ibook or centrino

[joshua_msu]

Yes, my brand new Dell Latitude D600 (complete with Centrino) lasts 2 hours. So how does that 'beat the ****' out of the 3.5 hours I get on my iBook G4?

Most of the claims about super long battery life rely on there being a second battery placed in the bay usually occupied by an optical-drive.

About the only thing that seems better to me, is that because of the in-built wireless they finally have the antenna built into the side of the screen, for better wireless reception. Not that Apple wasn't doing that a few years ago.

cNet actual tests give the d600 203 minutes of battery, which is about 3.5 hours. I get about that with my 600m, but some of Sony's and IBM's centrinos actually test at 4.5 - 5 hours. Personally, I like my Powerbook too, and it prolly wins in a close race as my favorite of the two, but im the first to admit that my centrino 1.8 is quite a bit faster with 1GB of ram than my PB with 1.5 and 1GB of ram. The G4 really need a faster FSb and more cache if it is going to compete. Hopefully next revision, becuase I need an excuse to get the 15 in, as I have the 17 now.

To the orginal poster, youre going to get a biased anser here. Try em both out and decide what you like best. Good luck in your search.

 

[abhishekit]

I don't understand why its a hard choice between windows comp and Mac.
Its a hard choice whether to choose an iBook or a powerbook ...

but to choose a windows laptop or a Mac should not be such a difficult task. If you want to continue using windows, (reasons may be, you are using some windows specific software, or you want to play the latest games, or you need the raw speed), buy the centrino.
If you finally want to try OS X, and see why its so special, buy the Mac.

I don't think iBook's battery life would be less than centrino. I had a previous generation iBook, which used to give me around 5 hours of battery if I am only surfing and running itunes.

cheers

 

[nikeballa09]

Yes, my brand new Dell Latitude D600 (complete with Centrino) lasts 2 hours. So how does that 'beat the ****' out of the 3.5 hours I get on my iBook G4?

Most of the claims about super long battery life rely on there being a second battery placed in the bay usually occupied by an optical-drive.

About the only thing that seems better to me, is that because of the in-built wireless they finally have the antenna built into the side of the screen, for better wireless reception. Not that Apple wasn't doing that a few years ago.

My brother has a dell inspiron 1100 with a 2.0 ghz desktop celeron and it only runs 2 hours on the battery thats without using optical drive. i can guarentee that the toshiba i posted will get a lot longer life out of the battery with the centrino chip and it will be a lot better at multitasking. i am going to go to compusa tomorow and play around with both the toshiba and ibook to see what i like better. if i choose the ibook i will most likely order it soon.

Once again thanks for the advice.

p.s. i have been using windows for many years now and havent been infected with too many viruses (to be exact only one and that was when my bro just got his laptop) my other comp that ive had for 4 years never got infected and i never used antivirus or firewall and i have downloaded very many different things.

 

[groovebuster]

It is really funny, how one gets offended in here by some people just because for being objective.

I am a professional Mac user since 16 years, I even worked for Apple Germany for a while, so if somebody is a Mac fan, it is me! But to support my platform of choice also means that I have to accept when something else is better for a while.

I have to earn money with my computers, it is not just a hobby. Most of the Mac users in here seem to use their Mac only as a toy from what I read all the time. My platform of choice for business is what makes the money come rolling in. And unfortunately at the moment it is definately not the Mac when I am working with clients at their office and the projects I am involved in.

A friend of mine had an M-chip based laptop custom built a while back for around 2000 USD. It runs more than twice as fast as my 17 inch 1ghz Pbook, and the battery lasts at least TWICE as long. No viruses or crashes whatsoever. If I could run OS X on something like that I would sell the pbook in an instant. As a matter of fact, if Apple does not get a modern proc and decent battery into it's laptop line in one year's time, I'm gonna have to re-switch. The competition is THAT far ahead of us right now...the gnarly cpu intensive audio aps I like to use are simply too much for the powerbooks in any quantity at once. Sorry, Apple, but you need to whip your laptop cpu and hardware suppliers into shape before you lose a lot of loyal customers. Not everyone can haul around heavy dual 2.5 G5 towers all day...some of us want and need MOBILE power, NOW. We would prefer to run it with OS X, but...

That's what I am talking about! Plus the pro apps that don't run with Virtual PC or way to slow.

i believe your 'success' with wintel to be the exception, not the rule.

further, the 'apple lifestyle' is superior to the alternatives. buying an apple is like buying a jaguar or bmw, anything else is just a pile of crap

Funny, always when somebody says that he works with Windows XP succesfully, die-hard Mac users claim it is an exception because it doesn't fit into their world conception.

Let me tell you something. I am also owning and using Windows computers since a very long time, because I just have to (you need to work on the system the customer uses). And know what? In all these years I never had a virus on my machines. And I know many other users who are virus free on their Windows machines since years as well.

Actually it's good to be an exception I guess!

And the iLife apps... I couldn't care less for my business. They are just toys. They don't have anything to so with the tasks I have to do in daily business(!).

Yes, my brand new Dell Latitude D600 (complete with Centrino) lasts 2 hours. So how does that 'beat the ****' out of the 3.5 hours I get on my iBook G4?

Most of the claims about super long battery life rely on there being a second battery placed in the bay usually occupied by an optical-drive.

About the only thing that seems better to me, is that because of the in-built wireless they finally have the antenna built into the side of the screen, for better wireless reception. Not that Apple wasn't doing that a few years ago.

Actually I don't believe you! Why did you buy a Dell, when your iBook is so great? I thought it is always the best choice? The centrinos have a battery life that is at least as good, most times it is better. I never saw a centrino with only 2.5h and in all the tests I never saw one. Mine is good for 4-5 hours in real world usage (including WLAN). My iBook also lasts only about 3.5 hours with Airport Extreme switched on. Even if they would have the same battery life, my centrino is still times faster...

Fujitsu-Siemens released a new Laptop (P7010) lately that is small, has a wide screen LCD, DVD burner and a battery life of around 7 hours. With a second battery you get 10 hours of battery life. So that's really the definition of being independent! You can work a whole day without a power plug being around! That's really cool! If I would have known, I would have waited with my order.

But at least somebody who is real about the battery life of his iBook. Airport really sucks a lot of energy and somebody who claims that he reaches 4.5 hours with Airport on is just a liar. I only get 3.5 hours max and that is only if I don't do anything than typing in a text editor (better not Word, because it always causes high CPU load with every letter you type) and checking my e-mail. And all the people I know (with an iBook) confirmed that.

groovebuster

 

[c_waddington]

Actually I don't believe you! Why did you buy a Dell, when your iBook is so great? I thought it is always the best choice? The centrinos have a battery life that is at least as good, most times it is better. I never saw a centrino with only 2.5h and in all the tests I never saw one. Mine is good for 4-5 hours in real world usage (including WLAN). My iBook also lasts only about 3.5 hours with Airport Extreme switched on. Even if they would have the same battery life, my centrino is still times faster...
groovebuster

I'm sorry that you don't believe me but in real world usage I typically get 2 hours out of the Dell and 3.5 out of the iBook. The battery life of the D600s we have in the office is the same - so this isn't a bad machine. And I'm not talking about doing anything excessive here: email, web browsing, office applications and maybe a developer tool. Wireless switched on - screen brightness switched to about half on both machines. Maxed out Ram on both machines. Honestly, I'm very disappointed by any noticeable performance increase or increase in battery life - as promised by the Centrino marketing.

Just because I posted to a mac forum don't assume that I'm biased in favor of the mac. I just want to share my real world experience concerning battery life. The Dell Latitude D600 is probably the best dell laptop I've used out of the 10 or so models I've had over the years (all purchased for me by work, to answer your question).

And yes my Dell is faster, but then again it cost $2800 where as the iBook cost $1100.

 

[dieselg4]

I'm sorry that you don't believe me but in real world usage I typically get 2 hours out of the Dell and 3.5 out of the iBook. The battery life of the D600s we have in the office is the same - so this isn't a bad machine. And I'm not talking about doing anything excessive here: email, web browsing, office applications and maybe a developer tool. Wireless switched on - screen brightness switched to about half on both machines. Maxed out Ram on both machines. Honestly, I'm very disappointed by any noticeable performance increase or increase in battery life - as promised by the Centrino marketing.

Just because I posted to a mac forum don't assume that I'm biased in favor of the mac. I just want to share my real world experience concerning battery life. The Dell Latitude D600 is probably the best dell laptop I've used out of the 10 or so models I've had over the years (all purchased for me by work, to answer your question).

And yes my Dell is faster, but then again it cost $2800 where as the iBook cost $1100.

The Dell does appear to have mediocre battery life. Check the C|net review:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_Latitude_D600/4505-3121_7-30957345-2.html?tag=top
The battery life is listed as a "Bad". . . Centrino or not, sometimes you just can't overcome an undersized battery.

 

[c_waddington]

The Dell does appear to have mediocre battery life. Check the C|net review:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_Latitude_D600/4505-3121_7-30957345-2.html?tag=top
The battery life is listed as a "Bad". . . Centrino or not, sometimes you just can't overcome an undersized battery.

To moderate, my previous post. It should be pointed out that Dell do provide an optional (extra cost) higher capacity battery which I'm sure does provide the 3.5 hours of battery life seen in other reviews.

You summed it up nicely - just because there's a sticker saying Centrino doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get better performance or battery life. Best to check out each laptop separately.

 

[eagle steve]

ibook or centrino

Windows XP Pro (not Home) is just as stable as MacOS X. There are far more application programs for Windows, far more games, far more peripherals, and far more organizations that cater for users of Windows PCs. In spite of all this, I think the iBook will serve you better and give you greater satisfaction than the Toshiba. It will also make you an object of interest and envy to your fellow students (I have recently received a new Powerbook, and my Windows-using colleagues are fascinated by it).

It's true that most users spend most of their time using applications programs rather than interacting with the operating system, and that these programs are often identical on both platforms. So, you wouldn't expect the differences between the operating systems to affect the quality of a user's experience to any great extent. However, this is not the case. For example, if (like me) you move frequently between different network environments (in my case these are home, office, lecture theatre, and library), which require different configurations and provide different network services, you will find MacOS X a much better bet than Windows XP. This is not because Windows XP cannot cope with such changes: it's because MacOS X turns changing configurations on the fly into a very simple task and Windows XP does not. There are numerous other situations in which MacOS X makes a user's life more straightforward than Windows XP (configuring and using printers or other peripherals, for instance), and very few (but some) where things are the other way around. How much does this add to my productivity? Difficult to say, but being able to work _with_ the operating system, rather than perpetually trying to wrestle it into submission (as I do with Windows XP) is a real bonus that I don't want to have to give up.

On processor speed, I think it's more important to ask yourself how each machine will age rather than which is the faster machine right now. As has been pointed out, it is a rare user who really stretches the processing capabilities of a computer (as opposed to the memory or hard disk capacity). However, every user has to deal with the effects of the passage of time. In my experience (approx 15 years of Mac use and nearly 20 years of PC use) Macs tend to remain usable for longer, not because they are more reliable (which they are), but because you can continue to use them for longer before you feel the need to replace them with something faster. I am still using a 500MHz G3 iMac at home and a Dual 500MHz G4 PowerMac at work, and getting very good service from them - and they are both running the very latest version of MacOS X and much other up-to-date software. The initial price premium (which was greater 4 years ago than it is now) has already been more than offset by the longevity of these machines, and I expect to continue getting useful work out of them for some time yet.

So, if it were me, I would go for the iBook. But then as a long time Mac user I would say that, wouldn't I?

 

[Mord]

Here I'm talking specifically about the cost of replacing software.

And I've already established I'm a UK consumer, to me Apples are far more expensive.

I see no benefits of the iBook over my Centrino, nor the Powerbook for that matter; it has a weak screen resolution on the small form factor models and a far slower processor in addition to being incompatible with my software I already own and specific applications I need which are not available for both platforms.

In the UK at least you can get a far better laptop running Windows for the same money and not have to fork out replacing all your programs.

i did not write that btw.

I live in the uk, and the fact that my ibook has endured nearly three years of school in a big comprehensive, and i only payed £550 for it, sure if you HAVE to get a pc because you have to use windows software get a pc, but for school an ibook cannot be beat.

and btw refer to macs as macs not "apples", it makes you look like a pc troll.

look at it objectively, what could a pentium m laptop do that an ibook cannot fro your uses, all i can think of is play games and that is not something you should be doing in school. for the ibook you have stability i know people who have lost coursework when there pc's have been messed up with viruses, sure you could say get tonnes of firewalls and virus scan programs but the fact that you have to bother is a big plus for the ibook, also with pc's they tend to bog down over time so you have to reinstall, i have only reinstalled 3 times once to go from jaguar to panther and once when i had to partition the HD so i backed up and wiped it clean and installed liux and OS X and the last time to install tiger.

oh and btw to quote my current ibooks battery life (600MHz radeon mobility 12") at the moment is 4:38 at 78% charge with medium brightness (and i dont have an airport card)

from 3 lessons of on and off useage it gets me down to about 80% which is my average day's use.

 

[c_waddington]

To moderate, my previous post. It should be pointed out that Dell do provide an optional (extra cost) higher capacity battery which I'm sure does provide the 3.5 hours of battery life seen in other reviews.

You summed it up nicely - just because there's a sticker saying Centrino doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get better performance or battery life. Best to check out each laptop separately.

Some further information on Dell's battery life compared to the iBook. I hope I'm not going on about this too much but it seems that many people would look at Dell when considering laptops so I'll continue. I just got another new Dell laptop today (don't ask but I just switched jobs) - this is my 4th Latitude D600 in a year. Out of interest I took the battery out of the new Dell and looked at the back of the battery at the specs, this one says 53mwH. I looked at the old battery and it said 48mH. Let's see how this one compares and see if it does gives the 3.5 hours of battery life that previous posters have said should be seen.

I believe the original poster asked if they should buy an iBook versus a Centrino. I hadn't stated my position before. I'll now offer a totally subjective opinion: I prefer using the iBook except when doing extensive Java programming. For two reasons: The dell has 1400*1050 resolutions so I can see more code, and Apple's version of Java is kind of slow.

I don't agree that in general use use the iBook is slower than a Centrino based laptop: Windows XP (that's what I'm using) is *slow* at switching between tasks even with lot's of memory, and the window management is slow compared to Quartz when you use a mac that is Quartz exteme enabled

So as I said, this is a personal review from somebody who has been using top of the range Dell laptops versus a 1Ghz G4 iBook.

 

[nikeballa09]

Sorry guys but i got the Toshiba!

Sorry guys but i ended up getting the toshiba with centrino. The end decision ended up being my dads cause he bought it for me. he liked the bigger screen and value, plus the bundle. I really like it though, it loads quick, and multitasks like a dream compared to my bros dell with celeron. I probably dissapointed many people in getting this computer but it is still a very nice machine.

Once again, thank you guys very much for the feedback.

 

[Mord]

i hope it works out well for you, but don't blame me if i say i told you so in a few months time if it all go's to pot.

get crazy virus protection crap, like spybot, and dont even think of useing IE get firefox and delete all traces of IE, that will serve you well.

 

[nikeballa09]

i already have firefox

Thanks for the firefox recomendation but i already downloaded it and am using it now. i like it a lot better then ie. i think im gonna keep ie around for awhile cause firefox has difficulties with some websites, but other then that i love it. i especially like the tab browsing. Once again sorry for not getting the ibook but the final decision was my dads.

 

[jkaz]

Thanks for the firefox recomendation but i already downloaded it and am using it now. i like it a lot better then ie. i think im gonna keep ie around for awhile cause firefox has difficulties with some websites, but other then that i love it. i especially like the tab browsing. Once again sorry for not getting the ibook but the final decision was my dads.

couldn't you have offered to pay for the cost difference?

there's ALWAYS a way imo

 

[svenr]

Dude, you could've gotten an iPod for $69 - sixtynine bucks!

That's iPod edu price plus this:
http://www.apple.com/education/cramandjam/

I call that a really sweet deal! Hell, even if you already have one, you could've sold it for a profit...

You need to get a better grip on your dad ...

 

[BornAgainMac]

Watch a keynote

Have your Dad watch one keynote with Mr. Jobs. coming up in January. The keynote will be available online and really showcase Mac technologies.
In the meantime, check out the last Developer's keynote.

Maybe he will get an iBook for himself.

 

[amyhre]

I had a budget of about $2500 for a computer for school and was looking at getting like a G4 iBook and a mid-line PC (HP, Sony, Gateway) because my department said that the programs wouldn't run on Mac so I'd need a PC. I've learned that Macs, even when they are supported by the software, usually aren't mentioned as an option. But I figured, the labs have the software I need, I can use them for a bit and see what other students in the department are using, talk to the teachers, get some real-life answers. What do you know, one of the professors in the department (I'm a computer major) came to the department orientation with a 17" PowerBook. First thing that hit me was "Holy ****, he's using a Mac and boy is it sweet!" I've had the opportunity to use a 17" before, but unfortunately, it wasn't mine. So I talked with him a bit. He was quite happy with it, of course and told me he was, at that moment, running MacOS X, Linux and Windows Pro through VPC. I asked if he was able to handle the programs he used in Windows at a reasonable speed. He told me that Windows XP was running at the equivalent of 900 MHz but that he was able to run his programs fine. Right now, I'm planning on ordering a used 15", that or spending a little more and getting an iPod with Cram and Jam. VPC will be a must later on. I can buy Windows XP Pro for $15 here and buy VPC separate. Right now, my Java programming class uses Eclipse, so VPC isn't an immediate need. If you really want something, in my case a Mac computer, there are ways to make it work out. Not to mention the fact that the network admin said that before the news gets word of a virus outbreak, the school is already infected, steered me to my choice of the Mac I want over a cheaper Mac and cheap PC.

 

[apple_iBoy]

He was quite happy with it, of course and told me he was, at that moment, running MacOS X, Linux and Windows Pro through VPC. I asked if he was able to handle the programs he used in Windows at a reasonable speed. He told me that Windows XP was running at the equivalent of 900 MHz but that he was able to run his programs fine.

The fact that he feels he's getting the equivalent of 900MHz of Windows XP Pro speed out of Virtual PC surprises the hell out of me. I wonder if, given the opportunity to try it yourself, you would have agreed with him. I run Windows 2000 in Virtual PC on my dual 1GHz Power Mac with a 1GB of RAM, and it feels like... MAYBE a 300 MHz Pentium II?

I've used a 900MHz Windows machine, and let me tell ya, Virtual PC ain't it.

 

[Mav451]

Have your Dad watch one keynote with Mr. Jobs. coming up in January. The keynote will be available online and really showcase Mac technologies.
In the meantime, check out the last Developer's keynote.

Maybe he will get an iBook for himself.

I dunno, I watch the keynotes for fun. Seriously, there are some great presentations, whatever your angle. I'm a PC enthusiast with an iBook, I still enjoy them.

 

[Applespider]

And I've already established I'm a UK consumer, to me Apples are far more expensive.

And a canny cost-conscious consumer at that being from Yorkshire

My mother just bought an iBook since she wanted a small, pretty basic laptop. I did look at some Centrino ones for her just to give her the comparison. The points about the video RAM above hold true for a lot of the dirtcheap notebooks over here too - as do the ports issue etc. And the cost wasn't much different - I got it to the price of Norton Internet Security for 2 years.

As for the cash being worth the 'no virus' - I'd say definitely. I rarely caught a virus with my Win98 PC but I still managed to collect spyware despite not using P2P, not clicking on obviously dubious links et al. Not having to clear that up was well worth the additional cash for me.

And that's not even going into the aesthetics of them (which admittedly was what swayed Mum in the end)

 

[patrick0brien]

-nikeballa09

I have a Centrino, and bought two G4 iBooks in the last year (not for me - I have a 15PB)). Get the iBook - it's a more solid machine.

Centrino is really not all that great, and you can only get the promised battery time out of it if you don't use it really. But one element of a Centrino, you can get really thin computers.

 

[nikeballa09]

long battery life

Hi again. I have tested the battery life on my centrino based notebook. I use it for about 3.5 hours and still have 30% battery life. I use firefox, aim, and listen to online radio, and i still have 30% battery power after 3.5 hours. If you ask me , I think that is pretty good considering i have a 15 inch screen rather then 12 inch. As far a viruses, i have a pc with window me that is 4 years old and it never got a virus and i dont use any anti-virus software on it. My bro has had his dell laptop with win xp for a year and nothing has happened to it yet. I also dont have to worry about software compatability for school. I feel that if you buy a mac and have to buy virtual pc and install windows on it, then it kind of defeats the purpose of getting a mac.

P.S. I am very happy with my toshiba notebook!

 

[asphalt-proof]

You might be happy with a Centrino, but not that one. For $1300 (before rebates) you could buy a nice Mac.

My suggestion, for what you're doing, is an iBook. Education discount with the upgrade to 60 GB and an Airport card (plus 3 years AppleCare) is about $1320. Edu or refurb 12" PBook is just a little more. For $69 more, you could get an iPod. Free HP 5740 printer after rebate. Find some good RAM, 512 MB DDR2700 SO-DIMM for about $100. Wireless routers can be had for about $20 after rebate. Same thing with scanners. I didn't see any bundles with that Toshiba, nothing you can't buy separately at least. Either way you can buy an education version of MS Office for about $130 if AppleWorks or MS Works (which the Toshiba comes with) isn't good enough. Even cheaper at your school probably.

If you're going to buy a PC, at least get a better one than that. Don't get Intergrated Graphics, and you'll want better battery life. And if you're going to get a 15" screen, 1024x768 isn't going to look so good for those complaining about the 'Books screens. It is heavier than the Macs, and that will matter after awhile.

Gotta agree with you there. If its going to b school iwth you, an iBook will do fine. The ONLY caveat I have is if you EVER plan on gaming get a powerbook or the centrino. Heck, I think you would be better off with the refurb pb in general. Yes the PC hardware is going to be cheaper but the value of living virii-free in college cannot be over-estimated. Yes you can be free of pop-ups, virii etc. but its a lot of work. You have to take an active and consistent approach to the maintainance of your machine. I would love to have the PC gaming experience on my mac but I eill gladly trade it for being more secure. Besides, its hard to play when you 'puter is bogged down by spyware.

I don't think that you will regret a 12"PB in the long run. Great portability, security, and ease of use. Perfect for college.