What is the timeline on this?

At the end of August I will be starting college and want a new laptop. Currently I want a laptop with long battery life, so the iBook is very appealing. But I have a question, with the new Intel Apples comming out, will the "Macbook" that will replace iBook, will they be out by the end of summer? And this is purely a theoretical quesiton, but will the new intel "Macbooks" have the same long battery life as the iBook or will it most likely be comparable to the Macbook Pros? If battery life is a big issue, would it be best to just go witht he power PC iBook or will the pros on the new macbooks be enough to warrant a purchase? Is an iBook a worthy purchase on its own merits?

Sorry for any stupid questions, long night at work and little sleep make me a very tired and stupid person.

I think most people would agree that there's a good chance that the new iBooks/Macbooks will be out this summer, but nobody's going to be able to answer your questions for sure. I have the current iBook model and I can tell you that I love it and it works perfect for me at college. If I were in your situation, I would probably wait through the summer and see if the new iBooks/Macbooks are released and compare the specs for what you are looking for. I'm sure you'd be able to get the PPC iBook even after the Intel iBook/Macbook is released if you find that its specs don't measure up to what you want.

Agreed:

Hold out for the Macbook, and if you don't like what you see (I predict 3-4 hours battery life max. compared to 5-6 hours on the G4) then pick up the iBook G4 for cheap...

Another consideration: If your college course requires any windows software, it will be a lot easier to get running on the macbook than the iBook.