Author Topic: In need of advise for a pb or ibook purchase (Read 10545 times)

marie · « **on:** December 18, 2003, 08:24:47 PM »

Hi all,
I am back after a long absence, and with questions. Lots of questions.
I am looking at buying another mac. I am quite confused though. I would like to purchase for under $1300.00
Superdrive does not concern me. I am more interested in getting long term bang for my buck. I see the ibook's with a G4, and memory max at 640. The prices are really great, but in the future, can I anticipate the availibility of a processor upgrade? I figure 640 ram max is pretty good but not as good as 1gb. Quite honestly I am going crazy trying to cover all the what ifs and such.
I really want something that as time goes on if I decide to upgrade I will have those options availible. I figure barebones is the way to go, allowing for the upgrades along the way. What is the big diffence between the pb and ibook? I mean best I can tell the pb allows for more ram, where as the ibook tops out at the 640. If I go G3 will there eventually be an upgrade to a G4, or will the board not allow?
I am SO confused, my ears are rolling smoke!!!
Please someone, any insight?
Thanks,
Marie

kelly · « **Reply #1 on:** December 18, 2003, 08:52:47 PM »

Hi Marie. Welcome back.

I don't think there's any upgrades for anything newer than a Pismo.

Don't know of any for an iBook.

The Powerbook will have a bigger screen for one thing.

Like you said, more RAM also.

I think looking for Processor Upgrades just confuses things.

You could use whatever and sell in two or three years and do ok.

My 2 cents.

marie · « **Reply #2 on:** December 18, 2003, 08:59:22 PM »

Hi Kelly,
I was glad to see your reply. I have always thought highly of your advise. Am I obsessing to much about this

Marie

kelly · « **Reply #3 on:** December 18, 2003, 10:18:33 PM »

Well, maybe. At least about upgradability.

You don't buy Laptops for their ability to upgrade.

You buy them for portability and such.

Buy the best machine you can afford.

It won't all of a sudden be bad because faster machines come out.

RHPConsult · « **Reply #4 on:** December 19, 2003, 06:22:09 PM »

Marie:

Can you get to an Apple Store and actually try one vs the other, in a compatible environment? There's a store in Easton, another near Cincinnati. Don't know about Cleveland. Is that where Lyndhurst is located?

IAWK

I would speculate that, unless you're already familiar with "portable" Macs, you would be wise to test keyboards associated w/DTs against PBs and/or iBs. That could be even more important to their ease of your use, if display size is more-or-less equal.

Good luck.

mooregr · « **Reply #5 on:** December 19, 2003, 08:51:02 PM »

I had the same question a few weeks ago. I wanted to buy a new laptop for my daughter and wife to use at home. They will mainly use it for Web, AIM, Email and games. SimCity 4 will not run on our current iBook. It needed a better video card to run SimCity.

Upgrades
The only reasonable things to up grade on current Mac laptops are memory and hard drives. Memory is easy but most hard drives are not easy at all. I would suggest getting as big of a hard drive as you think you may need in 3-4 years.

Memory
You can always add memory later if money is tight. Laptops have fewer slots for memory both the iBook and the 12" PowerBook have 128 Megs of ram soldered on the motherboard and only 1 slot for expansion filled with a 128 meg or larger memory module. The iBook can be expanded to 640 meg the PowerBook 1.1 Gig. I usually buy Mac Laptops with the minimal memory from Apple they charge a high price for their ram. You can go almost anywhere and get a better price. When I shop for RAM prices you get a reasonable deal up to a point then there is a big jump and you are paying a premium for the extra large memory module. I usually go just below the big price jump. On Apple's web site you can an PowerBook with 256 Meg of RAM for $1599. If you up the ram to 1.2 Gig of RAM from Apple it costs $2299. If you buy the 1 Gig memory module from RamJet for $599 you have essentially the same machine for $2198 saving $100 not counting shipping cost for the RAM. Smaller memory modules save less money. Below is the URL for Ramjet:

http://www.ramjet.com/pbg4.asp

Pros for the PowerBook over the ibook
Powerbook is faster for several reasons depending on what you are doing.
PowerBook has a larger level 2 cache.
Faster Bus for transfering data
Faster processors are available
Can add more Ram than the iBook
Better video card than the iBook
Smaller

Cons for the PowerBook
Gets kind of hot on your lap
More expensive
Might be less rugged than the iBook
Airport reception is worse on the PowerBook

Pros for the iBook
Cost
Larger easier to hold on you lap
Better Airport reception
More rugged that PowerBook

Cons for iBook
Slower Bus
Smaller Cache
Less possibilities for memory expansion
Larger

I ended up buying the cheaper 12" PowerBook and adding more memory. I would recommend 256 is the bare minimum you want to have. I figured that the PowerBook would be a viable computer for a longer period of time.

Hope it helps!
Guy

marie · « **Reply #6 on:** December 20, 2003, 03:34:56 PM »

Kelly, RHPconsult, and mooregr! Especially mooregr, what you wrote certainly helped volumes! I had no idea that some of the points you presented exhisted. I thought a PB was certainly the way to go, but now I have got a viable pro's and con's list.
Thanks gentleman, I have alot to think about and feel better now!!

Bruce_F · « **Reply #7 on:** December 20, 2003, 06:41:06 PM »

Marie,

Whether you decide on the PowerBook or the iBook, don't forget to look at the Apple Sale section which is linked from the main page. Look for the sign:

I just bought a 15" PowerBook and I'm loving it! I happened to find a great deal on a new one at ebay. Don't count on that, unless you're willing to watch the auctions for a couple weeks or so.

The refurbished products from Apple come with a full warranty. They're just less expensive.

mooregr · « **Reply #8 on:** December 22, 2003, 06:09:21 PM »

Hey,

I just found this article comparing the two:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.hts...usiness/2288981
Thanks
Guy

marie · « **Reply #9 on:** December 23, 2003, 08:42:03 AM »

Thank you,
I have ordered a powerbook 12" (I like the compact ones) 256mb ram, superdrive, 1ghz. Its an Apple refurb, but I am just fine with that. Ordered my airport extreme refurbished to.
I thank you all a million for your advise!

kelly · « **Reply #10 on:** December 23, 2003, 08:50:01 AM »

Cool.

marie · « **Reply #11 on:** December 26, 2003, 09:22:14 PM »

Its finally arrived, and back to the mac OS I missed so terribly! I love it!!!

RHPConsult · « **Reply #12 on:** December 27, 2003, 07:27:44 AM »

Do the next shopper a favor, Marie.

Afterr about a month of "experience". write a review to help someone else out of a future dilemma.

It'll be a useful addition to our archives

News:

Author Topic: In need of advise for a pb or ibook purchase (Read 10545 times)