iBook vs. PC laptops

I'm not very familiar with macs and what they're specs mean in comparison to a pc. What would be a comparable pc laptop to a 12" ibook (if such a thing exists in your opinions) Are iBooks a value compared to similiar PC products. I understand most of you are mac fans and your opinion is shaped by this, but any advice or opinion is welcomed.

hey... I'm a 2 week mac user now.. I've been PC user all my life before. BUT what I'd like to say is... PC and MAC is about the same in everyday use. Like word processing, spreadsheets, emailing, web surfing etc. BUT if youd like to edit multimedia stuff than MAC I believe handles it alot better than a PC. If you are a gamer than I'd go with PC cause MAC doesnt seem to carry many games that PC seems to have. Maybe in the future this will change due to Mac+Intel. Thats my 2cents =)

It really is tough to compare, because the systems are very different. There is nothing wrong with windows, and if you want to go with a windows laptop, you can probably get a pretty good one for the price of the iBook. If you are only using the laptop for typical use and maybe some media, the iBook will perform better to some extent. OS X is a great operating system, and Win XP is a good one. Don't try and compare hardware. Look at what you would use the computer for, how much you are willing to spend, and what OS will best suit your needs.

thank you for the advice. I have an 4 year old pc that i have upgraded heavily and is still pretty decent for productivity and some gaming. I am looking for a laptop for graduate school and as a supplement to my pc which currently has alot of hard drive space and is still quite useful. I've become swayed towards buying a mac as my laptop because i dont want to deal with software/os errors and problems and i like the design and the idea that the computer is purpose built to support mac's os. Your comments have reaffirmed that going with an apple is a pretty good choice.

Going with Apple is a good choice. I always recommend this, go for the best that you can. Look at the speed of processor (12" vs. 14") and the amount of ram as your main considerations.

Most people think Ram is a guarenteed thing to speed up their computers. It really isn't. It only comes into play as programs need it. If you are just doing basic internet, word processing, etc., 512 mb. is the perfect amount. If you do anything more than that, I'd push it to a GB (768 for the 12" model). I would NOT buy my ram from apple. It is 10x overpriced, and is very easy to install on your own.

Taking that into account, price the best system that you can afford with that amount of ram.

As far as hard drive space, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You can always back stuff up to your pc, or burn them to CD or DVD (14" model).

However, if you are just considering the 12" and not the 14" models, some of that stuff may not apply...

About 3 months ago i had us$1000 and the same problem, and i got an iBook 12"from an Apple store. My advice consider the whole package.
So, first thing is price/value: You can get a Windows laptop or Linux laptopfor under us$1000, but those are machines that will be obsolete (if not already) in less than a year. Macs cost either a little or a lot more but last longer. Under the same idea iBooks are considered ruggedized machines, they are stronger, made from better materials than other under 1000$ laptops. And finally here, the CPU. I don't like Celeron. Pentium M is compared to Pentium 4 but they cost a lot more. AMD is also a good option and there are several under us$1000 (check Tiger Direct).
Second portability/weight/battery life: The more the power you have the less the battery life and more weight. Consider the most important for you, power or portability. My iBook gives me more power than i expected and around 5hr of battery (basic use). HP's DV1000 series also score great, but are over us$1000. There are some eMachines using AMD Athlon or Sempron that are very sleek for cheap 15" laptops but i have read some complains about thow their CPUs god fried for extreme heat.
Extras: Windows laptops give you bigger hardrives for less price. RAM is universal and easy to install in almost any laptop, IMHO is better to get RAM in a different store like NewEgg. Windows laptops have bigger resolutions than iBooks, still 1024x768 in a 12" screen is really good.
Extra software/periferals: Windows have a lot more options. OSX has a lot less but the quality of its apps is better. Again Windows has more options in periferals. This is more like 1000 variations of the same thing for Windows and 100 variations for Mac. iBooks lacks of PCMCIA and on-board flash card readers, that is very disapointing in my opinion.
This were MY reasons for getting an iBook, but i hope it helps you. I spend more than 3 months looking before making mi choice and i found this website the best source.
http://www.notebookreview.com/

mraya said:

those are machines that will be obsolete (if not already) in less than a year. Macs cost either a little or a lot more but last longer.

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I disagree with you on that. If you bought a PC laptop or an iBook right now, in 1 year neither would be top of the line anymore and both would still be very useful machines. The iBook would hold its value a little better than an PC laptop though.

Pentium M is a great processor if you are getting a PC notebook. The Celeron M isn't that bad, some of its newer versions have the same core, cache, and bus speed as some of the older Pentium Ms.

If you get an iBook, GET RAM...

If you bought a PC laptop or an iBook right now, in 1 year neither would be top of the line anymore and both would still be very useful machines.

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PC's are updated every week it seems, but macs only are updated once or twice a year, and the ibooks aren't really in need of an update.

macAttack said:

the ibooks aren't really in need of an update.

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Its only been about 8 months since their last update

Agreed, the iBooks will be updated within the next 2 weeks.

But Apple computers do age better, in that apple supports older hardware configurations longer.

Lots of casual users are only NOW starting to upgrade their iMac G3's.

Basically it boils down to this:

The iBook's hardware package (after the upgrade) is fairly competitively priced, even compared with PC notebooks.

It is designed to be quite rugged, there are no protruding parts that could break off, the case is strong and it is all well thought out (accessible ports, microphone placed in sensible position and not by your trackpad as with most pc laptops, wireless antenna encircles the screen for best reception).
Battery life is also excellent.

The killer though is the software: You get a full multimedia application suite and a ton of extra little helper apps with the operating system. You don't need to worry about viruses, spyware, adware and the likes. And OS X is usually more stable and nicer to use the XP.


IMO that is

I have a 12" Ibook of the latest model. About 8 months ago I had to decide between PC vs. Mac. My top 3 reasons for choosing Mac:

1. Bugs? What bugs? I've never heard of them on my mac, it has never crashed and the operating system in my opinion is much easier to use (I learned it in only a few hours). My PC desktop always seems to have a problem with it.
2. Power? Find a laptop for the same price for PC where you can run Photoshop CS, Quark XPress, BBEdit, about 5 browsers, and terminal all at the same time with very little lag. Wait, I forgot to mention Mail and ITunes all at the same time. I did upgrade my ram to 768mb though.
3. Battery Life. 4-5 hrs under standard usage (word processing and such). 2-3 hrs under heavy development and graphic work. Find a PC for the same price that will do that.
4. Looks. Find a PC that looks as good as an IBook.
5. Length of Life. The newspaper I work at still runs dual G4's with 500mgz each. Doing heavy graphics development. Find a PC that old where you can still put together a newspaper. My best friend just bought a 500mhz G3 Ibook for writing. Boots up relativley fast and I've got Photoshop to run on it farely well. Those are 2 examples. It just seems to me that a Mac laptop will have a much longer life then a PC at the same price range.

Well, thats more then 3 reasons, but those are some good ones.

A PC and Mac laptop will both funtional in a year, in theory. However, PCs have a whole bunch of different hardware bits and peices and because of thisthey aren't integrated together as well as macs. This makes a hardware problem more probable. Also for sure, i f something does happen, it is easier to send the whole thing into apple. In terms of how the actual functionality the computer will be, a PC OS will be all scarred up and broken with lots of bugs and errors. Mac wins here.

j5ive said:

hey... I'm a 2 week mac user now.. I've been PC user all my life before. BUT what I'd like to say is... PC and MAC is about the same in everyday use. Like word processing, spreadsheets, emailing, web surfing etc.

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no macs better at web-surfing( no virues)

j5ive said:

BUT what I'd like to say is... PC and MAC is about the same in everyday use. Like word processing, spreadsheets, emailing, web surfing etc.

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For some of us, the multimedia stuff is everyday use. I honestly can't remember the last time I did much word processing.

You are correct in saying that a lot of it is very close. However, I think Mac wins for internet surfing, as well as email (if you compare outlook and mail). Word processing and spreadsheets, the newest mac version of office is supposed to have more features than it's counterpart.

They are very close, but I still think mac wins even in those day to day categories. Then again, an old 366Mhz iBook or comparable PC would probably do almost as well in those categories as my top of the line Powerbook.

i currently have an ibook and i would say that the best value laptop from mac is the ibook. i love the powerbooks but for the price you pay for a 12 inch powerbook, there are some great options in the PC world. This of course does depend on what you do as i can only speak from my own usage. i basically use my mac for word processing, internet, itunes and iphoto. i had never gone mac or used mac in the past. the reason why i went for an ibook was the size and price compared to the pc counterparts @ the time. i can definitely say that windows xp is good but mac os x is better as i NEVER EVER have to worry about spyware/viruses anymore. mac os x is very very user friendly and i spend less time fiddling (none really) compared to using windows xp. i would say go for the ibook b/c the price is very competitive and you should definitely like it. both pc and mac have their advantages. for me it's ease of use, excellent bundled software, NO VIRUSES!, and excellent design. i do believe that i can use my ibook for years longer than a windows pc.

700m is the best comparitive PC laptop to the Ibook. Same size, and with the upgraded battery you get around 5 hours battery life. Also, you can get one for cheaper than an Ibook with better specs with Dell Coupons

crg23 said:

A PC and Mac laptop will both funtional in a year, in theory. However, PCs have a whole bunch of different hardware bits and peices and because of thisthey aren't integrated together as well as macs.

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Well, speaking of laptops, you do realize there are only about 3 companies that actually make laptops, and that the same company that manufactures them for Apple also make them for Dell? The hardware involved is pretty much identical, excepting (for now) the CPU. This is pretty much across the board any more. As a matter of fact, my Dell 20.1" widescreen monitor uses the exact same screen (from LG) as the Apple 20" cinema display.

crg23 said:

PCs have a whole bunch of different hardware bits and peices and because of thisthey aren't integrated together as well as macs.

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I disagree, Intel's Centrino package is a very nice combination of components. Apple computers have just as many components as a PC laptop.

There's nothing wrong with the 12-inch iBook, but I would recommend going for the mid-range 14-inch iBook if you can afford it - the one with the Combo drive, not the SuperDrive. It's a little more expensive, but I think if you have used a laptop before with a screen size larger than 12", you're going to find it to be too small.

I used a Toshiba Satellite S155 for two years with a 14.1" viewable area, and when I went to an Apple retailer to check out the 12" iBook, I was stunned. I was squinting to see things. I would have been really quite unhappy if I had gotten one that small.

Really what you might want to do, in this case, is to go to an Apple retailer - if you can find one - and check it out in person to see if the size is what you're looking for. I think there are some very inexpensive PC laptops out there that are similar.

One such laptop you might want to check out for a rough comparison is this Averatec model. It's got a 40GB hard drive, 12.1" screen, 256MB RAM, and an AMD Athlon XP 2000+ processor. It's a rough equivalent, of course, because there's no real way to make a genuine direct comparison between a Mac and a PC.

I think it's pretty much safe to say that you'll be paying more for the Mac, but you will probably have fewer headaches and, in my experience, get more work done. I read a good quote once about this particular phenomenon: Mac owners use their computers, and Windows owners put up with their computers.

Best of luck to you.

For the most part i will say that dollar for dollar PC laptops offer better value to the majority of computer users. If all you do is word processing and internet surfing you can get a very affordable pc, albeit not as NICE looking as a mac but paying for looks is up to you. the benefits of using a mac to me is the fact i enjoy the simplicity of the Mac operating system. it is SOOOO straightforward and simple. Secondly, I'm a heavy internet surfer and simply got sick of the all the anti virus and security i needed to beef up on windows xp. i never have to worry about all the garbage and time wasting dealing with spyware and all that junk that has been a pain in the rear end!! for me the ibook is the best value mac laptop while the powerbooks are a bit pricey. i find those who use graphic programs can justify using the higher end macs but for regular users it's pricey.