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Just got my 12" iBook

GimmeSlack12

GimmeSlack12

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 29, 2005
5,406
14
San Francisco
The new 1.33 Ghz machine is beautiful. I'm very proud to have my 5th Macintosh. I'm just finished updating the machine and now I'm transferring data via firewire from my B/W G3/400.

It started back in 1991: LC->7500/100->Beige G3->B/W G3-> iBook 1.33
 
very nice, congrats. :) I've had mine about a week now and they are splendid little machines. That B/W must have served you very well to have been around so long!
 
Cool, congrats!

This is also my fifth Macintosh! :) I expect it to last longer than any of the others.
  1. Mac SE
  2. Performa 550
  3. PowerBook 520c
  4. PowerMac G4/667
  5. PowerBook G4 17"
 
congrats, im sure you will love it just as much as your other macs!! if not more b/c now you will be able to take it everywhere with you!!! just be careful and be sure to have a good case for it!
 
I am thinking about getting a 12" iBook for the on-the-road use. I bought the 12" PB Super recently so that I can bring the Mac experience wherever my works take me; but, I am so protective of this PB (from dents and scratches) and I became very nervous taking this PB with me when I am on the road (I am in sales). I feel more comfortable taking an iBook because of its plastic case and its more affordable price (less heart ache when the accidents hit).

My use for an iBook is: writing proposal in Words or Excel, doing brochure/marketing materials using Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, possibly using MX 2004 suite (to learn these programs while I am on business trip), web serfing, and other basic functions.

I am wondering if people who bought a regular 12" iBook (which can be purchased at the Apple Store) are satisfied with the iBook's performance and if the iBook met their expectations. Non BTO model only comes with a 40 GB drive and I am curious to know if the owner of this model has no issue with the hard drive space isssue. I prefer not to go for the BTO because it is difficult to get an exchange if the machine has problems.
 
YS2003 said:
I am thinking about getting a 12" iBook for the on-the-road use. I bought the 12" PB Super recently so that I can bring the Mac experience wherever my works take me; but, I am so protective of this PB (from dents and scratches) and I became very nervous taking this PB with me when I am on the road (I am in sales). I feel more comfortable taking an iBook because of its plastic case and its more affordable price (less heart ache when the accidents hit).

My use for an iBook is: writing proposal in Words or Excel, doing brochure/marketing materials using Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, possibly using MX 2004 suite (to learn these programs while I am on business trip), web serfing, and other basic functions.

I am wondering if people who bought a regular 12" iBook (which can be purchased at the Apple Store) are satisfied with the iBook's performance and if the iBook met their expectations. Non BTO model only comes with a 40 GB drive and I am curious to know if the owner of this model has no issue with the hard drive space isssue. I prefer not to go for the BTO because it is difficult to get an exchange if the machine has problems.
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I have a first gen iBook G4...I have been very satisfied with the iBook's performance, but I can't imagine having only 40GB of hard drive space. However, my main music collection on the iMac is roughly 60GB...20GB of that has been copied over on to the iBook.

I waivered between the pbook and iBook back when I bought this--ultimately decided that I liked the iBook screen better (LOOKed brighter in the store), and I didn't feel like I needed to baby it. It travels very well (spent 5 weeks on the road in Greece in Turkey recently...no problems...even when in a bag in the trunk for a while...)...I've dropped it, jostled it, even accidentally thrown stuff on top of it. No issues. My only problem: the I, O, N, and M keys are no longer recognizable as the markings have rubbed off.
 
stevietheb said:
I have a first gen iBook G4...I have been very satisfied with the iBook's performance, but I can't imagine having only 40GB of hard drive space. However, my main music collection on the iMac is roughly 60GB...20GB of that has been copied over on to the iBook.

I waivered between the pbook and iBook back when I bought this--ultimately decided that I liked the iBook screen better (LOOKed brighter in the store), and I didn't feel like I needed to baby it. It travels very well (spent 5 weeks on the road in Greece in Turkey recently...no problems...even when in a bag in the trunk for a while...)...I've dropped it, jostled it, even accidentally thrown stuff on top of it. No issues. My only problem: the I, O, N, and M keys are no longer recognizable as the markings have rubbed off.
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting good experience you've been having with your iBook. I don't want to be rough with my computer I paid for; but, sometimes in a hurry, things may happen. I am glad to hear your first gen iBook is serving you well even now. I just wish the non BTO iBook would come with a 60 GB HD as a standard feature......
 
YS2003 said:
Thanks for posting good experience you've been having with your iBook. I don't want to be rough with my computer I paid for; but, sometimes in a hurry, things may happen. I am glad to hear your first gen iBook is serving you well even now. I just wish the non BTO iBook would come with a 60 GB HD as a standard feature......
Click to expand...
Yeah. Honestly, if it weren't for the amount of music that I like to carry around...40GB would be fine.
 
YS2003 said:
I am thinking about getting a 12" iBook for the on-the-road use. I bought the 12" PB Super recently so that I can bring the Mac experience wherever my works take me; but, I am so protective of this PB (from dents and scratches) and I became very nervous taking this PB with me when I am on the road (I am in sales). I feel more comfortable taking an iBook because of its plastic case and its more affordable price (less heart ache when the accidents hit).

My use for an iBook is: writing proposal in Words or Excel, doing brochure/marketing materials using Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, possibly using MX 2004 suite (to learn these programs while I am on business trip), web serfing, and other basic functions.

I am wondering if people who bought a regular 12" iBook (which can be purchased at the Apple Store) are satisfied with the iBook's performance and if the iBook met their expectations. Non BTO model only comes with a 40 GB drive and I am curious to know if the owner of this model has no issue with the hard drive space isssue. I prefer not to go for the BTO because it is difficult to get an exchange if the machine has problems.
Click to expand...

I've had an iBook G4 for over a year now and I LOVE it. I use those apps on mine and it's just fine! Runs Tiger well too. You'll be very happy with one, trust me.
 
My brother has the 14" iBook, its nice, but there is little difference between the two machines other than the size. The resolution 1024x768 and that is all I need.

I find this machine to be very nice. People are quite impressed by it too (those who don't know Macs). It's a great tool for getting people to switch, and I BTOed this iBook for the 60gb HD (whats another $75?). I've come a long way from the old Mac LC with the 40mb drive, that machine taught me a lot about Macs.
This machine will assist me in England as I get my Masters in Acoustical Engineering, with my BS in Physics in tow. I then look to join the iPod team at Apple.
 
GimmeSlack12 said:
This machine will assist me in England as I get my Masters in Acoustical Engineering, with my BS in Physics in tow. I then look to join the iPod team at Apple.
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Best of luck!
 
I'm on my second iBook from yesterday too! I managed to get a very good price on the last version of the machine - got a 14" 1.33 model with 60gb h/d, and combo drive for roughly £750. They included a £20 firewire cable into the mix too - which was great. Transfering all my data off was perfect!

The only drawback which the machine has I suppose is that it only came with the 256mb of RAM - but this is easy enough to upgrade if I need to.

Anyway, they're fantastic machines, look lovely - and match the iPod perfectly!

Enjoy yours!
 
So far, I like my new 12" iBook. The neat thing about this iBook and 12" PB is they both share almost the same size and same AC adoptor (45 W). I can use my 12" PB's screensaverz and I can use the same bag without changing the accessories in the bag. I just calibrated the battery for my iBook and so far the battery last a little over 5 hours. Also, the sleep becon light on iBook is neat as well.
 
YS2003 said:
Non BTO model only comes with a 40 GB drive and I am curious to know if the owner of this model has no issue with the hard drive space isssue. I prefer not to go for the BTO because it is difficult to get an exchange if the machine has problems.
Click to expand...
I have the current 12" BTO to 60GB and have only had it in my paws for about a week and a half-- I'm already down to 44ish GB and that is after I trashed a bunch of the iLife apps and their supporting files (ooh, and using Monolingual, as well)!!! :eek: So personally, the upgrade to a 60GB drive was worth the BTO 'hassles.' I also come from using a very similar 12" 1.33GHz PB and well, yes, the iBook feels a little bit like a downgrade but I don't mind so much because 1) better battery life (very very noticeable), 2) better AE reception (also very noticeable), 3) matched my iMac more... and well, the only mild complaint I have of my iBook is that the mouse button 'click' is much more noisy compared to the PB's. Otherwise, I looooove my purdy white lappy. :p
 
YS2003 said:
So far, I like my new 12" iBook. The neat thing about this iBook and 12" PB is they both share almost the same size and same AC adoptor (45 W). I can use my 12" PB's screensaverz and I can use the same bag without changing the accessories in the bag. I just calibrated the battery for my iBook and so far the battery last a little over 5 hours. Also, the sleep becon light on iBook is neat as well.
Click to expand...

Just curious - why do you have both a 12" ibook and 12" PB? Not criticizing, but just wondering why you choose to use one over the other in any given situation...
 
QCassidy352 said:
Just curious - why do you have both a 12" ibook and 12" PB? Not criticizing, but just wondering why you choose to use one over the other in any given situation...
Click to expand...
My new iBook is for on the road use such as when I travel and when I need to bring it to my work so that I can work on some marketing materials I am making with CS2. I am not going to use this iBook with an exteranl LCD as it does not do the spanning mode. For that, my PBs are already set up with ACDs.

I bought a 12" PB for this purpose but it is too nice to bring it out "on the regular basis" as I don't want any dent nor damage to my machine. The aluminum case is such as a beauty. Also, I don't want to take it on the plane as I don't want to put this machine on the dirty tray you need to put your laptop in during the security screening. Also, iBook is easier to clean as it is made of plastic. If I keep cleaning my PB with slightly damp towel, that may cause some rusting down the road.

Also, after checking the user reviews on various web sites including MacRumours, I am impressed with many positive user experience with Apple's iBook series.

I have Lacie's new model caled LaCie Mobile Hard Drive, Design by F.A. Porsche 100GB 5400RPM on which I can carry CS2 files and bunch of clip arts. So I can take my files to work on either machine. I also have Lacies's 250 GB external and Acomdata's 160 GB external hard drives for my home use. So far, my iBook has about 27 GB of free space. I am not going to put in music on this iBook as my music file is set up with my 15" PB with its 160 GB external hard drive.

The good thing about having both 12" iBook and 12" PB is they have the same AC adaptor and alomst the same external size. So, I can use my extra iSkin keyboard protector (I bought this extra for my 15" PB; but, it is in the clamshell mode and I ended up not using this extra iSkin). I have set up my Booq and Brenthaven bags set up for my 12" PB. So, I can just put this iBook in without exchanging the accessories.

I mostly use my 12" and 15" AL PB at the same time as they are both side by side and each is connected to 20" ACD and 23" ACD respectively. My HP notebook is for using MS Money (even though I am running Norton AV & MS spyware detector, I found several spy wares on this PC yesterday; I only used it for brief web surfing a few times over the last several weeks). My Dell is a company-issue (it even has Lotus Notes on it to boot....). So, I use it for work. My Ti is for synching my Palm LifeDrive and doing other stuffs here and there. I also use my Ti to decrypt DVD using MacTheRipper and tranfer that video file to an external HD via Firewire (then, I burn it on DVD with either of my Al PBs from that external HD).

So for now, everything has been set up well.
 
devilot76 said:
but I don't mind so much because 1) better battery life (very very noticeable), 2) better AE reception (also very noticeable), 3) matched my iMac more... and well, the only mild complaint I have of my iBook is that the mouse button 'click' is much more noisy compared to the PB's. Otherwise, I looooove my purdy white lappy. :p
Click to expand...
I also noticed a longer lasting battery life with iBook. When I calibrated the battery for this iBook, I had to keep it running over 5 hours before it went to sleep after its battery is drained. With my 12" PB, it is about less than 3 hours, I guess. The track pad button also makes a louder noise (I think there is some echo inside that iBook when I click that button), which does not annoy me one bit. Also, no dead nor stuck pixel on the LCD. So, all my Apple products (3 PBs, 1 iBook, and 2 ACDs) have perfect screens to date.
 
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