I for one love the fact that the iBook now has an Airport Express already in it and whats more, I love that price.
Truly this is now THE BEST consumer laptop.
Mike
Truly this is now THE BEST consumer laptop.
Mike
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New iBooks Released
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"Thats because Apple engineers equipped the new iBook G4 with a powerful, professional-level graphics processor. Using an ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 graphics processor with 32MB of DDR SDRAM and AGP 4X, the iBook G4 delivers blistering 2D, 3D and multimedia graphics performance for todays most demanding games and applications."
Since when is a 32MB video card "professional-level"?
What is Apple doing with their latest machines and graphic card offerings?! (iMac G5 and this ibooks)
I wish Apple would at least push the 14 incher to 64MB....we're gonna get laughed at!
Since when is a 32MB video card "professional-level"?
What is Apple doing with their latest machines and graphic card offerings?! (iMac G5 and this ibooks)
I wish Apple would at least push the 14 incher to 64MB....we're gonna get laughed at!
nmk said:
If they release new PowerBook's during MWSF, they won't change the design. It would cost too much to come up with a new design to only use for a brief period since G5 PowerBooks are already in the works.
I think we'll either see speed bumped G4's in Jan or they'll announce G5's, which is what I'm hoping for. Want one so badly.
These new ones look really cool. Though, while I love the iBooks to death, I don't think I'm gonna buy one. There are 2 things that piss me off about them.
1. They're updated so often it's like flavor of the month to me. I have a G3 800 iBook from last summer and there's already been how many revisions since then?? They're not future-proof enough for me.
2. They scratch right out of the box. They look great, but use 'em for a month and they look like hell. I suppose your mileage may differ, but I'm not about to keep mine in some super-protective cocoon all the time when I'm not using it, I want to use it, and REALLY use it. My TiBook took a pounding, and my 12" PB is still ticking along.
If they ever make them with scratch-proof plastic (like the clam-shell ones) then I'll reconsider.
...and don't even get me started on the logic board fiasco. I've only had mine replaced once, but I really feel for the people who've had theirs die 3 or even 4 times.
1. They're updated so often it's like flavor of the month to me. I have a G3 800 iBook from last summer and there's already been how many revisions since then?? They're not future-proof enough for me.
2. They scratch right out of the box. They look great, but use 'em for a month and they look like hell. I suppose your mileage may differ, but I'm not about to keep mine in some super-protective cocoon all the time when I'm not using it, I want to use it, and REALLY use it. My TiBook took a pounding, and my 12" PB is still ticking along.
If they ever make them with scratch-proof plastic (like the clam-shell ones) then I'll reconsider.
...and don't even get me started on the logic board fiasco. I've only had mine replaced once, but I really feel for the people who've had theirs die 3 or even 4 times.
CaptainCaveMann said:The front side buss is low on paper but we all know that in real world use the G4 is not far behind many of its p4 or pm or amd counterparts,especially when you consider the portability of the PB and the iBook.Yes the new P4 laptops with a 533 front side buss are faster but they also way 8 or 9 pounds.Its all give and take i guess.
Its not give or take, its just take. Apple takes the profits, and they take away the 167 full fledged bus. My Centrino machine have a 400 Mhz FSB, running at 1.6 Ghz, it weighs less than 6 pounds and has mostly metallic casings. Fan never turns on unless i run benchmarks or play games. And if you refer to Cinebench benchmarks, a universal cross platform benchmark, you'll see the aging G4 architecture waning. The G4 was competitive with the PIII, not with any of the newer chips in either camp, G4's destiny is perish or become a strictly embedded chip, or be revamped and spun the silicon a few more times. The only good part of the G4 is the vector unit, which we all praise, but that's the unit that requires the most FSB bandwidth, at 133 Mhz, the G4 have troubles filling the VMX unit with instructions, and compete with that is the regular floating point which is concurrent with VMX and the integer pipelines, you have a big choke point.
Get the G4 out of the door, or get the G4's updated, either way, the current iteration of G4's are competitive with yesterday's machines.
5300cs said:
Updated often? They're updated ~ every 6-8 months. That's not often. Would you prefer that they update them every 1-2 years instead so that your PowerBook would retain its value better? Because that's just ridiculous. You can't stop progress. Things are always going to get better.
5300cs said:
I didn't know about the scratchmatic feature of these iBooks. Now that compounds the problem further, i'm definitely going to recommend everyone i know NOT to buy one of those i$Books.
Yvan256 said:I hope you're aware that only core-compliant computer users will see that ripple?
Now that was funny 
So are you saying i should buy a 1.8 pentium m based hp laptop instead of a g4 ibook?? hahaMaxx Power said:
Zaty said:You should submit this post as "big news" in late March/early April. Chances are good you're going to hit the jackpot with your prediction
Hehe, I could go down in history as the second oracle
should I buy the 14"iBook of the 12"PowerBook?
I'm planning to make the switch with my next portable computer purchase. Since I don't know much about Mac (or computers in general), could anyone please give me a hint?
I teach and do research in economics at a university, here in Spain. Professionally, I need a computer for writing papers (using LaTex, since Scientific WorkPlace won't run on a Mac), running some mathematical applications (like Ox, Gauss or Matlab), preparing presentations for classes and conferences. I would like to have an easy-to-carry computer with reasonable battery life.
Since I am planning the switch, I also would like to be able to play some of my favorite games on my new computer (titles like Age of Empires II, CivIII, Age of Mythology) even if I have to purchase the Mac copy.
I would very much appreciate your help.
Greetings from Pamplona (where the bulls run )
I'm planning to make the switch with my next portable computer purchase. Since I don't know much about Mac (or computers in general), could anyone please give me a hint?
I teach and do research in economics at a university, here in Spain. Professionally, I need a computer for writing papers (using LaTex, since Scientific WorkPlace won't run on a Mac), running some mathematical applications (like Ox, Gauss or Matlab), preparing presentations for classes and conferences. I would like to have an easy-to-carry computer with reasonable battery life.
Since I am planning the switch, I also would like to be able to play some of my favorite games on my new computer (titles like Age of Empires II, CivIII, Age of Mythology) even if I have to purchase the Mac copy.
I would very much appreciate your help.
Greetings from Pamplona (where the bulls run )
RobertV said:
If that's the main thing you will do, get the 12", its a nice baby, I have it and have never regret about getting it, if you ever need screen spanning , get the hack, it won't affect the warranty ... it's more than portable... just increase the hard disk and maybe the internal BT module, wireless mouse/KB are pretty nice to have when typing a lot...
AmigoMac said:
What are you talking about? The 12" PB does spanning without the hack, only the iBook needs it.
Peel said:
agree entirely. i don't see how it can be negative.
its a better specced machine, and it costs less money. whats not to like? you can't reasonably expect every hardware update to be big enough to warrant a new purchase.
our G4 PB bought this year i would expect to last at least 5 years. biut whatever replaces it in 5 years should be a pretty impressive bit of kit!
Iain
RobertV said:
Why not the 12" iBook...? The screen resolution on the 14" is the same as on the 12". The 12" is much more portable, and the screen is more than big enough...
I use it for most of the things you're talking about. I write my masters thesis in Lyx (don't know about Matlab, though) and play some games, mostly CM4, which uses alot of processor, but still runs fairly OK on my 12" iBook G4 800MHz...
You can make presentations in Keynote or even <shrugging>Powerpoint</shrugging>.
And the battery life on the 12" iBook is FANTASTIC. My ran for over 6 1/2 hours when new, now it's a year old (and has been in use every day) and still gives me 5 hours. (If I turn down screen brightness, don't use the speakers and with as little Airport use as possible, but still...).
Ohh, excuse me, I didn't read the "Powerbook" part ... sorry..
As the iBooks just came out, i thought we were just talking about them... I would go with an iBook, right now the PB it's not the best and an update is to be seen in January/February ... but, What do I know? the same as the next poster... iBook 12" for those tasks is more than fine... but a 14" with SD, sounds better.
again, I didn't note you wrote powerbook...
As the iBooks just came out, i thought we were just talking about them... I would go with an iBook, right now the PB it's not the best and an update is to be seen in January/February ... but, What do I know? the same as the next poster... iBook 12" for those tasks is more than fine... but a 14" with SD, sounds better.
again, I didn't note you wrote powerbook...
AmigoMac said:
Somebody feeling a little bit defensive today?
Didn't mean to "offend" you, I was just trying to clearify that the PB doesn't need it. I do agree with you that the 12" PB is somewhat a bad deal now over the 12" iBook but over the 14" iBook with SD it's only $250 more for the PB and you get a whole lot of features more.
If you need the SD get the 12" PB if you don't get the 12" iBook. Simple as that.
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
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
