Q
Quack_Blah
Guest
Hello Mac-forum users,
I am in my last year of high school and am going off to university in the fall (a canadian university -- I'm not eligible for that education rebate, all you apple salesmen).
I'm looking for a laptop to bring with me. I must confess, I have been raised on PCs and windows all my life - and have thus been raised to hate computers and their problems. After encountering a major problem with my Toshiba just last week (it won't load windows anymore), I am doing some serious research into apple and have a few questions to ask. Right now, I am considering getting a souped up 15" G4 iBook.
Question 1:
On the crap Toshiba I have right now, the laptop fan is obscenely loud. I'm one of those people who return an appliance if it hums off pitch and out of tune. I'm not saying the my new laptop has to hum in tune...but I can't stand it if the fan hums too loud -- I can't concentrate. How loud is the fan on the iBook? Is it roughly as loud as normal desktop? How often does it turn on? (Also, I read that the iBook gets really hot ... I have had an experience where my Toshiba got so hot that it melted the motherboard (yes, laugh at me now, current mac users)... Does the heat adversely affect the iBook? Does it make the fan turn on very often?
Question 2:
Are there any P2P programs for mac? I know that years ago, when free Napster was still around, there was a program called Macster. Does this still exist? I'm a WinMX user and it works great for me, but is there a comparable program for Mac?
Question 3:
Why did Steve Jobs put all the ports on the left side of the iBook???? I understand that it may be easier to plug/unplug devices if the ports are on the side rather than the back...but why the **** would you place them all on ONE side??? especially the left side??? what if I want to plug in a right-handed mouse? ... I would have to wind the mouse cable all around the back of the iBook to use it!!! Does this make any sense at all???? What if, in my cramped dorm next year, I have to butt my laptop up against a left wall? (Don't tell me to just get a wireless mouse. Wireless mice on laptops don't really make sense to me at all ... given that I'm never going to be further than a foot from the machine when Im using it). Why did Jobs do that?
Question 4:
What are your thoughts onthe iBook keyboard? I've heard some bad things about it -- how it's awkward to type on, its loud and clunky ... etc.
Question 5:
The reason why I'm not asking about the better Powerbooks is that they're way too expensive...I need to save for university. Although I've read of users that go for the 12" powerbooks that are better than the 15" iBooks but cost roughly the same. I thought about doing this...but who the **** would want a 12" computer??? that seems far to small to me. It's not like I'm going to need a bigger screen for games (I don't play any), but I do use my computer for movie watching sometimes. 12" sounds uncomfortably small to me. Any thoughts from 12" laptop users?
That's all I can think of. I know it's a long post, but I'm still not totally convinced to by apple. Give me good reasons to make the switch. I'd like answers to my questions
Thanks
-Quack-Blah
I am in my last year of high school and am going off to university in the fall (a canadian university -- I'm not eligible for that education rebate, all you apple salesmen).
I'm looking for a laptop to bring with me. I must confess, I have been raised on PCs and windows all my life - and have thus been raised to hate computers and their problems. After encountering a major problem with my Toshiba just last week (it won't load windows anymore), I am doing some serious research into apple and have a few questions to ask. Right now, I am considering getting a souped up 15" G4 iBook.
Question 1:
On the crap Toshiba I have right now, the laptop fan is obscenely loud. I'm one of those people who return an appliance if it hums off pitch and out of tune. I'm not saying the my new laptop has to hum in tune...but I can't stand it if the fan hums too loud -- I can't concentrate. How loud is the fan on the iBook? Is it roughly as loud as normal desktop? How often does it turn on? (Also, I read that the iBook gets really hot ... I have had an experience where my Toshiba got so hot that it melted the motherboard (yes, laugh at me now, current mac users)... Does the heat adversely affect the iBook? Does it make the fan turn on very often?
Question 2:
Are there any P2P programs for mac? I know that years ago, when free Napster was still around, there was a program called Macster. Does this still exist? I'm a WinMX user and it works great for me, but is there a comparable program for Mac?
Question 3:
Why did Steve Jobs put all the ports on the left side of the iBook???? I understand that it may be easier to plug/unplug devices if the ports are on the side rather than the back...but why the **** would you place them all on ONE side??? especially the left side??? what if I want to plug in a right-handed mouse? ... I would have to wind the mouse cable all around the back of the iBook to use it!!! Does this make any sense at all???? What if, in my cramped dorm next year, I have to butt my laptop up against a left wall? (Don't tell me to just get a wireless mouse. Wireless mice on laptops don't really make sense to me at all ... given that I'm never going to be further than a foot from the machine when Im using it). Why did Jobs do that?
Question 4:
What are your thoughts onthe iBook keyboard? I've heard some bad things about it -- how it's awkward to type on, its loud and clunky ... etc.
Question 5:
The reason why I'm not asking about the better Powerbooks is that they're way too expensive...I need to save for university. Although I've read of users that go for the 12" powerbooks that are better than the 15" iBooks but cost roughly the same. I thought about doing this...but who the **** would want a 12" computer??? that seems far to small to me. It's not like I'm going to need a bigger screen for games (I don't play any), but I do use my computer for movie watching sometimes. 12" sounds uncomfortably small to me. Any thoughts from 12" laptop users?
That's all I can think of. I know it's a long post, but I'm still not totally convinced to by apple. Give me good reasons to make the switch. I'd like answers to my questions
Thanks
-Quack-Blah