Which one???

[Cindy]

I could do alot of searching on all but I'm so tired and lazy right now. I'm dealing with a sickly eMac G4 right now and I might have to get another computer down the road.
I have always wanted a portable. What is the main difference between the ibook and the power book?
Pros and cons between a portable and a desktop? Besides portability.
IE: can a portable do the same things as a desktop? Although I don't do much - just emails and message boards and research.
How long do the batteries last if you're not plugged in someplace? Watching a DVD movie would be great on a plane.
Are the portables a CRT or not?
I'm taking my sick eMac to the doc sometime soon and if it is indeed the CRT going bad -- I don't think I want another CRT computer. Since my last computer (an old iMac G3) did the same thing.
So, if not a portable, then an iMac LCD.
Then I got looking at the Mac mini and I'm totally confused there.
Why buy a mini and then a screen -- why not just go with an iMac??
Then with the mini, you'd have to worry about speakers etc...
Am I missing something here?
Thanks for any help.
Cindy

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I could do alot of searching on all but I'm so tired and lazy right now. I'm dealing with a sickly eMac G4 right now and I might have to get another computer down the road.
I have always wanted a portable. What is the main difference between the ibook and the power book?
Pros and cons between a portable and a desktop? Besides portability.
IE: can a portable do the same things as a desktop? Although I don't do much - just emails and message boards and research.
How long do the batteries last if you're not plugged in someplace? Watching a DVD movie would be great on a plane.
Are the portables a CRT or not?
I'm taking my sick eMac to the doc sometime soon and if it is indeed the CRT going bad -- I don't think I want another CRT computer. Since my last computer (an old iMac G3) did the same thing.
So, if not a portable, then an iMac LCD.
Then I got looking at the Mac mini and I'm totally confused there.
Why buy a mini and then a screen -- why not just go with an iMac??
Then with the mini, you'd have to worry about speakers etc...
Am I missing something here?
Thanks for any help.
Cindy

Cindy-

The iBook is, of course, slower than the PowerBook. The iBook is also unable to extend your desktop onto a second monitor (it can only mirror). As Apple says, the battery life depends strongly on how the machine is used. DVD playback will drain the batteries the fastest. All of the iBooks and PowerBooks use LCDs out of necessity - a CRT won't physically fit in a notebook form factor. The Mac mini is meant for users that already have a keyboard, monitor, and mouse from a previous Mac or PC - it sounds to me that that isn't you.

 

[Cindy]

Cindy-

The iBook is, of course, slower than the PowerBook. The iBook is also unable to extend your desktop onto a second monitor (it can only mirror). .

explain the extension of my desktop.... why would you want to extend onto a second monitor? 😕

 

[andiwm2003]

explain the extension of my desktop.... why would you want to extend onto a second monitor? 😕

with a powerbook you can have the desktop span both monitors. that means, you can have your picture in photoshop on one monitor and all the pallettes on the other. helps a lot in graphics editing. or you can have one program (a video that plays) on one monitor while doing word or excel on the other. more important when you give presentations the external monitor (or projector) shows the actual slide and your monitor shows the next slide and extra notes that the audience shouldn't see.

the ibook can't do this screen spanning (unless you use a special hack that is not supported by apple), the powerbook can do that.

and yes, the mini with all the extras (keyboard, monitor, mouse) it almost as expensive as the imac g5. unless you get a good deal on the monitor or you already have one (as most pc users do).

andi

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

PowerBook

If you want portable: iBook - with the things you've said - the iBook will do more than enough for you
- - take it where ever and when ever you want
If you want desktop: iMac - same thing as the iBook but faster, more capabilites, bigger and faster hard drive, etc...

^^the only bad about the iMac is that it is not portable

If you're looking for a really powerful, reliable, fast, computer - - iMac is your solution
If you're looking for a reliable, portable, somewhat fast/powerful(not as much as the PowerBook obviously) computer - - iBook is your solution

 

[irok]

im getting a 12" ibook soon, so that i could experience the mac and it's ultra portablility. and also the ibook is the only notebook i could afford...

AND IT'S CUTE TOO! i can already imagine me surfing wirelessly in the bathroom with my foofbag.

i'm also planning to get a ipod mini if i dont get the powerbook.

 

[tigerspy]

I've been kind of going through this same sort of decision. My wife is looking for a laptop that she can use for working from home and for her basic email, office apps and Internet. We recently borrowed a 14" iBook 1.33 GHz from a friend for a weekend. We were rather impressed at its performance.

I own a dual G5, which I use for my work as an application developer. The iBook is understandably slower, but within good reason. With a laptop, I can't see myself working necessarily with the same apps or as many apps simultaneously as I do with a desktop, simply because of the screen size and comfort. At any rate, everyone's needs are different.

If you can assess your computing needs as falling within the email, Internet, office applications, music/multimedia realm, then I think an iBook is a fine laptop. Like I said, it was surprisingly zippy. It did have 1.25 gigs of memory, which is the max that the iBook can handle, and well worth it if you ask me.

What worries me is that Apple has not updated the iBook in quite a long time. This seems insane to me compared to Apple's PC competition in the laptop market.

I also recently had the pleasure of testing out a PowerBook 1.5 GHz 15", but not for nearly as long as I had the iBook. I would assume that if you're using the laptop for work along the lines of computing development, analysis, professional image editing, etc or you simply like it's sleeker, cooler design, then the PowerBook would be a much better choice. There's just a lot of features that the PowerBook has that caters to the more professional user.
I know the PowerBook owner who loaned it to me complained that it dented easily, whereas the iBook seems much more resilient to minor bumps, etc.

Based on our needs for a laptop, I've decided that I'll wait for Apple to refresh the iBook line.