Speed of the iBook, nay or yay?

[FFTT]

One thing that may or may not be important
is that the 12" iBook does NOT have the SuperDrive option.

When you consider the time you'll have your new machine I'd
go for the 12" Powerbook.

 

[pna]

hey, what's all this talk about the ibook having better wireless reception than the powerbook? I hadn't heard this before -- do they have the antenna placed differently or something?

That's actually quite a selling point, though I feel like I've done fine with the reception even on the old tiBook I've got, which are supposedly the worst for reception.

 

[asqy]

From some of the posts in this thread and other threads I've read I been hearing that the screen on the iBook isnt good or something? Whats wrong with it? I heard that it isnt as bright as that of the Powerbook but has more battery life?

Anyhow so far from what I hearing there isnt much of a point going towards a powerbook, atleast for my needs because I wont really be using the extra video power, or the processing power. Im also not interested on hooking it up to a display because Im taking it to college and Im still bring my desktop with me. If I needed anything bigger I'll just simply transfer the file to my PC.


So right now this is what Im thinking...

I buy a 12'' iBook Combo Drive
Upgrade to 60gb
Upgrade to 1.25gb of RAM (Im probably going to wait for newegg to have some sale so I can get it for $100)
And of course AppleCare


So according to the mac website it should be 1199 just the system, hdd, and applecare, with student discount. Another 100 for the later RAM upgrade making it a total of 1300.


I did read in another forum that there was a $100 mail in rebate for students? Where might I find that?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820155111

is this the ram you are refering to?

 

[slooksterPSV]

I think the screens on the iBooks are just perfect (as in lighting) and when you really have one in front of you, even if its the 12" like I have, you really don't care about the resolution (like I would). It's perfect in my opinon. As long as you have the options to change the brightness of the screen. (F1 an F2 for me).

 

[wako]

DAMMIT! I almost bought my first mac today during class registration...


I was SO CLOSE! I finally decided not to hoping another "cram and jam" thing I heard about before will come up again or another 100 dollar rebate.

 

[tsk]

hey, what's all this talk about the ibook having better wireless reception than the powerbook? I hadn't heard this before -- do they have the antenna placed differently or something?

That's actually quite a selling point, though I feel like I've done fine with the reception even on the old tiBook I've got, which are supposedly the worst for reception.

It's the plastic vs metal issue.

 

[ashon3611]

Before the Intel-Apple anouncement I was sold on getting a PB when the cram and jam promotion comes out but the fact that there is somewhat a possibility that some software that is going to be made in the future (perhaps 2-3 years from now) that wont suppose PowerPC probably made the ibook more attractive.

With that $400 id save now i could put toward an mac mini a year or year and a half when the mactels come out. Being a college student I only need a laptop to use Word, AIM, itunes, and perhaps playing around w/ my friend's audio software (Logic, Reason). Ill just drop a Gig strip of mem and it seems like that should beable to hold it own. (Heck my friend is running this complex software on his 877Mhz PB w/ only 512 of ram) Plus ive seen too many PB w/ dents, i asked the dude at the genious bar has he seen an ibook w/ dents he was like no make some scuffs but thats it, they seem more durable.

 

[mxpiazza]

DAMMIT! I almost bought my first mac today during class registration...


I was SO CLOSE! I finally decided not to hoping another "cram and jam" thing I heard about before will come up again or another 100 dollar rebate.

somone on the fourms said a buddy was in-store in CA and the new cram-n-jam is buy a powerbook (or ibook?) and get a free 4GB mini.

 

[pyrodude]

Me and my friend bought our laptops together about a month ago.
I bought a powerbook and he bought an ibook.
Performance wise i didnt see much of difference between them but a big reason im happy with my powerbook is that it doesnt scratch.
Her ibook has the same material thats used on the ipods and it scratches ALOT!
I honestly think the 200 dollars are worth having a clean laptop for the next three years.
Also i noticed a big difference in battery times. Her ibook's battery is significantly longer than mine.

 

[jefhatfield]

Me and my friend bought our laptops together about a month ago.
I bought a powerbook and he bought an ibook.
Performance wise i didnt see much of difference between them but a big reason im happy with my powerbook is that it doesnt scratch.
Her ibook has the same material thats used on the ipods and it scratches ALOT!
I honestly think the 200 dollars are worth having a clean laptop for the next three years.
Also i noticed a big difference in battery times. Her ibook's battery is significantly longer than mine.

there are so many issues one has to look at but if you are a student going to hs/college/university, battery time seems to be a big issue

if you leave your laptop at home all the time, then the powerbook is the perfect desktop replacement since you can hook up a large lcd

i use macs for fun and my business, and i have to use a pc for law school/legal research since ms virtual pc does not work with some legal software for some strange reason (he he, hey bill gates, get your developers to fix that issue in your virtual pc software, ok?)

 

[wako]

Sweet the new update on the website has the free ipod with any purchase of a mac!



I think im going to still get a powerbook, I think i may wait a month before I get it though and HOPE they will update it or the ibook

 

[slooksterPSV]

there are so many issues one has to look at but if you are a student going to hs/college/university, battery time seems to be a big issue

if you leave your laptop at home all the time, then the powerbook is the perfect desktop replacement since you can hook up a large lcd

i use macs for fun and my business, and i have to use a pc for law school/legal research since ms virtual pc does not work with some legal software for some strange reason (he he, hey bill gates, get your developers to fix that issue in your virtual pc software, ok?)

I wonder if MS does that for a reason? If you don't have a PC, then you'll need one to run this software. lol, its MS, what do you expect.

Yes battery time is the biggest issue for me. I need to have a battery that will last for at least 4 hours if not more. In my Graphics class I can plug it in and charge it, besides that, I'm the admin, so this laptop (along with an external hard drive (after I find an enclosure for it that will work)) will help to create images of the lab, put them up on the server and execute them.