Buying a Mac

izaguf · Feb 9, 2006

I will be buying a Mac tomorrow, I was going to wait until the new Macbook pro was released however without a firm release date I can't really wait for it. I will buy one when they do come out but at this point I really need a computer until then as I am currently without one. I am thinking about getting the 12 inch iBook as a good temporary solution until the Macbook Pro is available. My last primary computer was a Thinkpad T42 1.73 Pentium M, 512 mb ram, 14.1" screen. I was wondering how the iBook would compare for web browsing, and using MS Office? Obviously the screen will be smaller but I'm ok with the trade off for portability. I was able to try one out at an Apple store, my initial impressions were it seemed a bit cheaply built, this may be just because the demo units get man handled daily. The hinge for the LCD seemed a little flimsy allowing the LCD to flex back and forth rather loosely. Also I noticed that if you press down slightly on the top left of the case below the keyboard it would creak. The LCD also seemed a little dull on full brightness, not as bright as the IBM that I have been using, this may have been from the bright lights in the store washing out the screen. Is the LCD bright or is it on the dull side? If it is, is there any way to increase the brightness? The appearance of the LCD almost have me leaning towards buying an Intel iMac 17 inch instead to hold me over until the MacBook Pro is available, however I think I would miss the portability of a laptop. Also I would like to get an external monitor for the MacBook and use it as a desktop on occasion. Though I wouldn't mind keeping the iMac after getting the MacBook and use it as a full time desktop, however I'm not sure how satisfied I would be with the 17 inch LCD after awhile. Thanks for any insight you have to offer.

Left Face Down · Feb 9, 2006

Just to comment on this. Most stores will have the MacBook Pro in the end of next week, or so I keep hearing and the store I went to said. So, I would give it a month before you see them in masses in stores because of pre-orders. Which I, personally did, and mine should be here (according to the invoice) the 7th of March, shipping the 28th of February.

Which one person on here said they thought, if I remember correctly they didn't know, was the second shipment so I would expect the majority of stores to have a limited quantity for sale within the next two weeks.

Discerptor · Feb 9, 2006

izaguf said:
I will be buying a Mac tomorrow, I was going to wait until the new Macbook pro was released however without a firm release date I can't really wait for it. I will buy one when they do come out but at this point I really need a computer until then as I am currently without one. I am thinking about getting the 12 inch iBook as a good temporary solution until the Macbook Pro is available. My last primary computer was a Thinkpad T42 1.73 Pentium M, 512 mb ram, 14.1" screen. I was wondering how the iBook would compare for web browsing, and using MS Office? Obviously the screen will be smaller but I'm ok with the trade off for portability. I was able to try one out at an Apple store, my initial impressions were it seemed a bit cheaply built, this may be just because the demo units get man handled daily. The hinge for the LCD seemed a little flimsy allowing the LCD to flex back and forth rather loosely. Also I noticed that if you press down slightly on the top left of the case below the keyboard it would creak. The LCD also seemed a little dull on full brightness, not as bright as the IBM that I have been using, this may have been from the bright lights in the store washing out the screen. Is the LCD bright or is it on the dull side? If it is, is there any way to increase the brightness? The appearance of the LCD almost have me leaning towards buying an Intel iMac 17 inch instead to hold me over until the MacBook Pro is available, however I think I would miss the portability of a laptop. Also I would like to get an external monitor for the MacBook and use it as a desktop on occasion. Though I wouldn't mind keeping the iMac after getting the MacBook and use it as a full time desktop, however I'm not sure how satisfied I would be with the 17 inch LCD after awhile. Thanks for any insight you have to offer.

The iBook is Apple's low-end laptop. It will not match a Thinkpad with 1.73 GHz Pentium M at most tasks. However, since you only want a TEMPORARY solution, I would think a refurbished/used iBook is definitely a viable option. I mean, the huge difference you see in the MaBook pro Rev B at the end of your wait will definitely convince you that the trade-off was worth it IMO.

Kyomii · Feb 9, 2006

Discerptor said:
The iBook is Apple's low-end laptop. It will not match a Thinkpad with 1.73 GHz Pentium M at most tasks. However, since you only want a TEMPORARY solution, I would think a refurbished/used iBook is definitely a viable option. I mean, the huge difference you see in the MaBook pro Rev B at the end of your wait will definitely convince you that the trade-off was worth it IMO.

Why do you feel that the iBook would not match a 1.73Mhz thinkpad ? IMHO it would match it, and be able to complete most if not all tasks the Thinkpad can.

ByzantineRemnant · Feb 9, 2006

I think the iBook would be able to match a think pad. I have an iBook, and have used the think pad as well. The only thing you would need to do would be get more RAM. Macs utilize ram much better than Windows PCs...

I would wait for the MacBook, yet you would be happy with the iBook.

Discerptor · Feb 9, 2006

Kyomii said:
Why do you feel that the iBook would not match a 1.73Mhz thinkpad ? IMHO it would match it, and be able to complete most if not all tasks the Thinkpad can.

I'm thinking of my friend's iBook from June of 2004, which I suppose would be slower than the latest iBooks. Still, a 1.73 GHz Pentium M is nothing to scoff at. It certainly can't match a PowerBook, but I get the feeling an iBook would be a slightly different story. And buying extra RAM is not an option for this man, seeing as he wants a temporary solution. But I think the iBooks have a nice little advantage of not using integrated graphics... so come to think of it, maybe the iBook can match that after all. Well, looking at the current iBooks, they're basically almost the same as the 12 inch PowerBook so they're not going to be horribly slow or anything. Slower or faster, the iBook should serve its temporary purpose and teach him the ways of OS X.

kaidomac · Feb 9, 2006

Discerptor said:
I'm thinking of my friend's iBook from June of 2004, which I suppose would be slower than the latest iBooks. Still, a 1.73 GHz Pentium M is nothing to scoff at. It certainly can't match a PowerBook, but I get the feeling an iBook would be a slightly different story. And buying extra RAM is not an option for this man, seeing as he wants a temporary solution. But I think the iBooks have a nice little advantage of not using integrated graphics... so come to think of it, maybe the iBook can match that after all. Well, looking at the current iBooks, they're basically almost the same as the 12 inch PowerBook so they're not going to be horribly slow or anything. Slower or faster, the iBook should serve its temporary purpose and teach him the ways of OS X.

Yeah but it looks cooler than a Windows laptop

That's more important than anything, right?

In all seriousness though, an iBook is overkill for Internet surfing and Office use. My 450mhz G4 Cube does that stuff just fine (well, Firefox isn't quite as snappy as my 2ghz Athlon 64, but eh). Max out the ram in whatever you get and enjoy your machine. Like Discerptor, fast or slow, the iBook will be great for teaching you OS X. I originally bought my Cube just for looks (wow, I just read that line back, does that make me a shallow geek or something? lol), but now I'm using it to learn OS X. Eventually I'll get either a killer G5 system or a MacBook Pro and use that as my main system, but until then, my Cube is doing a fine job as an OS X tutor.

BTW, I'd jump on a 12" PowerBook if it wasn't for the cruddy screen

ke5aux · Feb 10, 2006

You know I was having the same questions until i bought the 12-inch PowerBook G4. To tell you the truth it beats the [insert (in)appropriate here] out of my old Averatec. I am talking about 3.0ghz 1024mb Ram.
Keyboard - well um, just dont squeeze the laptop too tight.
Brightness - PowerBook is better then iBook on that issue.

Pirce = 1099$ refurbished

Buying a Mac

izaguf

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