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Considering iBook or Powerbook

M

manzanaloca

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 5, 2005
29
0
Texas
I have decided to upgrade this old laptop (bought used on ebay) and switch over to an Apple computer. This will be my first time purchasing an Apple and here is basically what I will be using it for:

-Internet, email
-word processing; I'm a freelance writer and a student so I will be using it for my writing and schoolwork
-light graphic design and photo editing
-making cds
-watching dvds

Other notes:
-portability is key. (Tired of lugging around a heavy laptop.)
-on a budget of 1500 and less. Have no problem considering a used or refurb.
-I will probably keep this new laptop for a few years(3+) before upgrading.

I have been reading several of the threads here and have found a lot of great info. I think I am leaning more towards a 14" iBook but welcome any additional advice.

I saw these deals on refurbs at the Apple store:

-$999 - Refurbished iBook G4
1.33GHz
256MB
60GB
SuperDrive
AP Extreme Card/ E/
56K/
14-inch TFT

-$1,049 - Refurbished iBook 14-inch
1.42GHz SuperDrive
512MB memory (DDR333 SDRAM)
60GB Ultra ATA hard drive
ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 (32MB DDR video memory)
Built-in AirPort Extreme
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
Scrolling Trackpad
Sudden Motion Sensor





Tips, advice?? Thanks!:)
 
Good choice - stretch the extra fifty bucks and get the scrolling trackpad, bigger RAM and motionsensor protection on the HDD.

You're gonna have a great time - I switched about three weeks ago and have loved every minute - there's NO WAY I'm ever going back to Windows. :D
 
Marky_Mark said:
Good choice - stretch the extra fifty bucks and get the scrolling trackpad, bigger RAM and motionsensor protection on the HDD.

You're gonna have a great time - I switched about three weeks ago and have loved every minute - there's NO WAY I'm ever going back to Windows. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, it does seem like a good idea to spend that extra 50. Thanks for the input.

Funny thing is thanks to my job I work on Windows pcs ALL day. Ironic that job is helping pay for this...hehe. It will be nice to have an Apple to come home to.
 
manzanaloca said:
-Internet, email
-word processing; I'm a freelance writer and a student so I will be using it for my writing and schoolwork
-light graphic design and photo editing
-making cds
-watching dvds

Other notes:
-portability is key. (Tired of lugging around a heavy laptop.)
-on a budget of 1500 and less. Have no problem considering a used or refurb.
-I will probably keep this new laptop for a few years(3+) before upgrading.
Click to expand...

I had EXACTLY the same idea of what my laptop should look like!

I got myself the new iBook 12" and bought another 512 mb ram. Works really fine like that, i dont need any extra hd space. I find it most astonishing that the iBook is quite good at handling the Adobe CS2 suite. If I were you, go for the iBook + 512 mb ram.

jul
 
If you're going for the 14" iBook,
I would absolutely go for the faster 1.42 model with the newer 9550 video card.

I couldn't be happier with our new 12" 1.33 refurb for $799

It arrived in PERFECT condition with a free bonus 60 GB HD upgrade.

Last night I did a customized erase install which freed up 4.7 GB of HD space deselecting demos, printer drivers and languages off the default factory install.

I plan on adding an extra 1 GB stick of RAM as soon as I can, but
it runs absolutely fine with the stock 512 MB's

I placed my order by phone on the 30th and it arrived yesterday from California.
 
I would definitely go for the iBook instead of the PowerBook, like others have said. That way, you can spend your $1500 budget and get one with maxed out ram and as much memory as possible. Good luck on your purchase!
 
Just a general note about laptop size and portability.
When you're looking at the 12" iBook or PowerBook
standing up at the store, you really don't get the same perspective
as you do when you're sitting down within comfortable typing distance.

I thought the 12"s looked dinky at first, but carrying one around is plenty
big at that size.

I know the 14"s and 15"s are nicer to work on once you're settled in
but the 12"s rule for portability.

The 12" iBook also rules on affordability if you still need to buy RAM, Applications, tote bags, back up HD, WiFi service accounts etc.
 
FFTT said:
When you're looking at the 12" iBook or PowerBook standing up at the store, you really don't get the same perspective as you do when you're sitting down within comfortable typing distance.
Click to expand...

You bring up a good point. Upon seeing the 12" sizes during a visit to Apple, I quickly dismissed them as being way too small for my needs. When getting closer and recreating typical conditions at home, I have since come to realize that I would be comfortable with them.
 
Deepdale said:
You bring up a good point. Upon seeing the 12" sizes during a visit to Apple, I quickly dismissed them as being way too small for my needs. When getting closer and recreating typical conditions at home, I have since come to realize that I would be comfortable with them.
Click to expand...

I moved up from a 12" iBook to a 14" one recently - mainly down to getting a really good deal on a previous generation one (G4 1.3 model). To be honest with you, when it comes to iBooks, I probably made the wrong decision. Don't get me wrong - I love the machine, and it's great. But I preferred the 12" version - it's just that little bit more portable, and as the screen resolution is the same in both, I don't really get much advantage from the added screen size.

However, when it comes to the PBs, I've always felt that people get a fairly raw deal with the 12" version. It's not widescreen, it lacks extra screen resolutions to the 15.2 and 17" ones, and it doesn't have the backlit keyboard etc. The 15.2'' PB is probably the one to go for, and in retrospect, I really should have held back and gone for that. Not that much bigger than the 12" iBook as far as i can see!
 
I recently bought the 12" iBook and couldn't be happier. I was debating between it and the 14" for a long time but I realized that since they are both the same resolution, I would not be getting any more workspace from the 14". I have an iMac for editing and such. Go with the 12" iBook.
 
manzanaloca said:
Funny thing is thanks to my job I work on Windows pcs ALL day. Ironic that job is helping pay for this...hehe. It will be nice to have an Apple to come home to.
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right - I use an IBM Thinkpad running XP all day at work, it is a real pleasure to come back in the evening and surf, mail and listen to music on my iBook.
 
Wow, a lot of great advice here! :)

My eyesight is pretty good so I don't think I'd be hurting if I went for the 12". Like I said portability is a huge factor-tired of carrying around this heavy laptop I have now.

I wish I could go to an Apple store to see one up close, but I live over 200 miles from one. Maybe I'll have to make the effort and drive out to Houston, that's the nearest one.

The prices I post up above were from the refurbs at the Apple on-line store, I didn't see any 12" listed there that had the specs I liked. However since I'm a student I could get a discount and maybe configure a new one for my price range.
 
manzanaloca, coincidentally I too am a freelance writer and student looking to buy a laptop. I've been asking similar questions to you on this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/156505/

A lot of people are saying that 12' isn't really that dinky once you're up close and using it. But is the size of the screen a problem for long periods (hours) of word processing? This is something I'm concerned by.

Sorry, not trying to hijack the thread!
 
I recently got a 12" iBook and couldn't be happier. With the educational discount, I got mine for a tad over $1,000. One thing that you have to be aware of is that OS X takes about 20GB of harddrive space, so I would go with at least the 60GB HD, which is what I did. If you have extra money though, it cant hurt to go 80GB or even higher. RAM can be upgraded later, and for cheaper than Apple, but I've found that the included 512 works great. One of these days I'll upgrade it though.

In short, 12" iBook = happy lappy. :D
 
The total install for OSX on an iBook is about 12.5 GB.
With disc formatting the default OS install uses a total of about 15 GB

If you don't run a custom install, that leaves you with about
25 GB free space on a 40 GB HD

You can free up 4.7+ GB by re-installing the OS from your OS disk
deselecting all the un-needed language translators, printer drivers,
application demos, GarageBand demo songs and iDVD themes.

MY OS install was 7.8 GB on a custom install.

The benefit is that now with ALL my additional major applications and utilities installed. I still have 41 GB free space on a 60 GB HD.
 
The thread is ibook vs. powerbook, but you only list the refurb ibooks. There are 12" powerbooks on the refurb site for $1099, and there are 15" powerbooks there for $1299. Both come with only 256 mb of ram, but drop in a cheap 512 or 1 gb stick, and you're still well below your budget, and sitting on a totally sweet machine.

For that small of a difference in price, I'd definitely go 15" powerbook over the 14" ibook, even if the powerbook doesn't have a superdrive. The monitor is higher resolution, and totally sweet, and the weight is comparable in terms of portability.

With the prices of the refurb powerbooks, if I needed one, I'd jump on one in a heartbeat. I'm still totally happy with my 1.25 ghz 15", though, and expect to be for quite some time.
 
I've got two 14" 1.42GHz models and could NOT be happier. Love 'em to death.

I Vote for a 14"!

Get a 1GB stick or 512MB stick [RAM] .. makes it very, very snappy :D

The 14" iBook is NOT heavy. Just right :)
 
I vote for the 1.42 aswell for the following reasons
-Core image
-Faster
-2700 ram vs, the 2100
-Motion Sensor
-Bluetooth
-Newer
 
pna said:
The thread is ibook vs. powerbook, but you only list the refurb ibooks. There are 12" powerbooks on the refurb site for $1099, and there are 15" powerbooks there for $1299. Both come with only 256 mb of ram, but drop in a cheap 512 or 1 gb stick, and you're still well below your budget, and sitting on a totally sweet machine.

For that small of a difference in price, I'd definitely go 15" powerbook over the 14" ibook, even if the powerbook doesn't have a superdrive. The monitor is higher resolution, and totally sweet, and the weight is comparable in terms of portability.

With the prices of the refurb powerbooks, if I needed one, I'd jump on one in a heartbeat. I'm still totally happy with my 1.25 ghz 15", though, and expect to be for quite some time.
Click to expand...

Thanks for bringing that up. I didn't see that PB at that price.

Man, now I really don't know what I want. Just like a woman eh...haha!:p

I'm going to read all of this new info again and try to figure out what is best. I was trying to hold out at least another month but with all this talk I don't think I can wait that long!
 
Another stupid question: do I have to buy the Applecare extra protection at the time of purchase? Or can I buy it later?
 
Ok I think I am going to pass out, I feel faint. :p I've never spent this much on a computer before. The laptop I have now I got for 300 bucks on eBay.

I finally ordered it. I went with this one after all:

-$1,049 - Refurbished iBook 14-inch
1.42GHz SuperDrive
512MB memory (DDR333 SDRAM)
60GB Ultra ATA hard drive
ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 (32MB DDR video memory)
Built-in AirPort Extreme
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
Scrolling Trackpad
Sudden Motion Sensor

I'll keep you updated on this, my first Mac ever!
 
manzanaloca said:
Another stupid question: do I have to buy the Applecare extra protection at the time of purchase? Or can I buy it later?
Click to expand...

You can buy it later.

It comes with one year. You have until the end of that one year to extend it another 2.
 
manzanaloca said:
Ok I think I am going to pass out, I feel faint. :p I've never spent this much on a computer before. The laptop I have now I got for 300 bucks on eBay.

I finally ordered it. I went with this one after all:

-$1,049 - Refurbished iBook 14-inch
1.42GHz SuperDrive
512MB memory (DDR333 SDRAM)
60GB Ultra ATA hard drive
ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 (32MB DDR video memory)
Built-in AirPort Extreme
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
Scrolling Trackpad
Sudden Motion Sensor

I'll keep you updated on this, my first Mac ever!
Click to expand...

Congrats, I'm jealous. I'm still debating whether to buy a refurb 15" PB, or a new one, with all the screen issues and stuff. It's now been over 6 months since I first decided to purchase one, but I still have yet to pull the trigger. I'm with you, spending that much on a computer is reason for pause...and to be sure of what you're getting. Sounds like you got a good deal, though.
 
manzanaloca said:
Ok I think I am going to pass out, I feel faint. :p I've never spent this much on a computer before. The laptop I have now I got for 300 bucks on eBay.

I finally ordered it. I went with this one after all: <snip>
I'll keep you updated on this, my first Mac ever!
Click to expand...
Congrats! You'll be so pleased, and motherduce is right, you have a full year from the date of purchase to buy AppleCare at which point it extends your warranty for an additional two years (so three total counting this first year).
 
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