I am very interested in getting back into the Mac world, it has been since my high school days that I owned a Mac. I currently own a Gateway Laptop, but I am selling in and then will begin my search for a Mac. I would like some insite as well as suggestions and helpful hints. I am considering the 12" verisions of either the iBook or the powerbook. If the powerbook is not necassary, I would rather save the money, but if it is strongly recommended I will consider that more heavily. I will be using the computer mostly for internet and word processing. Please let me know you feelings and recommendations! Thanks
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New Mac User wannabe, iBook or Powerbook
- Thread starter Pilgrims Pro
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Same situation
...hey...I'm in the same situation and have been reading posts here ever since the introduction of the 12PB. If you look around this site a little bit you will see several good comparisons between the two notebooks. Most people will tell you to go with the iBook because it can do all you need to do.
But there is much information here on the two....good luck
...hey...I'm in the same situation and have been reading posts here ever since the introduction of the 12PB. If you look around this site a little bit you will see several good comparisons between the two notebooks. Most people will tell you to go with the iBook because it can do all you need to do.
But there is much information here on the two....good luck
Forget the Powerbook...
If your main requirements are word processing and the internet buy the ibook. You can still do all the great things one can do with a mac as a non professional with it except burn DVDs.
If these are all your needs you will be fine with a properly configured ibook:
Get work done in any MS office except Access, do research, browse web/download, listen to music/make CDs, watch movies on your new nifty portable DVD player/laptop, conumer digital photography with iphoto.
If your main requirements are word processing and the internet buy the ibook. You can still do all the great things one can do with a mac as a non professional with it except burn DVDs.
If these are all your needs you will be fine with a properly configured ibook:
Get work done in any MS office except Access, do research, browse web/download, listen to music/make CDs, watch movies on your new nifty portable DVD player/laptop, conumer digital photography with iphoto.
If you plan to just surf the web and do some simple word processing, an iBook may be all you need. The difference in speed and general performance between a 12 inch iBook and 12 inch PowerBook might not be all that noticable if you don't plan on doing any heavy-duty computing like image and video editing. The 12 inch PowerBook has a better video card as well as Airport Extreme, so if you don't need them, don't get them.
For a bare-boned 12 inch 800 G3 iBook and 867 G4 PowerBook both equipped with a combo drive, and the price difference will come to about $500. You will need to spend at least another $100 or so to upgrade the iBook's RAM (you WILL need more than 128 MB); throw in another $100 for a bigger hard drive.
BTW, if you are student, make sure you check out Apple's education page--you can get some nice discounts that can shave $100 or so off your order.
I've been a switcher for more than a year now after dumping my Dell laptop for a TiBook, so I know exactly how you guys feel. Welcome to the world of Apple, folks.
For a bare-boned 12 inch 800 G3 iBook and 867 G4 PowerBook both equipped with a combo drive, and the price difference will come to about $500. You will need to spend at least another $100 or so to upgrade the iBook's RAM (you WILL need more than 128 MB); throw in another $100 for a bigger hard drive.
BTW, if you are student, make sure you check out Apple's education page--you can get some nice discounts that can shave $100 or so off your order.
I've been a switcher for more than a year now after dumping my Dell laptop for a TiBook, so I know exactly how you guys feel. Welcome to the world of Apple, folks.
i would also recommend the iBook, but... don't skimp on RAM, if you use MS word. RAM is a generally good thing to have plenty of, one of the cheapest ways to speed your computer.
i dunno about the rumors myself. heard a few suggestions that iBooks are coming soon with imacs, but nothing worth paying attention to.
i dunno about the rumors myself. heard a few suggestions that iBooks are coming soon with imacs, but nothing worth paying attention to.
I appreciate everyone's replies, it just reconfirms my feelings of the ibook. I do plan to enhance the RAM, but I am not 100% positive that I need the combo drive. I have a desktop that has both a CDRW and DVD. I would never use the DVD rom to watch movies on a laptop, so is there any plus to getting the Combo drive?
i find it extremely useful on my Tibook. i always carry a CDRW disc around with my laptop; you never know when you might need to tranfer data and a CD is the only viable way to do it. i turn in stuff at school like that. the bastards won't let me on the local wireless network, so i have to write to a CD to put it on other places.
trust me, it's worth it.
also, i can't believe you won't watch DVDs on your iBook. you never know when you'll be on a trip or something... they look awesome on my TiBook. lol.
my .02$
My current Laptop has a DVD and I have not used it once for movies, I have travled several times, but find more enjoyment in games or writing. But I do understand what you are saying, so people love it. I just want to get the best computer for the buck, I am not afaird to spend extra if needed, but I cannot justify that "need" for the CDRW or DVD. But I do want to weigh all my options and make sure I am getting what I want and need. Thank you!
one consideration is if the world moves in the DVD direction, which is certainly a plausible direction to go in. i mean, there are a lot of 4 CD Games out there that would be alleviated by a DVD version, like riven a few years ago. just a thought, and not a likelihood, i guess. you can always put a combo in later (at a hell of a lot more than it will cost now).
[edit] it's interesting to see someone who has no need or even much desire for a combo drive. i thought it was really a waste of time to even sell an iBook without one. but i guess i was a bit off. [/edit]
Well, you really don't have too much of a choice. If you want a CD-R, you will have to get the combo drive--otherwise, you will have to settle for a plain old CD-ROM. You will definitely want the CD-R for backups or making your own audio CDs.
It does indeed sound like the iBook is more for you. Check out Apple's education store. Buy the bare mimium RAM directly from Apple and get 512 MB RAM from a third-party vendor to save some serious $$$.
It does indeed sound like the iBook is more for you. Check out Apple's education store. Buy the bare mimium RAM directly from Apple and get 512 MB RAM from a third-party vendor to save some serious $$$.
he says he has a CDRW on his other box though. but good point about the backup. it's kinda annoying to have to transfer your backup over the network to burn it--unless you do it anyways. that's my preferred backup method, saving it on the second hard drive of my desktop PC that my sister uses
This poses another question. I am using a cable modem with a Linksys router, would I be able to plug the iBook in with no problem? If that is the case, I have absolutely no need for the CDRW, I could just transfer anything that I may need to back up....right? Sorry about this, but like I said I have been out of the Mac world for a while! Thanks!
yeah. i used a linksys with my ti before i got a wireless router. have fun!
[edit] the tibooks actually support Gb ethernet (as opposed to your linksys's 100Mb ethernet, which would be nice for backing up, but i don't have any other systems supporting Gb ethernet. i doubt the iBooks do either. oh well. i can get 15 GB over my home ethernet over 100Mbps in about 25 minutes. it's not that bad of a wait, as long as you leave your computer alone the whole time. [/edit]
I just want to make sure I understand, I wont have a problem using the linksys router with the iBook? Sorry!
none whatsoever. i assume you have the linsys set up to do DHCP (this is default, so if you don' know for sure, let me guarantee you it is). you will get a Cat5 network cable, and plug it into the port on your iBook, and then into one of the ports on the linksys router, and that will be that. you turn your iBook on (if you didn't have it on already) and it will autodetect the internet by default and you will be using your DSL or whatever you said you have immediately. at least, that is how mine worked (swbell DSL in TX).
If you get the CD-ROM only model, the processor will be 100 Mhz slower and the video card will only have 16 MB. The HD will also have 10 GB less of storage space. You'll save about $300, but I think you should get a CD-R just in case you need portable backup.
BTW, yes, you can use a Linksys router to connect to the Internet. I'm typing this message on a TiBook connected through a Linksys router.
BTW, yes, you can use a Linksys router to connect to the Internet. I'm typing this message on a TiBook connected through a Linksys router.
Originally posted by macktheknife
If you get the CD-ROM only model, the processor will be 100 Mhz slower and the video card will only have 16 MB. The HD will also have 10 GB less of storage space. You'll save about $300, but I think you should get a CD-R just in case you need portable backup.
BTW, yes, you can use a Linksys router to connect to the Internet. I'm typing this message on a TiBook connected through a Linksys router.
can't you BTO a nicer iBook without the CDRW?
wow, i just checked, looks like you can't. DEFINITELY get the CDRW iBook if that is the case. it is worth 300$ for the extra video and CPU MHz.
on a further note about connectivity, while i use a netgear wireless hub at home (works great!), i take my tibook out a lot. i can go from browsing at my house wireless, close the lid, and take it to a friend's house (who has a linksys hub and cable internet), where i plug in a cat5, open the lid, and am instantly browsing again, no config necessary. it totally rocks.
that said, if you mount a network folder and disconnect that folder without "ejecting" it from your computer, it will nearly freeze finder for a really long time, an basically force a restart. even relaunching finder doesn't seem to help. just something to be careful of.
that said, if you mount a network folder and disconnect that folder without "ejecting" it from your computer, it will nearly freeze finder for a really long time, an basically force a restart. even relaunching finder doesn't seem to help. just something to be careful of
.Thanks a lot for everyone's help. I am really looking forward to making my purchase. I have missed Macs, for a long time, but the oppurtunity is just now finally presenting it self for me to get another. Thanks again!