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Review Feedbacks on iBook 12" 14" vs PB 12" 15" 17"

slooksterPSV

slooksterPSV

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 17, 2004
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Nowheresville
Ok, since I've joined the Forums I've always said - I want to buy a Mac - iBook and that.

When I was at CompUSA on Thursday I went over and looked at the Mac Mini, iBook, and Powerbooks. I saw the iBook 12" screen and I'm just thinking - OMG I can't use that, that screen is too tiny, but then I saw the 14" and I'm still thinking 1024x768 may just not suit me well. Now I'm considering buying a PowerBook G4 15.2" screen, but I want to ask users of the 12" iB and PB and 14" iB and 15.2" PB users to tell me what they think of the screens, depending on what they've used. Lately I've become a big res fan, but I guess I can always buy a monitor to use the iBook at my desk or that, but I'd still like some review feedbacks.

Thanks you guys, see how much $$$ I have saved up? I'm gonna do it :D
 
I love my 14' ibook. It is my first mac and an outstanding machine. And totaly fast for everything that I do which is amazing. I figured it woundnt really be taking the specs into concideration. I got 768MB of ram total tho.

The only complaint is 1024x768.... but its not so bad I guess. I am used to it.
 
I love my 15 inch Powerbook. You will benefit from the extra speed to which will make the investment last longer. IMO 1024x768 feels to small, and the 15 inch the right size, as the 17 is too big.
 
My first Apple was an iMac G4 bought new in February, and I LOVE IT, despite the fact that I also now own a 20-inch iMac G5 2.0 gHz with an extra gig of RAM. I think that says a lot about the iBook! But that's just me . . . :confused:
 
i have a 12" PB and it is great. I can take it anywhere, it is light and I can hook it upto an external monitor and span it if i really want to use the extra space. At the end of the day it depends what you want. My priority was size and how easy it was to carry around + speed so the small screen with a processor compromise was the best deal for me. if you want screen size then go for the top spec 15", I think the 17" is ott.
 
Both iBooks have the same resolution, so it doesn't matter which one you get. The PowerBooks on the other hand come in higher resolution. The 15" is probably the one to go for because the 12" is a little on the smaler side, i could never deal with using one either. I'm so happy with my 15", hell i would even consider the 17" because the bigger screens are so much nicer.
 
Well I have a 12" iBook, and sometimes I feel the screen was larger and that I had a large desktop monitor instead.

But is it worth spending all that extra hard earned cash on a slightly larger screen!?

Heres a iBook V Powerbook Article

And A iBook 12" Review

Don't forget if your getting your laptop for portabilty the bigger screen means a larger heavier unit to carry around too.
 
Thanks for the reviews, still looking for more answers from people, but I'm leaning back towards the iBook 12" - I'll have to go to CompUSA and try it out, for real and see how well, and what rez they have on it. I think if I were to make the dock smaller and set the rez at max I should be fine. If I put Dock magnification, it'd be perfect. Thanks you guys.

I'm wondering, Tech Restore has their iBook G3 700MHz for $401.92 (thats shipping and 7low coupon code), should I save up and get brand new and updated one, or just spend now and get that one? I'm leaning towards new one though.
 
I have the twelve inch iBook and I LOVE IT. It is the perfect mix between portability and power. I dont really have a problem with the screen I find it alright, but it could be brighter. If you use it at a desk you can always use the spanning hack to get higher resolution on an external monitor. GET ONE, you will not regret it.
 
12" large anough, but what about brightness?

I find my iBook 12" large enough for my needs (although sometimes it would be nice to do some screen-spanning with a second monitor - but miBook is a too old for that:()

One thing that I am less enthousiastic about is the brightness of the screen (backlighting). The screen is too dim to work outside in the sun, or even outside on an overcast day for that matter. So theroretically you can use your iBook anywhere, but in reality only outside when a thunderstorm is impending... (then again, why would you be sitting behind your computer when the weather is fine: you too go outside and play in the sun! - this may be a regional attitude, though;))

I hate to say it, but if you really need to use your computer outside a lot, Apple is a lousy performer :(

so Steve: please update the iBooks today and give them a brighter screen (and yes, I am willing to sacrifice battery-time for that)!
 
Hi, I have the 14" iBook see sig. and I like it. If I had the money for the 15" PB that's what I would 've bought. More so for the slightly faster proc., HDD, extra ram slot (2gig) and last the 1" extra screen.
The iBook does everything I want it to and I've been very pleased so far. If money is an issue then iBook (14") since you feel the 12" is to small but go for the bigger HDD (I wish I had) and max out the ram (you won't be sorry). Now as far as keeping it clean it's been easy but I'm not much of a mess maker anyway but just something to consider if it matters. Good luck and enjoy :)
 
I have the 12"pb (see sig.) I really enjoy this small powerful computer. The screen resolution doesn't bother me too much but if you are going to be doing anything with Photoshop or Dreamweaver you will start to become frustrated with all the panels overlapping. Since I don't work with those programs a lot, I don't have to worry. You are right about the dock. I turn mine down to about 1/3 the way up the slider. it is a reasonable size so I don't have to use magnification. Remember that the more icons you stick in t he dock the smaller it gets because of auto-resizing. I also turned the icon size in Finder down to 32 to be able to see more at one time.

I bought this computer for college thinking I would carry it to classes, but normally it stays at my desk in my room. Still the 12" 'Books are the size of a notebook so they fit in a backpack perfectly.
 
I love my PB (12") But if your first instinct was that the 12" was too small then trust me, you will always regret that you didn't buy the 15" and you "knew" you should have. Just my .02
 
I too eager so I think I'll go with the 12" iBook. I'll have like $3xx in my savings account next week, from there - just the rest of the summer to save up. So it'll be a while before I get it, thats why I was wondering about just buying an iBook G3 700Mhz 256MB RAM for right now off of Techrestore.
 
Ok, next payday I'm getting a G3 700MHz laptop from techrestore. If Apple is going to move to Intel over the course of the next year basically, then I'll take what I can get now for what I have now. Oh that just makes me so mad that they'er going with Intel - I'd rather it be AMD to be quite honest.
 
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