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Should I buy 12" iBook now?

pulsewidth947

pulsewidth947

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Hi. I've been a PC user for virtually all my life, but I really need a mac now (i work in a music college where we only use macs). Apple suckered me into considering buying the mac mini, but as I own a PC desktop and a laptop, i figured i'd sell my laptop to buy the 12" iBook.

Anyways, so now i'm seriously considering buying, but i noted that Tiger is due to be released during the first half of this year.

Is it worth me waiting so I dont have to pay for an upgrade? I'm not certain there is any features that I desperately need, but being a PC user it seems necessary to always have the latest OS.

Sorry for the long post.. i just cant wait to start replacing my PC's.. i've had enough of BSOD!
 
Heya,

Long post? Have you seen some of the posts here? 😀

If there are no features you desperately need in Tiger, don't worry about waiting. However, a lot of people said that about Panther - and now who WOULDN'T prefer using Panther to Jaguar? 🙂

Cheers,

andy.
 
Yes I have a similar dilema. As I am not in desperate need of the Mac right now, I have decided to wait, as it is likely that the iBook will recieve an upgrade to coincide with the release of Tiger. Everyday counts, I hope it's not too far away as I can't wait to get rid of this Windows system 😱

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to mention the cost of buying Tiger at a later date, which is significant considering you cuold get it for free if you wait.
 
If you can wait, then wait. The iBook will probably be updated by the time Tiger is released. If you can't wait, then you can't wait.

Make sure to get Bluetooth with your iBook.

lasuther
 
I was just about to say i might as well wait as they'll probably update the hardware around that time..

i know what you mean jzke.. everyday at work i find another feature i love that i wish windows had. Exposé is absolute genious.. once i get my mac, this is somethng i could not be without.

i really dont understand the significance of bluetooth. i dont own any bt products or plan on owning any. Forgive my ignorance but what is so special? i can see why bt keyboards and mice would be cool on a G5 powermac.. but i dont understand why on a ibook.
 
pulsewidth947 said:
i really dont understand the significance of bluetooth. i dont own any bt products or plan on owning any. Forgive my ignorance but what is so special? i can see why bt keyboards and mice would be cool on a G5 powermac.. but i dont understand why on a ibook.
Click to expand...

The reason to get bluetooth is simple. It's cheap ($50) and you can't get it added internally later. You never know when you'll have a bluetooth product in the future and then you'll wish you got bluetooth. Devices that will work well with your iBook are:

cell phone
mouse (you'll like the scroll wheel and more than 1 button)
headset

and bluetooth with other computers. The $50 cost is very little and if you want it later, you will regret not getting. I know I regret not getting bluetooth.

lasuther
 
That is a long time to wait when you could be playing with your very own iBook by next week. That is at least three more months without a Mac. At least three more months of Windows (or perhaps linux or maybe you use something entirely different).

When I decided to buy my PowerBook in September, I am glad I didn't wait for the imminent update that still hasn't happened. That would have been four months with out this wonderful machine.

I don't have time elaborate. Buy now. Enjoy it now. There will also be a reason to wait. If you keep waiting you will never have an iBook.

"Carpe Diem, Lads! Sieze the day. Make your lives extraordinary!"
 
I dont think there is a reason to wait if you are committed to an ibook. It will be at least 4 months until any update, and that update will be a mere speed bump (its not like they'll take the books to G5 this year). Go ahead and do it. It's like last may when I bought by 3G ipod-- there were plenty of rumors about the ipod photo-- but they did not come true for another 6 months-- 6 months that I had and enjoyed the ipod.
 
I'm also looking into an iBook when I start college (heh, still a junior in high school, will be going off next summer). However, I want to edit videos ASAP. I'm in a program at my high school where I have access to G4 PowerMacs and Final Cut Pro, but I'd still like a home system, however simple it is.

Do you guys think a G5 iBook will be out by next summer?
 
Ok, i see your point about blue tooth.. I just checked the educational store, and its only £32.90 extra, so i'll opt in for it. I'm going to increase the harddrive to 60gb, then buy 512mb ram from crucial.

You are all bad influences telling me to buy now 🙂 i'm so tempted. I always seem to buy things then a couple of months later i could have got a better deal. Example 1 - i bought my 3g 20GB iPod for £270, then a couple of months later 4g came out and they lowered the price to £210 :O

Having said that, once i got it I couldnt live without it. I love it..

So i'm looking at £727.55 + £61.09 = £788.64 for a lovely little laptop 🙂
 
I would wait more for Tiger than any minor speed pump. The only real upgrade I woud hope for is the graphics card which is possible in a few months. If you can wait, I would wait for Tiger at least. You do have a laptop and desktop now.

lasuther
 
specialist said:
Do you guys think a G5 iBook will be out by next summer?
Click to expand...

Personally, I doubt it. Keep in mind the iBook did not get a G4 until late 2003. I think Apple would rather have a lot bigger pro/consumer gap than they do now. My guess is that the ibook will have a freescale 7448 or a dual core freescale G4 by summer 2006. Keep in mind that a lot of folks think that the future G4s are a better choice than a clocked down G5 for any notebooks, pro or consumer...
 
Go buy it. I am thinking of getting one too after seeing it at the Apple Store in SoHo. I have had the 17" PB which I hardly use and finally, I sold it to a friend, and just upgraded to a G5, with a 23" display so I think a 12" would be perfect, since it is petite enough, unlike the 17" which really is clunky IMHO.

I would say up the harddrive to at least 60GB and add Bluetooth. I have a Sony Ericcsson Z600 and it synchronizes perfectly with iSync via BT. Love it. Think on how much grief you would save yourself from keying in cellphone numbers individually versus just syncing.

Just my 2cents.
 
About $120 I think without upgrading combo drive to superdrive. Just HD and BT. If you are going for the max- HD, BT, Airport, RAM, about $400 I estimate.
 
What is the difference between the combo drive and the super drive?

I'm going to buy my first laptop and was waiting for the G5s, but they seem far into the horizon. So now it's a G4, and supposedly there's a running change coming up, but I can't wait forever for this. I figure the first week in Feb. the latest for me. And I assume Tiger is the new update for OSX? It would make sense the new G4s would come out at the same time. . . I hope it's soon . . . .
 
The iBook is an incredible value at this point. Proven hardware, included airport card, etc. I agree that it might be quite awhile before the G5 migrates to the iBook and I'm sure that the recent price cut and upgrades reflect this. I say buy now.
 
Think of how much better today would have been if you had your iBook already. Stop what you are doing now and order. Upgrade the hard drive to 60 GB. Save some money by buying your extra RAM (I would recommend adding a 512 MB module) from some place else and put it in yourself.

The only question is whether to pay for the expedited shipping or not.

You know you want to order it, go ahead we wont blame you.

If you wait until Tiger, then you have to wait for the revision. Then you might as well wait for iLife 06. Then you might as well wait for the next revision. Then you have to wait for Puma or whatever they will call it. Uh oh, then there are iBook G5 rumors, better wait for that bad boy. You can't buy a Rev A so now you need to wait for the Rev B iBook G5. OO, then comes iLife 06, new OS, new revision, iLife 08, yadda yadda yadda

Your still reading, go order it. Stop your procrastination.
 
iBook update times have remained pretty consistent through out the past 2 years, with updates occuring in October and April. We're just a few days away from February now, an update may not be as far away as you think.
 
MacSA said:
iBook update times have remained pretty consistent through out the past 2 years, with updates occuring in October and April. We're just a few days away from February now, an update may not be as far away as you think.
Click to expand...

Three months wait with your time line. Febuary, March, most of April. It is Midcycle right now. Apple may change the frequency of updates. Maybe they wont be evised until May or June? Maybe July. Are you willing to wait that long? Tiger is expected to come out fitst half of 2005, so before June 30th. Then again iTunes Music Canada was supose to open in November, opened in December. How long did people have to wait for their 2.5 GHz PowerMacs, or the 30 in displays? I'm sure people could add more products that were shipped/available later than expected.

There is always a reason to wait, to put it off. How long do you want to wait, when you could have it now? That is all I am saying.

Don't you hear that iBook calling your name? "pulsewidth947... pulsewidth947... pulsewidth947... you know what you need to do. We can be happy together" iBook then burst out singing Happy Together So Happy Together
 
Ah! I never knew getting a Mac could be so conflicting! I'm even more compelled to buy one soon because my dad just set up a network in our house, so I am tempted to make my Mac move now. It's not like I need the latest software; I'm just going to use it for word processing/Internet/basic picture editing. The main reason I want a Mac is for easy video editing. I don't want something as basic as iMovie; I was thinking of that new Final Cut Express HD that just came out.

Roughly, how much would it cost for the 12" iBook with:

-upgraded HD (I'm thinking 60GB, or should I just get an external HD since the bulk of space will be for my video editing?)
-CD-RW/DVD-R drive
-Final Cut Express HD

$1500?

EDIT: Eepp, I just went to the Apple Store online. Can you not get a 12" iBook with a DVD-R drive? Should I just get the 14" inch iBook with the Super Drive and add Final Cut Express HD to it?
 
If you have a search around in this forum you'll find quite a few threads with similar questions, but here's what I reckon anyway:

The 12" and 14" iBook screens are the same (1024x768) resolution. You just get bigger pixels on the 14". You could add an external monitor and have window spanning (by way of a safe open firmware 'hack'), then you get the best of both worlds.

Any BTO or stock iBook HD is 4200rpm. For serious video work I would go for a nice fat firewire HD at 7,200 or even 10,000 rpm.

The superdrive in the 14" iBook is 4x burn speed. Why not get an external 16x dual layer one and also connect that via firewire?
 
deebster said:
The superdrive in the 14" iBook is 4x burn speed. Why not get an external 16x dual layer one and also connect that via firewire?
Click to expand...

Ah, okay. So I'm just going to get the barebones $999 iBook and get an external HD and DVD-R in the coming months and Final Cut Express HD when I get tired of iMovie.

Another question...

I can use my iBook for wireless Internet in the house even if the other computers are PCs, right (that AirPort Extreme thing takes care of it?)?
 
Get it get it.
I´ve had my ibook 3 months now, and it feels like I had it forever. It would have been a long time without it. I was lucky and bought it right after the update (thanks to the people at this forum).They told me to hold out for 3 weeks, when they expected an update. Saved me alot of grief.

Do as I did, get a bigger hard drive and bluetooth. Gives you some time before you need to buy an external HD.Somle editing still is OK on the ibook. Screen is a bit small. but it´s a hack that let´s you use 2 monitors.

Best of luck. You will love it 😀
 
Humm, I've been wondering what the chance of an iBook update with Tiger is... I am gonna be buying either a 14" or a 12" one in late March/April, while I am on holiday in the US. Speed bumps by then?
 
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