buying an ibook or a powerbook

[vogooch]

i am looking to buying a laptop. i am not super computer saavy, nor am i completely out of the loop. i am wanting to do a lot of photography stuff on my laptop (hoping to get into the working world of photography) and also wish to do some music burning....easy stuff. i am looking at using flash or building a website as well....i went on the apple.com website, and a lot of this doesn:t really mean much to me. i am also an avid traveler, so i am on the road on and off doing working holidays here and there. is an ibook enough or should i go for the powerbook? what is the industry standard? what would you suggest and why?

 

[g5orbust]

The G4 ibook looks like its right up your alley. Its less expensive than the powerbook series, but still powerful enough to run OSx and many apps like a champ.

A super top of the line ibook
• 640MB DDR266 (128MB built-in & 512MB SO-DIMM)
• 60GB Ultra ATA drive
• Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• Keyboard/Mac OS X - U.S. English
• APP for iBook - Enrollment Kit
• 14.1-inch TFT XGA display
• 1GHz PowerPC G4
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32MB DDR video memory
Subtotal $1,898.00

G5orbust Recommended
Midranged
• 640MB DDR266 (128MB built-in & 512MB SO-DIMM)
• 40GB Ultra ATA drive
• Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• Keyboard/Mac OS X - U.S. English
• APP for iBook - Enrollment Kit
• 14.1-inch TFT XGA display
• 933MHz PowerPC G4
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32MB DDR video memory
Subtotal $1,698.00

Low end (but still great)
• 640MB DDR266 SDRAM (128MB built-in & 512MB SO-DIMM)
• 40GB Ultra ATA drive
• Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• Keyboard/Mac OS X - U.S. English
• APP for iBook - Enrollment Kit
• 12-inch TFT XGA display
• 800MHz PowerPC G4
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32MB DDR video memory
Subtotal $1,523.00


It looks to be about 1500$-1900$, which includes apple care (3 year warranty).

I personally suggest the midranged one. Its got everything the higest ranged one does, just is 67MHz slower. You can upgrade the HD to 60GB if needed for 50$ more. That means that you are, essentially, paying 150$ for a 67MHz speed bump.

 

[Qiranworms]

There are still a few reasons to go Powerbook.

-If you want a DVD burner (known as a Superdrive by Apple).
-Powerbooks support higher resolutions then iBooks.
-The 15 inch PB is thinner then the 14 inch iBook (sizes for the Powerbook are 12 inch, 15 inch, and 17 inch, while the iBook sizes are 12 inch and 14 inch).
-The Powerbooks (excluding the 12") have a cool keyboard backlight for typing in the dark.
-The PBs can hold more then 640 MB of RAM (640, however, is usually more then sufficiant)


Otherwise, I would go with the iBook (which has the cheapness advantage).

 

[g5orbust]

There are still a few reasons to go Powerbook.

-If you want a DVD burner (known as a Superdrive by Apple).
-Powerbooks support higher resolutions then iBooks.
-The 15 inch PB is thinner then the 14 inch iBook (sizes for the Powerbook are 12 inch, 15 inch, and 17 inch, while the iBook sizes are 12 inch and 14 inch).
-The Powerbooks (excluding the 12") have a cool keyboard backlight for typing in the dark.
-The PBs can hold more then 640 MB of RAM (640, however, is usually more then sufficiant)


Otherwise, I would go with the iBook (which has the cheapness advantage).

The things he said he's doing warrant none of those things. If he were doing onsite video editing and/or music production, then the PB would be more suited. But for just simple photo stuff and cd burning, the ibook is more than enough. Also, 1024x768 is quite the comfortable resolution for a laptop.

 

[mac_mogul]

I agree with both of you, The iBook has price advantages, and the PB has Power Advantages... But I would highly suggest buying a high-end powerbook (budget permitting) because there will be less room for obsoletion when a new laptop is intoduced. And yes, 640 mb is adequate, but face it, 1 Gb is better. And the PB has a higher capacity available HDD, and for music burning and storage, this would be much better suited for the job. And a higher screen res. is ALWAYS appreciated for photography. The iBook's 14 inches of an industry standard resolution is nice, but the powerbooks 15 inches of 1280x854 is much better for viewing/editing pictures. And also the PB has a higher performance gfx accelorator too. (not necessary for music or photos, but nice to have) And it has the obvious size/weight advantage.

So...

The PowerBook is the better computer for a price, the iBook is a better computer for the price. It's completely up to the buyer.

 

[g5orbust]

Originally posted by mac_mogul
I agree with both of you, The iBook has price advantages, and the PB has Power Advantages... But I would highly suggest buying a high-end powerbook (budget permitting) because there will be less room for obsoletion when a new laptop is intoduced. And yes, 640 mb is adequate, but face it, 1 Gb is better. And the PB has a higher capacity available HDD, and for music burning and storage, this would be much better suited for the job. And a higher screen res. is ALWAYS appreciated for photography. The iBook's 14 inches of an industry standard resolution is nice, but the powerbooks 15 inches of 1280x854 is much better for viewing/editing pictures. And also the PB has a higher performance gfx accelorator too. (not necessary for music or photos, but nice to have) And it has the obvious size/weight advantage.

Agreed.



The PowerBook is the better computer for a price, the iBook is a better computer for the price. It's completely up to the buyer.

More like up to the buyer's wallet

 

[Qiranworms]

The things he said he's doing warrant none of those things.

In my opinion, everything warrants a backlit keyboard

The PowerBook is the better computer for a price, the iBook is a better computer for the price.

Well said statement there.

More like up to the buyer's wallet

And that is the factor that has kept me from owning a Mac for a while, and will probably continue to do so for the next three years or so . On the bright side, there will probably be a G5 laptop by then and a 64 bit version of Mac OS X (10.7 or whatever we have by then ) to go with it.