WolfgangK said:
If they do for the iBooks what they just did for the iMacs it will be well worth the wait.
Hang in there...think 64meg VRAM, 100 gig HDD option, faster superdrive, maybe even a whole new form factor...
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Purchasing 12" iBook today. Dumb idea???
- Thread starter WolfgangK
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If they do for the iBooks what they just did for the iMacs it will be well worth the wait.
Hang in there...think 64meg VRAM, 100 gig HDD option, faster superdrive, maybe even a whole new form factor...
Wait for higher resolution
Apple is great. I don't think that they will reinvent the wheel this year. However, it would be nice if Apple starts working on their screen resolution. I am deeply frustrated with the limitation of the iBook and PB line. I have macs since ages and love them but I get mad when I see the huge resolution possible on PCs laptops... 1024.768 is too low for me, but hey, that may be just because I am a designer
Writers may don't care.
Dave
Apple is great. I don't think that they will reinvent the wheel this year. However, it would be nice if Apple starts working on their screen resolution. I am deeply frustrated with the limitation of the iBook and PB line. I have macs since ages and love them but I get mad when I see the huge resolution possible on PCs laptops... 1024.768 is too low for me, but hey, that may be just because I am a designer
Writers may don't care.Dave
Wolfgang -
Played the waiting game for over a month. First I just wanted a 12" ibook, then I( realized I wanted a superdrive on it to burn DVD's, and when you add in the fact that you absolutely need another 256 MB of RAM, you're paying $1575 before taxes for an ibook with a 14" screen but not the resolution to take advantage of it. For another $125 you could have a 12" PB with Superdrive, 1.5 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB HD, bluetooth support and a better graphics card. Plus, that line was updated fairly recently and so is unlikely to be updated again soon enough to give you buyer's remorse.
I ended up buying the 12" PB at the release Friday, someone was nice enough to give me a 10% off coupon, and I couldn't be happier. Once I buy an airport extreme base station for my house, I'll never need to use my desktop PC again. It's an awesome machine. When you're spending over 1600 bucks for a machine, my feeling is for what you're getting, its worth the extra 8% or so on the price to have the PB. Ibook is a great deal at the entry level, but once you start adding things to it, the PB becomes the better deal.
Played the waiting game for over a month. First I just wanted a 12" ibook, then I( realized I wanted a superdrive on it to burn DVD's, and when you add in the fact that you absolutely need another 256 MB of RAM, you're paying $1575 before taxes for an ibook with a 14" screen but not the resolution to take advantage of it. For another $125 you could have a 12" PB with Superdrive, 1.5 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB HD, bluetooth support and a better graphics card. Plus, that line was updated fairly recently and so is unlikely to be updated again soon enough to give you buyer's remorse.
I ended up buying the 12" PB at the release Friday, someone was nice enough to give me a 10% off coupon, and I couldn't be happier. Once I buy an airport extreme base station for my house, I'll never need to use my desktop PC again. It's an awesome machine. When you're spending over 1600 bucks for a machine, my feeling is for what you're getting, its worth the extra 8% or so on the price to have the PB. Ibook is a great deal at the entry level, but once you start adding things to it, the PB becomes the better deal.
mcarnes said:
CoreImage doesn't require 64MB VRAM, it requires a programmable GPU. A Radeon 7000 with 256MB VRAM would NOT support CoreImage, but a Radeon 9600/32MB would.
Then again, maybe it's GPU/64+MB VRAM, not sure if a 9600/32MB would work. But it's NOT only "64+MB VRAM".
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/coreimage/
I'm hoping for these specs for the 12" iBook:
- G4 1.25GHz, 167MHz FSB (instead of G4 1.2GHz, 133MHz FSB)
- Radeon 9600/64MB (instead of Radeon 9200/32MB)
- SuperDrive model/option (currently not available on 12" iBook)
I know the 167MHz FSB is "PowerBook territory", but the eMac and Mac mini are 167MHz FSB too. Anyway the PowerBooks will still have a higher clock speed (1.33/1.5 vs 1.25/1.42).
- G4 1.25GHz, 167MHz FSB (instead of G4 1.2GHz, 133MHz FSB)
- Radeon 9600/64MB (instead of Radeon 9200/32MB)
- SuperDrive model/option (currently not available on 12" iBook)
I know the 167MHz FSB is "PowerBook territory", but the eMac and Mac mini are 167MHz FSB too. Anyway the PowerBooks will still have a higher clock speed (1.33/1.5 vs 1.25/1.42).
Great! I stayed home today to buy my daughter a ibook for her birthday. She is heading off to a summer school program this year and then off to college in a year and she has always wanted a apple laptop. So I was going to buy a 12" ibook today since her birthday was next week. Am I making a mistake? We are really stretching the budget with the $999 ibook so I don't think a powerbook would be an option.
Any suggestions would be great....
Any suggestions would be great....
volntitan said:
Personally, I would wait the extra week or two if your daughter doesn't need it right away. Since you took the day off, however, (and since your daughter is the one who will be using the iBook) I think you're plenty justified in purchasing one today. Only problem is, once you see it in action you'll be wanting to buy one for yourself too!
New info...just found a new powerbook 12 inch at Microcenter for $1099 with a $100 rebate.
Here is the link: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0173861
Would this be a better buy than getting the ibook?
Any help would be awesome.
Here is the link: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0173861
Would this be a better buy than getting the ibook?
Any help would be awesome.
The ibook is a great machine, and for what you're buying it for and the likely needs your daughter will have, the 12" entry level model is probably perfect. I personally moved up to the PB because I wanted alot of stuff on there. But, especially if were stretching the budget - or even if I weren't - I seriously doubt I'd be buying my child anything better than an ibook 12". And also, what difference would an update really make at this point? And what if it is a significant upgrade that ends up costing more? I think in your case its a no-brainer, buy the ibook 12" for your kid today.
I will likely buy one today, but now I see I can get this 12" powerbook for the same price as a 12" ibook. Could someone be kind enough to click on that link and let me know if there is a "catch"? I am not a mac guy, but it seems like the Powerbook is the much better deal.
Well, its the previous version of the powerbook, so it has specs that are not current. 256 MB RAM (same as ibook), better video card, slightly faster processor (1.33 vs. 1.2), but doesn't come with Tiger or Airport, so if you want the new OS or wireless access you'll have to pay for those, which combined I believe would run about $150-200. A new ibook with similar specs would cost $999 versus $1300 for the powerbook that again is last year's model. I would probably go with the ibook, even if you didn't upgrade the PB at 1099, for the extra $100 you could be up to 512 RAM on a new ibook and with another $50 increase you HD to 60 GB. If I were you, I'd go with the ibook.
volntitan said:
The catch is the powerbook is sold out... and has been since at least yesterday. It is old stock so they will most likely not be getting any more in.
volntitan said:
In terms of the actual computer, yes the Powerbook is the better deal. However, I believe that the iBook still comes with a few more pre-installed software items. The biggest on in your situation may be Appleworks. While Appleworks isn't M$ Word, if your budget is already blown by just the computer, it'll be hard to pay to add Word to the Powerbook. Using Appleworks allows your daughter to have wordprocessing and spreadsheet capabilities until you can afford the leap to Word.
Also, you may want to check out buying an Apple certified iBook here to save you some coin.
Again..thanks for all the advice. I am kind of lost here. I will be able to install Office because at work (video post house) we have Office there that we have a full license for, so that isn't a big concern.
Another question...I assume neither of these are "wide screens". Is one more durable than the other?
Another question...I assume neither of these are "wide screens". Is one more durable than the other?
volntitan said:
Yes, the AppleCare does cost more, but this is partly because AppleCare for PowerBooks actually covers any Apple display you purchase at the same time. They would both be covered by that fee. I know, this is useless unless you purchase an Apple display, but I thought I'd point it out.