Wait or Buy iBook?

[opik]

Hello,
A few months back, I posted a thread asking for the opinion on whether I should get an ibook or powerbook. After some deep though and consideration, I have decided on an iBook. Currently, Amazon.com offers a $125 mail in rebate on the 14" which suits my needs best + free mighty mouse. This expires on the 20th of December. Should I wait till Mac World in January? Will I get a better deal on this after Christmas? Are the Rev A. worth the wait? Will they upgrade the iBooks to the current powerbook specs while upgrading the powerbooks to intel? My understanding is if they update the iBook first they can't upgrade too much as even as it is, the iBook and Powerbook are quite similar in specification. ...If it's about the new iLife, I'm not too worried because with the money saved I can buy iLife 06 and maybe iWork 06 as well.

I'm in no real hurry to buy except I have been very excited about Macs lately and want to make the switch.

 

[mad jew]

Switch dammit! It's the OS you'll love, not the hardware (which is also nice).

 

[Sun Baked]

The PowerBook DDR2s are running a newer chipset than the iBook, hence the DDR2 memory and ATA100 for the optical drive on the PowerBook and DDR/ATA66 Optical on the iBook.

From the outside and looking at the specs, they may seem similar -- but the technology in the PowerBook got a big boost and update.

Heck we even may see somebody offer a 7448 upgrade with a 200MHz FSB upgrade/hack on these machines if Apple doesn't do it themselves -- something the old DDR machines likely won't support.

 

[opik]

Switch dammit! It's the OS you'll love, not the hardware (which is also nice).

How many OS upgrades do you think the iBook will be able to take and still work efficiently? What is a good length to keep an Apple hardware? 2 years?

 

[ZorPrime]

I second the two previous posts. I got the new rev of the 17" PB and have yet to regret it. It's my first laptop and it meets my needs and does what I need it to do, where and when I need it. If you need the machine soon or yesturday, you have little to lose in getting it now. I have a lot of legacy apps from the old days and would lose a lot of research data with any intelMac. It all depends on what your needs now are. Don't get consumed by the rumors because you'll end up waiting forever for "dreams" only to be let down.

just my 2¢

 

[ZorPrime]

How many OS upgrades do you think the iBook will be able to take and still work efficiently? What is a good length to keep an Apple hardware? 2 years?

If you get a current version iBook, I surmise it'll last at least 3 years. I know people with five year old iBooks with OSX. If you get a current iBook, the hardware should be able to handle 10.5 and it's future incarnations, maybe 10.6.

I still use my 733MHz G4, I got almost 5 years ago. My PB, I'm going to use as a replacement until Apple sorts out the intel transition. I still have a use for my 68k Mac from 11 years ago and use my 266MHz G3 as a home LAN/gateway server.

 

[opik]

Thanks to all of you who posted your opinion. I appreciate your help in making my decision but I'm still remaining on the border of whether to buy or wait. As well, I would benefit from any other posts some of you can post.

 

[mikesjo]

I took the dive and got one 2 weeks ago. Love it! Mainly got it cause of the OS though and the fact that everyone kept telling me "they just work". I've owned PC's for 10 years but have always had the itch to own an apple, well just recently. No regrets yet. Make sure you get a larger HD, i got the 60GB. I'm also going to add more ram within the next month, just can't decide between 512 and a gig. I'm typing on it right now .

The way I looked at it was, even if they release the rev a intels, it's going to be some time before the rev b's come out.

There's also the saying, you can wait for the next thing, but by then why not wait till the next one etc... etc... technology always changes .

Get it! I got the 12".

 

[yoak]

It is always difficult to wait, and it can turn into a tedious wating game.
When I got my 12" ibook just over a year ago, I had just discovered this forum. People here told me to wait if I didn´t really need it right away. 4 weeks later a update came out, with AE and Bluethooth as standard (and ofcourse faster CPU), and quite a significant price drop.
I had planned to get AE & BT as BTO so this was great for me.
I think I saved around $250-300 AND got a faster machine.

Then it took 3 weeks to get it delivered so all in all I waited 2 months.
You have to take that into your consideration, if they announce on the 10th of Jan, it will probably be way into February before you get your hands on your ibook. That´s a long time without OSX and Apple.

I think when you get your ibook you will be so pleased, that you won´t mind a new one comming out a few months later.

That said, I still think I would recommend you to wait and see, it always feels good to have done the best deal possible when you spend this kind of money.

PS I realized my ibook is 1 year old already, I think I will use it for many years still, and my wife probably even longer than that.

Good luck, you will enjoy the Apple experience either way

 

[cyclotron451]

Apple Hardware longevity.....

How many OS upgrades do you think the iBook will be able to take and still work efficiently? What is a good length to keep an Apple hardware? 2 years?

My 2000AD Apple iBook SE Key Lime (clamshell) 466MHz G3 is still widely in use even tho' it was delivered with system 9.0 (five point two years ago). I have upgraded easily to every new OS upgrade, 10.2 , 10.3 and now running 10.4.3 happily. After 5 years use, the battery is the only complication, having gone from 5 hours duration to about 20 minutes, so I mostly use as a "plugged-in" laptop. I have also gone thru' 2 power adapters in this time.

I'm planning to buy an AppleI(ntel)book as soon as possible in 2006,
I would be very happy for this to last 'till 2011 - though I should imagine my "projecting cognitive Apple XG cell phone" would be my portable IT device by the time I retire my AppleIntel - unless of course there is the mythical G5 laptop released by then!