[Mallrat]

I currently own an ibook 500.

I was going to upgrade to a desktop for DVD authoring and video editing, so now I only want a portbale for writing.

I found a bb ibook 300 with 6gb harddrive for 400. Seems like a decent deal.

I just remember the clamshells being the best machines to type on.

And some people said the battery last longer on the clamshells.

I find the ibook screen nice now, but at the same time it could be much brighter.

Is the 800 by 600 clamshell screen easy or harder to see? Does it get brighter?

I mean in a way this is a stupid thing to do since I could probably only get 600 at most ofr my ibook 500... but then again that's 200 bucks in my favor.

Just wondering if I'm just being nostaligic and thinking I want the clamshell.

I mean I can't remember now, but there must have been a reason I went with the icebook over the clamshell. I think it was the color schemes at the end that kept me from buying, but now I can't remember.

Let me know what you think?

[kdixey]

I have a clamshell and while I do like it quite a bit (and I agree that it has one of the better keyboards on any Apple laptop), if your planning to run OS X you will probably have to upgrade the RAM in the clamshell.

I'm using a 466 SE with upgraded RAM and a bigger HD and it is quite nice. In fact I use it primarily for writing (and use an upgraded tower for imaging).

I do have one little recomendation. I find MS Office (primarily Word) to be pretty sluggish. I switched to Nisus for OS X and it seems to be working well (although I have Word since some of my classes require it).

[Mallrat]

Originally posted by kdixey:
I have a clamshell and while I do like it quite a bit (and I agree that it has one of the better keyboards on any Apple laptop), if your planning to run OS X you will probably have to upgrade the RAM in the clamshell.

I'm using a 466 SE with upgraded RAM and a bigger HD and it is quite nice. In fact I use it primarily for writing (and use an upgraded tower for imaging).

I do have one little recomendation. I find MS Office (primarily Word) to be pretty sluggish. I switched to Nisus for OS X and it seems to be working well (although I have Word since some of my classes require it).

any more thougths

clamshell 300 vs ibook 500

- battery life?
- typing (which is better?)

[kdixey]

the things I think set the clamshell apart (despite how nice the ibooks are)

1. great keyboard/trackpad and terrific ergonomics
2. built like a tank
3. interesting design (IMHO)
4. built-in handle (surprisingly useful)

[Mallrat]

Originally posted by kdixey:
the things I think set the clamshell apart (despite how nice the ibooks are)

1. great keyboard/trackpad and terrific ergonomics
2. built like a tank
3. interesting design (IMHO)
4. built-in handle (surprisingly useful)

cool. I just worry I'm remembering how great they were, but when I see the small 800 by 600 screen and lack of firewire port, I'll remember why I picked the icebooks.. the original one, the cool one..

[rytc]

Originally posted by Mallrat:
cool. I just worry I'm remembering how great they were, but when I see the small 800 by 600 screen and lack of firewire port, I'll remember why I picked the icebooks.. the original one, the cool one..

If your are going to go for a clamshell, at the minimum get the 466Mhz iBook SE, it came with a 10gig HD, Firewire, DVD and video out, it will be MUCH faster than the 300 Mhz model you're talking about and has all the ports that your current iceBook has.

Cheers Ry

PS 400 for that 300Mhz clamshell seems pretty step, seeing as I saw one like I described for less than 400 recently.