Shocka!
And I'm gonna shock all of you - I'm on a 12" G4 1.33ghz iBook I bought new 6 months ago (knowing full well MacBooks were just around the corner), and I have zero envy of either the new MacBooks or the MacBook Pros! In fact, here's the shocker: I prefer my ibook to any of the new gear so far! And to the old G4 Powerbooks!
How can that be? First and foremost, I actually prefer the form factor. I like the small size of the 12" - it is truly portable. It is in fact slightly smaller than the MacBook, and slightly lighter. It is the ideal size for me personally. So, right off the bat, given that portability and aesthetics are extremely important to me, I find (yes, tastes differ) my 12" iBook to be nicer than any of the new gear. Yes, I find the proportions of the 12" iBook (not 14"), to be more aesthetically pleasing than the MacBook. And the 15" (and 17") MCB Pro is simply too big (for me). Plus, again shocka, I actually prefer the sturdy poly plastic of the iBook to any of the aluminum cases (including the G4 PBs). I like the looks and color of the white, better than the black MCB or alum MCB Pro. Yes, I understand that this may be only me, and only my peculiar taste, but since it is I who has to live with the laptop, to me my tastes are most important - and that means the 12" white iBook.
Now, onto function. Here, I must say - I like how my 12" iBook runs so cool compared to any of the new gear (or indeed the G4 PBs). That's important. The iSight camera I have zero need for. The mag power thing - meh, I've never had a problem, so to me that's a solution in search of a problem. I love the long battery life (compared to the G4 PBs or MCB Pro).
But the key thing is that my iBook does everything I want it to do. First, it is actually superior to the new gear cause all software works for it - no need for UB or Rosetta. Now, you may say that my needs are limited, and that's why the iBook is sufficient, but you'd be wrong: I just finished editing a 140 minute documentary on my iBook! And I didn't use iMovie, but the fully professional software suite of FCP 4.5 HD. I'm here to tell you, that yes, you can do professional editing on an iBook! Not once did I find myself wishing I had a PB or MCB Pro. Now, I didn't use Motion and it was from DV not HD, but I did use quite a few effects. Yes, I had to use additional gear, but I would have had to do that with a PB or MCB Pro as well: external monitor, exteranl HDD, external DVD burner for heavy duty output. My iBook worked like a champ. I am delighted with this laptop.
Other reasons wouldn't I prefer MCB or MCB Pro: they are revision A products, and so far have many more reported problems than my iBook (which for me personally has had zero).
Does the new gear have absolutely nothing on my iBook? Well, admittedly it has one thing: I'd prefer if the iBook had a slightly brighter screen, though 90% of the time it's adequate. But for example speed? Pfeh, I'm not impressed. Why, because it is not faster in tasks that matter to me. Look, I'm irritated when Safari on my iBook loads pages slowly - but that's not faster on the new gear! The bottleneck is Safari and the sites themselves. Do my apps launch slightly slower than on the new gear - yes, but the difference is not worth mentioning on a practical level... I never go "curse, I wish iCal launhed with 1 bounce instead of 3!!!". When I was doing rendering of my project in Compressor, it took 24 hours - and probably a PB or MCB Pro could cut it to say 12 - but somehow, it didn't really matter to me, both are darn long anyway - I mean, if the difference was something taking 3 hours on my iBook but only 10 minutes on new gear, OK, that would be something, but so far (music and editing software), I have not found that to be an issue. So, speed has so far not made a difference to me in how I look at the new gear.
Ultimately, would I go for the new stuff? One day I'll have no choice, as there will be new software that will not run on my iBook, and my poor lappy will be too old anyhow. But I surely will not buy the rev. A stuff out there right now. I'll wait until macintels mature quite a bit... and I need new gear. But I doubt I'll ever throw away my iBook - it'll coexist peacefully with whatever new stuff comes in.
Sorry for the length, I just wanted to let folks know that it isn't just G4 PB owners who may feel quite happy with their gear, but indeed even owners of lowly G4 iBooks. I wouldn't exchange my iBook for any other laptop out there PB or MCBs or whatever. Of course, the fact that I paid only $785 for my iBook, new, doesnt' hurt either
And I'm gonna shock all of you - I'm on a 12" G4 1.33ghz iBook I bought new 6 months ago (knowing full well MacBooks were just around the corner), and I have zero envy of either the new MacBooks or the MacBook Pros! In fact, here's the shocker: I prefer my ibook to any of the new gear so far! And to the old G4 Powerbooks!
How can that be? First and foremost, I actually prefer the form factor. I like the small size of the 12" - it is truly portable. It is in fact slightly smaller than the MacBook, and slightly lighter. It is the ideal size for me personally. So, right off the bat, given that portability and aesthetics are extremely important to me, I find (yes, tastes differ) my 12" iBook to be nicer than any of the new gear. Yes, I find the proportions of the 12" iBook (not 14"), to be more aesthetically pleasing than the MacBook. And the 15" (and 17") MCB Pro is simply too big (for me). Plus, again shocka, I actually prefer the sturdy poly plastic of the iBook to any of the aluminum cases (including the G4 PBs). I like the looks and color of the white, better than the black MCB or alum MCB Pro. Yes, I understand that this may be only me, and only my peculiar taste, but since it is I who has to live with the laptop, to me my tastes are most important - and that means the 12" white iBook.
Now, onto function. Here, I must say - I like how my 12" iBook runs so cool compared to any of the new gear (or indeed the G4 PBs). That's important. The iSight camera I have zero need for. The mag power thing - meh, I've never had a problem, so to me that's a solution in search of a problem. I love the long battery life (compared to the G4 PBs or MCB Pro).
But the key thing is that my iBook does everything I want it to do. First, it is actually superior to the new gear cause all software works for it - no need for UB or Rosetta. Now, you may say that my needs are limited, and that's why the iBook is sufficient, but you'd be wrong: I just finished editing a 140 minute documentary on my iBook! And I didn't use iMovie, but the fully professional software suite of FCP 4.5 HD. I'm here to tell you, that yes, you can do professional editing on an iBook! Not once did I find myself wishing I had a PB or MCB Pro. Now, I didn't use Motion and it was from DV not HD, but I did use quite a few effects. Yes, I had to use additional gear, but I would have had to do that with a PB or MCB Pro as well: external monitor, exteranl HDD, external DVD burner for heavy duty output. My iBook worked like a champ. I am delighted with this laptop.
Other reasons wouldn't I prefer MCB or MCB Pro: they are revision A products, and so far have many more reported problems than my iBook (which for me personally has had zero).
Does the new gear have absolutely nothing on my iBook? Well, admittedly it has one thing: I'd prefer if the iBook had a slightly brighter screen, though 90% of the time it's adequate. But for example speed? Pfeh, I'm not impressed. Why, because it is not faster in tasks that matter to me. Look, I'm irritated when Safari on my iBook loads pages slowly - but that's not faster on the new gear! The bottleneck is Safari and the sites themselves. Do my apps launch slightly slower than on the new gear - yes, but the difference is not worth mentioning on a practical level... I never go "curse, I wish iCal launhed with 1 bounce instead of 3!!!". When I was doing rendering of my project in Compressor, it took 24 hours - and probably a PB or MCB Pro could cut it to say 12 - but somehow, it didn't really matter to me, both are darn long anyway - I mean, if the difference was something taking 3 hours on my iBook but only 10 minutes on new gear, OK, that would be something, but so far (music and editing software), I have not found that to be an issue. So, speed has so far not made a difference to me in how I look at the new gear.
Ultimately, would I go for the new stuff? One day I'll have no choice, as there will be new software that will not run on my iBook, and my poor lappy will be too old anyhow. But I surely will not buy the rev. A stuff out there right now. I'll wait until macintels mature quite a bit... and I need new gear. But I doubt I'll ever throw away my iBook - it'll coexist peacefully with whatever new stuff comes in.
Sorry for the length, I just wanted to let folks know that it isn't just G4 PB owners who may feel quite happy with their gear, but indeed even owners of lowly G4 iBooks. I wouldn't exchange my iBook for any other laptop out there PB or MCBs or whatever. Of course, the fact that I paid only $785 for my iBook, new, doesnt' hurt either
