[etm001]

Hi,

I've been thinking of taking advantage of Amazon's rebate and buying an iBook (it'd be my first Mac).

Through my research I learned that the current crop of iBooks won't support Core Image and Core Video.

Given that the next iBook revisions will most likely happen sometime around April, and that Tiger should be out by then (or very close to release), do you think the next iBooks would get a Core Image/Video compaptible video card?

And actually: what am I missing without Core Image/Video? Cool special effects, i.e for widgets in the Dashboard, etc.? Anything else worth worrying over?

Thanks!

[iREZ]

You really don't CoreImage unless your a developer. If you really concerned with having a better VRAM, you should get a 12" PB. The discount at Amazon is also available for PB's as well as iMac's and PM's if I'm not mistaken.

[etm001]

Originally posted by iREZ:
You really don't CoreImage unless your a developer. If you really concerned with having a better VRAM, you should get a 12" PB. The discount at Amazon is also available for PB's as well as iMac's and PM's if I'm not mistaken.

I'm still interested to hear other's thoughts as to what the next revision might offer.

Also, I realize Core Image/Video etc. is technology relevant to a developer. My question is, as an end user, what am I going to me missing?

[A Ghost Is Born]

i doubt that they will give a huge vram upgrade. in order for this to happen they will need to upgrade the powerbook's vram. thats my thoughts. i wonder if they will jump from 32mb to 64mb cards? that would be nice seeing how my ibook could use just a little better video card for unreal tournament (the only graphic intesive game i play).

[minton7]

One difference between a mac and a pc is that OS X makes heavy demands on the gpu. You could say that you don't play games on a pc and that would pretty much absolve you of worrying about the implications of your lack of vram. But on the mac side, vram is crucial for the system as a whole. Quartz extreme culled all machines not having atleast 16 mbs of vram, and Core Image will do the same to those lacking the requisite 64mb.
In terms of the GUI, the only thing I wouldn't get with a "paltry" 32mb of vram is the ripple effect - when you choose a new widget in Dashboard, the entire screen makes a splash, as so:

http://www.macrumors.com/downloads/t...rd_address.mov

Yeah, kind of frivolous, but damnit, by buying the most recent ibook, I consider myself as having paid the admission fee. And when I pay the admission fee, I want to see the entire show!

[iluvmymactoo]

Originally posted by minton7:
In terms of the GUI, the only thing I wouldn't get with a "paltry" 32mb of vram is the ripple effect - when you choose a new widget in Dashboard, the entire screen makes a splash, as so:

http://www.macrumors.com/downloads/t...rd_address.mov

Is this true?

That was one of the really neat things I was looking forward to.

[nJm]

Hmm, i hope it works. I spend most of my time with an external display hooked up so would hate to see how it would cope with just 16mb per display. As it is under Panther things can get a little slow with two screens!