Dilemma: new 14" iBook or new 15" Powerbook

I’m glad I found this forum; hopefully someone can give me some guidance regarding my “dilemma”:

I’m a 27-yo soon-to-be grad student; I’ll be getting my MA in International Affairs. For several reasons, I have recently begun considering from a PC to a Mac. My dilemma arose when I started comparing the new 15-in Powerbook (upgraded to 512 MB of RAM) and the new high-end 14” iBook (also upgraded to 512 MB RAM). I will have about $2000 (maybe a couple hundred more) to play with, but I will need to purchase MS Office for the Mac OSX platform (with a student discount, this will run me $150 - $200). Apple provides a $100 student discount on the computer. Both computer systems have ‘similar’, but not identical, specs.

I will be using the computer for the basic student apps, such as creating documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc. There is a chance that I’ll need to run a statistics application as well. I don’t play games on my computers, but I will be downloading mp3s, playing around with digital photo applications, and using GarageBand. My question is this: is it worth the extra money (anything in excess of $2000 will be out of my own pocket; my generous parents are providing the first $2000) to purchase a 15” Powerbook, or will an iBook (when upgraded with additional RAM) serve me well?

One last question: does the Powerbook come with all of the standard Apple applications (iLife, iPhoto, Safari, etc)?

Any insight would be helpful. I don’t want to pay a lot of money for a system that is truly overkill, but I also don’t want to find myself in a position where my computer simply doesn’t meet the needs of something like a stats program. Thanks in advance!

For your requirements I would go with the iBook. I would look at the 12in if you don't need the larger screen, but that is me. From what you are describing you will not need the PowerBook, unless you are going to do something later tha is compute intensive.

As for the software load, they are different on each system. Both will have the same OS, both may have the iLife apps, and both will have safari. The iBook will most likely to have Appleworks, quicken and a few other applications that will not show up on the PowerBook.

As for M$ Office 2004, depending on what school you attend you maybe able to get it cheaper. An example is at CSULB, they have a site license with M$. So I was able to get M$ Office X for $20, with my wife student discount.

Also the 12in iBook fits in a back pack better.

sounds like iBook will suit your need. i recommend adding superdrive since you'll get an internal dvd burner that can run iDVD. External drives cannot burn w/ iDVD.

I'd recomend the 12in iBook as well, the image is sharper as well on the 12in vs the 14in. They both use 1024x768 for a max resolution, so the 12in will be sharper. Someone back me up on this, especially since I read that here
I personally have a 15in PowerBook, it's an awsome machine, but overkill for what you want it seems.



Stealth -

Also make a note that iBook ships with iLife (which includes Garageband). Powerbooks don't have Garageband.

My Powerbook came with Garageband and the rest of the iLife suite.

iLife

Strider said:

Also make a note that iBook ships with iLife (which includes Garageband). Powerbooks don't have Garageband.

Click to expand...

iLife and Garageband come installed on ALL new iBooks or PowerBooks. Mine did!

Larry Zasitko

I have a 15" powerbook and it's probably overkill for what you need one for. You may consider a 12" ibook or powerbook. My friend has a 12" ibook and just sticks it in his backpack w/ his books... never had a problem with it(I would not suggest this!). So they are pretty tuff. You can probably get a student copy of Office for alot less than 150$ through your school... check with the bookstore!

Strider said:

Also make a note that iBook ships with iLife (which includes Garageband). Powerbooks don't have Garageband.

Click to expand...

I do beleive all new macintosh computers come with iLife, including garageband....and I am 100% sure the powerbooks do.