05-07-2004, 10:58 PM

Soon I will dispense of the evil that is Mirco$oft...however I'm unsure which to get, the 12" powerbook or the 12"ibook. I'm starting college in the fall and will use the laptop for school, e-mail, internet, chat, music, watching movies and photoshop. I was reading reviews about both and one person complained about that the text was hard to read on the 12"ibook/powerbook. Has anyone else found this a problem?

I would like to buy the most efficient system for the lowest cost. Can anyone help me choose what features are more important to spend my money on?

Thanks!

05-07-2004, 11:06 PM

I used to have the 12 inch Powerbook and it's not so much that text is difficult to read, it's moreso any application just feels too cramped, since there is zilch in terms of screen real estate. But I got by on it, I'm sure you will too. I think it's just more the older crowd (adults) that might have difficulty with the screen size.

You said photoshop. Boom. Powerbook right there. Faster processor, faster system bus, faster (and more upgradeable) RAM.

05-07-2004, 11:30 PM

Originally Posted by nicholas

I used to have the 12 inch Powerbook and it's not so much that text is difficult to read, it's moreso any application just feels too cramped, since there is zilch in terms of screen real estate. But I got by on it, I'm sure you will too. I think it's just more the older crowd (adults) that might have difficulty with the screen size.

You said photoshop. Boom. Powerbook right there. Faster processor, faster system bus, faster (and more upgradeable) RAM.

I agree with the whole post - uh huh - older people or with crappy vision may need bigger fonts and such... I make a point of using the Powerbook 12's in the Apple store to make sure I like reading on it, and it's just fine -- I'd never give up it's sweet compactness for the bigger displays and it has enough useful ports too

05-08-2004, 05:35 PM

Originally Posted by Mighty_nut

Soon I will dispense of the evil that is Mirco$oft...however I'm unsure which to get, the 12" powerbook or the 12"ibook. I'm starting college in the fall and will use the laptop for school, e-mail, internet, chat, music, watching movies and photoshop. I was reading reviews about both and one person complained about that the text was hard to read on the 12"ibook/powerbook. Has anyone else found this a problem?

I would like to buy the most efficient system for the lowest cost. Can anyone help me choose what features are more important to spend my money on?

Thanks!

I just bought a brand new 12" PowerBook ad really like it. I looked at the iBook also but in the end decided on the Powerbook.

Main Changes are:
More video ram, 64 meg (GeForce FX Go 5200) in the Powerbook vs 32 meg in the iBook (radeon 9200)
Faster ram PC2700 (333) in the PowerBook, 266 in the iBook
Cache is also faster in the PowerBook
1.33ghz in PowerBook vs 1ghz in iBook (makes a big difference)
60gig hd in the Powerbook, 30gig in the iBook
Airport Extreme in the Powerbook, Addon in iBook
Superdrive is available in 12" PowerBook and only available in the 14" iBook (only combo drive in 12" iBook).

If you are going to do a lot of graphics or memory/processor dependant tasks then the Powerbook is the way to go.

I am running Virtual PC v6 with Win2000 and it is actually quite usable on the Powerbook. I ran the same setup on a 1ghz PowerBook (last version) and the new one is much faster loading and working on drawings in Autocad. I needed something that could work with Autocad and a couple other programs that are not available for mac.

Actually the screens that Apple uses are very nice and much better than most PC portables. Toshiba screens are quite good and Sony screen are very nice and look about as nice as Apple's.

I just like Macs for the OS and fewer problems etc and if you compare features the Macs are about the same as PC's.

05-10-2004, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by witeshark

I agree with the whole post - uh huh - older people or with crappy vision may need bigger fonts and such... I make a point of using the Powerbook 12's in the Apple store to make sure I like reading on it, and it's just fine -- I'd never give up it's sweet compactness for the bigger displays and it has enough useful ports too

Watch there are some older people here.

05-14-2004, 06:02 AM

Well that is the old question but till the G5 PB will be available the ibook seems to be the cheeper an better price. I use the 14'' ibook and with a bit more ram that works fine also for videoediting in final cut 4 and animation with maya. But its always a question what you want to spend...

Cheers Speedy

05-14-2004, 10:01 PM

Just remember the PowerBook will go G5 first and the iBook will stay G4,I think the iBook will hold its value better.

05-14-2004, 10:16 PM

I'm still set on the 12s myself nothing meant by the crappy vision, you can't believe my moms glasses! And no night driving! :p

05-15-2004, 01:23 AM

I can atest to the 12" feeling a little cramped at times; however, if I were to go back to when I got my pb, I'd still get the 12". There is just something so satisfying with a computer that actually feels completely portible.....so small, yet so beautiful and powerful. And to be fully honest...the cramped feeling doesn't really bother me all that much...I just look at my roommates 17" iMac, and get jeleous....for good reasons though...that screen is so wide, it's amazing....but I figure one day I'll own a mac desktop, and another laptop, and I won't have to worry...for now though...I couldn't be happier...that is unless I could somehow get the updated 12"....five months after I bought mine...w/o spending any money..or at least hardly any

05-16-2004, 12:28 PM

When is the Powerbook going G5 anyways? Probably not until like January 2005 or something, right?

05-16-2004, 10:45 PM

yes, not for a while....january sounds pretty good.

05-23-2004, 12:32 AM

I really want a Mac but am not sure IF I get one whether or not to opt for the 15 inch PB or the 14 inch iBook.......I prefer the widescreen an dbacklit keyboard....will get extra RAM elsewhere and will get bluetooth and airport extreme....

will use for internet, word processing, chatting, picture editing, garageband (will probably get a midi keyboard later on).

Will use it at home and at school.

will be traveling internationally (in France for nine months...yaya for study abroad!).

Battery life is important.....will be coming over from the Windows side.

will need a nice bookbg case for it.......

05-23-2004, 12:42 AM

Originally Posted by HazelGirl

I really want a Mac but am not sure IF I get one whether or not to opt for the 15 inch PB or the 14 inch iBook.......I prefer the widescreen an dbacklit keyboard....will get extra RAM elsewhere and will get bluetooth and airport extreme....

will use for internet, word processing, chatting, picture editing, garageband (will probably get a midi keyboard later on).

Will use it at home and at school.

will be traveling internationally (in France for nine months...yaya for study abroad!).

Battery life is important.....will be coming over from the Windows side.

will need a nice bookbg case for it.......

Posting here, you will not regret it

05-23-2004, 03:35 AM

I think we'll see dual G4 processor Powerbooks before we see a G5 powerbook.