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PB vs iB vs G5 vs .........

S

sotied

macrumors regular
Original poster
I need a bit of advice. No comments will be ignored because I'm in a bind.

I have $2000 max to spend.

I have a G4 dual 867 with a combo drive and a superdrive (aftermarket), 60GB and 120GB (aftermarket), 1.5GB Ram.

I write for a living and am now in the mood to get another laptop (had a PB100, PB145B and other PB). SHOULD do more writing on the road and figure the best way to do so isn't a self-help class on motivation, it's dumping $2k of my cash into a PB or iB.

SO, what should I get? I want at least a combo drive, 60GB HD, Bluetooth (for a wireless mouse), Airport Extreme, and at least 700MB of Ram.

Will the prices drop? I need to buy in 2004.

ALSO, I can buy through an educational discount, BUT I don't want to miss out on a MacWarehouse/ClubMac/MacConn, etc. "FREE RAM, FREE PRINTER, FREE CASE" deal.

HELP, HELP, HELP!!

Thanks,

Jeff
 
What else would you do on your laptop?

You could always buy an iBook and spend the rest of the $2k on an iPod Mini...
 
sotied said:
I want at least a combo drive, 60GB HD, Bluetooth (for a wireless mouse), Airport Extreme, and at least 700MB of Ram.

Will the prices drop? I need to buy in 2004.
Click to expand...
1) No, there will be no futher price reductions this year. (As announced by Apple)

2) within 2000 you can get:
* A 12" PB (comes w/ airport extreme standard, bluetooth and combo drive standard) w/ the HD upgrade (to 80GB). ($1550ish from apple)
* A 1GB stick of RAM from OWC ($250 incl shipping/taxes)
(it's an easy install and you end up w/ 1.25GB of RAM; it takes 5 minutes and requires a "size 0" phillips screwdriver)

thats 1800... w/ applecare (a good idea) you may go slightly overbudget, but not by much... 2100-2200 incl shipping
-RS
 
I agree.. if you're just writing, there's no need to over-power your laptop.

A 14" iBook, 512MB RAM, 1.3GHz processor, Superdrive (no combodrives offered), 60GB hard drive, Bluetooth, AirPort Extreme card, extra battery, extra power supply, and AppleCare comes to $1904.00 (not including tax) with Edu discount, directly from Apple.
 
Cool, but more questions

yellow said:
I agree.. if you're just writing, there's no need to over-power your laptop.

A 14" iBook, 512MB RAM, 1.3GHz processor, Superdrive (no combodrives offered), 60GB hard drive, Bluetooth, AirPort Extreme card, extra battery, extra power supply, and AppleCare comes to $1904.00 (not including tax) with Edu discount, directly from Apple.
Click to expand...

1 - can I get Apple care if I crack it open and put in the Ram?
2 - I'll also be running Adobe Creative Suite, but not in a major way. Just playing with photos a little bit and working in InDesign.
3 - Also surfing the Web and writing email
4 - and Finally, playing with the iLife collection a tiny bit because I'll use the 'book to play a slideshow at an annual charity golf tournament I help run.

$1904 is pretty good. Seems like the add-ons might be slightly better at a catalog. Thoughts?

Is 512 enough RAM? I'll have to add in a wireless mouse and Airport for the house (I have DSL and a wired router for the G4).

Jeff
 
Get either a 14" iBook or 12" PB and as much memory as you can get for $2000. It's just nice to have extra memory in case you need to a have many applications opened.
 
sotied said:
1 - can I get Apple care if I crack it open and put in the Ram?
2 - I'll also be running Adobe Creative Suite, but not in a major way. Just playing with photos a little bit and working in InDesign.
3 - Also surfing the Web and writing email
4 - and Finally, playing with the iLife collection a tiny bit because I'll use the 'book to play a slideshow at an annual charity golf tournament I help run.

$1904 is pretty good. Seems like the add-ons might be slightly better at a catalog. Thoughts?

Is 512 enough RAM? I'll have to add in a wireless mouse and Airport for the house (I have DSL and a wired router for the G4).

Jeff
Click to expand...

1- installing RAM does not void your warrarnty or AppleCare
2- more than enough horsepower for light-to-mid CS Suite work
3- same as 2
4- same as 2

512 is enough to do all of these things. If you are planning on using GarageBand, you might want to forgo the extra battery and get more RAM instead. You definitely want the extra power supply, though. You can get a Macally universal that works for home/auto/airplane for about $70. Don't forget a back of some sort to protect your investment.

Alternately, you could go with the 12" iBook and add more accessories/RAM. That depends on how important screen real estate is to you.
 
powermac666 said:
Alternately, you could go with the 12" iBook and add more accessories/RAM. That depends on how important screen real estate is to you.
Click to expand...

the 12" and 14" iBooks have the same screen real estate, as well as the 12" pBook.
 
Hanhelds

Have you considered a handheld for writing on the road. It would be much cheaper then a laptop and could do mostly anything a laptop can, modern handhelds are quite sophisticated.
 
12" ibook. By FAR the best value among apple notebooks right now.

You can upgrade the HD to 60 GB or even 80, get the BT built in, add a gig of Crucial RAM, buy a nice case, and still be way under 2 grand.
 
12" or 14" iBook. They are plenty powerful for anything you need or want.

And get the internal bluetooth... if you ever get something bluetooth equipped, you will love it.
 
If you're really doing a lot of writing, the Powerbook will be well worth the money. They keyboard and screen are noticeably improved over the iBook. For under $2,000 you can get the 15" Powerbook with combo drive, airport, bluetooth, and still have enough to upgrade the RAM to something decent. But if you don't need all that screen, the 12" is considerably less, which will leave you with money left over.
Trust me, you won't be disappointed by going the PowerBook route, especially if you write a lot.

EDIT: If I were you, I would go to the Apple Store online via the Education route, pick the 12" Powerbook with combo drive ($1399), upgrade the hard drive to the 5400rpm one, and add AppleCare. This will bring it up to $1751, with free shipping. Then go to Crucial.com and order a 512MB stick ($109.99), bringing the grand total to $1,860.99, plus any tax.

Totally solid, fast, and under budget.
Lee Tom
 
I have to say that if you are going to get a 12 inch laptop there is no practical reason to get the pb over the iB unless you really like that look more. Personally I like the powerbooks more but right now I would not allow myself to buy a 12in pb over a 12in iB. If you want bigger screen and resolution, then you could go for a 1.5 15inch pb which nicely speced but with no superdrive, would cost around 2250 from apple edu store. That's with 512 ram in one slot leaving you free to upgrade later. However, it sounds like you need something more portable which leads me to suggest a 12in ibook which would only cost 1130 from the apple edu store. That includes an 80gig hard drive and bluetooth module. The 12in pb is only marginally faster (1.33ghz as opposed to 1.2) and besides that I can see no other benefits. This option would leave you plenty of money for other goodies including a 1gig stick of ram to get you at 1.25.
 
If you want a machine that will travel well and can take some punishment, get the iBook.

There are always threads here about people dropping their PowerBooks and damaging them.

Not as many on the iBook -- can't even remeber how long ago it been since an iBook drop story showed up.
 
I would say go for the 12" iBook, as the 14" iBook has the same screen resolution. However I do agree with Lee Tom that the powerbook keyboard is better than the iBook, although the iBook is more rugged and has better battery life. Before you buy try to get to an Apple store or reseller and try the keyboards out on both 'books.
 
James Craner said:
I would say go for the 12" iBook, as the 14" iBook has the same screen resolution. However I do agree with Lee Tom that the powerbook keyboard is better than the iBook, although the iBook is more rugged and has better battery life. Before you buy try to get to an Apple store or reseller and try the keyboards out on both 'books.
Click to expand...
The 14" is basically a bigger easier to see dot pitch, if you do a lot of long hours of writing it may be welcome.

Though comparing them side-by-side for text clarity should probably be done anyway.
 
Sun Baked said:
The 14" is basically a bigger easier to see dot pitch, if you do a lot of long hours of writing it may be welcome.

Though comparing them side-by-side for text clarity should probably be done anyway.
Click to expand...

Good point Sun Baked, and I agree that best thing to do is to see and try before you buy.
 
Good one!!

themacman said:
wait until january and get a pb g5 12"
Click to expand...

But you didn't name the year! Not 2005. We'll see dual-core G4s before there's a G5 in a Powerbook. Right now, the iMac G5 is as small a form factor as they can stuff one of those toasters in right now and it's HUGE compared to a laptop...
 
Final question - narrowed

OK. Everyone has been FANTASTIC with their advice.

My last questions is - in your opinion - am I really going to regret going with a 12 inch, 30GB, 1GHz INSTEAD of a 14 inch, 60GB, 1.2GHz?

As I've found out - screen is the same size on both.
I'll get AP Extreme installed in the 12
Neither one can have Bluetooth installed

AND I'll get a free 512 Ram, free printer, free bag, free Wireless G Base Station, free headphones and I'll save $230 over the 14.

Worth it??????
 
i would say take one of the drives out of your Powermac and make it into an external for your book so the harddrive wont be an issue, but that sounds good, i doubt you would notice a speed increase between the two, ram is key so i think you should be covered
 
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