[vexingv]

here are the configurations:
12" ibook
1 G4, 256 mb ddr, 60 gb HD, airport
12" PB
1.33 G4, 512 mb ddr, 60 gb HD, airport, Bluetooth

the difference in price, after edu discount, between the two would be around $200 to $300 (depending on whether i add Bluetooth and buy 3rd party RAM for the ibook).

what are the various merits of the two? how do the two differ in performance and battery life?

this is my first mac and i usually run a PC on a 17" monitor (about 15" viewable) @ 1024x768, will the 12" screen be that bad? (i thought about the 15" pb but i could buy 2 ibooks for the price of one 15" pb!)

the 14" ibook has the same specs as the 12" but differs in cost from the 12" powerbook by about $100.

[vexingv]

by the way i forgot to ask:
how many RAM dimms are available on the 12" PB? are there 2 (where one comes occupied) or is there 1 (one empty and 256 mb soldered onboard, like the ibook)?

[kdixey]

The 12" powerbook is a much better bang for the buck than the 12" ibook. At educational pricing there is only about $200 separating them. That extra $200 buys you ...

1. twice the VRAM
2. faster system bus
3. faster RAM
4. fully supported monitor spanning
5. dedicated audio in
6. faster processor
7. slightly nicer keyboard
8. lovely build quality

I just bought one. Now for the bad news, I took my shiny new powerbook home and found out 2 things. It has a stuck red pixel (not the end of the world, but annoying) and the 12" screen is just too small for me. I would suggets that you spend some time looking at the 12" screen and really figure out if you can live with it. Since I rarely hook my laptop to an external monitor I found the 12" screen too be too much of a liability. I'm returning it today for a 14" ibook.

I still think the powerbook is a terrific deal versus the 12" ibook and has a nice combination of features, but I just don't think I can live with that small screen.

[LokiSnake]

Even though the screen spanning is not officially supported by Apple, it is still doable with a hack.

If you are a student and don't need all that extra fancy stuff that the PB offers, then get the iBook, and maybe sit out until the next gen. of PB's come out, which would most likely feature a G5 processor.

[kdixey]

Well, I ended up returning the 12" powerbook for a 14" ibook (1 ghz w/768mb RAM). All I can say is that I absolutey love it. I think the 14" is a hugely underrated machine. The 14" screen is bright and easy to read (and quite sharp), the machine is fast, airport reception is wonderful and when you actually have it in your hands it really isn't all THAT big.

As great as the 12" powerbook is on paper (not to mention that it is a heck of a deal), I find that I prefer the 14" ibook (at least for my purposes) I would readily recommend it to anyone looking at the 12" but willing to consider a slightly larger form factor.

I will say that I think the middle ibook is a bit better deal than the high end one. At first glance I thought that I would go with the higher end model since it came with an airport card and a bigger HD, but when I did the math it ended up being about $100 for .13ghz more processor (the 1ghz is actually 1.07ghz) and 20gb more HD. I have a couple of fast external FW drives (80gb) so I figured the money saved by buying the middle ibook paid for the 512mb RAM chip from Crucial.

[LokiSnake]

Well, congrats on your switch!