12" iBook

[Tab]

I expect to able too...

-Watch DVDs and Divx (is HD out of the question?)
-View Photos and mild editing
-Type up crap (General College Stuff)

I know I can get one for $800 shipped. I am a bit partial to a Mac as I already have a kickass desktop (2.4Ghz AMD 64, 1GB RAM, X800XL).

Would a V2000 or DV1000 be that much better? I am really strapped for cash and would perfer if I could keep the cost down as much as possible.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Yes, the 12'' iBooks are great! My sister bought one about 3 weeks ago for her Dental School. You can watch DVD's, Divx, view photos and mild editing. The iBook will come with iPhoto and iMovie. iMovie is a good editing program. And the iBook will be good for Word processing, surfing the web, etc. And the current iBook's have built in Airport wireless. For the size and the fact that it comes with a real GPU, the Radeon 9200, which doesn't use your RAM for the VRAM, the price is great.

If you have any other questions, please ask. I use her iBook sometimes, and I am sure I can help you out.

 

[Kipper]

Beware:

iBooks are LONG overdue for an overhaul - expect new ones in the next month, if not sooner - probably by the WWDC conference in early June.

 

[Tab]

Originally posted by: Kipper
Beware:

iBooks are LONG overdue for an overhaul - expect new ones in the next month, if not sooner - probably by the WWDC conference in early June.

Thanks for sharing! Would these be G5 iBooks? Would the cost be simaller to the ones they have now?

 

[randumb]

Originally posted by: Tabb

Originally posted by: Kipper
Beware:

iBooks are LONG overdue for an overhaul - expect new ones in the next month, if not sooner - probably by the WWDC conference in early June.

Thanks for sharing! Would these be G5 iBooks? Would the cost be simaller to the ones they have now?

There won't be G5 iBooks before G5 PowerBooks come out.

 

[uOpt]

No G5s.

You might want to consider the 12" powerbook unless you want to run Linux or NetBSD on it.

The ibook has a weak video chip (Radeon 9200) and no dual-head without tricks. It is probably not capable of driving a very highres external display.

The 12" powerbook has more RAM and bigger harddrive in the base configuration. If you add that to the ibook the ibook become more expensive. You pretty much cannot do newest MacOS X with 256 MB RAM.

The finish on the ibook is white and gets dirty. The current powerbook have thealuminium finish which looks like new a lot longer.

On the other hand, some people say the Asustek-made ibooks are more robust and have longer battery life. Not sure how to verify that statement.

 

[Kipper]

Originally posted by: Tabb

Originally posted by: Kipper
Beware:

iBooks are LONG overdue for an overhaul - expect new ones in the next month, if not sooner - probably by the WWDC conference in early June.

Thanks for sharing! Would these be G5 iBooks? Would the cost be simaller to the ones they have now?

Price point should be similar...but the point is that the current iBooks will tank in price once the new ones are introduced.

 

[Wuzup101]

I would go for either a 12" iBook or a 12" powerbook if you can afford it. The iBook should do everything you need in college especially since you have a very nicely speced PC to do some of the heavy lifting. I'd say you probably should wait until a bit closer to when school starts to see if there's a refresh, but other than that I don't feel that I "can not" recomed the iBook... mmm double negative word score

 

[ShadowBlade]

i got a G3 for $50
then i traded it for a $250 stereo

 

[imported_Mags]

Originally posted by: Kipper
Beware:

iBooks are LONG overdue for an overhaul - expect new ones in the next month, if not sooner - probably by the WWDC conference in early June.

I don't know if they are long overdue, but I agree they are definitely due for an upgrade within the next few months.

Mac Buyer's Guide is generally a good place to check when considering buying a new mac.

 

[caribiner23]

I bought a 12" iBook earlier this year after many years with IBM ThinkPads.

I really like MacOS. It's intuitive and doesn't randomly mess up the way W2K/XP seemed to for me.

That said, I've been very unimpressed with the hardware itself. I've already sent it back to Apple to repair white spots on the LCD (lots of stuff on the 'net about this), and it's just not as robust as a ThinkPad.

I realize the iBook is supposed to be the "consumer" grade Apple laptop and the PowerBook is the "professional" grade and thus analogous to the ThinkPad, but I couldn't justify the expense of the PowerBook over the iBook.

All that said, I think the iBook is a good choice for a college student, as long as you keep these caveats in mind.

 

[hopejr]

I never had any problems with mine. Maybe I'm just lucky.

 

[uOpt]

Originally posted by: caribiner23
I bought a 12" iBook earlier this year after many years with IBM ThinkPads.

I really like MacOS. It's intuitive and doesn't randomly mess up the way W2K/XP seemed to for me.

That said, I've been very unimpressed with the hardware itself. I've already sent it back to Apple to repair white spots on the LCD (lots of stuff on the 'net about this), and it's just not as robust as a ThinkPad.

Funny, I just started playing with my first powerbook and can't get over some MacOS Xisms. I'm just too used to gazillions of virtual desktops, DVD players with free jumping and no FBI warning, media players which don't randomly refuse some mpeg2s like the Apple one, commandline wireless setup, no accidentially moving (instead of copying) the terminal application to the desktop.

I totally love the hardware, that superlight and flat but wide case, slot DVD drive, all that Jazz. And the display.

NetBSD it will be on it, although I probably try the new FreeBSD port

I realize the iBook is supposed to be the "consumer" grade Apple laptop and the PowerBook is the "professional" grade and thus analogous to the ThinkPad, but I couldn't justify the expense of the PowerBook over the iBook.

No, plenty of people say the build quality of the ibooks is actually higher, the ibooks are made by Asus.