Im buying a new laptop

Hi, I need to get a laptop for school and want to get an apple laptop. I was trying to decide between an iBook and a Powerbook, I read a bit and found out that powerbooks, have a slightly faster bus and cpu clock that make it a bit quicker. Not too big a deal for 500 bucks. I decide to go to the apple store and check them out in person for myself, Notice that the powerbook felt quite a bit more sturdy than the ibook. Might just have been the display model was man-handled. I want to get an intel Apple Laptop but i cant wait that long. So long story short is, im trying to assemble a list of reason to get one or the other and I figured I should get an opinion from Mac users themselves.

iBook:
Cheaper, so it will be easier to upgrade to the mac later.
Better battery life

Powerbook:
A bit faster
Sturdier

Anyone feel free to voice opinion

Im saving on the size and have a current balance of 570. So, I would have to wait significantly longer for the powerbook.

Powerbook because that's what you'll really want, after getting the ibook

if you need a laptop for school, i.e. typing, internet, IM, music, some games maybe, go with the ibook. i have the 12 inch and it works awesome. good battery life too. all i got were some decent speakers and a bluetooth mouse. if i could rechoose, i would spend the extra $ and get the 14 inch though. 12 inch is a bit too small. ill make up for it though with a 20 inch imac next year. hope it helps.

this might help: http://homepage.mac.com/rs1sensen/BuyersGuide.html

Yea, I dont want a big screen, Im sorta house hopping now,so smaller is better. I DO want a powerbook, but Ill also want an Intel Powerbook so, 1400 now and 1400 later wont fly too well :-(. But if theres a big enough difference. who knows......"fat girls need love too"
only kidding

airport reception on the ibook is better imo.

you'll need to wait until nxt year for an intel p.book.
And according to some rumors, the p.book will be updated soon.
In your case, i would wait for a few more weeks before getting a p.book.
If you are not going to do video editing or heavy works, why not just get an ibook? With the $500 difference, maybe you can max up the ram in the ibook and buy some other accessories.

Yea, Im not doing ANY video editting, I could careless about that as I am not creative in that way, I mainly need it for note taking, coding, and other "related" activities.

I disagree that the PowerBook is "sturdier." I've seen far more Powerbooks with scratches and dents in the lids than cracked or scratched iBooks.

The iBook may have a plastic case, but it's a very sturdy one.

Get what you want, but I would suggest saving the $500 and getting an iBook. Then, if you're really worried about the sturdiness of the iBook, buy a $100 case for it and you're still ahead.

prodikal said:

Hi, I need to get a laptop for school and want to get an apple laptop. I was trying to decide between an iBook and a Powerbook, I read a bit and found out that powerbooks, have a slightly faster bus and cpu clock that make it a bit quicker. Not too big a deal for 500 bucks. I decide to go to the apple store and check them out in person for myself, Notice that the powerbook felt quite a bit more sturdy than the ibook. Might just have been the display model was man-handled. I want to get an intel Apple Laptop but i cant wait that long. So long story short is, im trying to assemble a list of reason to get one or the other and I figured I should get an opinion from Mac users themselves.

iBook:
Cheaper, so it will be easier to upgrade to the mac later.
Better battery life

Powerbook:
A bit faster
Sturdier

Anyone feel free to voice opinion

Im saving on the size and have a current balance of 570. So, I would have to wait significantly longer for the powerbook.

Click to expand...

I have an iBook and LOVE it. I upgraded to 1.28 GB of RAM, and it runs like butter. You can get the 1-GB DIMM at MemoryToGo for 136, as opposed to the like, what? 600 from Apple? Anyway, the long battery life is just a wonderful thing to have. Plus, it's significantly lighter than the Powerbook as it isn't made out of metal. I've had no issues with the iBook not being "sturdy enough" for me. Honestly, the bigger they are, the harder they fall anyway. PowerBooks are no doubt a faster, sleeker machine, and I intend to get the last revision made before they switch to Intel laptops, but I really do love my iBook, and I know I'll miss my chunk of white plastic when it's gone. Honestly, don't be too quick to switch to the Intel Macs. Wait until your new laptop wears out on you. The transition is going to be pretty tough for a LOT of third party OS X programmers, and I think you'd just be better off waiting until the kinks are worked out of the x86 systems. I mean, it's your own call, but I'd definitely say get a great laptop now and don't worry so much about being slightly outdated when the new ones come out.