iBook vs. Powerbook: Let's hear it.

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BoyBlunder

[H]ard|Gawd
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Nov 10, 2003
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being a dedicated windows user my whole life, I'd really start to slowly make the switch to a mac. I've read articles about windows users instantly switching over, etc, and I'm interested.

so I started surfing over at apple's education site today, and I don't know which system to get, a $949 12" iBook or a $1399 12" PB. what's the difference between the two? will I notice? I use the laptop in my sig as a workstation, and will easily give it up if I enjoy the mac enough, so it'd be getting used heavily.

so, [H]ers, what should I get?
 
between those two id say the ibook, it just doesn't make sense to get the more expensive PB when it doesn't have that many more features...the mid-high end powerbooks are much better than the mid-high end ibooks though...so if you want a bigger screen go with a PB over an ibook (thats 15"+, 12" ibook seems better)

whatever you decide though....don't get a P-P-P-P-P-Powerbook!
 
Get their newest laptop. It's actually cheaper than my girlfriend's Powerbook, she regrets buying the Powebook just before they came out with the new laptop. Then again, when she bought it, it had all the options on their smallest one. An astounding $2,400.
 
EGGO said:
Get their newest laptop. It's actually cheaper than my girlfriend's Powerbook, she regrets buying the Powebook just before they came out with the new laptop. Then again, when she bought it, it had all the options on their smallest one. An astounding $2,400.
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their newest laptop? you mean the newest 12" iBook?
 
Here's the skinny, as being a straight Windows -2- Mac switcher for one year now. I got my 14" iBook at the beginning of last year and I love it. BUT . . . a few things made me wish I would've gotten the Powerbook.

1.) Yes, you do get a noticeable performance increase.

2.) The finish on the iBook is a pearl, plastic white. Scratches show up on such a pretty, clean white surface (get what I'm sayin?). The PowerBook however has a titanium finish. Since I do not own a PB, I can't tell you that it wouldn't be any more noticeable, but it wouldn't hurt as much to see a scratch like that. The PBs look more rugged and durable . .

3.) One thing iBooks CANNOT do that PBs can is power an external display. Why is that so important? I wish I had a 12" PB to hook up to my Dell 2005FPW!!!!! AHHHH!!!

4.) SMS (Sudden Motion Sensor). Just in case you don't know what this is . . . Whenever you drop your laptop (which I never have, but just in case), your hard drive will lock up thus causing way less damage to your information. Make sense?

5.) Automatically comes with a SuperDrive for DVD burning capabilities. I didn't have use for it at the time with my iBook so whatever floats your boat. Also, the PB comes with a 64MB video chip instead of 32MB with the iBook.

It basically comes down to what you're going to use it for and for how long. The newest laptops from Apple are called the MacBook Pros. Only the 15" is available to order now (shipping next month) but I know that Apple will release a smaller (12" or 13") version later this year.

Since this is your first Mac and you are just now switching, either one is the best choice. Just to forewarn, Apples are crack. I'm buying an iMac within the next 3-4 months fully loaded and possibly a new laptop later this year. Hope this helps.
 
six_storm said:
4.) SMS (Sudden Motion Sensor). Just in case you don't know what this is . . . Whenever you drop your laptop (which I never have, but just in case), your hard drive will lock up thus causing way less damage to your information. Make sense?

The iBooks do have it. The revision that came out at the end of July added that with the new touch pad. Not that I want to test out the SMS it is a nice feature knowing I have it.
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macbook pro for $1799, will be as fast as the intel imac, which is DAMN fast. Or you could wait a bit longer for the ibooks and other powerbooks to go intel.
 
Whoever told you the horror stories is a retard then.

I've done the same hack to my previous two iBooks and my old eMac. It's not exactly hard and all you're doing is unlocking a natural hardware ability.
 
I'll add my own two cents. To the people arguing about the screen spanning capabilities of the iBook. Yeah, it's possible. Yes, it works 99.999999% of the time, but if Apple catches you doing it, whoops there goes warranty, and two, it is never guaranteed.

I wouldn't give up my powerbook 12" 1.5ghz for anything. I use it for school, and this thing is the most practical, easy to use, powerful (not just hardware, but software) based solution I have found. I am a CpE major (Computer Engineering), in my senior year, we are working on a project programming an open source game under object c, and it is so nice to be able to ssh into our engr terminals from aywhere, using the terminal right on my computer, and have cross platform compatibility.

Nays about the PB's, they are HOT. And not just looking. They get mad hot. The titanium transferes heat like a mofo. I use a laptop cooler when I have my laptop plugged into my external monitor. i just close the top of the pb (which ibooks are not able to do), and set it off to the side. Works just like a desktop that way.(bonus)

either way, you cant go wrong, i bought my laptop for the size, portability (both the 12" ibook and pb are almost equal here), and it's overall power of the OS. Easy to use, and as powerful as linux/unix.

Oh yeah, and nearly zero spyware, and no real world virus' yet.
 
six_storm said:
2.) The finish on the iBook is a pearl, plastic white. Scratches show up on such a pretty, clean white surface (get what I'm sayin?). The PowerBook however has a titanium finish. Since I do not own a PB, I can't tell you that it wouldn't be any more noticeable, but it wouldn't hurt as much to see a scratch like that. The PBs look more rugged and durable . .

Powerbooks do not have a "titanium finish" and they are not made out of titianium. Those were the older powerbooks. You look them up in google image search with the term "tibook". The newest ones are aluminum or "alubook".

3.) One thing iBooks CANNOT do that PBs can is power an external display. Why is that so important? I wish I had a 12" PB to hook up to my Dell 2005FPW!!!!! AHHHH!!!

??? Yes they can. I do it all the time on mine.
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Why do people like hooking up their laptops to a monitor? I thought part of the reason why you pay the premium is so that it is portable! Once I get a laptop I am getting rid of my desk all together.

My thought is, when apple puts an intel chip into an ibook, is it likely to be be quicker/better than current g4 powerbooks? I really want a tiney laptop but right now the ibook seems to not have enought features and the 12" pb seems overpriced.
 
Why be stuck on a 12" screen when you're at home? Those things are friggin tiny.

I don't know about everyone else, but when I use my laptops at home I'm using my 19" LCD and my full-size wireless kb/mouse.
 
Can the mac word processor of choice (whatever it may be) save to .doc format? I'd love to pick up a power book, but i'll never ditch my desktop (hardware nerd = windows 4 life)... but I'd want to be able transfer certain files over... does OpenOffice work for mac? Paying for a word processor is the dumbest thing of all time.
 
Textedit uses rtf natively. NeoOffice can open most Office documents without issue. I suggest the 1.2 Beta
 
Alot of business people want to hook their laptops up to an external monitor like a project to give a presentation, you never know when you might need to even in college or at a job. I personally wouldn't buy a laptop without video out.

I say go for a Powerbook.
 
Okay I have to reply to this one.

There are a lot of differences between the current G4 iBooks and Powerbooks.

They are, in what I think is the order of importance:

CPU slightly faster on PB
RAM is faster (DDR 2) on PB although they both run at 333Mhz
HDD is faster on PB (5400rpm as opposed to 4200rpm on iBooks)
Video Card is faster on PB with Radeon 9700 compared to Radeon 9550 on iBook
Screen on PB is capable of higher resolutions, both on LCD and external monitor (iBook can only do 1024x768 on external unless you use that hack, but it can still run an external monitor without the hack, so I don't know where the other posters got that from!).


So yes, the PB is better, but do you need that extra power? I used to be a big gamer on the PC, but then realised that I couldn't be bothered spending £300 on a new GPU every time a new game came out, and I got bored and stopped playing games. I now enjoy surfing, emailing, audio recording (nothing major, just enjoy tinkering) and stuff like that. So I bought an iBook G4. Fantastic little machine. It's not quite as responsive as say a brand new PC laptop,. but the pros of using OS X really outwiegh the speed differences.

Maybe the PB doesn't have this lack of responsiveness, maybe it does,. I've never used one.

However, if you're going to pay for a PB, I'd buy the new Mac Book, as it'll be a little more future proofed. I simply wasn't willing to spend that much.

So basically ask yourself the questions of whether you need that much power in your notebook, whether you need to run an external monitor, and higher than 1024x768 (I imagine you'd want to of course :) ) etc etc.

On the note of OpenOffice, as far as I know, it opens and saves .docs in windows, so it should do in OS X. Simple :)
 
If you can swing the 1499 for the PB, you should hold off an extra month and pick up the MacBook Pro for $1799 (with ed discount). The speed increase is of the orders of magnitude variety, not talking measely 10% here. Plus, you get a 15" screen instead of a 12". Have you ever tried using a 12" laptop before? They are tiny to the point of ridiculous.

I have a 15" laptop now, and this screen even feels too small.
 
there is almost no risk using the screen spanning hack.. its just a software mod, because apple locks it so they can sell the powerbook if someone wants this feature. The only thing is u shouldn't use the clamshell mode, because the iBook displaces heat thru the keyboard.

also the iBook has the SMS on its hardrives.

I would go with the iBook for 949, unless u really need a dvd burner or u want a bigger screen then 12". If I didnt get the iBook I would of looked at getting a MacBook Pro, because they are the sex.
 
benamaster said:
Alot of business people want to hook their laptops up to an external monitor like a project to give a presentation, you never know when you might need to even in college or at a job. I personally wouldn't buy a laptop without video out.

I say go for a Powerbook.
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The iBook has video out.
 
12" refurb PowerBook. $1199, can't go wrong. Or $1299 for the 15" PowerBook. My roommate has an iBook and the casing is all scratched to crap, it doesn't latch down squarely anymore, and the feel of the keyboard is mediocre at best.
 
sure the iBook can do video out with that hack, but it is DAMN annoying only being able to power it with dual screens, you can't close the iBook and have it have all 32MB powering your LCD. unless you use another hack, but you can melt your screen with that one since the iBook dissipated heat through the keyboard.
 
chuckalicious said:
On the note of OpenOffice, as far as I know, it opens and saves .docs in windows, so it should do in OS X. Simple :)
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Yes, it does. I use NeoOffice (the Coca adaptation) on 10.3 and it works. The formatting doesn't always stick 100% if you insert graphcis but text and the layout stay intact.
 
although MacBook Pro is BEAUTIFUL - i would atleast wait for a couple of revisions and better compatability - check back in March maybe when more programs are optimized for it

and personally, iBook likes like fisherprice to me, and I cannot stand the cheapness - on the contrary, the PB looks beautiful to me
 
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