[connollyck]

Hey. to start off with, I'm a windows person. Last mac (and first computer) I used was an Apple IIC--6 years old playing "Black Cauldron", and I guess my subconscious memories of that killed any desire for me to ever look at a mac again. Fast foward 17 years... I just sold my year old dell p4 desktop while i could still get some kind of ROI, and I'm in the market for something portable that I can bring to class. I have agonized over the past 3 weeks, and decided that I am going to go with mac, I've played with OSX and I really like its simplicity (hopefully i won't be dissapointed.) I've narrowed it down to 4 machines.
12" ibook
14" ibook
12" powerbook
15" powerbook (this would be a really big stretch $$$$ wise, and I don't really know if I can even consider it an option)
I'll preface my opinions of the different machines by telling you the prices I can get them for. My school's retail store has some deals going on UNDER apple's ed discount price. I can get a 12" ibook with a free ram upgrade to 512 for $949. I can get a 12" powerbook 1.5 superdrive for $1399. I can get a 15" powerbook 1.67 superdrive for $1999.
I'm looking to spend no more then 1500-1600 really because I need to buy a sleeve, office for mac, and some soundsticks.
Now obviously, I'd love to pickup the 15", but for 2140 or so out the door, its really out of my price range and would delay me getting a machine. (I'm currently using my gf's pentium II windows machine with a 15 inch heinous box monitor that was being thrown out at work[shes getting a mini for xmas])
For around 1520 out the door, I think the 12" powerbook is the best balance of power and price, but I'm concerned about the screen size. Id love to pick up a 20" ACD so I can watch movies, but this isn't going to happen for many months.
The other thing that is interesting me is the 14" ibook. This gives me more screen real estate then then 12" powerbook, yet sacrifices some power, and overall doesn't look as sweet.
As for the 12"ibook, i figure if i'm going to have the 12" screen, I might as well has the nicer, faster model.
As far as what I'd be using this computer for--everything. It would be my only computer. I'd be writing all my papers, playing music, taking notes on batterylife in class, managing pics, browsing, etc. I don't do video editing or photoshop, (although I'd love to learn photoshop)so nothing majorly intensive going on i guess. So anyway, I've been lurking here for a few weeks, and have got SO much info by reading posts, so if you experts could give me some advice I'd very much appreciate it, thanks so much.
Chris

[guywithFX]

i'm waiting on my 12 1.5ghz SD powerbook. i got a powerbook because i wanted the most powerful machine but that doesnt lack performance if at all possible. i waited for the updates on january 31st and ordered last week. it sounds like you'll be eligible for the edu discount.

[jamil5454]

If you don't do anything really heavy then I would suggest saving money and getting the 12" iBook. It may not be as fast as a PowerBook, but I'm not sure if you'll notice a big difference when just listening to music and typing papers. The 14" iBook actually has the same resolution screen as the 12" PB and iBook (1024x768), so it will only be of benefit if you have bad eyes. Also, the iBooks consistently get an extra hour or so more battery life than the PowerBooks. And they're (arguably) much more durable than the Alu PowerBooks.

But on the other hand, the 5400rpm drives in the PBs do make OS X feel snappier.

I say get the iBook to last you through college. Then, you'll be hooked on OS X and when you graduate get a PowerMac or something. I've been using my 12" iBook as my main computer for a few months now and while a bigger display and faster HD would be nice, those are luxury items to me since I don't really do anything serious on my iBook. Of course RAM doesn't hurt. I've got 1.25gb and I sure am thankful for it. If you find yourself using more than about 5-7 programs at the same time then 512mb may not be enough. I usually have over 10 programs open and a couple of them are CPU and memory hogs (GarageBand 1.1, iPhoto, Xcode, etc.).

Oh yeah - when using OS X, the idea is to leave the program open (unless you're starved for RAM) because this way when you open a new instance/window of the program it's already loaded into memory. This makes OS X feel very fast and is really the best part I like about it.

I've got an Athlon64 with a gig o' RAM but I like my iBook more. Go figure. Maybe I should sell it...

[iREZ]

If money is an issue and your not going to be doing anything to intensive go with the iBook. On my machine [specs in sig™], I run PS, Illus, ID, Word, iTunes, Safari, i Chat, Temp monitor, and Activity monitor without a hitch. The new iBooks are basically the same machine but have 200 more MHz. If you really want the PB go with the 12" but right now, if your not going to do anything too intensive (ie. motion, final cut, or any music sans garageband) than the iBook will do you just fine, and you'll save lots of cash for other goodies, new iPods just hit the shelves.

[connollyck]

thats a good point. I could get the ibook and load a gig of ram into it for the same price as the powerbook. But I can't drive the 20 inch cinema display off the ibook right? the battery life of the ibook is really appealing.

[iREZ]

You can but you would need an expensive adapter. If I were you I'd go with the Dell widescreen display (arguably just as good if not better than the Apple 20"). It has VGA DVI and inputs for your DVD or game console as well, and it's $500 at least once every two weeks due to the awesome coupons Dell gives away. Sure it's black and not Apple, but for $500 you would be getting an awesome display that's relatively easy on the eye's as well. There's a thread about this in the peripheral forum, it's what I would do if I wanted to save cash, and I do...college student as well .

[connollyck]

i just priced this stuff out. Check this out. for 1500 bucks I can get:

Griffin iCurve PowerBook/iBook Stand
Part Number: T5762LL/A
Estimated Ship: 3-5 business days Remove $39.95 $39.95
Apple Wireless Mouse
Part Number: M9269Z/A
Estimated Ship: 1-3 business days Remove $53.00 $53.00
Harman Kardon SoundSticks II
Part Number: T9078LL/A
Estimated Ship: 1-2 business days Remove $169.00 $169.00
Apple Wireless Keyboard
Part Number: M9270LL/A
Estimated Ship: 1-2 business days Remove $53.00 $53.00
iBook 12" 1.2GHz Combo
Part Number: Z0AX
AirPort Extreme Card
Keyboard & Mac OS X - U.S. English
Bluetooth Module
60GB Ultra ATA drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
512MB DDR266 SDRAM (256MB built-in & 256MB SO-DIMM)

Estimated Ship: 1-3 business days Remove $1,128.00 $1,128.00

Cart Subtotal: $1,442.95

OR I CAN GET

PowerBook 12" 1.5GHz SuperDrive
Part Number: M9691LL/A
8x SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
512MB DDR333 (256MB built-in + 256MB SO-DIMM)
AirPort Extreme Card
Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400rpm

Estimated Ship: 4-6 business days Remove $1,499.00 $1,499.00

Cart Subtotal: $1,499.00

I think I answered my own question.