New iBook, new iMac, or used TiBook?
These are the three choices I'm considering, once I get to college. Here's how I see it:
A new iBook will be cheap and very portable, and capable of doing everything I need for the moment. But I'm afraid it'll become outdated too soon. Also, the screen is small, and my vision isn't the best (bad enough to notice it's not great, but not bad enough to need glasses yet, probably 20/30).
A new iMac (combo drive version) would do everything the iBook could but faster and with a much larger screen. It costs about the same but it isn't portable (which I'm not sure if I'll need or not when I go to college). It would certainly last longer before getting outdated, and the video chip is much better.
A used TiBook (probably a 550 MHz) would be slower than the other two overall, but faster than the iBook for AltiVec apps. It would cost about the same, have a really nice screen (esp. for DVDs) and be portable and of course really cool. The only disadvantage to this is that at 550 MHz, it'll probably be out of date rather quickly, and the video chip is no better than in the iBook (or is it?)
While I'm not overly concerned with being "up to date" (I mean geez, I have a limited budget and a 4 year old laptop), I would like the computer to be able to chug along usefully for another four years or so, and I think saving a few bucks on an older machine will come back to bite me in the a*s later. So I'm not looking for a high end machine that I'll replace in two years, just an adequate computer for running current applications until about 2006.
Also, I don't expect to be buying anything until August, because I will have saved up plenty of money by then, and because Jaguar (and hopefully an iMac update also) will be out by then.
edit: changed *** to a*s, just in case *** isn't obvious enough for you
[ 05-30-2002: Message edited by: Luca Rescigno ]</p>
A new iBook will be cheap and very portable, and capable of doing everything I need for the moment. But I'm afraid it'll become outdated too soon. Also, the screen is small, and my vision isn't the best (bad enough to notice it's not great, but not bad enough to need glasses yet, probably 20/30).
A new iMac (combo drive version) would do everything the iBook could but faster and with a much larger screen. It costs about the same but it isn't portable (which I'm not sure if I'll need or not when I go to college). It would certainly last longer before getting outdated, and the video chip is much better.
A used TiBook (probably a 550 MHz) would be slower than the other two overall, but faster than the iBook for AltiVec apps. It would cost about the same, have a really nice screen (esp. for DVDs) and be portable and of course really cool. The only disadvantage to this is that at 550 MHz, it'll probably be out of date rather quickly, and the video chip is no better than in the iBook (or is it?)
While I'm not overly concerned with being "up to date" (I mean geez, I have a limited budget and a 4 year old laptop), I would like the computer to be able to chug along usefully for another four years or so, and I think saving a few bucks on an older machine will come back to bite me in the a*s later. So I'm not looking for a high end machine that I'll replace in two years, just an adequate computer for running current applications until about 2006.
Also, I don't expect to be buying anything until August, because I will have saved up plenty of money by then, and because Jaguar (and hopefully an iMac update also) will be out by then.
edit: changed *** to a*s, just in case *** isn't obvious enough for you
[ 05-30-2002: Message edited by: Luca Rescigno ]</p>
Comments
Just a note, yes the video in the TiBook's are better, they have ATI Radeon 7500's (32MB) vs. the iBook's ATI Radeon Mobility (16MB).
And to those out there that say that the iBook has an junky video card, I own a Dell that isn't that old, and it shipped with a 4MB Intel. THATS CRAPPY, not a 16MB ATI. Just my 2 cents.
I'd enjoy either one of the portables. At about the same price, it would be nice to have the slightly higher resolution (horizontally only, and only a tiny bit) and larger wide-aspect screen of the TiBook. Either one would probably be enough computer to last me 3-4 years, and if more AltiVec stuff gets implemented, the TiBook's G4 would be a nice advantage.
The ibooks can bridge into almost any video subsystem with the extra video adapter, and thats super handy for a quick slide show or showing movies to friends/family on their TV with no complicated setup.
Question: does the iMac's video out port support the video dongle for he new iBook (composite-video and s-video)? Because as I understand it now you can only go to a VGA display. I know they use the same connector but I haven't seen anywhere that it would support the composite and s-video dongle.
Any help on the subject would be appreciate, or if you rich folk that own ibooks and imacs could do a quick test that would be cool too! This might be one of those things apple doesn't advertise (for some reason beyond my cranial capacity... I'm due for an upgrade, myself
thanks y'all (although Im not s'uthern)
<img src="confused.gif" border="0">
Taking it a step further, a tablet (which we unfortunately don't have) would allow you to display the pics on the tablet itself and pass it around like a photo album. But a notebook is great for that sort of thing.
<strong>Why would you want to use an iMac to show pics to people on a TV? Do you know how much of a hassle it would be to set up the iMac and then hook it up to a TV? First, you'd have to shut it down and unplug it. Then you have to move its 30-odd pound bulk next to the TV, then you have to plug it back in, start up, and hook it to the TV. With the iBook, you just unplug it and leave it sleeping with the battery. Then you move it (only 5 lbs) to the TV, plug it in, and wake it up. That's why notebooks are considered so good for presentations.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
Well that wouldn't be a problem if the iMac was near the TV, would it?
But he did say he may show pictures to his friends and family on their TV, not his, so I assumed he meant he would be going over to their house with his Mac and hooking it up to their TV. That's why I raised the issue of transporting it.
<strong>
Well that wouldn't be a problem if the iMac was near the TV, would it?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Exactly, I wanted to take advantage of the iMacs DVD player as well if I could. This is going to be strictly a media maching so...
Anyways, anyone know about those video dongles for sure? do they work with the imac?
<img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />