Apple's competition for the iBook market

[lmalave]

Just to let people know what's out there: the Fujitsu P2000 laptop was my 2nd choice after the iBook:

http://webshop.fujitsupc.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=P2

It's only 3.4 lbs., even with a built-in Combo drive. They are able to do this by using a 10.6" widescreen display instead of the iBook's standard 12.1" display. They are able to get a 3hr battery life (good by PC standards) by using a 900MHz Transmeta processor instead of Intel. A high-capacity battery brings that up to 6Hrs (and probably adds to the weight). On the other hand, the P2000 has a max of 384MB RAM, and only has an ATI Mobility Radeon with 8MB.

Ultimately, though, I decided I preferred the standard 4:3 aspect ratio on the iBook. I like the added height when editing documents or browsing the web. I also like the iBook's touchpad much better than the "nub" pointing device used by the P2000. Plus, the P2000 costs a lot more when configured with the features on my iBook. For example, with only 256MB RAM and integrated 802.11b, the price was $1569, compared to the iBook with 384MB RAM + Airport Card that I got from an Apple reseller for $1432. With 384MB RAM and a high-capacity battery (to bring the battery life to 6 hrs vs. the iBook's 5 hrs), the price of the P2000 goes up to $1748. And configuring the P2000 with a better video card wasn't even an option. Plus, of course, the P2000 has crappy Windows software instead of Mac OS X and the iApps....

 

[chibianh]

then there's really no competition, is there?

 

[voicegy]

Looks like left handed people would appreciate the cd drawer being placed on the left side of the notebook. Just my two cents.

 

[lmalave]

Originally posted by voicegy
Looks like left handed people would appreciate the cd drawer being placed on the left side of the notebook. Just my two cents.

Hmm...I'm left handed. I hadn't thought about that, but I guess that means that it doesn't make much of a difference

 

[Macmaniac]

Once you get down to it the ibook really has no competition. You can't get a laptop under $1400 with a combo drive and a 32mb graphics card and be able to get up to a 40GB hd.

Apple really did well by the laptop market.

 

[TrenchMouth]

Not much in the way of competition

there really isnt anything out there that can match the deal you get with the ibook. dell's smaller laptops are really the only thing out there that can match the power for the price, and even then its hard to get the total package you get with the ibook.

the only drawback? maybe that it is the only mac left with a G3 inside. i wont complain. i have a iBook500 and it has enough kick for what i do. i have recently tested out a 700 and i am looking forward to getting my hands on an 800. you cant go wrong really. just dont expect to simulate nuclear blasts thats all.

 

[lmalave]

Re: Not much in the way of competition

Originally posted by TrenchMouth
there really isnt anything out there that can match the deal you get with the ibook. dell's smaller laptops are really the only thing out there that can match the power for the price, and even then its hard to get the total package you get with the ibook.

the only drawback? maybe that it is the only mac left with a G3 inside. i wont complain. i have a iBook500 and it has enough kick for what i do. i have recently tested out a 700 and i am looking forward to getting my hands on an 800. you cant go wrong really. just dont expect to simulate nuclear blasts thats all.

Yeah, i just configured Dell's "Thin and Light" (at 5.6 lbs, but that's *without* an optical drive in the modular bay) Inspiron 4150 with features similar to the iBook (Combo drive, 384 MB RAM, ATI Radeon 7500 32MB, 30GB HD) and got a price of $1487, about $150 more than the $1333 I paid for my iBook (though Dell just started offering a $100 rebate on this model). But anyway, at 14", 2 hrs battery life, and probably about 6.5 lbs (with Combo drive in), it's not really the form factor I wanted. And Dell's 12.1" Latitude X200 configured with 384MB RAM and an awkward external combo drive is a whopping $2126! And Dell is supposedly the value leader!

And, yeah, the G3 is more than fast enough, and runs Jaguar great when coupled with the Radeon 7500. It actually compares quite well to the chips used in PC subnotebooks. The Dell Latitude X200 uses an 800 MHz P III, the Sony Vaio superslim a 1.2 GHz P III, and as I mentioned above, the Fujitsu uses a 933 MHz Transmeta Crusoe. And the iBook definitely costs at least a couple hundred dollars less than the above PCs.