twoodcc said:
...but other than that, the ibook doesn't really have an advantage, right?
You're right. It has a better battery life (slightly) and better wireless reception but the 12 inch PowerBook is still arguably the better computer, irrespective of price. The only issue is that the PowerBook is so much more expensive than the iBook (well, it is in Australia at least).
StokeLee said:
Edit :- One more thing, how far away do you reckon the intel chips are going to be? Say if ive got the money to buy the apple laptop before Xmas? is it going be worth getting one now, or waiting, What do you think the prices are going to be like?
The Intel thing's tricky. Firstly, it's all speculation, so don't take anything anyone says as a given. From what I've gathered it looks like the iBook will go to Intel before the PowerBook based on the fact that Steve said the consumer line would be the first to go. However, I don't know if what he said applies to laptops. Irrespective of what goes when, it's pretty safe to say that it looks like the first Intel Mac will be a mid-2006 baby at the earliest, and even then I think it'll probably be the mini.
As for waiting, well that's really up to you. I think prices will remain about the same over the next few years relative to PC laptops and Apple isn't fond of discounts for ageing lines so waiting probably won't help in that respect. The only benefit would be waiting for the current line to be superseded in which case Apple
will discount old Macs for you. Although the Intel Macs will be a step forward from what I've gathered, there's also the very high chance that the first few years will produce pretty erratic and unreliable Macs as they iron out all the gremlins. So whether they'll actually be better than current Macs is debatable.
So, there's quite a bit to think about there. Since computers (and technology) advance at such a fast rate, I like to think of them in terms of how well they suit my needs. In other words, I pay a certain price for a product that meets my needs and if a newer/cheaper one comes out the next day then so be it. I'll still be happy with mine because it meets my needs and it does so at the price I was willing to pay.
Once OSX goes Intel, I think we'll be seeing updates much more often, meaning that at first people are going to get a bit irate about not having the latest and greatest for long enough, but that's another issue.
Good luck in whatever purchase you decide upon. Don't worry too much about the Intel thing. For the consumer, it means practically nothing.
