E
elanthis
Guest
Hi all,
I'm getting ready to buy a new laptop, but am having a hard time deciding between a PowerBook and an iBook. It would be a no brainer if it wasn't for the $700 difference in price between the two models I'm considering. ;-)
Most of my needs for the machine are very light. I don't do much gaming (most of which I do is either done on a GameCube or a PC), so the laptop will mostly be used for lounging around at home browsing the web, doing schoolwork, listening to iTunes purchased music and watching movies. The real kicker, however, is that I do plan on doing a lot of programming on the machine, altho it won't be my main development machine (I'd rather stick with a desktop with bigger cache and faster hard-disks when possible).
The iBook I'm looking at is the 14" 933mhz model, with 128MB of RAM (I'll buy and install an upgrade on my own), 40GB hard-disk, combo-drive, and airport extreme. I've heard these get kind of dirty and are hard to clean, and the limit of 1024x768 is slightly unappealing (tho that's no worse than my current 14.1" laptop with the same max res).
The PowerBook I'm looking at is the 15.2" 1ghz model, 256MB of RAM (again, I'll upgrade on my own), 60GB disk, and airport extreme. I'm also looking at the slightly faster 1.25ghz model, with an unfortunate minimum of 512MB of RAM (too expensive from Apple), and otherwise the same specs as the first PowerBook. (I downgraded from the superdrive and downgraded to the 60gb disk.) The second PowerBook will cost yet an additional $200. The second model also has the backlit keyboard.
I'm wondering if, for my needs, do I really *need* the PowerBook? For movies, is the 1024x768 resolution good enough? (I buy wide-screen DVDs whenever possible.) For developers - does the 1ghz (or even 1.25 ghz) processor make enough of a difference to be worth that much money? Also, are the additional benefits of the PowerBook worth the increases size and weight and decreased battery life? Just how much difference *is* there in battery life? For someone who wants to avoid wires as much as possible, would the longer battery life make a noticable difference?
Again, this laptop won't be my main machine. Most of my time with a computer will be at work (with a box that I wouldn't dream of replacing with a laptop from any manufacturer) or at my home desktop (again, much better than any laptop from any manufacturer). The laptop is likely to go stretches of several days or more without seeing any use at all.
Thanks all!
I'm getting ready to buy a new laptop, but am having a hard time deciding between a PowerBook and an iBook. It would be a no brainer if it wasn't for the $700 difference in price between the two models I'm considering. ;-)
Most of my needs for the machine are very light. I don't do much gaming (most of which I do is either done on a GameCube or a PC), so the laptop will mostly be used for lounging around at home browsing the web, doing schoolwork, listening to iTunes purchased music and watching movies. The real kicker, however, is that I do plan on doing a lot of programming on the machine, altho it won't be my main development machine (I'd rather stick with a desktop with bigger cache and faster hard-disks when possible).
The iBook I'm looking at is the 14" 933mhz model, with 128MB of RAM (I'll buy and install an upgrade on my own), 40GB hard-disk, combo-drive, and airport extreme. I've heard these get kind of dirty and are hard to clean, and the limit of 1024x768 is slightly unappealing (tho that's no worse than my current 14.1" laptop with the same max res).
The PowerBook I'm looking at is the 15.2" 1ghz model, 256MB of RAM (again, I'll upgrade on my own), 60GB disk, and airport extreme. I'm also looking at the slightly faster 1.25ghz model, with an unfortunate minimum of 512MB of RAM (too expensive from Apple), and otherwise the same specs as the first PowerBook. (I downgraded from the superdrive and downgraded to the 60gb disk.) The second PowerBook will cost yet an additional $200. The second model also has the backlit keyboard.
I'm wondering if, for my needs, do I really *need* the PowerBook? For movies, is the 1024x768 resolution good enough? (I buy wide-screen DVDs whenever possible.) For developers - does the 1ghz (or even 1.25 ghz) processor make enough of a difference to be worth that much money? Also, are the additional benefits of the PowerBook worth the increases size and weight and decreased battery life? Just how much difference *is* there in battery life? For someone who wants to avoid wires as much as possible, would the longer battery life make a noticable difference?
Again, this laptop won't be my main machine. Most of my time with a computer will be at work (with a box that I wouldn't dream of replacing with a laptop from any manufacturer) or at my home desktop (again, much better than any laptop from any manufacturer). The laptop is likely to go stretches of several days or more without seeing any use at all.
Thanks all!