This is not a yet another "when are the new ibooks due out" thread!
I am buying an ibook. I am going to wait for the upgrade. I will then be a switcher. I currently run win98se on a creaking Gateway Pentium III 550 with a 10Gig HD and 368RAM. In the meantime I have almost decided what I would buy if I HAD to buy now.
The powerbooks are out of my budget, plus I don't think I need the extra power. I actually like the look of the ibook better. I have narrowed it down to two options as follows and would appreciate any input/opinion for or against either option. My pricing is based in euros with an educational discount because I live in Ireland and I'm a teacher. And no, my school will not supply me with a laptop, I need to buy it myself!
Option 1: 14" ibook superdrive + BT + 60G HD, Airport Express base station, tucano second skin, 1Gig crucial RAM. This will cost approx. €1780 and should easily meet all my computing needs for 3 to 5 years.
Option 2: 12" ibook combo, +BT + 60Gig HD, AE base station, tucano second skin, 1 Gig crucial RAM and a samsung dual layer USB dvd +/-RW external drive (or similar). This will cost approx €1500 and should also meet my needs for the next 3 to 5 years.
Both options are a little beyond my budget but I can take the pain of debt and the longer I wait for the update the more I can save. I'm leaning towards option B: It's cheaper, I'll have two drives making copying CDs 'on-the-fly' easier. The external drive will be faster and better than the superdrive and should be useful in tandem with my NEXT computer also. The downside is the small screen. I wear glasses, I'm shortsighted but not VERY shortsighted. Any other 'four eyes' out there using a 12" notebook? I should be able to recycle my old PC's 15" monitor for use either mirroring or spanning at home but I'd prefer not to have the hassle of plugging things in etc and keeping that old crt monster cluttering up my lovely home. The 11% difference in the processing speed of the 14" is hardly going to be very noticeable is it?
I expect the updates will mean I get a slightly better computer for perhaps slightly less money. I don't expect my choices to really be that much different than they are now, unless something quite revolutionary like a 13" widescreen model is released. I'm simply prepared to wait a little while for a modest cash saving or slight bump.
I seek help here largely because I do not have access to an apple store or even a reseller. I will be buying 'blind' so to speak as I will not get to physically 'check out' ibooks before I buy, and although I can measure out the size of the screens etc it's not the same as hands-on.
Any thoughts?
rb
I am buying an ibook. I am going to wait for the upgrade. I will then be a switcher. I currently run win98se on a creaking Gateway Pentium III 550 with a 10Gig HD and 368RAM. In the meantime I have almost decided what I would buy if I HAD to buy now.
The powerbooks are out of my budget, plus I don't think I need the extra power. I actually like the look of the ibook better. I have narrowed it down to two options as follows and would appreciate any input/opinion for or against either option. My pricing is based in euros with an educational discount because I live in Ireland and I'm a teacher. And no, my school will not supply me with a laptop, I need to buy it myself!
Option 1: 14" ibook superdrive + BT + 60G HD, Airport Express base station, tucano second skin, 1Gig crucial RAM. This will cost approx. €1780 and should easily meet all my computing needs for 3 to 5 years.
Option 2: 12" ibook combo, +BT + 60Gig HD, AE base station, tucano second skin, 1 Gig crucial RAM and a samsung dual layer USB dvd +/-RW external drive (or similar). This will cost approx €1500 and should also meet my needs for the next 3 to 5 years.
Both options are a little beyond my budget but I can take the pain of debt and the longer I wait for the update the more I can save. I'm leaning towards option B: It's cheaper, I'll have two drives making copying CDs 'on-the-fly' easier. The external drive will be faster and better than the superdrive and should be useful in tandem with my NEXT computer also. The downside is the small screen. I wear glasses, I'm shortsighted but not VERY shortsighted. Any other 'four eyes' out there using a 12" notebook? I should be able to recycle my old PC's 15" monitor for use either mirroring or spanning at home but I'd prefer not to have the hassle of plugging things in etc and keeping that old crt monster cluttering up my lovely home. The 11% difference in the processing speed of the 14" is hardly going to be very noticeable is it?
I expect the updates will mean I get a slightly better computer for perhaps slightly less money. I don't expect my choices to really be that much different than they are now, unless something quite revolutionary like a 13" widescreen model is released. I'm simply prepared to wait a little while for a modest cash saving or slight bump.
I seek help here largely because I do not have access to an apple store or even a reseller. I will be buying 'blind' so to speak as I will not get to physically 'check out' ibooks before I buy, and although I can measure out the size of the screens etc it's not the same as hands-on.
Any thoughts?
rb
