is 15" really worth it?

2

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 45
    cj171cj171 Posts: 144member
    wouldn't the ibook's lack of dvi be a problem if you've got a 20" dvi screen?
  • Reply 22 of 45
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by cj171

    wouldn't the ibook's lack of dvi be a problem if you've got a 20" dvi screen?



    As long as you don't buy an Apple screen, you will get both DVI and VGA, so no problem.



    With a DVI only screen, (practically) impossible. Probably costs around $400 for a conversion unit which will still deliver poorer quality than VGA.
  • Reply 23 of 45
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    Actually, that is one of the major reasons I believe Apple is shooting itself in the foot by selling a non-DVI capable machine. Value minded people will buy an iBook or mini depending on how much portability they want. If they arrive at the iBook, then Apple just screwed itself out of a display deal.



    If they were really bent on nickle-and-diming, Apple could stick a mini-DVI port on the iBook and still ask (and get) $30 for a mini-DVI to DVI adapter which would not come with the iBook, only the mini-DVI to VGA would. Free money in case the customer gets some other manufacturer's display.
  • Reply 24 of 45
    cj171cj171 Posts: 144member
    well, i won a 1.67ghz 15" with an airport express on ebay for $1500



    pretty excited now about this puppy...altho it seems fishy about whether it's the newest model because the seller said "The only flaw that this laptop contains is that it does need a New hard drive I have left the original hard. I did take this to Mac and they told me that "it just needs a new hard drive". I would of replaced it but the warranty expired on this item"



    doesnt know what theyre talking about I hope?
  • Reply 25 of 45
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by cj171

    "The only flaw that this laptop contains is that it does need a New hard drive I have left the original hard. I did take this to Mac and they told me that "it just needs a new hard drive". I would of replaced it but the warranty expired on this item"



    doesnt know what theyre talking about I hope?




    Proceed with GREAT caution.
  • Reply 26 of 45
    cj171cj171 Posts: 144member
    well i've replaced two ibook keyboards before...powerbooks look easier, but yeah, i'm keepin my eyes open
  • Reply 27 of 45
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by cj171

    they told me that "it just needs a new hard drive". I would of replaced it but the warranty expired on this item"





    How can the warranty be expired on a 1.67 gHz PowerBook? Are they more than a year old?
  • Reply 28 of 45
    cj171cj171 Posts: 144member
    no, they came out in feb or march this year...
  • Reply 29 of 45
    Quote:

    Originally posted by lundy

    How can the warranty be expired on a 1.67 gHz PowerBook? Are they more than a year old?



    if you buy the extended warrenty... its 2 years
  • Reply 30 of 45
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by cj171

    no, they came out in feb or march this year...



    So the seller's claim that the warranty expired on the HD isn't true...



    That usually means something else isn't true.
  • Reply 31 of 45
    Going from a hardcore Windows User and implementer to getting shoved into implementing a mac xserve network, I purchased a 12" Powerbook about a year ago to become familiar with the gui and just loved it. I have actually "switched" now... (I'm currently figuring out which iMac I want to purchase).



    CS is a lot of programming.. Be careful that you don't get stuck having to work on the school's computers all the time... The idea of your laptop is to be able to do your work anywhere. Make sure software you will need will work on the mac, or that your code from xcode to gcc will be accepted by your profs.
  • Reply 32 of 45
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Matthew Yohe

    CS is a lot of programming.. Be careful that you don't get stuck having to work on the school's computers all the time... The idea of your laptop is to be able to do your work anywhere. Make sure software you will need will work on the mac, or that your code from xcode to gcc will be accepted by your profs.



    I would say in CS, the rule is that your assignment must operate in the environment the school provides. At Berkeley for example, it must run on the *nix workstations in the labs and be submitted/compile using automated submission scripts.



    I usually ran locally and then SCPed my code up to the server. This was back in the OS 9 days though and now I'm sure I could run my code locally and with minimal headaches.



    If you have to port to Windows however, you've got another thing coming.



    There are always exceptions to the rule though. For a Computer Graphics class I wrote an OpenGL app that my prof. let me compile and run on a PowerBook. They had their doubts, but my final product was fab. This project was cross-platform for a long while until I got fed up with wasting time in the lab wrestling with MS's compilers just to load config files in. Eventually I just stopped porting and only produced an OS 9 executable, still runnable in Classic to this day.
  • Reply 33 of 45
    cj171cj171 Posts: 144member
    the truth comes out...



    in the auction the processor speed was listed in two places:

    \tProcessor Speed: \t1

    and

    ? 1.67GHz PowerPC G4 w/64MB VRAM



    however, i asked for the specs again in an email and they said

    ? 1GHz PowerPC G4 w/64MB VRAM



    also, there were other specs in the listing from the 1.67ghz like

    ? 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400 rpm

    ? 8x SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)

    ? ATI Mobility Radeon 9700



    I emailed about the discrepancy and here's what they said:

    Quote:

    I did do a booboo.....if you look on the Top of the listing where it ask what the specs are it says it. I had copied the original specs of of apple.com and didnt change the ghz ifo cause I had it custom made other then that everything is exactly what the listing says....I'm So Sorry



    what should I do? they already shipped it...should I just suck it up as taking a risk or should I try to return it? and under what reasoning?
  • Reply 34 of 45
    well.. you could always try and see if you like it despite that it might not be exactly what you wanted... or you coudl try to return it.. either by the person you got it from... b/c i doubt apple will take it back unless you ordered it by apple, but they wouldnt make that kind of mistake
  • Reply 35 of 45
    cj171cj171 Posts: 144member
    yeah, i came to an agreement with the person to have them refund me the cost to replace the hard drive. Still quite a letdown...thought I was getting the high-end current powerbook.
  • Reply 36 of 45
    Quote:

    Originally posted by cj171

    yeah, i came to an agreement with the person to have them refund me the cost to replace the hard drive. Still quite a letdown...thought I was getting the high-end current powerbook.



    yea.. it is... im sorry... they should ahve refunded at least some of your money back as well as the hdd... :-\\ sorry...
  • Reply 37 of 45
    cj171cj171 Posts: 144member
    that's alright, maybe as a consolation, i'll get myself an updated mini with the proceeds of selling my old ibook
  • Reply 38 of 45
    denmarudenmaru Posts: 208member
    I really love my 12" iBook , and I never even considered the 14" an option.



    I study at the University of Vienna, and thus, I needed something lightweigh and portabel, and on this field, the 12" models can´t be beaten.



    I´m quite happy with 12", too...



    As for carrying around, I have a Samsonite backbag ("The small, blue model"), and it fits like a glove, is quality work, and very good to carry around.

    I think it cost me about 50 Euro...
  • Reply 39 of 45
    apoderapoder Posts: 49member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gon

    What are you guys doing in computer science if a lighted keyboard means anything besides aesthetics for you?!

    If you can't touch type, that should be your first priority.




    I got a question. So if I were to plug in a 12inch iBook to an external display would i be limited to the 1024x748 resolution that iBook has or could I go for a higher resolution?
  • Reply 40 of 45
    Quote:

    Originally posted by cj171

    that's alright, maybe as a consolation, i'll get myself an updated mini with the proceeds of selling my old ibook



    bosa nova good luck.. have fun
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