12" Powerbook or 14" iBook?

[18thTomorrow]

Hello,

Here's my situation: Going to college this fall, saved my cash all this year so I'd be able to purchase a laptop for the fall. I have $1500ish (give or take a hundred or so) to spend and I'm contemplating which to buy. My choices are:

14" iBook--933 mhz with 384MB Ram, 60gig HD, & Airport Extreme (wireless on campus!)

--OR--

12" ComboDrive Powerbook--1ghz, upgrade to 60gb HD, upgrade to 384mb ram, & Airport Extreme

I'll be using it for the normal student stuff--internet, e-mail, essays--and also for graphics design work, running programs like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash, maybe Bryce. I'm not into gaming. I like the faster speed and expandability of the Powerbook, but really crave the extra screen real estate of the iBook. While the two are the same resolution, I had some problems with headaches/eyestrain the last time I worked on a 12" laptop (though in retrospect, that was an ancient Compaq with a very dim LCD...)

Comments and input please! Questions welcomed!

Tani

 

[jxyama]

here are some threads of interest for you:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/66261/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/66611/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/66486/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/66433/

if you have problems with resolution, wait until you are in college and get a 15" PB on student discount. also, except for PCI slot, which is not available on the 12" PB, PB is no more expandable than an iBook. i'm not sure what you were referring to in your post.

also, don't bother with getting RAM from apple. get a third party RAM. the only exception is if you are getting 15 or 17" PB, then i'd upgrade to get one 512 MB stick from apple right at the beginning.

 

[thehuncamunca]

powerbook 15 inch G4 1Ghz is $1799 with edu that gives you more than enough money to get some nice accessories
since you have the extra money, i wouldn't consider the ibook or 12 inch powerbook the 15 will give you more speed and more features

 

[Grimace]

yeah, with an EDU discount, get a 15PB - it will definitely fall in your price range. It is incredible and a tad bit sexier than the ibook.

A 15" powerbook (add AE and 80GB HD) with EDU pricing is $1956 plus tax - buy the memory somewhere else (512MB will cost you the same as buying 256MB thru Apple) and then buy an iPod. You're all set.

 

[18thTomorrow]

Whoa, major misstype

Whoa, sorry, I mistyped when I mentioned how much money I have to spend. Sorry. I only have $1500, not $2500. (Gosh, $2500, in my dreams...) That changes things a little, doesn't it? I have already determined that even with my edu discount there's no way I can afford a 15" powerbook tricked out the way I would want it. My choices are as listed above--the 12" PB or the 14".
Sorry for the misunderstanding and thanks for the suggestions...
Tani

 

[Grimace]

Whoa, sorry, I mistyped when I mentioned how much money I have to spend. Sorry. I only have $1500, not $2500. (Gosh, $2500, in my dreams...) That changes things a little, doesn't it? I have already determined that even with my edu discount there's no way I can afford a 15" powerbook tricked out the way I would want it. My choices are as listed above--the 12" PB or the 14".
Sorry for the misunderstanding and thanks for the suggestions...
Tani

That said, I'd save up $458 dollars and get a Powerbook with AE and an 80GB HD. This investment is for at minimum - three years. Get something that you will enjoy using for a long time. If that means waiting and saving a little more $$, so be it.

 

[belf8st]

That said, I'd save up $458 dollars and get a Powerbook with AE and an 80GB HD. This investment is for at minimum - three years. Get something that you will enjoy using for a long time. If that means waiting and saving a little more $$, so be it.

I'd go for the powerbook. I had originally purchased the 15", but soon sold it shortly after to purchase the 12" powerbook. Yes, the 15" had some nicer features, but in the long run I really need the portablility and size. I travel quite a bit with my laptop and the 12" is just perfect for all the tasks i do.

 

[Krizoitz]

One thing to consider, the 12" 867mhz comes with USB 1.1 ports, while the 12" 1ghz and above, and all the iBooks come with USB 2.0 ports. It may not matter to you but its something people usually don't notice.

 

[JFreak]

i'd suggest you compare 12" powerbook to 12" ibook. with laptops, the screen is everything, so IMHO you should decide that you settle for 12" screen or try save some more and buy the 15" beauty. so if you can afford it, go for 15". if you cannot, don't feel bad.

my co-worker has a 12" G4/800 ibook and that thing isn't much slower than my older powerbook (667mhz dvi), except for the screen of course. and my friend has a 12" powerbook at 867mhz, which quite much equals to the dvi powerbook and that's because tibook has L3 cache and albook doesn't. so having power in mind, take anything you can afford, it's good enough for you.

clock-to-clock powerbooks are faster than ibooks because the inner structure is more sophisticated. but that extra power costs way too much for you, so don't compare processing speed this time. performance-wise i'd say most important thing is having enough (at least 512M) ram and as fast hard disk as you can afford. i changed the 4200rpm stock drive for the hitachi 7200rpm model and i simply cannot describe you how great a boost i got for the system - way more extra power than adding memory to full gigabyte! it's well worth the cost. (better having 60G 7200rpm than 80G 4200rpm if you plan on changing the hard drive from the standard model. speed is better than space.)

so... i'd say take a 12" ibook with all nice things or 15" powerbook bare naked. decide between regular and premium display, not between 0.933GHz and 1.000GHz processors. OR decide between plastic case and aluminium case, but leave the 14" out of the comparison if your eyesight is not REALLY bad

 

[tekno_geek911]

I dont know what the problem is with the 14" iBook display...I know the resolutions the same as the 12" but its definately easier on the eyes(no im not blind lol),I just got my 14" iBook Saturday and its easily the nicest display I have seen out of all of the Apple portable's I have owned(3 12" PowerBook's,2 iBook G3's) it's just as bright and crisp as the flat panel iMac's.
You should go for the 15" PowerBook though if money's not a problem,or maybe get an iBook now and wait for the G5 PB's.

 

[Zaty]

Go for the PowerBook!

 

[Whotheheck]

I'd get the powerbook if I were you. Trust me.

 

[win_convert]

Hotness?

I have heard that after 2-3 hours of use, the 12 incher gets so hot you wouldn't put your hand on the lower left. Is this substantiated? Is it really that bad? Would it stop you buying it if you knew before?

Thanks.

 

[18thTomorrow]

That heat issue would definitely make me think twice, if I could substantiate it. That type of strain just can't be good for a machine like that! And I routinely spend at least that long, if not longer, using my computer.

I'm really leaning towards the iBook...but when it gets closer to buying time (in a month or two) I'll spend some time at the local CompUSA playing with both models and see how I like them.
Best Regards and thanks for the advice, please continue the input because it is much appreciated!
Tani

 

[gemio17]

you need to go to an apple store and check them out for yourself- that's the only way you're going to be happy with your decision. they usually set a 12" pb up next to the ibooks- I guarantee you will realize that there is no comparison...the pb is SOOO much nicer. I did the same thing- was all set on the ibook, went to the store, saw the 12" pb and ended up buying the 15" a couple months later. I could not be happier with my 15"- it's just right

 

[Zaty]

I have heard that after 2-3 hours of use, the 12 incher gets so hot you wouldn't put your hand on the lower left. Is this substantiated? Is it really that bad? Would it stop you buying it if you knew before?

Thanks.

Not true, I just checked the lower left of my 12". It gets warm but not hot when running on AC. (It's much cooler when on running on battery).

Edit: What you have heard might apply to Rev. A (867 MHz) but definitely not to the current Rev. B (1GHz) machines.