I've got a 12" PowerBook, and I love it. However, for what you want to do with your computer, I'd say the iBook is the best choice for you. It is almost as powerful as a PowerBook, and much cheaper. For me, the PowerBook's audio in port, slightly better graphics card, and dual monitor capability, along with the slightly faster performance were enough to make it worth it for me. If you're not going to be doing a whole lot of heavy multimedia stuff, the iBook will be fine. You should know that in order to get a DVD burner (Superdrive) in an iBook, you have to buy the 14" model, and that narrows the price gap between the PB and iBook quite a bit.