Odds of Powerbooks and iBooks getting a tune-up at MWSF?

[Chrispy]

Hey all. I keep reading of people saying to wait if I want to get an iMac G5 becuase of problems here and there. I should probably stick to a portable anyways being in college and all. Question is this...

Will the powerbook or iBook be getting a new revision at MWSF? I know nobody can know for sure, but what is everyones' opinions on this?

 

[mrgreen4242]

Hey all. I keep reading of people saying to wait if I want to get an iMac G5 becuase of problems here and there. I should probably stick to a portable anyways being in college and all. Question is this...

Will the powerbook or iBook be getting a new revision at MWSF? I know nobody can know for sure, but what is everyones' opinions on this?

iBooks, no.
PowerBooks, probably.
iMacs, probably not.
PowerMas, hopefully/possibly.

That seems to be the general consensus on all the other threads with this question. If you need a laptop right niw, the iBook is an amazing machine for a rgeat price. If you can wait a little, and you have the money, wait to see what MWSF has to offer.

If you want a desktop righ tnow the iMac is very cool, and a good value, but the rev. b will probably be even better, so if you can wait a long-ish time, then do that.

Good luck, I'm debating wether to buy an iMac right after MWSF (just in case) or to wait it out for the next revision... I am really in need of a new machine right now, but I also would like a 1.8ghz 17" with a 128mb video card for the current 1.6ghz price!

Rob

 

[Chrispy]

Good to know. The iBook keeps pulling me in with it's low price and high praise from people who own them. There are only two things that really scare me about it. First, the HD runs at only 4200 RPM. Is this a big deal in real world usage? Also, I have a Dell 19" Ultra Sharp display and I want to output to that. I know there is a hack to do this, but will the difference between using the VGA port over the DVI port be noticable? Would I be happier with a powerbook if I am going to be outputting to a monitor? Thanks!

 

[mrgreen4242]

Good to know. The iBook keeps pulling me in with it's low price and high praise from people who own them. There are only two things that really scare me about it. First, the HD runs at only 4200 RPM. Is this a big deal in real world usage? Also, I have a Dell 19" Ultra Sharp display and I want to output to that. I know there is a hack to do this, but will the difference between using the VGA port over the DVI port be noticable? Would I be happier with a powerbook if I am going to be outputting to a monitor? Thanks!

The 4200rpm drive isn't a HUGE issue, imo. I've only used the 933mhz iBook extensively, but I find even that to more than adequate for daily use. The areas that you will notice the biggest performance hit is launching applications and if you are doing something that is using lots of virtual memory. If you find it to be a problem, get the base HD in the iBook and replace it with your own 3rd party 5400rpm drive. You'll get better performance but less battery life.

The video output from the iBook I have used was pretty good with the hack. You can up the resolution to be more than th ebuilt in LCD with the hack as well, which makes it look much better for those big displays. I'm not sure how much quality loss you will have going to a DVI LCD input from the iBooks VGA output... I plugged it into a VGA LCD and it looks fine to me, but I am not a professional artist or designer type, so take that with a grain of salt.

If the video out is a big deal to you, I would wait untill MWSF and see what the PBs look like at that point and then make your choice.

Regards,
Rob

 

[cluthz]

The 4200rpm drive isn't a HUGE issue, imo. I've only used the 933mhz iBook extensively, but I find even that to more than adequate for daily use. The areas that you will notice the biggest performance hit is launching applications and if you are doing something that is using lots of virtual memory. If you find it to be a problem, get the base HD in the iBook and replace it with your own 3rd party 5400rpm drive. You'll get better performance but less battery life.

The video output from the iBook I have used was pretty good with the hack. You can up the resolution to be more than th ebuilt in LCD with the hack as well, which makes it look much better for those big displays. I'm not sure how much quality loss you will have going to a DVI LCD input from the iBooks VGA output... I plugged it into a VGA LCD and it looks fine to me, but I am not a professional artist or designer type, so take that with a grain of salt.

If the video out is a big deal to you, I would wait untill MWSF and see what the PBs look like at that point and then make your choice.

Regards,
Rob

The 5400rpm HD makes quite a difference, but you could also get a 7200rpm external for the same price.
DO NOT change the drive yourself, it will void your warranty.
A 5400rpm drive will not make much difference on the battery life.