Apple Notebooks (1 Viewer)

[winicat]

I'm thinking of replacing my (craptastic) PC notebook with either an iBook or Powerbook .. what do people think of these? Is it worth spending less/more for either one? I'm thinking iBook cause it's considerably cheaper, but is there really any major reason that Powerbook is better?

 

[jm1234567890]

Powerbook is is more powerful overall and a bit slimmer.

It really depends on what you are using it for.

If you aren't a "power user", that is, you don't open several applications at once and work on all of them. Then an iBook should suffice. Also, powerbook are more durable. That is, they aren't as easily scratched.

If you haven't used Mac OSX before, mabye try it on a demo computer before buying it. The usage is different enough to windows that it will require some getting used to.

 

[malkin86]

You can burn DVDs with a Powerbook, but that's about it, really, aside from what jm said.

 

[jm1234567890]

You can burn DVDs with a Powerbook, but that's about it, really, aside from what jm said.

you can get 14" ibook with the super drive (dvd-burner)

 

[waddle_828]

i <3 apple notebooks

but i don't have the money for one

but i agree with what jm said

unless your going to have a ton of apps running, id say ibook....

 

[loquasagacious]

A powerbook is better.

Pretty much evry feature that an ibook has a powerbook has an equivalent and better one.

If you can afford it then get a powerbook.

All else aside because they are higher up the line-up they are more future-proof than ibooks.

Make sure you get OS 10.4 with it. (ibook or powerbook)

 

[AsyLum]

Apple for graphics > *

 

[snapperhead]

not necessarily true re ibook+ tiger. Am running OS X4 on a G4 ibook (933 mhz so its not one of thenew ones ) with 380 something RAM (cant remember the exact amount) and it screams along and the graphics have improved out of sight...

I would recommend the iBook as there really isnt any difference between the two if you arent going to be a 'power user' (I really dont like that term BTW). My ibook does all the graphics, word processing and video editing etc I need it to without any complaints- just cant burn DVD's with it as my model was the last without the built in superdrive (which I would have gotten at the time as an extra but it was out of my budget- if I was to buy now, I could have gotten the model with the burner+airport+ increased speed for the same amount!!)

compare for yourself
http://www.apple.com.au/ibook/
http://www.apple.com.au/powerbook/

make sure you look at the educational pricing as well.....

 

[loquasagacious]

Check spec levels on the US site as they are often stocking what apple here will be in six months time. eg checking will give you more of an idea of whether its worth waiting. Also current powerbook specs are a good hint what the next ibook will have.

I would expect airport express to get upgraded (256 encryption), superdrive standard, 512mb standard, better graphics and faster processor in the next major itineration of the ibook.

Though these changes would be mirrored with commesurate changes to the powerbook.

Were I in your place I'd get a powerbook if I could afford it, simply because they will always be better than ibooks, they have more stuff, more connectivity, faster etc which adds up to a longer lifespan.

As for what might be in future powerbooks maybe a G5 chip?

Oh and Asqy's right buy as little as you can get away with off apple as there prices are a rip, buy RAM and all peripherals at normal computer shops (except harvey norman who also rip you off) or at computer fairs.

 

[jm1234567890]

Way too hot in stick into a laptop!!!! Apple are not going to put a G5 in the powerbook range under 3 to 4 kg and with no less than 5 fans.

Mainly a G5 clocked lower so that it would fit in a laptop would be slower than an equivalent G4

 

[snapperhead]

Graphics performance is fine. However 'core image' is not supported by the current ibook GPU.

If you want to find out what core image is you should look it up on the apple site.

About Core Image and Core Video

The rich graphical environment in Mac OS X requires a great deal of processing power, whether you're expecting real-time action in games or smooth 3D transitions in presentations. To handle this workload, Macintosh computers come with video cards that can quickly process huge amounts of data--more than 6 billion pixels per second.

Core Image lets you take full advantage of all that power. It makes sure your video card handles your computer's imaging and rendering needs, instead of your CPU. Your computer works more efficiently since your graphics are as fast as possible, and your CPU can handle the tasks it's best at more quickly. Core Video applies all the benefits of Core Image to video services, such as QuickTime.

Any Macintosh computer that can use Mac OS X 10.4 can use applications that take advantage of Core Image and Core Video.

based on this and the info found at http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/coreimage/, only the fastest G5's would take full advantage of this but seeing the base requirements for OS X.4 are

Requirements
Macintosh computer with a PowerPC G3, G4 or G5 processor
Built-in FireWire
256MB of RAM
3GB of available hard disk space (4GB if you install the developer tools)

, tiger on an ibook (which clock in at around 1.2-1.3 Ghz) will work perfectly as it really depends on your video card (and processor to a lesser degree) but mainly your video card...... any G3 onwards comes with decent (not excellent) video card which will take some if not full advatage of core image in OS X.4
I ran a pre GM version of tiger on a G3 Blue and white and it improved performance quite noticeably- video included

*quotes from apple.com.au

/swerves back onto topic

LOL

 

[snapperhead]

running tiger on a sawtooth G4 (CPU=400 mhz and 896 meg RAM) and dashboard works fine for me...same on my ibook (cpu=933 mhz and 383 meg RAM).

Dont know about the ripple effect though. Havenot tried it and wouldnt know what it is if it bit me on the bum...it sounds like an annoying feature that you would turn off ala dock magnification!

It would really be cool though if I upgraded to a 9600/9700 ATI radeon card
*dreams*
but then, hardly any program's are designed to take advantage of the newer Radeon cards so its a 50/50 decision- get the card for games etc (which half of them wont really work-if anything, it would go backwards almost) or get it for the operating system?

Tiger worked OK on the G3 (went back to 10.3.9 as I took it to school) but then many features where broken on the version of tiger I was trialling (it was about the 2nd last version before GM)..... It really snaps on a G5 but its perfectly fine on my G4's.....
Spose you have to decide what it is that you want in an OS- it really sped things up on the G3 and G4 which is unusual- I thought it would drag along
*is not a fan of CPU sucking useless features*

Check out apples tiger upgrade page to see the eligible machines
http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/requirements.html

It will work on a SE clamshell!! (the clamshell only has about 5 gig of hardrive and a full install of tiger is 3 gig!)

LOL

 

[jm1234567890]

running tiger on a sawtooth G4 (CPU=400 mhz and 896 meg RAM) and dashboard works fine for me...same on my ibook (cpu=933 mhz and 383 meg RAM).

Dont know about the ripple effect though. Havenot tried it and wouldnt know what it is if it bit me on the bum...it sounds like an annoying feature that you would turn off ala dock magnification!

It would really be cool though if I upgraded to a 9600/9700 ATI radeon card
*dreams*
but then, hardly any program's are designed to take advantage of the newer Radeon cards so its a 50/50 decision- get the card for games etc (which half of them wont really work-if anything, it would go backwards almost) or get it for the operating system?

Tiger worked OK on the G3 (went back to 10.3.9 as I took it to school) but then many features where broken on the version of tiger I was trialling (it was about the 2nd last version before GM)..... It really snaps on a G5 but its perfectly fine on my G4's.....
Spose you have to decide what it is that you want in an OS- it really sped things up on the G3 and G4 which is unusual- I thought it would drag along
*is not a fan of CPU sucking useless features*

Check out apples tiger upgrade page to see the eligible machines
http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/requirements.html

It will work on a SE clamshell!! (the clamshell only has about 5 gig of hardrive and a full install of tiger is 3 gig!)

LOL

the ripple effect occurs when you enable a dashboard item.

 

[snapperhead]

the ripple effect occurs when you enable a dashboard item.

interesting..the couple of widgets I have downloaded were automatically installed for me so I didnt see anything anything when they were installed (apparently this is a major security flaw that was addressed in the first update)
When I click on a widget in the widget bar at the bottom of the screen, it just appears and when I close it, it 'sucks' into the close point and then disappears....

bah to useless eye candy I say....