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First Impressions of the IBOOK G4.

C

Cheap-Chopstix

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 13, 2003
82
0
in a tree
Was at work today....and was surprised to see an 14 inch IBOOK G4 demo. Surprised cuz i work at Futureshop and we hardly ever get Macs and when we do they sit there basically until the next revisions come along. Well anyways...i wanted to test it out cuz like in my previous thread have decided to jump on the Mac bandwagon.

First off the design is so so much nicer and better then 90 percent of PC laptops we have instore. Juss eye juggling between the peecee laptops and the IBOOK makes you really see the Apple difference. I didnt notice any excessive heat comin from the IBOOK either a big plus, some laptops we have instore could double as a toaster at the end of the day. I dont mind the 1024 x 768 on the 14 inch screen. The overall size is not too big either...(I havent seen the 12inch IBOOK in person yet.) I guess when your use to seeing huge ass PC laptops any Apple notebook seems smaller. The keyboard does feel cheap in comparison to some other notebooks and the touchpad seems to be sketchy. OSX felt pretty zippy on the 933mhz machine, using the IAPPS. Definately not as zippy as the dual 1.8 G5's I tried at my college library but i'm mostly using it for office stuff anyways.

So after testing out and playing around with it...I'm not too sure if i'm too keen on gettin the 12inch IBOOKie. I was pretty much set in gettin that but now that I tried the 14inch i'm not to sure now. I heard most people recommending the 14inch for old geezers or people with poor eyesight. But I dont really have that bad of eyesight but I felt comfortable with the 14inch screen. To compare I checked out a Sony Vaio with 12inch screen and really wasnt that comfortable with the screen size it was alright but the 14 inch felt more natural. So I guess is the 14inch screen size worth the extra dough and would I see any speed diff from going from 933mhz to 800mhz. I wish we got the 12inch model instock so I could check out the size diff. K thats the end of my ramble.

PS- Futureshop is like the canadian version of Best Buy. In fact they own us.
PS 2 - I know futureshop sux for mac stuff.
PS 3 - I dont work in the computer dep., so if your a mac user thats been scuffed at for even lookin at macs then later haggled to look at the wide variety of "superior PC's" we have in stock....no that guy wasnt me....and I definately do not have respect for those types of sales people.

Peas out.
 
übergeek said:
splurge for the 15" PowerBook. The iBook is a consumer machine.
Click to expand...
What exactly is wrong with a consumer machine? Don't get me wrong, the 15" powerbook is a great machine and looks fantastic. It also costs a lot more than an ibook. For a lot of folks an ibook is a perfectly reasonable choice. Just like most people don't need a dual 2GHz powermac. They'd be fine with an e/imac and save hundreds of £/$/zlotys (whatever)
 
caveman_uk said:
What exactly is wrong with a consumer machine? Don't get me wrong, the 15" powerbook is a great machine and looks fantastic. It also costs a lot more than an ibook. For a lot of folks an ibook is a perfectly reasonable choice. Just like most people don't need a dual 2GHz powermac. They'd be fine with an e/imac and save hundreds of £/$/zlotys (whatever)
Click to expand...

Good call, i've got a PB 12" and i needed the extras it had (inbuilt BT and superdrive) and im gonna buy a desktop next. I doubt im going to splash full cash on a G5, maybe ill just get a eMac or a iMac.
 
The iBook is a very good choice. If this one is your only computer then nothing is wrong with the 14" model.

I recommend to order directly from Apple as a BTO w/ bluetooth.
 
12" 12" 12"

Go for the 12" iBook if you need a great deal, get a combo drive and wireless. Or go a little higher and get the 12" powerbook with more features and nicer construction. The form factor of the 12" Books is fantastic, plus, with the iBook, you don't pay for a bigger LCD with the same number of pixels.

I had the 12" PowerBook before my 15" 1.25 and I loved it. I still marvel at its size when my friend brings his over. Expose makes the small display much more flexible.

All that said, if you do need good performance on a budget, get the iBook and add wireless and RAM-this is key.
 
caveman
Quote:
Originally Posted by übergeek
splurge for the 15" PowerBook. The iBook is a consumer machine.
/quote

What exactly is wrong with a consumer machine? Don't get me wrong, the 15" powerbook is a great machine and looks fantastic. It also costs a lot more than an ibook. For a lot of folks an ibook is a perfectly reasonable choice. Just like most people don't need a dual 2GHz powermac. They'd be fine with an e/imac and save hundreds of £/$/zlotys (whatever)
Click to expand...

ditto....if I had the money i'd go buy myself a small island in Hawaii. I simply dont have the money to buy a PBook simple as that. Unless ubergeek is willing to buy it for me, then the PBook is definately out of question. Plus this is going to be my first Mac so its more of a testing machine as well as a skool work machine.

The iBook is a very good choice. If this one is your only computer then nothing is wrong with the 14" model.
Click to expand...

I'm not buying it from my store....going with the Apple Edu discount. Gonna order it as soon as I get my student line of credit. I was orignally set on the 12inch IBook but have never seen one in person. I've been to my local Mac dealers and they never have the IBOOKS in stock and if they do its the 14 inch model. I have seen the 12inch powerbook before in person but not the Ibook. And that was a while ago.
 
Go with the screen size you like...

I'm always been a little mystified when people bash the 14" iBook because the screen has the same resolution as the 12" iBook/12" PB. I can't speak to the quality of the screen; if it's terrible, fuzzy or whatever, then that's certainly a reason to avoid it. On the other hand, I do appreciate a larger screen with everything appearing a bit larger. I use a 14" laptop at work (same resolution as my 12" PB at home), and if I had to use one machine for an extended period of time, I'd go for the larger screen because it's just easier to see everything.
 
i am all about the 12" modles (either iBook or PB) size does matter. . . and if you want a very portable notebook computer the 12" modles do the trick very very well! if portability isnt that big of an issue, or if the 14" modle is small enough, then go for it, its always easier to show your friends/co-workers something on a 14" screen than a 12".

as for the iBook/PB argument, it depends on what you need. to a typical user running a word processor, e-mail, safari and iTunes there is no significant difference. if you want something more perticular, like a better external monitor interface, or a superdrive then PB is the route to go otherwise save cash and stick with the iBooks
 
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