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nt, read this Posted by AMG [Email]  (#3110)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from AMG) on Fri, 29 Aug 2003 19:52:05
In Reply to: buying Apple Powerbook or iBook, opinions?, nt moore, Fri, 29 Aug 2003 07:02:36 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Here's my take on the PB vs. the iBook, coming from someone who sells and fixes macs. Many items have been raised but I will try to be concise.
The iBook is: less fast (for the things you are doing), more durable, way less hot (thermally), less sexy
The PB is: faster (for the things you are doing), slightly less durable, quite warm to the touch, very sexy
As you noticed, they are very similar otherwise. Both of these 'Books use very comparable graphics accelerators speed-wise (your Nvidia vs ATI question). They both use a small external adapter to connect to external VGA displays. Neither can (practically) connect to digital flat-panel displays, it's VGA only. THERE IS one big difference between the two in this area: the PB can span the desktop to the extra monitor, while the iBook can only Mirror to an external display. If you plan to connect to an external monitor, get the PB.
The heat issue I mentioned can be a very real concern for some people, the 12" PB gets very hot after awhile, not suitable for true 'lap top' use IMHO. The iBook is quite cool for the most part. The PB is new relatively so long-term durability is unknown. I have replaced one keyboard so far. The iBook has been pretty good, most repaired are the Optical drive, DC-in board, and the hard drive - all moving or stressed parts and in the case of hard drives, to be expected in any computer. The keyboard in the PB is very nice, while the iBook keyboard is less crisp and absorbs odors very easily (weird, yet annoying ;-). I have seen some truly trashed ibooks and powerbooks, neither take well to a rough and careless user. The silver metal cases really accentuate scrapes and dings, while some white iBooks ending up a very grimy grey in the hands of less than hygenic students.
The 12" PB is basically a very nicely constructed iBook with a G4 chip. It doesn't offer nearly the performance of the other, larger PowerBooks because it lacks an L3 cache. This is a very crippling omission, as the iBook ends up being slightly faster in some areas as a result. The PB will still be faster in Photoshop and Mathmatica. I think of the 12" PB as a nice machine, but not a speed demon. (Much faster than a beige G3 though)
All that being said, my advice is to go with the PB, it is super light and very sharp looking, and at only $200 more it is definitely the way to go if the heat doesn't bother you. It is by far the more desirable computer. You only have 1 RAM slot so definitely get a 512MB module. OS X loves Ram. The 1GB module is now available, but it is $499.
One last thing, Macworld Tokyo is around the third week of september, the rumor is new 15" PB's and possibly revised 12" and/or 17" PB's at that time. Some rumors have the 12" gaining an L3 cache, maybe even a DVI port (for digital flat panels). Rumors may be wishful thinking, but the PB is question was dropped from 1799 to 1599 a few months ago, and is due to be revised in some way soon. If waiting would cost you than buy now, if not, I would wait to see what's announced at Tokyo.
Wow, that wasn't very concise at all, anyway, hope this helps. -AMG.
posted by 24.147.38...
, Fri, 29 Aug 2003 19:52:05 <-- Viewing This Message
, Fri, 29 Aug 2003 08:12:52, Fri, 29 Aug 2003 09:01:13
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