1gig Powerbook or refurbished iBook?

[El_Diablo]

I'd love to hear some opinions... I'm still cranking
on a 1st gen 500mhz iBook with a cracked LCD and
no battery life. So is there still a "luxury feel" about
the Powerbook, or should I get a refurb iBook because it's almost as good?

 

[Eidorian]

I refurb of the latest iBook model? It's a great machine and at $799 for the 12" it's not that bad of a price either.

 

[Shamus]

ive tried out the powerbooks.....they feel the same as my ibook...they are just aluminium. By 'luxury' do you mean that it is better made or if it is superior to the ibook in performance? The 'luxury' is what compells people to buy far to powerful machines for what they need. If u hav been using a 500mhz ibook....man....a refurb ibook is gonna easily be enough power for you.

 

[El_Diablo]

Yeah, the current $799 model from Apple is the one
I'm considering vs. either a 1gig 12" Powerbook or
a 15". I'm accustomed to a 12" laptop, but would
love to hear people's opinion the 15" as well.

I'd like to spend a little less than $799.

 

[El_Diablo]

By "luxury" I'm invoking a feeling of high quality
manufacturing. Like a couple of years after I
bought my iBook, I played with a friend's Ti Powerbook, and it just felt like it had a much more
solid construction.

 

[MacsomJRR]

It totally depends on what your going to be using it for. If your current iBook is generally suiting your needs and your looking for a nice upgrade then go with the iBook. Much more affordable and not THAT much slower than it's bigger brother... why not wait around to see if they upgrade the iBook to an intel chip and save up some extra cash in the mean time

EDIT: I've been using a TiBook for almost three years now and honestly it's a pretty flimsy, creaky design. I have to really baby it when I take it from home our to classes etc... That would be main complaint that I have... that and the stupid keys and the screen problem

 

[rehlers]

I currently own a MacBook Pro, but originally I owned an iBook 12". I really could not justifiy the huge price difference between an iBook and Powerbook back then. The main features the powerbook had over the ibook for me were: bluetooth standard (although newer iBook has that too), slightly faster processors, and the biggest thing for me was DVI out. The DVI out was huge because I use my laptop plugged into a big external LCD most of the time. The VGA only output on the iBook really was not as sharp. Another interesting thing was that the battery life on the iBook was better than the PowerBook. I was very happy with the iBook, its performance from all the reviews shows that it was very close to that of the PowerBooks.

 

[jsw]

If you're only going to be using the laptop as a laptop - no second monitor, no clamshell mode, etc. - I recommend the iBook. The PB has a better "feel", but the iBooks are pretty good too, and more durable. I'd pick a newer refurbed iBook over an older, 1 GHz PB - unless you need the second monitor and/or clamshell mode.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Why buy into the past? You've had a 500Ghz G4 for this long. Why not hold ou for another month or so for the Intel iBook? We Mac users have been lucky in that we could hold onto machines longer than PC users because the PPC chips didn't progress as fast as Intels. But that is about to change. I expect Apple will speed bump machines regularly every 6 mos now, and PPC machines are going to get left in the dust. They just won't be able to handle the functions that stuff Intel has cooking in it's kitchens will.

 

[jsw]

Why not hold out for another month or so for the Intel iBook?

FWIW: I have a 17" Intellimac. I love it. But... there are things that simply will not run on it - many Adobe apps, certain browser plugins, EyeTV software, etc. As much as Intel is the future, I see nothing bad about using a G4 or G5 device for quite some time unless you are certain you don't need those other apps. That's why I'm glad I have my PB and PM as well.

 

[Seasought]

So is there still a "luxury feel" about
the Powerbook, or should I get a refurb iBook because it's almost as good?

I personally feel that the Powerbooks have a more "classy" feel to them than the iBooks. However, I also feel that the iBooks have a more durable feel than the Powerbooks. I personally couldn't stand the white, feminine feel of the iBook and had always liked the sleek, silver style of the Powerbook.

If the aesthetic of the look and feel is your primary concern, my vote is for the Powerbook.