Purchase advice: iBook/Mac questions from possible "switcher"

gozo

My Dell laptop has a failing motherboard and I'm very close to making the switch to Mac out of frustration with Windows and my closet fascination with Mac OS X.



I have several questions about this purchase:



1) What is the minimum system requirements to run OS X at a decent speed? I understand that "decent" may be different for different people. I won't be using the Mac as a gaming machine if that makes a difference.



2) Should I wait until Jaguar comes out? Will there be enough significant changes that, at this point, I would have to upgrade a lot? I understand that the best time to buy a computer is always "next month".



3) How easy is it to add more RAM?



4) Will Appleworks read Word and Excel Files?



5) Does iBook or PowerBook give more bang for the buck? (cost will be an issue with this purchase)



6) How do I find the best deals on purchasing an iBook? Any sites you would reccommend?



Thanks for any help you can offer. This site has been helpful as I contemplate a world without Windows.

progmac

i hope you decide to get a mac, gozo, i'm sure you won't regret it!



i'll do the best i can to answer some of your questions...some of the others will probably fill the holes i leave.



1) unlike some companies, apple stays pretty honest with their system requirements...they define them as a native g3 or g4 w/at least 128 physical ram. most people run at least 256 ram. my girlfriend runs os x on her 300 mhz tangerine ibook w/160 ram and it runs smoothly, though i probably wouldn't use it for major multi-tasking or graphics work. so, to run "decent," i'd say a g3 300.



2) i'm not really into waiting for stuff, but seem people seem to like to do this. wait for jaguar, wait for mwny, blah, blah. if jaguar costs, than waiting might be a wise choice.



3) it is easy to add ram to the imacs, but i am not sure about the ibooks. anyone?



4) apple works will read word and excel file. you would get better support for them with office v.X though



5) unless you need lots of power, you'll probably get more for your money with the ibook. i would have to get a 14" screen, i dunno about your preferences.



6) good places to watch for deals: <a href="http://www.dealmac.com"; target="_blank">http://www.dealmac.com</a>; & <a href="http://www.dealnn.com"; target="_blank">http://www.dealnn.com</a>;



apple sets their prices, so new stuff will be about the same everywhere. you can find good deals on refurbished gear though.



<a href="http://www.macofalltrades.com"; target="_blank">http://www.macofalltrades.com</a>;

<a href="http://www.smalldog.com"; target="_blank">http://www.smalldog.com</a>;

cyko95

Gozo, just so you know I just switched from PC to Mac about 3 weeks ago when I bought my iBook. I love it, I love OS X, and I love all the curious head turns I get when i'm sitting at Barnes and Noble with it on the table. I too will attempt to answer some of your questions.



1.) I think sickmiller summed this one up for you pretty good.



2.) My view on this type of thing is buy now, and appreciate the updates. Yeah, you may have to spend $50 later on for the upgrade, but to me I don't have the patience to wait for FedEx to show up, let alone wait another month to order it.



3.) In my iBook (700) I pull the two tabs down on the top of the keyboard, and remove the keyboard. Then take out the two screws that hold the Airport card chassis in place, and there ya go. Done in 5 minutes tops.



4.) The only difference with Appleworks that i've seen from Office is when you save a word document it'll take about 2-3 seconds to convert it. But i'll wait 2 secs rather than pay for a M$ product.



5.) My iBook performance is GREAT. I can't tell enough people about it. It even out performs my tower at home in Quake 3! Personally I didn't go for the 14" model because I wanted the smaller screen. My thought was if i'm gonna need a bigger screen i'll hook it up to a 17" monitor at home or work. Why would I pay the extra cash for something i'm not REALLY going to take advantage of all the time, but pay the price when it comes to weight, size, and price? But thats just my opinion.



6.) Can't help you a lot there...I bought mine straight from Apple.



Welcome to the light side!

mcq

Gozo,



Glad to hear you're contemplating the switch. The previous posts seems to answer most of your questions, so I'll go ahead with the price issue (since I just ordered my iBook two days ago, hopefully to arrive today!)



From what you're describing, iBook should give you more bang for the buck, as it doesn't sound like you'll be doing anything really processor-intensive. The $1000 difference between the iBook and PowerBook is only worth it if you really need the extra speed and features that the PowerBook offers.



As far as the best iBook deal, not too many great ones out there. The one I took advantage of was an Amazon deal, they're offering a $100/$200 promotional certificate on a future purchase, when you purchase a computer. $100 certificate for a computer purchase under $1500, $200 certificate for a computer purchase over $1500. This is good if you're looking to buy something else afterwards, i.e. iPod, some other electronics purchase. They're supposed to e-mail the certificate code about 2 weeks after purchase. The offer expires June 30.



If you don't like that deal, then most places online are offering 128 MB ram ($40 install fee), and a free printer of some sort after rebate.

newborn77

One thing I would recommend is installing as much RAM as you can afford. In my opinion 256 MB or more of RAM is necessary to run OS X "decently". I upgraded my iBook 600 (12") to 384 MB of RAM and it performs faaaaaaar better than with the 128 MB it came with.

That's about it. Mind you... the iBook is no speed demon but it performs all my requirements (word processing, powerpoint and even iMovie editing) quite smoothly. And the portability is exceptional.

gozo

Boy, this is a helpful bunch o' people. Thanks. Any other advice will be appreciated.

xaqtly

I agree with the previous posts, and I also agree with Newborn77. The more RAM you stuff into anything running OS X, the better off you'll be. It may sound extreme but I would recommend 512 MB of memory, only because it's so cheap and there is a noticable difference between 256 and 512 MB of memory.



My advice about buying the memory is do NOT buy it from Apple. Just get the iBook with whatever standard memory it comes with and add more after you get it. Here's a couple sites that sell iBook memory. <a href="http://www.ramjet.com/"; target="_blank">Ramjet</a>, <a href="http://www.memoryx.net/ibook700mhz.html"; target="_blank">Memory X</a>, <a href="http://images.macsolutions.com/memory/memory.html"; target="_blank">MacSolutions</a>.



I've seen 512 MB chips for $159, and 256 MB chips for $69 so you should be able to afford at least double the factory ram if not quite a bit more.

cyko95

I bought my 256MB stick from 18004memory.com and got it for only $50. I've had it about 2 weeks now. I think the 512's were $150.

allenchristopher

On the whole, iBooks cost less than similarly configured PowerBooks. That is, a PowerBook with 30 gigs HD and 256 MB Ram will cost about twice as much as an iBook with those same specs.



The PowerBook will be faster, but because buying an iBook is so easy you can get another iBook in two or three years with the money you save. That lets you always stay comfortably within the Apple Extended Warranty, which you should definitely buy, and also means you can get a machine with new features like BlueTooth, FireWire2, USB 2, internal SuperDrives and whatever else is coming out in the next two or three years. It's like leasing a car.