ibook vs. Powerbook...

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• Reply 1 of 13

  robin hood Posts: 513member

  May 12, 2005 3:44PM

  Remember the PowerBook also has DVI out, so you can connect a huge ass digital LCD display. Writing this on a PowerBook (bought last week) with a Dell 20" 1600x1200 Dell connected to it, it's great.
  
  
  
  Personally, if I were to go for the iBook, I would go for the 12" model. Not only is it significantly cheaper, but the speed is basically the same. I think the price with edu discount is about $900 last I checked.
  
  
  
  Edit: Don't forget that if you get the iBook, you should really upgrade to 512 MB, especially if you want to do video editing and design work on it. So figure that into the cost as well. Mac's also tend to have good resale value, so if you go for say the 12" iBook today, you can sell it on eBay in 6 months or whatever and spring for a new PowerBook, without losing too much.
  
  
  
  If you do have the money right now, go for the 15" PowerBook. It's absolutely fantastic, I could not be happier with mine.

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• Reply 2 of 13

  kesh Posts: 621member

  May 12, 2005 3:52PM

  iBook, no question. The Powerbooks are great, but the difference between the 12" iBook and 12" powerbook isn't enough to justify the cost. Unless you need a larger screen, or other features only found on the 15" or 17" models, go straight to a 12" or 14" iBook. You'll save money and still have a very good portable system.
  
  
  
  I just need a little more cash and I'm going to sell my first-gen 12" Powerbook, replacing it with a 14" iBook + Superrive. Cheaper than what I paid for the Powerbook, but it's actually faster than my PB.
  
  
  
  As an aside, you should probably wait until WWDC on June 6. There's a lot of speculation that new versions of the iBooks will be announced by then.

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• Reply 3 of 13

  semi-fly Posts: 35member

  May 12, 2005 4:31PM

  I'd say get the PowerBook - you'll get a Better LCD panel, Video card, and processor, all for an extra $200.00.

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• Reply 4 of 13

  benjamin_r Posts: 265member

  May 12, 2005 6:00PM

  Moving to Current Hardware

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• Reply 5 of 13

  mmbarthez Posts: 40member

  May 12, 2005 6:20PM

  Go for the ibook, I have one, and my brother got a powerbook, and he totally overpaid for it. The ibook is a better value for what you want to use it for, plus it comes with the monitor adaptor thinggy.

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• Reply 6 of 13

  ichiban_jay Posts: 660member

  May 12, 2005 6:23PM

  powerbook, it also has bluetooth, aluminum, 3 speakers, and other stuff...
  
  
  
  I got a powerbook and my friend got an ibook a couple months ago, he likes the powerbook better... It just looks better . The white apple logo shows through silver better than white on white
  
  
  
  The ibook has the cheesy looking small speakers holes too
  
  
  
  haha, but looks aside, the powerbook does just feel more solid and professional.

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• Reply 7 of 13

  scooterboy Posts: 69member

  May 12, 2005 6:33PM

  If you want to play games the PowerBook's better GPU will help, but the only Apple 'books decent for games are the 15" and 17" PowerBooks, with their Mobiliy Radeon 9700/128MB VRAM.
  
  
  
  Widescreen will be much better for video editing, but since you're on a budget I'd go for the 12" PowerBook and later a 20" or 23" Cinema Display.

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• Reply 8 of 13

  bkkloppenborg Posts: 20member

  May 12, 2005 7:03PM

  Quote:
  

  
  Originally posted by benjamin_r
  
  Moving to Current Hardware
  

  
  

  
  
  sorry about that not sure which one i was supposed to put it in since i asked people about the new ibook updates and if they came out what should i do...

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• Reply 9 of 13

  copse Posts: 64member

  May 13, 2005 12:24PM

  Dude, with only 32MB Video-ram you dont get the cool water ripple effect in dashboard Think about it!
  
  
  
  The one thing that´s stopping me from ordering a 12" powerbook/ibook is the LCD. Im writing this on a 3-4 year old 12" noname low budget laptop and the screen is much much better on this.
  
  
  
  //Copse

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• Reply 10 of 13

  semi-fly Posts: 35member

  May 13, 2005 9:18PM

  Quote:
  

  
  Originally posted by Copse
  
  Dude, with only 32MB Video-ram you dont get the cool water ripple effect in dashboard Think about it!
  
  
  
  The one thing that´s stopping me from ordering a 12" powerbook/ibook is the LCD. Im writing this on a 3-4 year old 12" noname low budget laptop and the screen is much much better on this.
  
  
  
  //Copse
  

  
  

  
  
  I dunno - I work with alot of diffrent, namebrand laptops, and I actually like the LCD panel on my 12 inch Powerbook - it's sharp, has great color, and the brightness' is pretty good. Now, I've used plenty of iBooks, and I'll aggree that the panels used for the iBooks are probably not the highest of quality.

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• Reply 11 of 13

  ragingloogie Posts: 426member

  May 15, 2005 7:55AM

  i also agree w/ the ibook voters.. i would also go for an ibook.. however i have a powerbook, an older version from my brother b/c i paid about 500-600$ less buying it from my brother, then if i were buying a new ibook.. but at the time of pondering about a laptop, i was inteding to buy the ibook, b/c im using it for almost the same reasons you are; word processing, website, web surfing and chat client, garage band. and what i need a laptop for, its fine for me..
  
  
  
  Also, by the time i go to college (next year) ill prolly be doing programming also as well as movie editing, and ill prolly go out and buy a powerbook, because im really liking the powerbook although an ibook might/prolly be fine for me.. from this its just my personal preference.. but thats just me
  
  
  
  good luck

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• Reply 12 of 13

  robin hood Posts: 513member

  May 15, 2005 8:20AM

  I'm just incredibly happy with my PowerBook G4 purchase, the 15" wide screen version with 1.68GHz and the 128MB BTO Radeon 9700 video card and 1GB RAM. Also saved a bunch by removing the SuperDrive, which I don't need anyway (I can borrow my dad's desktop for that). I haven't been this pleased with a computer for a long time. In total I paid ?1731 + tax (edu discount).

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• Reply 13 of 13

  matvei Posts: 193member

  May 15, 2005 8:24AM

  wait for the ibook update anyway.

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