New Apple iBooks Unveiled

[fantomfreq]

For those wanting to check out just exactly what Apple has to offer but have been put off by the price before, Apple has heard your cries. The iBooks, more then ever before, have been converted into a budget line of computers suitable for everyday tasks while being extremely portable.

The new 12-inch model comes with a 1.2 GHz G4 processor, combo drive (that's CD-RW and DVD-ROM), Airport Extreme (802.11g) and 30 GB hard drive for $999. The 14-inch model has a 1.33 GHz G4, combo drive, 60 GB hard drive and an airport card for $1299. SuperDrives (DVD-RW) are $200 bucks extra in the jump from one 14-inch to the other. Now, you won't be able to do things like play games on these starter Macs, but that's what your PC is for anyway, isn't it?

Now is better than ever to dive into the Macintosh world. OSX is the best OS that I've ever used and it's only getting better next year with the release of Tiger, which will include several major upgrades to OSX including an extremely intuitive system to search through files on your hard drive. These computers are worth looking into.

[karbon86]

i was just about to buy a 12" powerbook until today i saw these new ibooks. Not that i'm going to get one but that means apple will introduce a new revision on the powerbook. Which means a price drop on the model i was gonna get. Apple will not sell there ibooks so close to the powerbook specs, the only thing different from a fully loaded ibook and powerbook is a slight higher bus speed on the powerbook now. So look for a new revision on the powerbook soon!

[karbon86]

but don't expect a G5 powerbook anytime soon unless they got the water cooling down in them secretely

[fantomfreq]

Well I disagree that there will be a revision in the PB specs anytime soon. They upgraded to the Aluminum PB's not too long ago; it seems too soon to do it again. Hey, there's a very good chance that I'm wrong though. About the G5 Powerbooks: not all G5 processors require water cooling. In fact, only the top of the line dual 2.5 processor G5 computers have water cooling.

[karbon86]

yes but they can't control the heat in the laptop case. They can barely handle a G4 without lots of heat.

[fantomfreq]

Originally Posted by karbon86

yes but they can't control the heat in the laptop case. They can barely handle a G4 without lots of heat.

Very true. After playing UT2004 for a while, my laptop becomes scorchingly hot. In fact, for all intensive purposes it's not a laptop. Aside from it being bigger than my lap, the thing gets hot if you use it for an extended period of time. Since it's running folding@home all the time it gets hot after a while no matter what. Guess that's the price you pay for having an entire computer made of aluminum. Sorta acts like one big heat sink.

[karbon86]

thats why they made it aluminum to take care of the extra heat. But they have been expiramenting on watercooling system inside a powerbook. You may think thats impossible but there are laptops that are watercooled. It just doesn't make sense to have the low end model be exactly the same except different case and a non noticable 30 something MHZ bus speed. And at the same time have it be $250 cheaper than the powerbook. Apple will have a revision to the PowerBook within a month or two. Not sure what they will do because they can't get an ample increase is proc speed without redoing the cooling so look elsewhere for the next revision.

[danrok]

Still seems overpriced/underpowered when compared to a PC notebook in the same price range.

[fantomfreq]

Originally Posted by danrok

Still seems overpriced/underpowered when compared to a PC notebook in the same price range.

Many people think this, but I've compared a few different configurations of Powerbook computers with PC computers and found that if you buy a comperable laptop from a large company (i.e. Dell) then you'll end up paying aproximately the same price. I'm sure that there may be some Apple computers that are more expensive than their PC counterparts. However, people pay that extra money for a reason.

Consider this: You price a computer and it comes out to x dollars. The company then contacts you and says for an extra 300 dollars they'll include a version of Windows that will literally never, ever crash and is so easy to use and configure that any process, no matter how complicated on your current PC, will take less than a minute. They ask if you'd like that option added on. I'm sure that you'd pay the extra money.

Now, I'm not saying that Macs never crash (they do have occasional problems, just like every operating system.) However, many people just like OSX better than WinXP. They're willing to pay some extra money for the convienence that their Mac will bring them.

You pay more money for a drink at a bar than you would if you made it yourself, but that doesn't stop bars from being profitable. Honda Civics don't cost a whole lot of money, as far as cars go. There are all kinds of aftermarket parts for the Civic; you can make it go very fast and look real nice. Cadillacs cost much more money than a Civic. They don't have a large range of available modifications, largely because people who buy Cadillacs don't feel the need or want to change them. It all comes down to a budget and personal preference, you know?

[Lazgoat]

Question. Is it possible to build Macs like we all build our own PC's?

Laz.

[danrok]

This laptop is about the same price as the 12" LCD version of the Mac:
http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/...cat=572&page=1

Better specs on the Asus and a much bigger screen, but you're right I would prefer the OS on the Mac.

[fantomfreq]

Originally Posted by Lazgoat

Question. Is it possible to build Macs like we all build our own PC's?

I haven't looked into it much, but I don't believe that it is. Parts of the desktops are easily upgradable with normal stuff (hard drives and RAM, for example.) I don't think that you can buy the correct processors or motherboards, though. It's unfortunate, but a fact of life in the Apple computing world.

[karbon86]

Originally Posted by danrok

This laptop is about the same price as the 12" LCD version of the Mac:
http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/...cat=572&page=1

Better specs on the Asus and a much bigger screen, but you're right I would prefer the OS on the Mac.

but the point i was making is that you can't get a PC comperable laptop that is an ultraportable laptop with all the features as the pb. I have never seen one the same size with comperable specs. The 15" and 17" pb's are over priced. You can buy a much better PC laptop in the 14"and up range. But as far as it goes with the 12" and under the features of the PB can't be beat.

[danrok]

I think when it comes to laptops or portable computers of any kind personal tastes and requirements come to the fore, more so than with a desktop machine.

For me a 12" laptop isn't quite portable enough, a PDA is portable enough but presently not quite powerful enough for me personally.

I keep looking at laptops and PDA's, but never manage to find one that is just right. They're not cheap, so I wouldn't want to buy one unless I know I will get plenty of use out of it.