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Help me decide what to purchase: iBook or Mac Mini

I'm always on the go, so the iBook would be best for me, especially at school. I can buy Halo w/it and do something :p - I'm going to save up some $$$ and buy like Illustrator or Photoshop - I'm big into Graphics Design and Photos and that.
 
slooksterPSV said:
I'm always on the go, so the iBook would be best for me, especially at school. I can buy Halo w/it and do something :p - I'm going to save up some $$$ and buy like Illustrator or Photoshop - I'm big into Graphics Design and Photos and that.
Click to expand...

Cool, glad you decided on the iBook. :) Are you going with the 12" or 14"?
The 14" comes standard with a DVD-burner. The resolution is the same as the 12", but I'm typing on a 14" now and the resolution doesn't bother me. I don't even notice it.

Also, if you plan on using graphic programs either bump up your HD to 80 GB or buy an external HD to store all those photos, etc. It can fill you HD up pretty quickly.

The PB is generally better for using graphic programs but there is a diff in price. Also, the ibooks' specs are very competitive with the PBs right now. I used to own a PB and I personally like the iBook way better. (Not nearly as hot! I used to burn my wrists on my PB.)
 
Education Pricing!

slooksterPSV said:
I'm going to save up some $$$ and buy like Illustrator or Photoshop - I'm big into Graphics Design and Photos and that.
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention...

I just graduated with a graphic design degree and got a great deal on software and an iBook before I did so. If you're in school be sure to get education pricing. The deals they offer are pretty incredible.

If you buy through your computer store on campus or through Apple's Education web site you can get software and Apple products (including iBooks) for a lot less than in stores. Also, I believe the Apple stores will give you Education pricing if you show them a student ID.

You can get Adobe CS2 suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat Writer, etc.) for a package student price of less than $250. I think Photoshop by itself is that much. As far as I know Adobe includes everything in it that a non-education version would have. Also, QuarkXpress is handy to have for layout programs (except some companies are switching to InDesign) for $200. Then there's Macromedia package too (Flash, Freehand, Dreamweaver, etc.) for somewhere around $189.

Even though it's a lot, the savings are tremendous when you look at what it retails for in non-education arenas. You could also burn a copy from someone but it's usually better quality (and better karma) to have a bought copy.
 
mpqtpie said:
Cool, glad you decided on the iBook. :) Are you going with the 12" or 14"?
The 14" comes standard with a DVD-burner. The resolution is the same as the 12", but I'm typing on a 14" now and the resolution doesn't bother me. I don't even notice it.

Also, if you plan on using graphic programs either bump up your HD to 80 GB or buy an external HD to store all those photos, etc. It can fill you HD up pretty quickly.

The PB is generally better for using graphic programs but there is a diff in price. Also, the ibooks' specs are very competitive with the PBs right now. I used to own a PB and I personally like the iBook way better. (Not nearly as hot! I used to burn my wrists on my PB.)
Click to expand...

iBook 12"
Have an External Enclosure w/Firewire and USB 2.0 (I like firewire better, it's just that good, even though USB 2.0 is faster by 10 or 20 MB) - Also have a 30GB HDD, and a DVD+RW Drive
I'm going to use GIMP and probably InkScape to start off with till I save up $$$ to buy Photoshop and Illustrator, etc.
As for Web Editing - TextWrangler (free from barebones.com) and ... WYSIWYG Editor I haven't thought of.
iTunes for Music
QuickTime, WMPlayer, and DVD Player for Video's
iCal, Address Book - PIM
iPhoto - Photo Organizer although I'm thinking about getting another one. Can't think of what it's called.
Adium for Messengers
Planeshift as an MMORPG - I know its only 0.3.31
Have I forgot anything?
Onyx and Disk Utility as Maintenence.
 
Spot on slooksterPSV! I was just about to reccomend inkscape and gimp.
I'm planning on the same thing- a 12" ibook for graphic design purposes.

I have to admit though, the 1680x1050 res on my Dell is pretty nice.
Thats what screen spanning hack is for though. Right now the 15.4" laptop is heavy and cumbersome for daily transporting.



On USB2/1394 - You may already know this:
1394 is very nice b/c it doesn't use very much of your CPU.
This means you can still be working while x-fering files.
USB2 uses a lot of CPU power to get it done.
 
gwimby said:
Spot on slooksterPSV! I was just about to reccomend inkscape and gimp.
I'm planning on the same thing- a 12" ibook for graphic design purposes.

I have to admit though, the 1680x1050 res on my Dell is pretty nice.
Thats what screen spanning hack is for though. Right now the 15.4" laptop is heavy and cumbersome for daily transporting.



On USB2/1394 - You may already know this:
1394 is very nice b/c it doesn't use very much of your CPU.
This means you can still be working while x-fering files.
USB2 uses a lot of CPU power to get it done.
Click to expand...

I did not know that about Firewire vs. USB2.0. No wonder I like FW better.
 
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