[kodad]

I have a few questions for the Mac-savvy folks on here. I know I may seem like a Mac-virgin, because essentially I am (I'm only 19, forgive me), but I finally had that important realization in my life that Macs are way better machines and overall so much more aesthetically pleasing than any Windows-based PC. So on that note, anyone who can shed some light on any of the following questions will be greatly appreciated:

1. iBook or Powerbook? OK, this may sound stupid...but as a college student, which do I need? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both? Why such a big price difference?

2. My iPod is currently running through my Windows-based PC. When I switch over to my Mac, am I going to lose all my songs? Is there a way I could record my MP3s on a CD-R and copy them to my new Mac? I heard a rumor that this is impossible?!?!

3. Is an Apple 1.33Ghz chip equivalent to a Pentium 4 2.4Ghz chip that I currently have in my laptop right now? If the Apple is slower, will I recognize a significant speed difference when moving from my Windows-PC to a Mac-PC?

4. How long should I expect to wait for a G5 laptop? Would you suggest the G5, the iBook or the Powerbook for a college student whose primary uses are:

1. Internet
2. Word documents
3. MP3 downloading/iTunes, etc.

Once again, thanks for your help.

[mubach]

2. Having switched from a PC to Mac just weeks ago I'll say that yes you are able to transfer your music to your mac via your ipod. Just make sure you can mount it as an external drive in macOSX, then use an "extracting" application to extract the songs...a quick look at http://www.ipodlounge.com/downloads_macosx.php will tell you how.

4. As for what you need...I'd say if you just want it for email, internet, word processing, go for an iBook-and spend any extra money you have on getting as much RAM as possible and you should be fine. I'd recommend a 14" sine a 12 is a bit small imo, but there are those who say 12" is just fine.

3. I'll also let someone more knowledgable answer your other questions, but in short: there is no direct mac>intel equivalent, since it is dependant on many factors, but it should be speedy enough if you get lets say 512mb+ RAM. Mac OSX will seem faster too since it handles multitasking much better than windows. Enjoy your future ibook/powerbook.

[kodad]

In addtion, a couple things I forgot to ask:

My Windows laptop has internal speakers? Do Apple's have those? From the pictures on the website they don't look like they do?

Also, what type of programs come with the iBook versus the PowerBook? Do Apple's come with a bunch of pre-loaded software like most of the Windows-based PCs these days?

Thanks again.

[brettcamp]

Glad you're considering making the switch. Yes, Apple portables have speakers, but the design conceals them. They're not bad, for laptop speakers, but you'll want to get an external set for serious listening.

The software bundles differ between iBooks and Powerbooks; you can find out exactly what you'll get by going to apple.com and clicking on hardware and then the specific model laptop you want.

Generally the iBooks are ideal for college students, as they're more durable, almost as powerful and much cheaper. The 12" iBook is now an especially terrific deal, and some colleges are offering last year's model at really cheap prices. Unless you're doing a lot of graphics- or processor intensive work (video, graphic design, audio), or you want the bigger screens of the 15" and 17" models, or need some other specific function they offer, the iBook should meet your needs.

Your other questions have been addressed many, many times in these forums, often under the very same topic heading, so you should do a search if you don't get answers from folks here who are weary of answering the same questions every few weeks.

[iT4c0]

Originally posted by kodad:
I have a few questions for the Mac-savvy folks on here. I know I may seem like a Mac-virgin, because essentially I am (I'm only 19, forgive me), but I finally had that important realization in my life that Macs are way better machines and overall so much more aesthetically pleasing than any Windows-based PC. So on that note, anyone who can shed some light on any of the following questions will be greatly appreciated:

1. iBook or Powerbook? OK, this may sound stupid...but as a college student, which do I need? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both? Why such a big price difference?

2. My iPod is currently running through my Windows-based PC. When I switch over to my Mac, am I going to lose all my songs? Is there a way I could record my MP3s on a CD-R and copy them to my new Mac? I heard a rumor that this is impossible?!?!

3. Is an Apple 1.33Ghz chip equivalent to a Pentium 4 2.4Ghz chip that I currently have in my laptop right now? If the Apple is slower, will I recognize a significant speed difference when moving from my Windows-PC to a Mac-PC?

4. How long should I expect to wait for a G5 laptop? Would you suggest the G5, the iBook or the Powerbook for a college student whose primary uses are:

1. ibook is designed for the regular consumers. It has slightly lower cpu speed. It uses slower memory (DDR 266 vs DDR 333). Powerbook has DVI and S-video out and ibook only has VGA and no dual screen (without the hack)
Powerbook has better video card (mobile radeon 9700 64mb vs. 9200 32mb)
For what you doing, the ibook will just do fine. Try to get as much memory as you can as some other people mentioned.

2. As far as I know, iTune will not play windows media files. (correct me if i am wrong please) You can turn your ipod into an external HD and load all your songs on there. Plug it into mac and you should be able to drag all the files onto your mac.

3.I am not sure if there is anyway to know exactly how fast an G4 chip compare to the Intel/AMD chips. I am pretty sure your mac would run smoothly if you have enough memory in it.

4. Do not wait for the G5 laptop; however you should wait until second week of january after the MWSF. We might see some speed bump on the powerbook.

5.All apple laptop comes with 2 internal speakers.

Go here to see if there is any apple store near you. You will get to play with the machines there and I am sure the sales peple will help you on some of the concerns you have.

6. Both powerbook and ibook comes with almost the same softwares. click here for the powerbook software and click here for the ibook software

[kodad]

Thanks. I'm actually in and out of the Apple store every other week I've just never really had the time to ask these guys what i've asked you guys (that, and I live in NYC and Central NJ which are probably the two highest-volume stores in the tri-state...SoHo and Menlo Park) so I appreciate your feedback.

I guess really (for me) it comes down to the screen size. The laptop I have now is 15" widescreen and I'll miss that terribly going down to the 14" so I'll probably go for the 15" or 17" Powerbook (that, and I'm power hungry). Thanks again guys.

[Dr.Michael]

Originally posted by kodad:

2.Is there a way I could record my MP3s on a CD-R and copy them to my new Mac? I heard a rumor that this is impossible?!?!

You can. Simply move the whole iTunes folder to your mac and import the library - done. Best is to move the folder via network.

3. Is an Apple 1.33Ghz chip equivalent to a Pentium 4 2.4Ghz chip that I currently have in my laptop right now? If the Apple is slower, will I recognize a significant speed difference when moving from my Windows-PC to a Mac-PC?

Whatever Mac you buy, your impression will be that its slower than your old wintel box. The G4 is slower than the latest AMD and Pentium chips and OS X feels slower than Windows (mainly because of the difference in gui response).

But if you compare the raw number crunching power they are not far apart.

This said I will never go back to windows. The overall experience with OS X is simply great. As a scientist and software developer I must say that OS X is the best you can get out here. Very useful and fun, fun, fun! The same is true for the powerbooks and iBooks. Great machines. Not the fastest you can buy, but the best value you can get in terms of weight, battery, looks, connectivity, ease of use and stability.

Speed is one thing. Everybody focuses on speed. But usability is much more important.

[f1000]

Originally posted by kodad:
I guess really (for me) it comes down to the screen size. The laptop I have now is 15" widescreen and I'll miss that terribly going down to the 14" so I'll probably go for the 15" or 17" Powerbook (that, and I'm power hungry). Thanks again guys.

Consider getting a 12" iBook/PB and an external flat panel display.

The 12" PB has rear firing speakers that bounce sound off the screen towards the user. It also has a third "subwoofer" hidden inside the case.

Once you get your Mac, you can use Ethernet to transfer your MP3's from your PC to your new computer. There are other ways to accomplish this simple task, so ask again once you've gotten your new Mac. EDIT: Looks like Doc covered it.