ibook or powerbook

[dudewheresmymac]

hey all

i am looking into buying a laptop for high school and was wondering whether to get the ibook or powerbook... i kno that the ibook is less damage prone and has a longer batter life... i also kno that the powerbook is more powerful and much more sexy

also the superdrive feature on the powerbook might be the selling point for me because i am going to be taking a film editing class and it would be nice to have iDVD to finish my dvds....

price is not going to be the driving factor but i dont want to spend any more than like 1800....

anyother things that i should factor into my purchase...

also what would you guys recomend

thanks

 

[Opteron]

If your set on a mac get a powerbook. hands down.

However www.pronetsale.com and other vendors ar offering the ACI Warrior Notebook. Now this puppy runs the Athlon 64 mobile chip, R9600graphics chip. DDR400 (and the FSB of the CPU can actually make use of this unlike the G4.) you can have a DVD burner.

That's what id get.

 

[tsk]

I'm assuming here that since you are a HS student you won't be getting any discount.

So based on that, I think the 12" PB is ridiculously overpriced without the edu discount (others will disagree I'm sure).

Based on a full priced 12" model, I'd go the iBook route. But I'm more of a cheapskate also. You'd have plenty of money to get AE if you need it and also some more RAM (from a 3rd party, not Apple).

But if it were me, I'd personally keep an eye out for the 12" PB refurbs that have popped up. They were 867MHz models for $1050 which is a better deal than the iBook then.

 

[jsw]

I thought that you could get the discount as a high school student. Guess not...

Some comments:

Note that you can hack the iBook to allow the monitor out to support a non-mirrored screen, like the PB, so that PB advantage goes away. See here for details.

As you said, the iBook is a bit sturdier. This seems like a real advantage for a student. It's also marginally lighter - a bonus.

I wouldn't worry about the SuperDrive option - you can hook up an external Firewire DVD burner (like one of Lacie's) for about the same as it would cost you to bump to the SuperDrive. It's not like you need the DVD-burning option 24/7, so you could do that at home.

If performance is your biggest concern, go for the PB - and, as noted, the refurbs are usually good deals. But, for general sturdiness and slightly lower weight, I'd go with the iBook if you can't find a good refurb PB.

 

[dudewheresmymac]

yea now that i think about it i think that a refurb is a good idea.... does anyone kno what the prices are for the 1ghz superdrive refurb and the 867 mhz superdrive

also are there any problems with refurbs... such as bad displays or scuff marks (im a neat freak and hate scratches on my things)

anything else that i should kno about refurbs or ibook that i might want to kno about

thanks

 

[jsw]

yea now that i think about it i think that a refurb is a good idea.... does anyone kno what the prices are for the 1ghz superdrive refurb and the 867 mhz superdrive

also are there any problems with refurbs... such as bad displays or scuff marks (im a neat freak and hate scratches on my things)

anything else that i should kno about refurbs or ibook that i might want to kno about

thanks

Reading through other threads, you'll find mixed reviews about refurbs. You get the one they send you - which might be pristine, might have minor scratches, or might be fairly roughed up. You won't know until it arrives. There are about as many "I'm so happy I got a refurb" posts as there are negative ones. The people who are happiest are usually the ones who don't care as much about minor superficial scratches, etc.

Me, I'm a neat freak, so I'm not going to buy a refurb unless it's in some store I can see it and make sure it's "perfect". There's just something about knowing someone else has used it.... But, then, many people don't care as much, and they save big $$$.