the ibook g5 is launched..



i wish i could get some sort of guarantee that what i buy isn't going to be obsolete within weeks

so.. what i meant to say was.. any chance of ibook upgrades before the end of august?

 

[AngeredTree]

Since the iMac won't be available for most back-to-school shopping there is a chance of a promotional discount or offer with the iBook, but even when the G5 Powerbooks come out, it will be a long time before the G5 gets in an iBook. A very long time. Plus, the iBook lineup was speedbumped in late April, and I really can't imagine a feature upgrade other than maybe another speedbump (1.0 -> 1.33) before the G5 Powerbook comes out, and even after that, nothing more than 1.5 on it.

 

[Dr. Dastardly]

i HATE buying electrical stuff..

i buy my mp3 player.. 2 months later it's ceased to be supported
i buy my digicam.. 3 weeks later the model is updated AND the price is reduced

and i foresee this..

i buy an iBook.. 30min later the ibook g5 is launched..



i wish i could get some sort of guarantee that what i buy isn't going to be obsolete within weeks

so.. what i meant to say was.. any chance of ibook upgrades before the end of august?

So hurry up and take one for the team so I can get a Powerbook G5.

 

[rastafari]

my wife and I each have an ibook G4 12" and both love them. you won't regret it. be sure to get extended applecare on it. you can wait till the free year is up. as many have said.. applecare often pays for itself in 1 use and especially on laptops where the parts are easier to break and more expensive.

 

[Brother Michael]

My G3/900 iBook runs great, even as a developer machine (although a good full build of an application I made takes around 15 to 25 seconds, with zerolink it takes much less).

I also play Neverwinter Nights on it. I have the resolution at 1024x768 with the 32mb graphic textures on and it runs at a better framerate than a 2.0ghz celery laptop I was using a bit ago.

That restores my faith in iBooks.

As I have been finding out, the iBook can do a lot that the Powerbook can, like photoshop, final cut express, etc. I think I may get one instead of a Powerbook as my budget is tight right now.

Mike

 

[blue&whiteman]

That restores my faith in iBooks.

As I have been finding out, the iBook can do a lot that the Powerbook can, like photoshop, final cut express, etc. I think I may get one instead of a Powerbook as my budget is tight right now.

Mike

when it comes to running apps an ibook will do ANYTHING a powerbook can. it will just take a tad longer is all. I have a 1ghz 12" and love it to death. to give you an idea I bought it on the same day I bought a new dual 1.8ghz G5. I would say out of the 2 systems I easily use the ibook 70-75% of the time. ibook has 768 ram and G5 has 2gb yet i'm still drawn far more to the ibook at the other end of my desk. funny but true.

 

[Brother Michael]

when it comes to running apps an ibook will do ANYTHING a powerbook can. it will just take a tad longer is all. I have a 1ghz 12" and love it to death. to give you an idea I bought it on the same day I bought a new dual 1.8ghz G5. I would say out of the 2 systems I easily use the ibook 70-75% of the time. ibook has 768 ram and G5 has 2gb yet i'm still drawn far more to the ibook at the other end of my desk. funny but true.

To me the iBook looks cheap enough that if I buy it I can get some cool accessories for it, without:

a) blowing my budget

b) feel like I blew my budget and thus feel bad.

Mike

 

[blue&whiteman]

To me the iBook looks cheap enough that if I buy it I can get some cool accessories for it, without:

a) blowing my budget

b) feel like I blew my budget and thus feel bad.

Mike

just for fun I compared an ibook upgraded to pretty much match the base 12pb in spec:

base 12" powerbook with nothing bto added:

• 256MB DDR333 (256MB built-in)
• 60GB Ultra ATA drive @ 4200rpm
• Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
• 1.33GHz PowerPC G4
• NVIDIA GeForce FX GO 5200 with 64MB DDR Video Memory
• 12.1-inch TFT Display
Subtotal $1,599.00

ibook 12" with 60gb hd bluetooth and airport extreme card added bto:

• 256MB DDR266 SDRAM built-in
• 60GB Ultra ATA drive
• Combo drive (DVD/CD-R)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Bluetooth Module
• Keyboard/Mac OS X - U.S. English
• 12-inch TFT XGA display
• 1GHz PowerPC G4
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32MB DDR video memory
Subtotal $1,303.00


only difference in performance the pb would have over the ibook is a slightly faster bus and a slightly faster cpu. the speed difference is not that big at all really. the 300 you save could buy you an ipod mni or a nice printer or whatever you want.

 

[nyprospect]

The only thing you wont be able to utilize and enjoy would be tiger.other then that.Panther is light years ahead of xp.Its pretty and reliable.Im on xp now and sure i havent seen that blue screen since 98 but panther is sweet.you wont lose going ibook.

 

[MacinDoc]

The only thing you wont be able to utilize and enjoy would be tiger.other then that.Panther is light years ahead of xp.Its pretty and reliable.Im on xp now and sure i havent seen that blue screen since 98 but panther is sweet.you wont lose going ibook.

I suspect the current iBooks will be able to run Tiger, just not as quickly, and with some graphics features disabled. For example, fewer graphics-related tasks would be off-loaded to the GPU on an iBook.

 

[netytan]

The Ibook will be able to run Tiger, simple as that:

The performance gains and features supported by Core Image ultimately depend on the graphics card. Graphics cards capable of pixel-level programming deliver the best performance. But Core Image automatically scales as appropriate for systems with older graphics cards, for compatibility with any Tiger-compatible Mac.

The Ibook is a great system, and should last you for a few years at least. But then, how many people let there computers become truly outdates before updating anyway?

On the subject of Ibook vs Pbook, the Ibook is a more fined version if the Rev. B Pbook. The only thing that makes the Pbook better than the Ibook IMO is that Apple keep the system roughly one step behind there front line.

How confident am i about this? My new Ibook should be ariving in a few days (ships on monday) .

Enjoy,

Mark.

 

[Mord]

Thanks...as I read more I started to understand this too. So its analagous to things that a G4 cube for instance, does differently because it lacks QuartzExtreme? Is that right?

the cube only lacked quartz extreem with the rage 128 it had bto options of a radeon and a geforce 2 which both support it (mine has a 7500)

 

[mkrishnan]

the cube only lacked quartz extreem with the rage 128 it had bto options of a radeon and a geforce 2 which both support it (mine has a 7500)

Ahhh, thanks. But is the basic idea right? If I could stomache ever having a desktop again I'd love to get a used cube...guess if there are QE compatible ones that makes it more palatable.

 

[Mord]

http://www.cubeowner.com

you can put radeon 9800's in them

 

[netytan]

But doesnt this void any warentee (Inc. Applecare) that remains by the time Tiger comes out. Assuming of course that you buy it now and Tiger comes out before July 2005 .

 

[Macciee]

Great for everything besides divx

I have had my ibook 12" for about 8 months now and am very very pleased with it. Everything runs fast and smooth. The 12" size is good for my use jet-ing around the globe.
For dvd to divx its def. to slow 6 Hours for a normal movie.

Go for 12" for convienience(and looks) and just connect to a external lcd when need of a big screen(only supports 1024*768 though )