How Long Before The Ibook Price Drops??

[Jodge407]

At the end of the year around Christmas time I will be buying a laptop. Now I want to buy an Apple Ibook because I have an Imac at home but the price is to high for what you get. So what are the chances of the Ibook's price dropping before Christmas? Around $799 for the 12 inch?

Appreciate feedback and your thoughts

 

[Mr. MacPhisto]

Re: How Long Before The Ibook Price Drops??

Originally posted by Jodge407
At the end of the year around Christmas time I will be buying a laptop. Now I want to buy an Apple Ibook because I have an Imac at home but the price is to high for what you get. So what are the chances of the Ibook's price dropping before Christmas? Around $799 for the 12 inch?

Appreciate feedback and your thoughts

I'd say not very good. I honestly would love to see the prices on almost all Macs drop by an average of $200. There are several friends of mine who would love to buy a Mac but the price deters them every time. If Apple was able to bring prices in line with PCs (offering a better quality 'puter for a similar price) then I'd guess their sales would increase, especially if well marketed and placed next to PCs in stores like Best Buy and CompUSA.

 

[jxyama]

Refurbished iBook can be cound at the online Apple Store for $799...

I think Apple would discontinue an iBook model when it's too "cheap" but maintain similar prices with upgraded iBooks. For example, iBook 700MHz is no longer offered... Apple could have kept it and sold it at $600-700 price range but they discontinued it instead.

So refurb might be the only option to get an iBook at the price range you are looking for. In fact, the refurb iBook is a 700MHz. There's a good chance this isn't really refurb - could be just leftovers.

By computer time, end of this year is quite a bit away. I'd start looking what's around in October.

[off topic]
I personally don't think Macs are overpriced, compared to PCs. It's just that the product offering is not as wide, meaning Apple really don't cover the dirt cheap computer market. If you compare similar products (not just hardware specs... software/apps/OS are part of the computer too), especially laptops, Macs are very competitive with PCs.
[\off topic]

 

[nikfel]

Plus do not forget that a pc package may seem attractive with all of its bumdled accessories as in speakers scanners etc. However do not forget that these are all cheap products to purchase and the majority of time are not what i would call great quality but just bundled with the pc for the sake of saying for example that u have a scanner!!

COMPARING LIKE FOR LIKE THE ONLY area where macs fall short is the megaherz region and the FSB speeds. However I am using a rev1 Powerbook G4 AT 400MHZ and believe me it does run quite fast compared to my friend's Pentium 4 2.8ghz that is constantly crashing!! My Powerbook has not crashed once since I installed jaguar and that would be since january!!

 

[Abstract]

Name a laptop that's better than the iBook but within the same price range? I'd pay $1300 for a future iBook with Combo drive. Tell your friends that the iBook is very very competitive in every single computer-related category. The CPU may still be somewhat at the lower end of the spectrum, but its still not too bad when compared to Celeron laptops at or above this price. The P4 laptops you can get at the price of an iBook from companies like Dell are obviously faster than the Celeron and iBook laptops, but they also last 1-2 hours on battery power and weigh too much.

You're right on the other Apple computers and laptops. They should lower their prices by $200 on those, especially the 12" Powerbook.

 

[sethwerkheiser]

I just bought my iBook - the price better not drop now! haha...
Keep in mind that when you go in the store you wont just be paying $1299 for it. Remember tax, airport card, ram, etc. That stuff adds up quick.

In the end though, spend it. It's a joy to use and operate. I sit here at work (on an old Gatewy) and pine for my iBook at home! haha

 

[FriarTuck]

If I were a betting man I'd say you can count on a significantly different iBook being offered several months before Christmas 2003.

The most recent speed/HD bump barely registered as an update, though the value quotient is pretty good at these levels.

I think we'll have new iBooks before September. If I thought I knew what I was talking about, I'd say they would be "Gobi" iBooks.

And when the new models come out, you should be able to get one of the current 12" 900 mhz/combo models for no more than $1199.