[kdixey]

I was noticing recently how the phrase (I'm paraphrasing) "powerbooks are for pros and ibooks are for the rest of us" creeps into quite a few people's answers to the question...

Should I get a Powerbook or an ibook?

Well, as a aging pro that has logged a lot of hours on a variety of different Macs I have to say that I find the ibook to be a very capable machine that can certainly hold its own against the "pro" machines. Granted, the powerbooks have some nice features that the ibooks do not, but if we're talking about the ability to use these machines in a professional capacity, the ibooks are certainly very capable and in some situations even preferable to "pro" machines.

I can remember editing a half hour promotional video for a client on a tibook 400 using FCP. My 1 ghz ibook is twice the machine that powerbook was. I'm not trying to start some ridiculous ibook vs powerbook p*ssing contest. I think they are both terrific machines but I think that its easy to forget how powerful these little machines are.

I'm curious what other people think.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Kevin

[audvidsvs]

I agree it can be a little blurry defining the line between these.

I have a Ti667DVI and I love it.
I also have an Ibook 1ghz 12" and there are certain things I prefer about it.
The PB seems to be more solid somehow,maybe its the metal maybe just my pre-conception due to the price difference.

In the end doesn't it reflect our individual needs and likes?

I will likely get a 12"PB and keep the Ti too.
It is nice to be able to have a really portable machine and not have to unhook my desktop(which is what the TI is right now).

I just hope the 12"PB is rugged like it looks.The IBooks are prone to certain problems,this one already has had a hinge break but they are great for the money and it feels very fast.

If I can bill for time spent with either one,then that is my Pro model at the time.
And I do!

[d4nth3m4n]

i would hope that your year old (tops) iBook was twice the machine that a 3-4 year old tiBook is.

they are quite wonderful little machines. especially now that they are so similar on paper.

[pat++]

The iBook is a pretty capable machine. I'm what you can call a 'pro' user, and I'm pretty happy with the iBook (I've had the original 500mhz dual usb iBook, and now an iBook G4 800). Much better value for the money (particularly since the last iBook update). PowerBooks are not that much better, they would deserve an update... The only thing which would make me buy a PowerBook is if they change the 12" PowerBook for a 13" widescreen version. I like portability of the 12" (I love the iBook for this), but wouldn't mind having a wider screen...

[kdixey]

Yeah, I wouldn't mind having a bit more screen resolution or a slightly larger screen (there is always something that could be improved). Personally I don't care for the 12" screen (although I like the portability of the machine). I do a considerable amount of writing these days and I find that I like the 14" screen quite a bit more... that being said I think the 12" powerbook/ibook represent a terrific value.

I DO wish that Apple made it a bit easier to swap out the hard drives and such. I really liked that about my tibook (or even better...the Pismo). I guess that's the deal. They machines get more affordable but you lose some flexibility.

When I think about how much money I've paid for equipment over the years it makes my head spin. I remember paying something like $3500 for a Mac Plus with 8mb RAM, an external 20mb hard drive and an imagewriter way back when.

[Forbodium]

The resolution of the 14” is the same as the 12”, so I don’t see a visibility diff in them if only one person is using it at a time.

It erks me that the 15” PB comes with more stuff than what either of the 12” laptops (ibook & PB) comes with. That is my beef with the PB = the “pro” laptop argument. In the end, if you need Firewire2, gigabit ethernet, or an integral Superdrive, they stick you with a computer that is considerably less convenient, and seems less “pro-like” (to me at least). Apple took away the integrated carrying handle, so the easier (more secure) the laptop can be carried freehand, the better. Not to mention that the smaller one fits in your briefcase better.

[kdixey]

While it is true that the 14" and the 12" screens have the same resolution, I find that the 14" is considerably easier to read. I think the 12" screen is just a wee bit sharper, but the readability of the 14" (at least in my case) was so much better that it really was no contest. I imagine that it is pretty just a matter of personal taste.

I like the 15" powerbook as a machine. It has a bunch of terrific features and a great screen, but it's out of my range. Also, having had a tibook I found that I wasn't all that crazy about the form factor. It was just a little bigger than I like.

I understand why Apple puts more features in their higher priced machines. I can appreciate the business argument for it. What irks me is the way that Apple limits the ibooks capabilities when there is no reason for it from the hardware end. I think ibooks should support video out (not mirrored) and monitor spanning. It's not like the hardware can't support it. The Radeon card is quite capable. I realize that there is the spanning hack, but I don't think we should have to resort to that. I mean if an ibook with REAL video out and monitor spanning is such a threat to powerbook sales then goose up the feature set on the powerbook to compensate for it.

Last time I played with a 15" ALbook I thought it felt kind of "soft". I can't quite explain it, but the powerbook somehow felt more "fragile" than the ibook. Anyone else notice this or is it just me?

I'm sitting here post feast so I figured a little forum hopping might be fun.

BTW, I really liked the carry handle in the clamshell ibook too.

[yuanjuhn]

I was leaning towards the 12" powerbook a few months back, but decided to get an ibook because the PB offered only a marginally better performance and feature set. Like you said, the ibook is a very capable machine. It goes where I go and I'm not worried about how it looks. I write, send email, browse, setup databases and just about everything else except for playing, and I get more done with it than on my previous P3 1ghz Toshiba Satellite.

However, I'm a student and I rarely have to travel to do presentations to clients or potential customers. Looking pro is not exactly a priority in my case. Most of the work that I do is in the library and sometimes it's better not to get too much attention (from likely thieves).

[Forbodium]

Originally posted by kdixey:
I understand why Apple puts more features in their higher priced machines. I can appreciate the business argument for it.

Then they should offer a 12 inch “pro” vesion, of which they can price the same as the 15” model. I'm pretty sure they could fit everything in it that the 15" model has.

[MARINEOSX]

I love my iBook. It does everything I want it too and while there are somethings that I would like to have I don't need them. I think that is the big thing. Most people see want they want and don't look at what they need. If you have the extra money then get the extravigant Mac. I know I would. I know there are some people that need the extra things that the PB offers, but the general population does not. That is why there is an iBook.

[techtrucker]

I use my 14" iBook daily for many "pro" purposes, including development work in XCode, FileMaker, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator...on and on. For me it's a complete desktop replacement except for DVD burning, of which I do very little. The only thing I sometimes wish for is the capability to run 1280x1024.

[Dr.Michael]

Originally posted by kdixey:
I was noticing recently how the phrase (I'm paraphrasing) "powerbooks are for pros and ibooks are for the rest of us" creeps into quite a few people's answers to the question...

It depends how you define pro.
In my understanding a pro is someone who knows exactly what he needs in order to do his work. Someone who cannot be fooled by a little blinding design.

I am a java and science pro. I use a 12 inch powerbook because of its portability that I need every week. But whats the difference between my 1 year old powerbook and a 12 inch iBook? Did I stop being a pro only because my one year old powerbook is less capable than a new iBook? I thought sometimes that it would have been smarter to buy an iBook because of the better battery lifetime.

The decision between pro and not pro is not equal to the decision between powerbook and ibook like apple likes to suggest for marketing reasons.
Look at this:

If you are a pro on the road you will need battery power and don't want to carry a bag full of extra batteries. So an iBook might be a better machine for you in this case. Think of such a poor guy who has to carry a 17 inch monster around ;o)

If you are a pro giving talks, good looks of your machine may be important. So its to decide if a Powerbook supports the messages of your talks or your image better than an iBook (does it in all circumstances? - Depends on your audience doesn't it?)

If you are a pro who needs most performance you might buy a Powerbook...

...but if you need a lot of performance and you know that every dime that you don't spend can still be in your pocket than you will find an iBook a great machine (You know how to modify the little shortcomings of the video out yourself).

Lets be honest: performance wise the differences are not a problem. Its more the screen, connectors etc. Again: If you know what you need and if you know your budget the decision between a Powerbook and an iBook is a no brainer. How smart is it to buy a Powerbook because it makes you feel being a pro (because a lot of non pros repeat what apple advertises)? Isn't it smarter to free yourself from advertising influence and decide upon your needs?

So I fully agree with your thesis: iBooks are as pro as Powerbooks. Depends on the work you have to do.

[iomatic]

I'm typing this on a 12" PowerBook, which I'd only use occasionally based on work, and now that I use it full-time, I dread it more, because of the screen size. I think this latest model (1.33GHz) is definitely faster than any of the current 12" iBooks, but honestly, I would've gotten an iBook-- for part-time usage, even for professional use, because of negligible (albeit obvious) speed difference, and definite cost benefit.

However, if it was indeed my full-time machine, I would opt for a 15". The screen is far superior, and there's definitely a leap in features. It's definitely portable, but not like the 12" is for day-to-day traveling. I work in Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and Flash, and the screen resolution is painful on the 12". One a side note, I bought a MacMice Bluetooth mouse, which makes cursor control much easier than with a trackpad. Just, open the PowerBook, and it works. Just make sure you have fresh batteries. I've had the opportunity to use all models at most versions.

So there you go; I hope I haven't made it more confusing!

[darthslacker]

I agree with some of the others here. For most people, it would come down to screen resolution.

If one needs FW 800, DVI-out, more RAM, and so forth, they won't be considering an iBook in the first place.

As long as the 1024x768 resolution is enough for you, get and iBook and crank up the RAM.

[Luca Rescigno]

The other thing that the PowerBooks *USED* to have going for them was the ability to upgrade them. Back in the PowerBook G3 days, you could upgrade the processor, the hard drive, and the optical drive very easily. You could replace the optical drive with a second battery if you wanted. Swapping out the hard drive involved removing only two screws from the case and four from the hard drive bracket itself.

The TiBook kept hard drive upgradability, but it became far less accessible as you had to remove the entire bottom of the case to do it. It also had a soldered-on processor and a built-in optical drive. Now the AlBooks are pretty much iBooks with faster processors, bigger screens, and a PC card slot (and then only on the 15" and 17" models). The hard drive is NOT a user-serviceable part anymore, which I think is a shame.

[kdixey]

It is a shame that the hard drive and such are no longer user upgradeable (at least not for the faint of heart). User upgradeability of the HD and such would be something I would be willing to pay more for and I could see using THAT as a way of making a distinction between "pro" and consumer models.

[brettcamp]

I had the 12" iBook earlier this year and it was great. I sold it to a friend at a good price to get a 12" Powerbook that, due to a sale, was only $200 more than a new iBook (counting the Airport card, which was bundled with the Powerbook but not -- then -- with the iBook; it is now, of course). For me, the twice-as-big hard disk (60 gb) and the ability to run a DVI monitor was worth the $200, barely.

But if I were buying now, I'd probably go with the iBook, which is really a tremendous value, unless I could get the Powerbook for no more than $200 more again. I'd still need to add an external hard disk for all my music.

Don't get me wrong: I absolutely love my little powerbook and the digital external display I use with it. It looks a lot cooler to me than the iBook, and its keyboard is terrific, though the iBook's isn't bad. But others have reported that the Powerbook's Airport reception and battery life are slightly worse than the iBook's, though I haven't noticed that. The iBook is also more durable if you travel a lot with it (I don't).

Until Apple upgrades the 12" Powerbook (any day now, no doubt) or cuts is price in relation to the iBook, I think most people would find the iBook a much better value now. Whether it qualifies as "pro" or not doesn't matter as much as how well it does what you need it to do, and how much more you're willing to pay for that ability.