New iBook or Powerbook

I was not able to purchase an iBook a few months ago like originally planned. Now, I am glad I was not able to.

I am a college student majoring in philosophy, neuroscience and physics with a minor in mathematics. I'm telling you this to tell you what programs I use. Most frequently, I use Word, Powerpoint, Firefox, and GAIM. When needed, I use Mathematica or Matlab.

I currently have an IBM Thinkpad T23. It is just too slow and it doesn't run Mathematica, and as I get further in my education, it's important that I have a copy of Mathematica myself.

Anyways, what should I get? The 14 inch iBook or the 12 or 15 inch Powerbook? 12 inches seems really small to me. I wasn't too thrilled about the 15 inch widescreen, but I am sure I will get over it.

So, I ask for your opinions...

Best,
Chris

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21613
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I'd go 15" with the better vid card. The 14" iBook is nice, but the power the 15" offers will be nice with Mathematica. The 12" is really small, although the advantage is that it is very portable. But, it doesn't offer the same umph the 15" would offer.

The question is not which to get either iBook or PowerBook, but does Mathematica, Matlab, and GAIM run on Apple hardware? If all of these applications run on Apple hardware then you can choose between an iBook or a PowerBook.

Mathematica and Matlab run on Mac's and GAIM is just another IM client so even if they don't have GAIM for OSX there are several other clients

rman said:

The question is not which to get either iBook or PowerBook, but does Mathematica, Matlab, and GAIM run on Apple hardware? If all of these applications run on Apple hardware then you can choose between an iBook or a PowerBook.

Click to expand...

Wow.. that Yoda widget comes in great... lol

The problem is a lot of people look at the hardware first with out looking at the software. The software normally drives the hardware purchase. System Analysis 101.

rman said:

The problem is a lot of people look at the hardware first with out looking at the software. The software normally drives the hardware purchase. System Analysis 101.

Click to expand...

Mathematica runs on my Mac Mini, so it will run on my iBook/Powerbook.

MATLAB isn't as important, as we use Mathematica 99 percent of the time. There is a port for OS X for it.

I would use Adium X instead of GAIM.

Any more suggestions?

Best,
Chris

Really it just comes to how fast you want your mac to be. If you chose the ibook, I don't think you'll see much of a difference between that and the mini. However, with the 15" Powerbook, you would have a noticeable speed increase.

My take is that if $$ are a huge issue go with a PB many more features and just a more robust unit - I love my 12" PB - very useable and VERY portable

AND --- the built in Airport Extreme just rocks --- just what you will need for campus hot spots

Isn't the 12inch screen too small to do work on?

Best,
Chris

Now that we have the applications out of the way. I would go with the PowerBook, since I think the applications are compute intensive.

Which screen size do you recommend? Isn't 12 a bit hard to use and 17 a bit big? 15 seems the golden middle, but I'd like to hear others opinions.

Thanks!

Well, I have a 17" and I don't feel it is too big. Although, right now, I'm using it as a temporary "desktop replacement." The 12" is small, but not unusable. It is made to be the most portable. The 15" is the "golden middle."

Remember too, there are different performance stats between the 12" and 15" model.

If this will be the only computer your using then go with the 15 or 17. The 12 is small to be an everyday computer.

Bohemian said:

Isn't the 12inch screen too small to do work on?

Best,
Chris

Click to expand...

Speaking as a 12" PB user I'd say "No". I've been surprised at how little I've missed my larger screen of my ThinkPad. I think that for most things the 12" screen is just fine.

I'm quite pleased with my 12". All things being equal, depending on money, I'd go with a smaller screen and a PowerBook instead of a larger screen and an iBook.

12" is almost perfect for a laptop.