ibook vs emac

[SilvorX]

heres me again lol
i've eliminated the macs that im thinking of getting (as an early grad present) to the 12.1" 800 mhz ibook and a 700 mhz emac, which one should i get, since im undecided (50/50) right now, i dont want to end up spending $3000 on a computer and it end up not working 2 weeks later (like a pc lol), so i decided on one of those 2, which one would be a better deal for every day use, normal stuff (ie chatting, listening to music, etc). Portability would be pretty sweet since there's not that much room left in the house for another computer, would be good if i want to watch tv while on the net, and while travelling, but the emac would be good as a desktop computer, dvd machine (watch dvds), stuff optimized for g4...
which one would be the better deal at the end (with maxxed ram)
the ibook is about $3000 CDN altogether with: maxxed ram, firewire drive, scanner, printer, usb hub...while the emac is about $2700 CDN with the same stuff..but i cant think of what to get for the rest of money (dont need a cam and im not really in the mood to get an ipod)...
how is the ibook for dvds?
thanx ppl and hopefully i should be ordering the mac by the end of the month..

 

[sprocklingcat]

ibook

is great for dvds. i have a combo drive 500 and the picture is great. portability is awesome as well as the size and current specs/price. Quartz extreme in full effect. one thing to remember, there is a noticeable difference between the g4 and g3. just plain faster and better. good luck

 

[hesdeadjim]

I think it really comes down to whether you really need portability vs apps for a g4. I found that portability to be worth the extra cost and somewhat less specs, but if i was going to run photoshop a lot, i would probably get an emac.

 

[Nipsy]

The iBook is a stellar machine at a good price.

The eMac is an ok machine at an ok price.

If you want the G4 peformance aspect, get the Dual 867 and skip all the peripherals until you need them. Many of the items you mention are often offered bundled with PowerMacs, and even iMacs, but seldom eMacs.

If you want the portability, get the iBook. They're fantastic little machines, and the G3/G4 difference won't be obvious much of the time.

The eMac just is not a very compelling machine. The displays aren't great, the expandabilty is limited, etc. Great for schools, but you may regret it for yourself.

 

[SilvorX]

looks like the ibook would be the best buy, im not a graphics person lol, just a lil teeny bit n thats bout it (like just simple stuff)
but a dual 867 pmac is WAYYYYYY too much out of my budjet (at the end including monitor and printer/scanner)
ive tried osx under a dual 867 powermac (and an emac) and they didnt seem any diff for simple tasks lol, but the g3 imac with 128 megs of ram that was on display was pretty slow lol...but then again its 600 megs n such...

 

[pianojoe]

Originally posted by hesdeadjim
I think it really comes down to whether you really need portability vs apps for a g4. I found that portability to be worth the extra cost and somewhat less specs, but if i was going to run photoshop a lot, i would probably get an emac.

I second that. There IS a notable performance difference (not only CPU, but HD, too), still the G4 in the eMac is somewhat crippled compared to the desktop G4s. If maximum performance is not an issue, get an iBook.

If you will be spending hours on your new machine every day, keep in mind that any portable's screen is too low to find a healthy sitting position. You'll be looking downwards all the time. I have a G4 at my home office, and an iBook in my living room, and this the only disadvantage that it has.

 

[zimv20]

i've been watching and playing w/ the ibooks for some time now. got some serious time on a 600 MHz one this summer and it ran osx... okay.

(but much better than my pbook 400 w/ osx).

I'M HAPPY TO REPORT:

i went and played w/ one of the new 800 MHz ones yesterday. even though it had only 128 megs RAM, it felt pretty snappy, much like my dual 500 g4.

i did not, of course, put it through its paces, but just for opening/moving windows and launching apps, the ibook is FINALLY feeling zippy.

this is the first ibook i'd buy. and i LOVE its size (the 12" one).

my .02

 

[backspinner]

Originally posted by Nipsy
The eMac just is not a very compelling machine. The displays aren't great, the expandabilty is limited, etc. Great for schools, but you may regret it for yourself.

I disagree here. The screen is good compared to "normal" monitors. It depends on what you define as normal of course, but someone with LCD experience is not a good judge here. The screen of the eMac looks at least as well as other large CRT monitors. Ok, LCD is better but you have to pay for it.

Furthermore, maybe you can leave the firewire drive out if you buy an aMac since these have bigger drives? That would save you even more. And the memory is cheaper as well.

The eMac is good for normal dayly use. It looks slick. It works. It's a real mac.

 

[SilvorX]

Originally posted by zimv20

I'M HAPPY TO REPORT:

i went and played w/ one of the new 800 MHz ones yesterday. even though it had only 128 megs RAM, it felt pretty snappy, much like my dual 500 g4.

i did not, of course, put it through its paces, but just for opening/moving windows and launching apps, the ibook is FINALLY feeling zippy.

this is the first ibook i'd buy. and i LOVE its size (the 12" one).

my .02

looks like the 800 mhz ibook will be a big seller this xmas season, ive used a 600Mhz ibook on os9 before...and it was pretty slow...
i looked around on the apple discussion forum...and it looks like the people who have purchased an 800Mhz ibook already and they seem to love it...

 

[Thirteenva]

i say get the ibook.

1) it sounds like you'd enjoy the portability.(you said you don't have alot of room for another desktop, and you mentioned watching tv and sufing the web, you could also sit in bed an use the computer.)
2) Dvd's will play just fine on the new ibooks
3) The better graphics card in the new ibooks will make OS X quite snappy thanks to Quartz extreme. So unless your gonna run some huge files through photoshop you should be fine with the G3.

I say for you described scenario you'd enjoy the ibook. My friend got a rev A 500 and he thought it was great. There tough as nails to, they can take quite a few bumps. Not like my tibook, which is too damn fragile.

 

[SilvorX]

Originally posted by Thirteenva
i say get the ibook.

1) it sounds like you'd enjoy the portability.(you said you don't have alot of room for another desktop, and you mentioned watching tv and sufing the web, you could also sit in bed an use the computer.)
2) Dvd's will play just fine on the new ibooks
3) The better graphics card in the new ibooks will make OS X quite snappy thanks to Quartz extreme. So unless your gonna run some huge files through photoshop you should be fine with the G3.

I say for you described scenario you'd enjoy the ibook. My friend got a rev A 500 and he thought it was great. There tough as nails to, they can take quite a few bumps. Not like my tibook, which is too damn fragile.

ya, i dont like being stuck at my computer all day, from time to time theres a tv show on tv (lets say something like SNL), the tv in the room where my current computer is doesnt get any cable stations, while if i watched tv while being on an ibook, then it'dd be alot easier...
would the screen size for dvds be really small or good enough? and with monitoring with another monitor (or whatever its called) such as a 17" monitor, would the dvd be in the same resolution as the ibook (1024x768) ? probably tho...
im not a photoshop person so i wont need to worry bout it...i may just use it from time to time for simple stuff...how slow would win 98/2k be on vpc? (using it for when im too lazy to go to the desktop puter lol)

 

[Mikrowave Kandy]

What is so funny up there? I've never seen someone "lol"
as much as you do. Get the ibook. You'll like it.

 

[lmalave]

Get the iBook

I just got the mid-range iBook and it's the best $1333 I ever spent. 10.2 runs quite fast, but I'm not sure how it would compare to the eMac. Web browsing with Chimera 0.6 on my iBook is faster, though, than on my hunk of junk Dell with IE6. I say buy the iBook right away - the product line just got an upgrade and a price drop, so you can maximize the value you get out of it, and enjoy your iBook that much sooner

 

[cubist]

Have you considered one of the 15" LCD iMacs?

They're closing them out for around $1000... has a G4, not very portable but more neat-o than the eMac.

 

[SilvorX]

Originally posted by Mikrowave Kandy
What is so funny up there? I've never seen someone "lol"
as much as you do. Get the ibook. You'll like it.

meh dont be bothering me bout it...just do that when im trying to lighten up the post :S
I'm thinking the iBook but 12.1" screen doesnt seem that large but then again its a laptop , but it wont be replaced (for faster model) for atleast 6 months so thats the good part bout it...
i know someone who owns an ibook at school, and i tried it out once (did some typing up for some sports stats) and the the screen res didnt look that great..hopefully it was at 800x600, is that the default res on the ibook or is 1024x768 the default?..and then again it was on os9...i cant wait to get the mac tho
-Silv0rX

 

[lmalave]

Originally posted by SilvorX

i know someone who owns an ibook at school, and i tried it out once (did some typing up for some sports stats) and the the screen res didnt look that great..hopefully it was at 800x600, is that the default res on the ibook or is 1024x768 the default?..and then again it was on os9...
-Silv0rX

Don't worry, the resolution on the iBook is just fine. I run it at 1024x768 (the default), and I am totally satisfied with it. The screen is smaller than a standard 14" laptop, but that's better since it's more portable. Plus, since Mac OS X uses so much font smoothing, text on browsers, etc. is at least as easy on the eyes as text on a 14" Windows Laptop.

 

[SilvorX]

Originally posted by lmalave


Don't worry, the resolution on the iBook is just fine. I run it at 1024x768 (the default), and I am totally satisfied with it. The screen is smaller than a standard 14" laptop, but that's better since it's more portable. Plus, since Mac OS X uses so much font smoothing, text on browsers, etc. is at least as easy on the eyes as text on a 14" Windows Laptop.

hmm sounds pretty good lol, have u had any problems with your ibook yet?

 

[lmalave]

Originally posted by SilvorX

hmm sounds pretty good lol, have u had any problems with your ibook yet?

Nope, none so far! I even installed an Airport card today and it works beautifully with no configuration needed, although a wired connection is definitely faster for web browsing or file transfers.

 

[SilvorX]

Originally posted by lmalave


Nope, none so far! I even installed an Airport card today and it works beautifully with no configuration needed, although a wired connection is definitely faster for web browsing or file transfers.

lol well im stuck with dialup so ah well lol
i see your old computers a dell, how much faster (in your oppinion) was the ibook to your dell computer? ive been trying to "switch" well b4 the switch campaign was around...but then again i was still really into pc's back then :S

 

[lmalave]

Originally posted by SilvorX

lol well im stuck with dialup so ah well lol
i see your old computers a dell, how much faster (in your oppinion) was the ibook to your dell computer? ive been trying to "switch" well b4 the switch campaign was around...but then again i was still really into pc's back then :S

Hmmm...I can't think of an obvious difference that I've seen in term one computer being faster than the other for a particualr task...

But anyway, that's the whole point - CPU doesn't really matter that much. Basically, I wanted a computer I'd still be happy with in 3 to 4 years. The reason being, I don't see any application coming along in the next few years that would be make me want to get a faster CPU. The most CPU intensive things most people use are the web browser and the operating system itself (Windows or OS X), and either the P III or the G3 are more than fast enough already to run these. Therefore I looked at things like HD space (to hold my Music and possibly in the future Video), RAM (since applications are always using more and more memory), Video card (I'm not a gamer but I still wanted a fairly good one because I didn't want this to somehow limit me in the future), and DVD/CD-RW drive (In the future most computers will have DVD writers, but that's at least a couple years away and I needed a laptop now). So in my final analysis the iBook was by far the best laptop I could get for $1300 (esp. when you consider size and battery life)

 

[SilvorX]

Originally posted by lmalave


Hmmm...I can't think of an obvious difference that I've seen in term one computer being faster than the other for a particualr task...

But anyway, that's the whole point - CPU doesn't really matter that much. Basically, I wanted a computer I'd still be happy with in 3 to 4 years. The reason being, I don't see any application coming along in the next few years that would be make me want to get a faster CPU. The most CPU intensive things most people use are the web browser and the operating system itself (Windows or OS X), and either the P III or the G3 are more than fast enough already to run these. Therefore I looked at things like HD space (to hold my Music and possibly in the future Video), RAM (since applications are always using more and more memory), Video card (I'm not a gamer but I still wanted a fairly good one because I didn't want this to somehow limit me in the future), and DVD/CD-RW drive (In the future most computers will have DVD writers, but that's at least a couple years away and I needed a laptop now). So in my final analysis the iBook was by far the best laptop I could get for $1300 (esp. when you consider size and battery life)

very true, right now it looks like it will just increase slowly but steadily, the day ichat alone requires 50 megs of ram cpu is the day either theres a memory leak or there must be alot of features lol....
i was thinking bout having ibook on my mac list a few weeks ago..but my problem was that 16 megs of vram wasnt even near enough for me (since i dont think it enables QE) and since they now have 32 MB vram...its a good buy it sounds like...and ive been hearing that ALL the mac computers (with a display) are bad quality, except the ibook (n probably powerbook)
I'm not a gamer either, but i played games on my puter from time to time and it was pretty slow tho (only 8 mb of vram i think)....

 

[Thirteenva]

Originally posted by lmalave


Nope, none so far! I even installed an Airport card today and it works beautifully with no configuration needed, although a wired connection is definitely faster for web browsing or file transfers.

I have airport in my tibook and i haven't noticed any loss in speed in web browsing. File transfer between computers is very slow compared to a wired network, but the web speed should be about the same. 802.11b is capable of 11mps and the web maxes out at 10mps so the wireless shouldnt really inhibit your speed if your getting a good signal.

 

[Thirteenva]

Originally posted by SilvorX

ya, i dont like being stuck at my computer all day, from time to time theres a tv show on tv (lets say something like SNL), the tv in the room where my current computer is doesnt get any cable stations, while if i watched tv while being on an ibook, then it'dd be alot easier...
would the screen size for dvds be really small or good enough? and with monitoring with another monitor (or whatever its called) such as a 17" monitor, would the dvd be in the same resolution as the ibook (1024x768) ? probably tho...
im not a photoshop person so i wont need to worry bout it...i may just use it from time to time for simple stuff...how slow would win 98/2k be on vpc? (using it for when im too lazy to go to the desktop puter lol)

I think the ibook will be fine, and if your really worried about screen size then you could get the 14inch ibook.

Forget about vpc if you have access to a pc at home. my experience with it is that it runs very slow on the ibooks. My friend got so angry with it on his that he just took it off.

I had vpc 5 with win 98 on my tibook (500mhz with 512mb ram) and it was annoyingly slow even when letting it have more memory. I have a crappy 300mhz pc(and i mean crappy ), that was given to me, that is faster running Win XP(with eye candy on) than 98 was on my mac. I know they say some versions of windows run better in vpc than others, but with access to a pc at home, i wouldn't bother getting vpc.

I just suffer through using the pc on rare instances where i need windows(testing websites, etc).

 

[Roger1]

emacs v ibook

While both seem to be good machines I am partial to the portability of the ibook. I currently use a PowerBook, and I love the fact that I can sit in my Laz -E- Boy, and watch tv while surfing the web (although I think it annoys my wife ) If you decide to go with an Emac, WAIT until they get the monitor problem fixed. Our local repair shop is flooded with defective Emacs, with something like a 2 week backlog, based upon our wait to get repairs done to the Emacs we sent in.

 

[SilvorX]

Re: emacs v ibook

Originally posted by Roger1
While both seem to be good machines I am partial to the portability of the ibook. I currently use a PowerBook, and I love the fact that I can sit in my Laz -E- Boy, and watch tv while surfing the web (although I think it annoys my wife ) If you decide to go with an Emac, WAIT until they get the monitor problem fixed. Our local repair shop is flooded with defective Emacs, with something like a 2 week backlog, based upon our wait to get repairs done to the Emacs we sent in.

the ibook would be pretty sweet for when i just want to relax, do some chatting and watch tv, and watch a dvd when theres nothing to do..
I've heard enough bad stuff bout the emac...no emac on my list anymore...of course lol...
a 14.1" ibook would be really nice, but its $500 CDN more than the 12.1" just for a different case, more battery power...and 128 megs more ram..hmm i'll have to do some talking this week to my dad after i get back from the computer store..