iBook or Powerbook?
First, some background:
I bought my iMac DV Special Edition/400 MHz (Kihei) in early 2000. After little more than two years, I've needed to have the Analog Video Board; main logic board; and the audio board replaced. The audio board is scheduled to be replaced today. When I bought my iMac, I also bought a 3-year Apple Care Protection Plan. As with Scotty, I'm *very* glad I bought the plan. If memory serves (which is doubtful these days), I paid an initial $50 deductible, after which every repair done on my iMac hasn't cost me anything more than being without my iMac during repairs.
It may be unfair, but my next Mac won't be an iMac. Once bitten, twice shy. These days, I'm weighing the relative merits of the iBook and the Powerbook...and I'm having a difficult time deciding between the two, though I'm leaning towards the iBook. My basic needs are: affordability; easy-on-the-eyes (due to the fact that I'd be going from my 15" iMac monitor to a 14" or, (scary thought!) a 12" screen; durability; heat resistance. There used to be a website that let you answer several criteria/needs-type questions, and it would then give you its recommendation based on your answers, but I've long since forgotten the URL.
I bought my iMac DV Special Edition/400 MHz (Kihei) in early 2000. After little more than two years, I've needed to have the Analog Video Board; main logic board; and the audio board replaced. The audio board is scheduled to be replaced today. When I bought my iMac, I also bought a 3-year Apple Care Protection Plan. As with Scotty, I'm *very* glad I bought the plan. If memory serves (which is doubtful these days), I paid an initial $50 deductible, after which every repair done on my iMac hasn't cost me anything more than being without my iMac during repairs.
It may be unfair, but my next Mac won't be an iMac. Once bitten, twice shy. These days, I'm weighing the relative merits of the iBook and the Powerbook...and I'm having a difficult time deciding between the two, though I'm leaning towards the iBook. My basic needs are: affordability; easy-on-the-eyes (due to the fact that I'd be going from my 15" iMac monitor to a 14" or, (scary thought!) a 12" screen; durability; heat resistance. There used to be a website that let you answer several criteria/needs-type questions, and it would then give you its recommendation based on your answers, but I've long since forgotten the URL.
Comments
Basically it wins in the areas you're looking at, except of course for screen size. But honestly, I was leery about getting my 12", and I don't even notice it any more. This was going from a beautiful 17" flatscreen CRT, too.
I'd be happy to enumerate the ibook's strong points in detail if you want, but the simple version is:
Much more rugged. The titanium, though light, is nowhere near as strong as the polycarbonate/magnesium frame. Polycarbonate is bullet-proof. The titanium dents really easily and if it dents on the screen side, you've got a lovely distortion in your big, widescreen LCD.
Obviously more afforable, and gives you better bang for the buck. Powerbook gives a bigger overall bang, but with the ibook's new cache and sahara G3, it holds its own in everything but really heavy-duty Altivec apps and games. And it's not like it ups and dies in those, either. Just as an example of capability, I've been playing Max Payne and Warcraft III with medium-to-high settings and my performance has been simply amazing. It would be great to have a 32 meg card, but there's the bang/buck thing again. You'll want to add RAM, but once you do, it really flies.
It gets pretty warm, but nowhere near the PB, and it doesn't sound like a high-gauge hair dryer when the little fan starts up.
Again, portability. Fits in an airplane tray-table, fits on your lap, fits in your backpack or briefcase, just...fits. I'd recommend the 12", just because it's even tighter and more rigid feeling than the 14". The screen feels brighter and is, because of the resolution, crisper.
Hope that rounds things out a bit.
<strong>Short answer - ibook.
Basically it wins in the areas you're looking at, except of course for screen size. But honestly, I was leery about getting my 12", and I don't even notice it any more. This was going from a beautiful 17" flatscreen CRT, too.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
Dread,
Personally, I'm trying to decide whether to go with a Powerbook ONLY or ibook/imac combination.
I assume you would be in favor of the second option over the first??
It's more compact, lighter, and the new models are powerful enough to handle most stuff you'd need to do with a laptop. And the latest models will support Quartz Extreme.
The 12in display is so much nicer than that on the new PowerBook.
I've played around with Final Cut Pro on a friend's 700MHz iBook, and it's just fine - the only noticeable difference being rendering times, which isn't really an issue with most of my little movies.
Now if Apple would just get its ass in gear and include Bluetooth as standard instead of that rotten dongle. I want it because <a href="http://www.sonyericsson.com/us/spg.jsp?template=PS1&B=ie&PID=9932&LM=PSM_V&gal=10 5" target="_blank">I'm smitten</a>.
I took the iBook over a 15" iMac because I wanted to show movies and pictures to my family who are not net connected and I can carry everything with me in one neat package.
Definitely go with the 700MHz model as the iBook (like any laptop) lags behind all other macintoshs for speed. Also budget for a 512MB SODIMM because you need all that RAM to use it effectively, incremental RAM upgrades on this baby dont pay off.
My next step is airport!!! Good luck on your decision, we all know its tough. I sweated on mine for a long while because of that damn sexy iMac
iBook 700/384 RAM/30GB/Combo/12.1"
<strong>First, some background:
I bought my iMac DV Special Edition/400 MHz (Kihei) in early 2000. After little more than two years, I've needed to have the Analog Video Board; main logic board; and the audio board replaced. The audio board is scheduled to be replaced today. When I bought my iMac, I also bought a 3-year Apple Care Protection Plan. As with Scotty, I'm *very* glad I bought the plan. If memory serves (which is doubtful these days), I paid an initial $50 deductible, after which every repair done on my iMac hasn't cost me anything more than being without my iMac during repairs.
It may be unfair, but my next Mac won't be an iMac. Once bitten, twice shy. These days, I'm weighing the relative merits of the iBook and the Powerbook...and I'm having a difficult time deciding between the two, though I'm leaning towards the iBook. My basic needs are: affordability; easy-on-the-eyes (due to the fact that I'd be going from my 15" iMac monitor to a 14" or, (scary thought!) a 12" screen; durability; heat resistance. There used to be a website that let you answer several criteria/needs-type questions, and it would then give you its recommendation based on your answers, but I've long since forgotten the URL.</strong><hr></blockquote>
You sound like you might be a student on a tight budget.
I'd say go to an Apple Store (or wherever) and try out the iBook. The display is quite sharp, and because it's 1024 x 768, it shows more information in sharper focus than the screen of your iMac DV did.
I have a Pismo powerbook and I like its display. It shows, in fine detail, as much information as the 19 inch monitor I have.
Here's the link to my post ... notice the VERY different repsonses.
<a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=001283"; target="_blank">http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=001283</a>;
[ 08-01-2002: Message edited by: pyr3 ]</p>
<strong>Why is it that people here seem to suggest in the iBook vs TiBook debate in waves. I posted my question a couple weeks ago and everyone said TiBook. Now everyone is saying iBook. I don't think that people here really know what they are talking about. I think the best advice is to take this all with a grain of salt.
Here's the link to my post ... notice the VERY different repsonses.
<a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=001283"; target="_blank">http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=001283</a>;
[ 08-01-2002: Message edited by: pyr3 ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yeah, people said different things so they don't know what they're talking about. Right.
You said: [quote]I'm about to purchase a TiBook 667 DVI in the next few days and the thing is that I'm kinda strapped for cash. I want the TiBook and all the power, but it's kinda of expensive for me even after the Student Developer discount. I mostly just want to do regular things on the laptop and some photoshop work, and some games like WC3. I'm debating about whether or not I should just go for a iBook 700 or not too.<hr></blockquote>
You said you wanted to do some Photoshop work and play games, both of those things would be better on the Powerbook. Photoshop because of the G4 and games because of the graphics card.
Just because this guy different responses than you doesn't mean we at AI don't know what we're talking about.
<strong>
You said you wanted to do some Photoshop work and play games, both of those things would be better on the Powerbook. Photoshop because of the G4 and games because of the graphics card.
Just because this guy different responses than you doesn't mean we at AI don't know what we're talking about.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I'm just saying that sometimes people come out of the woodwork and the responses can be different. I don't think that any of the same people posted to this thread as posted to mine. And some of the people on this thread are advocating games and photoshop in iBook anyways. Notice the comments that you will only notice the difference for DV editing. 'little bit of photoshop' doesn't equate to loads of HQ pics in photoshop that are being re-rendered on a constant basis. That just means that I edit pics in photoshop using layers and paths. And I use it to create net graphics for my web page. I'm not really saying that everyone doesn't know anything as much as saying that not everyone repsonds to these threads and sometimes you get repsonses that are way off-balanced in terms of AI on the whole. So you have to take it with a grain of salt since it isn't the end-all-be-all answer.
[ 08-01-2002: Message edited by: pyr3 ]</p>
affordability - iBook
easy-on-the-eyes - TiBook
durability - iBook
heat resistance - iBook
your needs:
I want the TiBook and all the power, but it's kinda of expensive - TiBook
some photoshop work - TiBook
some games like WC3 - TiBook
in this case look at the two different needs.
hence the different suggestions.
or to play medal of honor ?
<strong>
Dread,
Personally, I'm trying to decide whether to go with a Powerbook ONLY or ibook/imac combination.
I assume you would be in favor of the second option over the first??</strong><hr></blockquote>
That's actually not as easy for me to judge between. See, I got my ibook for college, basically, where a portable is almost infinitely superior to desktops, regardless of speed. Portability was a must. However, the other factor in my decision was cost. It would have been very difficult to afford the TiBook, and as I said, I didn't want or need a desktop. The old G4 tower with the nice display is staying at home with my mom and my sister.
If money hadn't been an issue, I probably would've gotten a Powerbook. Which is not to say that the iBook isn't superior in the areas I mentioned, but for college, anyway, the Powerbook was just as portable. So I didn't buy the iBook instead of the Powerbook because I needed the form factor or the portability, I bought it because I couldn't afford the Powerbook. Also, there's the fact that I really would only have used the TiBook's power for games, which is hardly the most persuasive justification for spending an extra grand on a college notebook.
But for you, it depends on your situation. If you're going to use a portable truly as a portable, then you might easily end up letting whatever desktop you had gather dust. Even though a low-end tower is just as powerful as the TiBook, if what you need is a portable, it doesn't matter. But, if you're going to be working in one place and then taking what you do (presentations, graphics, movies, etc.) with you, then you'll want the most power where you're working. So if you can afford a high-end tower and an iBook, that's what I'd go for. The iBook would be the vehicle for the big-time power of a high-end desktop.
But that's a lot of money. Also, the TiBooks have a nice, big screen, and they're finally powerful enough to really start treating them like a desktop replacement, not an extension. Of course, I use my iBook like a desktop, and I adjust because that's all I have. Thankfully, I got mine right after the 700 mhz/Radeon upgrade, so at least it has a Sahara and will run Quartz Extreme passably.
The thing is, you don't really want to get a low-end desktop at the moment, because it won't be too much more powerful than the TiBook, and you'll still need an iBook for portability. So all you gain is the hassle of sharing your job, life, work, etc, between two computers.
So in short, I don't know. If you need ruggable portability for your portable and mid-range power, get the low-end desktop and the iBook. If you merely need portability and mid-range power, get a TiBook. If you need huge amounts of power, then you'll be better off with a high-end desktop, but that doesn't leave you too much cash for a portable. Any way you go, though, wait for a Powermac update and assess what you actually need in terms of performance.
whew. hope that all helps
<strong>I ordered my ibook with a with a 256 ( 384 ) Is that ebough to say , listen to itunes while surfing the internet and writing a paper
or to play medal of honor ?</strong><hr></blockquote>
You will be fine with 384 megs that's what I got my ibook with. Photoshop seems to do well along with my other programs.
<strong>I'd agree to go with the iBook. Mine does everything from playing games to web design in Dreamweaver. And i've even used it for Final Cut Pro in X and it worked without a hitch there as well. The only area that I could see room for the PB to stomp the iBook is, as it's been said before, DV rendering. But i'd rather wait that extra few minutes or less than shell out another $1000 and loose so many other pluses.
iBook 700/384 RAM/30GB/Combo/12.1"</strong><hr></blockquote>
hey cyko95 check your private messages I sent you a quick question about your ibook mod that you had on .mac photo album.
<img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
<strong>I ordered my ibook with a with a 256 ( 384 ) Is that ebough to say , listen to itunes while surfing the internet and writing a paper
or to play medal of honor ?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yeah, that should be fine for what you'll be doing. I've got 384MB in my 500MHz iBook and it's fine.
<strong>cut-who cares? she's back!!
BELLE! welcome back!! I hope you are feeling better <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" /> ...
oh, the topic, right...
ummm if cost is any factor at all, the $1000 would be better spent on prepherals (<a href="http://elgato.com"; target="_blank">eyeTV</a>) and an external HD then getting the TiBook, unless of course you can get one of those sweet UCLA-type discounts on the TiBook.... very nice...
hth
-Paul
It seems obvious that you need the ibook, but you know that the powerbook is much cooler but you cannot afford one.