ibook G4

[joey4127]

I'm on a really really really tight budget and i need a laptop for video editing...What should i get? The ibook G4 is waht I want but I can't afford the Super Drive which i will need to burn my DVD's. Any suggestions??

EDIT: Is there a 12in laptop with a super drive??

 

[MacDawg]

I'm on a really really really tight budget and i need a laptop for video editing...What should i get? The ibook G4 is waht I want but I can't afford the Super Drive which i will need to burn my DVD's. Any suggestions??

Just a little friendly advice joey, before somebody flames you.
The kinda frown on double/similar posts in different forums around here
Looking for a laptop

Other than that, people are very friendly and helpful

Be patient, and someone will get around to you.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[joey4127]

Just a little friendly advice joey, before somebody flames you.
The kinda frown on double/similar posts in different forums around here
Looking for a laptop

Other than that, people are very friendly and helpful

Be patient, and someone will get around to you.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

Sorry about that...Thanks

 

[MacDawg]

Sorry about that...Thanks

NP, they just like to keep things consolidated in one place.

Before you post, just decide exactly what you're purpose is, put it in the right forum and viola, people will respond! Sometimes, if its a little specialized, it might take a little longer, but normally the response time is pretty quick. Lots of geeks around here with nothing better to do than spend time on MR (hint, hint jsw).

For the most part you will find people very friendly and helpful, apart from a few thread hijackings .

Occasionally you will run across a bad apple, but they are few.

Good luck on your search, and I think an iBook G4 is a great choice, but don't discount the rumored new releases to come this week. Hold off and reevaluate.

Again, welcome to MR!
Check out the FAQ and the stickies (located at the top of each forum) and you will find most everything you need to know to make your journey here pleasant!

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[joey4127]

Ya i heared that there will be new macs comming out...I should wait since prices might drop on older ones

 

[sigamy]

The 12" iBook does not have a Superdrive option from Apple. But, there are other companies that provide this as an upgrade. MCE is one:
http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/...Code=IBOOKSLDVDR8DL-A&Category_Code=STORDVDRW

You should check Apple's Special Deals page for refurbished iBooks. You get the same 1 year warranty and you can purchase Apple Care. I'm not sure if the Superdrive upgrade will void your warranty or not.

You can also check the Marketplace forum here and even eBay, just be careful on eBay. You should be able to find an 800mhz G4 iBook for around $700 used. Then if you add the $300 superdrive you are at $1,000 for a complete mobile movie studio, not too bad.

Another option is to find one of the first generation 12" PowerBooks with Superdrive. I'm sure these are rare and they had some issues with heat.

Do you have access to another Mac with a superdrive? iDVD 5 is coming out in a week and it will allow you to create disk images. You could just stick with the combo drive, do all your editing and DVD authoring on your iBook and then burn on another Mac that has a SuperDrive.

If new iBooks come out I don't think you'll see a price drop but you may see the previous generation iBooks available on the special deals page. And maybe Apple will finally provide the superdrive on the 12".

Good luck!

 

[neilrobinson]

external DVD burners can be had quite cheap, in au its $100 for the drive and about $50 for the case - might be a cheaper way? 12" ibook with a external burner, also if you are doing much an external drive (large fast hard drive) is the no 1 investment.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

With the intro of the Mac mini, the question is do you really need a notebook computer?

There are those that will say that you need the most power. But in the end many "pros" started off with less power than the iB or Mac mini have.

 

[brandon6684]

With the iBook and PowerBook so close in specs, I would definatly recomend and iBook, although it's biggest drawback is the video card, which at 32MB is kind of week. If you really need a superdrive, get the 12" PowerBook. Which ever you pick wait until after next round of updates since they seem like they could come any week now. Unfortunatly a G5 isn't in the near future, just basic speed bumps.

 

[gamestriker]

Should I wait until March to get an iBook?

I think I should wait until the March/April when they should update the iBook as per the average update cycle, and Apple has been very timely about their iBook updates. I also don't need it right now, though it sure as heck would make my life unbelievably easier.

Personally, I suspect the update will have speed bumps up to 1.33/1.42Ghz (or even 1.5GHz maybe); 40/80GB 4200rpm HD, w/ the 5400 versions as BTO options; a GFX upgrade, hopefully to a 64MB card to support Tiger Core Image; an upgrade to Bluetooth 2.0, probably still as a BTO option; and software update to add on iWork and iLife 05.

I think thats a pretty sound guess and it seems like its worth waiting for.

 

[pulsewidth947]

gamestriker - i'm waiting till march/april to get my ibook. i'm not necesarily waiting for a hardware upgrade, but i'm waiting for OSX.4 Tiger

From what i keep reading it should work slightly faster than panther, and a couple of the new features seem nice (the Automator and the search).. might as well get the latest OS ay.. and if they do upgrade the hardware, then that'll be an added bonus wont it

 

[Zaty]

Should I wait until March to get an iBook?

I think I should wait until the March/April when they should update the iBook as per the average update cycle, and Apple has been very timely about their iBook updates. I also don't need it right now, though it sure as heck would make my life unbelievably easier.

Personally, I suspect the update will have speed bumps up to 1.33/1.42Ghz (or even 1.5GHz maybe); 40/80GB 4200rpm HD, w/ the 5400 versions as BTO options; a GFX upgrade, hopefully to a 64MB card to support Tiger Core Image; an upgrade to Bluetooth 2.0, probably still as a BTO option; and software update to add on iWork and iLife 05.

I think thats a pretty sound guess and it seems like its worth waiting for.

Just one thing, I wouldn't count on a better graphics chip. Apparently specs for Core Image haven't been finalised yet. (Thus the removal of the list with supported graphics cards). Since Apple decided to throw a Radeon 9200 into the Mac mini, there's reason to believe Apple is working on making the 9200 fit fo Core Image. If that's not going to happen, they would have to update, iBooks, eMacs and Mac minis at once when Tiger ships. Such a scenario is not impossible but unlikely if Apple can help it.

 

[madddogg]

Should I wait until March to get an iBook?

and software update to add on iWork and iLife 05.

I thought I read somewhere in a post on this board that all new machines are now shipping with iLife 05, not just the minis...

Is this true?

I'm asking because I'm about to order a new 12" iBook and would like the new features of iLife 05 (most notably iDVD ability to burn to external drives).

EDIT: I found the apple Press Release that confirms that all new machines will ship with iLife 05 now...

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/jan/11ilife.html

 

[gamestriker]

Personally, I suspect the update will have speed bumps up to 1.33/1.42Ghz (or even 1.5GHz maybe); 40/80GB 4200rpm HD, w/ the 5400 versions as BTO options; a GFX upgrade, hopefully to a 64MB card to support Tiger Core Image; an upgrade to Bluetooth 2.0, probably still as a BTO option; and software update to add on iWork and iLife 05.

To add on to my prediction, it will also have the Scrolling Trackpad and possibly the Sudden Motion Sensor and the 8x SuperDrive. Even if they make the current GFX work for Tiger, I still hope they update it

Considering that Tiger will come out 2nd quarter, and that the PowerBooks just got a speed bump, I think that the next iBook update will be a major one preparing for Tiger. After that, then I think it will become like the PowerBooks where they don't see an update long after average life cycle, and then release the iBook dual G4s or a G5, for MacWorld SF 2006 (or a speed bump at SF and it will be released as late as MacWorld Paris 2006).

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

To add on to my prediction, it will also have the Scrolling Trackpad and possibly the Sudden Motion Sensor and the 8x SuperDrive. Even if they make the current GFX work for Tiger, I still hope they update it

Considering that Tiger will come out 2nd quarter, and that the PowerBooks just got a speed bump, I think that the next iBook update will be a major one preparing for Tiger. After that, then I think it will become like the PowerBooks where they don't see an update long after average life cycle, and then release the iBook dual G4s or a G5, for MacWorld SF 2006 (or a speed bump at SF and it will be released as late as MacWorld Paris 2006).

I hope not on the Sudden Motion Sensor and the 8x SDD drive, and maybe the Scrolling Trackpad. Only because there needs to be a difference between the iB and PB lines, and at least the first two features are enough to make the choice for the PB IMO. Also the video card should be no more than 32mb, but Core Image compatible.

 

[jadam]

Just one thing, I wouldn't count on a better graphics chip. Apparently specs for Core Image haven't been finalised yet. (Thus the removal of the list with supported graphics cards). Since Apple decided to throw a Radeon 9200 into the Mac mini, there's reason to believe Apple is working on making the 9200 fit fo Core Image. If that's not going to happen, they would have to update, iBooks, eMacs and Mac minis at once when Tiger ships. Such a scenario is not impossible but unlikely if Apple can help it.

I don't think its possible for the 9200 to really support core image. It just doesn't have the same pixel and vertex shaders as the 9600/fx5200 do.

I would say definetly wait until they upgrade the ibooks. If you plan on doing lots of videowork, CoreImage/CoreVideo support will be a godsend for you!

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

I don't think its possible for the 9200 to really support core image. It just doesn't have the same pixel and vertex shaders as the 9600/fx5200 do.

I would say definetly wait until they upgrade the ibooks. If you plan on doing lots of videowork, CoreImage/CoreVideo support will be a godsend for you!

I think it was over on AnandTech in their review of the Mac mini, that made mention that the 9200 could not handle the needs of Core Image. And IIRC ATI confirmed that the chipset would not support the buffering or some such thing needed for Core Image.

 

[gamestriker]

I think it was over on AnandTech in their review of the Mac mini, that made mention that the 9200 could not handle the needs of Core Image. And IIRC ATI confirmed that the chipset would not support the buffering or some such thing needed for Core Image.

Then they will upgrade GFX card, I'm guessing to the same thing as the 12" PB - the 64 MB GeForce FX Go5200 (or a 32 MB version of it, if there is one, though I've never heard of anything less than 64 MB for this model). Apple sells more iBooks than they do PowerBooks (or at least thats what people have said in these forums), so they'll want to be able to run everything in Tiger perfectly on the iBooks, including the Core Image.

 

[gamestriker]

Does anyone know the list of Core Image supported cards? I want to see what the options look like for the iBook update.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Does anyone know the list of Core Image supported cards? I want to see what the options look like for the iBook update.

Apple quietly pulled that info from the Core Image section with the latest Tiger Preview website. So no ideas at this point.

 

[maya]

Does anyone know the list of Core Image supported cards? I want to see what the options look like for the iBook update.

I someone here on MR had mentioned before that as of MWSF 2005, Apple removed the Core Image supported cards. Which means either they will support all the cards that have shipped since WWDC 2004 or they are not sure if even the reported cards are finalized for Core Image.

This Core Image supported card is a "?" deal as of now. Unless someone has some more recent news.

 

[maya]

Apple quietly pulled that info from the Core Image section with the latest Tiger Preview website. So no ideas at this point.

Thanks for taking the words right out of my mouth.

 

[gamestriker]

Since they didn't change the PB 12" graphics card (64 MB GeForceFX Go5200), one can only assume that it will work with Core Image, especially since I think I remember seeing that on the list.

Even if the Radeon 9200 could run Core Image, I still think it would be a good idea to update the card solely for the release of Tiger. It would just make the iBook an even nicer buy, it would run Tiger even more smoothly, and there would still be a gap between the PowerBooks I think.