New iBooks Released

[RobertV]

it's getting clearer

Muchas gracias.

I think I'll go for the 12"iBook with 512MB RAM and 60GB HDD. Considering the discount I get for being a professor, I think it has quite a reasonable price.

 

[Diatribe]

Muchas gracias.

I think I'll go for the 12"iBook with 512MB RAM and 60GB HDD. Considering the discount I get for being a professor, I think it has quite a reasonable price.

De nada. I think you'll enjoy it a lot and welcome to the forum and macs in general.

 

[Diatribe]

Yeah, I'm pretty sensitive today... have a lot of things in my head, nevermind, we can manage that, Verdad?

For basic typing needs, I don't see the big point of getting the PB... those *more* features will be useless unless you need a second LCD.. maybe you're right maybe I am but an iBook will be a good deal right now

Aber sicher, we can.

 

[iProbot]

i just got a 1 gig ibook like 3 weeks ago and this comes out, Wonderful, anything i can do about this or am i stuck with my old one.

OLD one???? It's only 3 weeks "old"! Be satisfied with what you got

 

[aussiesteve]

small scren blues

why does apple insist on penalising people who want a laptop with a small screen. surely by this stage it shouldn't matter what size screen you choose as to which processor you get. some people need the smaller screen for compactness to get in bags and such. why should these people suffer with a slower machine? all 3 models should have had the same processor.
also the gap between the high end processor apple uses and low end is far too big. 1ghz is enough. so these ibooks should be 1.5ghz.

 

[AmigoMac]

Muchas gracias.

I think I'll go for the 12"iBook with 512MB RAM and 60GB HDD. Considering the discount I get for being a professor, I think it has quite a reasonable price.

That's a good option, will kick some wintel boxes away, but think about the BT module, if you ever want an external mouse (wireless is a good option), Welcome and feel free to ask everything you need.

Bienvenido amigo

 

[Maxx Power]

So are you saying i should buy a 1.8 pentium m based hp laptop instead of a g4 ibook?? haha

Is that supposed to be rhetoric ? It's not getting there at this rate. I'd pick a Pentium M for its battery life, amazing performance and features. Oh the other hand, if i wanted something a little more superficial, i'd go with a PowerBook. I would never even consider the iBook.

 

[~Shard~]

That's a good option, will kick some wintel boxes away, but think about the BT module, if you ever want an external mouse (wireless is a good option), Welcome and feel free to ask everything you need.

Bienvenido amigo

Yes, I'd agree with AmigoMac - many people dismiss the BT module thinking they'll never have any use for it, but then find themselves mistaken a few months or even a year down the road. It's relatively cheap, so you may want to go with it anyway.

And as for your sig, AmigoMac, God does play dice with the universe - and the dice are loaded.

 

[AmigoMac]

And as for your sig, AmigoMac, God does play dice with the universe - and the dice are loaded.

I would like you to discuss that with the author but it's quite difficult , maybe you will do it if God plays dice ... as always, it a matter of choice ...

Back on topic, I bought this iBook because of its portability and I decided I will go for the 15" PB when they get Dual-core or what ever kickass after Tiger, they said they will slow down the OS releases and it gives me a 3 years frame idea for a new machine, the eMac at home will be renewed as soon as it gets a customer...

Now, apple, a 13" widescreen PB with backlight KB, that nice dual-core processor, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB 5400 RPM HD, ATI 9700/9800 128 MB (optional)... will do just fine !

 

[~Shard~]

I'd pick a Pentium M for its battery life, amazing performance and features. Oh the other hand, if i wanted something a little more superficial, i'd go with a PowerBook. I would never even consider the iBook.

How can you have amazing features when you're not running OS X? And how can you have amazing performance when you're running Windows?

Also, how is a PowerBook superficial? Have you ever used one of the 17" PowerBooks before? You wouldn't be saying that if you have, as they are beautiful machines, and not just in terms of aesthetics. Or do they lack features and performance since they don't run on a Pentium M with good old Windows?

 

[lasuther]

Yes, I'd agree with AmigoMac - many people dismiss the BT module thinking they'll never have any use for it, but then find themselves mistaken a few months or even a year down the road. It's relatively cheap, so you may want to go with it anyway.
QUOTE]

I regret not getting the BT module in my iBook I bought in February. When I bought my iBook 8 months, I spent $1400 for the specs below. The new iBook completely kills it and for a lot less money.

I was planning on buying a PowerBook when Tiger comes out, but the new iBooks are so price competitive I might get another iBook. Assuming they put a 64MB graphics card in.

lasuther

 

[AmigoMac]

Yes, I'd agree with AmigoMac - many people dismiss the BT module thinking they'll never have any use for it, but then find themselves mistaken a few months or even a year down the road. It's relatively cheap, so you may want to go with it anyway.
QUOTE]

I regret not getting the BT module in my iBook I bought in February. When I bought my iBook 8 months, I spent $1400 for the specs below. The new iBook completely kills it and for a lot less money.

I was planning on buying a PowerBook when Tiger comes out, but the new iBooks are so price competitive I might get another iBook. Assuming they put a 64MB graphics card in.

lasuther

You're better with a PB, but as we both say, after Tiger, you will have a machine for a while... buying right now is fine if you must have a PB, but if you can wait, give the next rev a try, there are a lot of things coming out next year, this year was ... just ok!

 

[Maxx Power]

How can you have amazing features when you're not running OS X? And how can you have amazing performance when you're running Windows?

Also, how is a PowerBook superficial? Have you ever used one of the 17" PowerBooks before? You wouldn't be saying that if you have, as they are beautiful machines, and not just in terms of aesthetics. Or do they lack features and performance since they don't run on a Pentium M with good old Windows?

Although you are right about me not having used a 17 inch powerbook before, i have used a 12 and a 15 for a small amount of time. I find their display way too blue with poor contrast compared to what i have seen in a lot of other laptops. I have the intention on checking out and possibly buying a 17 inch to help reduce power consumption in the house to replace my primary desktop.

However, your arguements in your first paragraph are illogical. I know where you are arguing from, it's OS X, it must be better, or it's a Mac, it just works, that line of marketing slogan that they expect you to swallow. I use both proficiently, and if you know how to use windows, you'll find a lot of the things are easier and more intuitive. I prefer the taskbar with launch icons instead of dock with a uni-menu above. I prefer the good TaskManager to kill applications. I like the fact i can maximize windows. On the other hand, i prefer the look of OS x much much more. The ability to scale icons on the run, the ability to use OpenGL to process graphical user interface, etc. Features like Remote Desktop, Fast User Switching, Pre-emptive multitasking and a few more were first found on the windows platform in comparative terms of the two operating systems we are talking about here. Pentium M is a very capable processor, even if you do not prefer the software you run on it. Lets not forget, you can get Linux if you want, which is also built on Unix core, like OS X. In my opinion, its only going to be a matter of time before we see OS X on X86 hardware, all of its core contents except the GUI is already avaliable for x86 anyway.

Those thoughts aside, the Powerbook 17 in its current iteration can not hold a candle to what the Pentium M based notebooks can do in terms of performance. And that was the idea of the original post.

 

[aznsal612]

Hey everyone!

I feel weird interjecting in this huge conversation about iBook vs. Pbook and which should get what, gripes, praises, etc., but I felt the need to ask a question (that's probably redundant).

So here's another situation for you mac people.

I'm a freshman at NYU and am deciding to make the 'big switch'. The last time I used a mac was in fifth grade, so it's been a while. I have a Dell laptop (Inspiron 5150), but am saving up for an apple laptop. I primarily use the laptop for typical casual college student stuff, you know the deal. But I also am a photographer and into web design so I use a lot of Adobe Photoshop and often multi-task with that program, so I am very aware of the hardware situation.

With the current state of the apple lineup, should I jump in head first and go with the ibook deal? Or wait it out for a possible powerbook price drop in the upcoming months? I'm not a hardware junkie but won't stand the skimpy ****, so I'm an in betweener.

Or the other answer is: just stick with your dell kid.

So yeah. And I'm literally saving up...penny by penny. So I'd probably reach my goal in...say...earliest mid-December , latest end of January.

Your take peoples?

Arigato.

 

[Doctor Q]

Hey everyone!

I feel weird interjecting in this huge conversation about iBook vs. Pbook and which should get what, gripes, praises, etc., but I felt the need to ask a question (that's probably redundant).

So here's another situation for you mac people.

I'm a freshman at NYU and am deciding to make the 'big switch'. The last time I used a mac was in fifth grade, so it's been a while. I have a Dell laptop (Inspiron 5150), but am saving up for an apple laptop. I primarily use the laptop for typical casual college student stuff, you know the deal. But I also am a photographer and into web design so I use a lot of Adobe Photoshop and often multi-task with that program, so I am very aware of the hardware situation.

With the current state of the apple lineup, should I jump in head first and go with the ibook deal? Or wait it out for a possible powerbook price drop in the upcoming months? I'm not a hardware junkie but won't stand the skimpy ****, so I'm an in betweener.

Or the other answer is: just stick with your dell kid.

So yeah. And I'm literally saving up...penny by penny. So I'd probably reach my goal in...say...earliest mid-December , latest end of January.

Your take peoples?

Arigato.

My advice: Don't decide until you have saved that last penny. Things will likely be different then, so then (not now) is the time to evaluate the choices about current products and the likelihood of upcoming models being announced or prices dropping just after you make your purchase. Currently, the choice isn't obvious because it's been long enough since the last PowerBooks that it's reasonable to expect new models soon, yet we hear rumors that new models will not be out this year. As far as which model you need, the usual college stuff can usually be done on an iBook. If you can afford a PowerBook, at the then-current prices when you are ready, you'll appreciate the speed boost for Photoshop.

 

[diehlr]

But the important thing to remember about all this graphics acceleration business is that there is nothing a GPU can do that can't also be done with a dumb frame buffer driven by a conventional CPU. Obviously there's a speed difference, but that doesn't mean you can't get things done.

That is a bit of a botched argument. Who is going to use a feature if it is slow and puts a huge burden on their processor? Not me. There is a reason things are done on graphics processors- because CPUs cannot do them at acceptable performance levels. Gee, how about we just get rid of graphics acceleration altogether and render all 3D on CPUs? What is this GPU thing you speak of?

 

[7on]

Yeah, Hell, sometimes I wished I had one with the slower iBook instead of this powerbook one and a half years ago. At the time I was going to go with a 12" 700Mhz G3 ibook, but at the last minute my parents decided to let it be my graduation present so I went with a maxed out 15" @ 1Ghz. Sure it's been great - but even in Photoshop/Illustrator and stuff it seems that I could have not wasted so much of my parent's money and gone with a slower model. This was my first Mac so I didn't know the whole speed issue thing. The slowest machine Apple sells still has killer performance.

(@ work they still use Beiges and B&Ws so my PB is really a speed daemon)

 

[Frobozz]

Nobody who knows what he's getting will buy an obsolete machine incapable of supporting Core Image in six months unless he is really desperate.
Buy this an expect to get a bad deal the day you want to get rid of it on ebay.

According to the page devoted to the recent developer Preview program of OS X 10.4, Tiger ( http://developer.apple.com/macosx/tiger/index.html ):

"Core Image leverages OpenGL to provide a state-of-the-art image processing environment, making it easier for you to take advantage of the power of today's programmable GPUs. Core Image compiles image processing programs—or kernels—at runtime, globally optimizing across multiple kernels and taking advantage of the GPU whenever possible. It can also dynamically generate optimized code for SMP CPUs when CPU processing is desired."

You aren't going to need your iBook to run CoreImage enabled tasks. That's not what an iBook is for. An iBook is for basic computing, not running Motion, etc. However, it does sound like further confirmation that CoreImage supports any Tiger capable Mac by scaling to the CPU(s).

 

[Frobozz]

That is a bit of a botched argument. Who is going to use a feature if it is slow and puts a huge burden on their processor? Not me. There is a reason things are done on graphics processors- because CPUs cannot do them at acceptable performance levels. Gee, how about we just get rid of graphics acceleration altogether and render all 3D on CPUs? What is this GPU thing you speak of?

I think what he was getting at is that the solution scales. As my previous post quotes, Apple has confirmed that it will. You really have to think of this in a different way-- Apple doesn't want or need you to be able to run CoreImage accelerated applications on their lowest common denominator. That's why you'd get a PowerBook-- to run Motion and other CoreImage accelerated applications. The fact that it scales to a CPU is great, because it means you can still run the applications in a pinch. Doesn't mean you'd want to, as you correctly point out, though.

 

[sw1tcher]

Hey everyone!

I feel weird interjecting in this huge conversation about iBook vs. Pbook and which should get what, gripes, praises, etc., but I felt the need to ask a question (that's probably redundant).

So here's another situation for you mac people.

I'm a freshman at NYU and am deciding to make the 'big switch'. The last time I used a mac was in fifth grade, so it's been a while. I have a Dell laptop (Inspiron 5150), but am saving up for an apple laptop. I primarily use the laptop for typical casual college student stuff, you know the deal. But I also am a photographer and into web design so I use a lot of Adobe Photoshop and often multi-task with that program, so I am very aware of the hardware situation.

With the current state of the apple lineup, should I jump in head first and go with the ibook deal? Or wait it out for a possible powerbook price drop in the upcoming months? I'm not a hardware junkie but won't stand the skimpy ****, so I'm an in betweener.

Or the other answer is: just stick with your dell kid.

So yeah. And I'm literally saving up...penny by penny. So I'd probably reach my goal in...say...earliest mid-December , latest end of January.

Your take peoples?

Arigato.

If you're still saving and won't reach your savings goal until mid-december/end of january, I'd recommend waiting until then. Apple may surprise us during MWSF. I've got my money waiting until then too.

 

[~Shard~]

I would like you to discuss that with the author but it's quite difficult , maybe you will do it if God plays dice ... as always, it a matter of choice ...

Heh heh - I know bud, I was actually just having fun with your sig, I don't have strong feelings one way or the other - just thought I'd play devil's advocate more than anything.

Back on topic, I bought this iBook because of its portability and I decided I will go for the 15" PB when they get Dual-core or what ever kickass after Tiger, they said they will slow down the OS releases and it gives me a 3 years frame idea for a new machine, the eMac at home will be renewed as soon as it gets a customer...

Now, apple, a 13" widescreen PB with backlight KB, that nice dual-core processor, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB 5400 RPM HD, ATI 9700/9800 128 MB (optional)... will do just fine !

I think it's a good move on Apple's part to slow down the OS releases. On the one hand, is is definitely nice to have frequent updates from the perspective that you have access to cool new features more rapidly. However, it does get a bit much with a new OS every year, especially if one is expected to pay $129 each time.

At any rate, I think you made a good call, and I'll be anxious to see that future machine you specced out as well.

 

[~Shard~]

You're better with a PB, but as we both say, after Tiger, you will have a machine for a while... buying right now is fine if you must have a PB, but if you can wait, give the next rev a try, there are a lot of things coming out next year, this year was ... just ok!

I definitely agree - you always have to buy what you want, when you want it, but if you can hold out and wait, it might be beneficial in this case. This year was a great year (new iPods, iPod minis, G5 iMac, PowerMac revs, iBook updates, Airport Express, etc. etc.) but next year looks even more promising IMO.

 

[~Shard~]

Although you are right about me not having used a 17 inch powerbook before, i have used a 12 and a 15 for a small amount of time. I find their display way too blue with poor contrast compared to what i have seen in a lot of other laptops. I have the intention on checking out and possibly buying a 17 inch to help reduce power consumption in the house to replace my primary desktop.

...

Those thoughts aside, the Powerbook 17 in its current iteration can not hold a candle to what the Pentium M based notebooks can do in terms of performance. And that was the idea of the original post.

I was actually saying all of that more tongue-in-cheek than anything, and purposely erring on the side of "Mac zealot" just for fun, touting the old "OS X rules" and "Macs are better just because" arguments. I use Windows as well, on a daily basis in fact, and knowing the OS inside and out like I do, I agree - if you know what you're doing, if you take care of your system, etc., there's nothing really wrong with it - Windows XP does not crash on a daily basis like many Mac people seem to think.

It does come down to personal preference though. Some people prefer certain Windows features over OS X features, and vice versa. Same with systems/hardware too, some prefer Intel over IBM, Alienware over Macs for games. etc. etc. And for me, honestly, I really love Macs, so I do really prefer OS X to Windows, and the whole "Apple experience" to the Wintel world, but I am definitely not naive, and think that Apple is perfect. I am also completely tolerant of people who have differing points of view, and different likes and dislikes, so as I said, I was just giving you a hard time more than anything.

 

[Maxx Power]

I was actually saying all of that more tongue-in-cheek than anything, and purposely erring on the side of "Mac zealot" just for fun, touting the old "OS X rules" and "Macs are better just because" arguments. I use Windows as well, on a daily basis in fact, and knowing the OS inside and out like I do, I agree - if you know what you're doing, if you take care of your system, etc., there's nothing really wrong with it - Windows XP does not crash on a daily basis like many Mac people seem to think.

It does come down to personal preference though. Some people prefer certain Windows features over OS X features, and vice versa. Same with systems/hardware too, some prefer Intel over IBM, Alienware over Macs for games. etc. etc. And for me, honestly, I really love Macs, so I do really prefer OS X to Windows, and the whole "Apple experience" to the Wintel world, but I am definitely not naive, and think that Apple is perfect. I am also completely tolerant of people who have differing points of view, and different likes and dislikes, so as I said, I was just giving you a hard time more than anything.

Agreed. You live in Regina ? I used to live there !!

 

[~Shard~]

Agreed. You live in Regina ? I used to live there !!

You're freakin' kidding me! Where in Regina? When did you move? And to where? Talk about a small world... But no need to engage in off-topic posts, so just PM me sometime and we'll chat a bit about good old Regina.