ibook or Powerbook

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Hello I am going to be gettin my first mac computer I have a PC and switched from Windows to Linux about a year ago and going to switch to Mac. I was wondering is a ibook or powerbook better for my needs. I will mostley be doing ichat, web browsing, image editing, maybe a few mac games here and there.
ibook is 1099 and 1599 so For the 400 bucks extra I was wondering what are the biggest advatages you get because I have the money for ibook but I could save up a bit more if it is worth it. And is the 1ghz to 1.33ghz a big difference? For gaming like UT2K4 and Call of Duty will I see a major incerease in performance between the 32mb and 64mb?

Thanks MacMyK
 
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Matt

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For games the Powerbook would probably be better. Don't take my advice though, I don't have a Mac ;)
 
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Matt said:
For games the Powerbook would probably be better. Don't take my advice though, I don't have a Mac ;)

Haha but I do! Get the powerbook! I'm trying to get rid of my iBook to save up for one. The powerbook offers much more promise as far as gaming on the mac goes. The iBook is fine for general productivity, but when it comes to the point when you wanna play a popular game like UT2k4 or especially Call of Duty (which runs like garbage on my iBook), you'll need the extra boost that the powerbook can give ya.

Good luck.
 
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I play games once in a while but lets exclude games witch one is more reliable. The plastic white case to the aluminum or whatever is it better for durability? Both have a cd-rw and dvd-r right? Does the powerbook have dvd-rw?
 
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No the iBook only comes with dvd-r as a built-to-order option on the 14" model, no dvd-r available for the 12" model.

As far as i know the superdrive only supports dvd-r, not dvd-rw, but i might be wrong there!

I'd say for durability both are quite alright, the iBook feels really sturdy and is quite tough despite the plastic exterior.

When it comes down to it, it's a question of how much you're willing to pay! The powerbook is better performance and feature wise, but do you need them?

If you're a casual prosumer user, i'd go with the ibook.
If you have special performance requirements besides gaming, (such as video editing, hardware-intensive stuff) i'd get the powerbook.

If you're not sure if you want games: get an ibook and then get a console later ;)
 
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Yea since im a student I just found this nice discount ibook or powerbook + ibook you get 200 rebate so I am prob going to do that but I was wondering do I get any more off because someone told me they bought and ibook and got 200 dollars of for being a student so i was wondering do I get 200 off + 200 rebate if i get that http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/cramjam.html ? I am under Education and I was wondering since the powerbook 12" is 1400 and if I get an ipod 300 = 1700 + the 200 rebate is it 1500 then Some other guy before said for being a student i got 200 dollars off is that 200 off the 1600 to 1400 for powerbook or is it 1400 plus another 200 off?

That might sound confusing but I cant really exlpain it but I tried.

-Thanks MacMyK
 
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MoltenLava

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12" Powerbook comes with NVidia FX Go5200, which is a pathetic videocard in terms of playing 3D games. Radeon 9200 that comes with iBook is actually faster than Go5200. For that matter iBook is probably a lot better value for you.
 
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tariq

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Thats not true. While both are pretty pathetic, and they are almost identical in performance depending on the game. Some games the Go5200 is marginally faster and others the 9200 is faster (by faster I mean ~10FPS).

As far as the education discount/cram&jam rebate I have no idea what you just said MacMyk. All I can tell you is that first you get the education discount and then on top of that you will recieve the $200 cram&jam rebate.
 
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MoltenLava

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I won't argue whether Go5200 or Radeon 9200 is faster. The point being 12" Powerbook is not going to be an ideal gaming machine especially considering $400 price difference.
 
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Solarsurfer

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Apple next gen "core" technology that will come with macosx tiger only supports radeon cards better than the 9600 and GeForce FX Cards. The Powerbook is more Tiger ready.
 

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