[ryter221]

I am going to purchase and iBook ASAP, but I wanted to know I should start out with. I am a sophomore in high school and I mostly want to use it for internet, IM, and schoolwork. Thanks.

[ghporter]

Welcome!

The 12" iBook is a great machine to start with. It works well for surfing, is well supplied with all the basic software you'll need (if you use it, you DO have to pay for the Microsoft Office that's kinda-sorta preinstalled on it), and it's the lightest, most portable laptop around.

[discotronic]

Are you wanting new one? If so and you are looking to save some money Apple has some great deals on refurbished models. For $849 you can get:

iBook G4 1.2GHz
256MB RAM
30GB Hard Drive
Combo CDRW/DVD
AP Extreme Card

It comes with a 1 year warranty same as brand new. It is the current model and that exact model new with education discount is $949. You could take that extra savings and invest in more RAM or an iPod shuffle.

Just go to Apple.com and go to the Store. On the right hand side of the page you will see a red tag that says Save. Just look under the Apple Certified tab.

Used iBooks usually sell for a premium. When it comes right down to it you are probably better off going the new route. You should have at least 512MB RAM in any machine that runs OSX. The 12" model would probably be perfect for your needs. Light, small form factor, affordable, and built tough.

[brother337]

I'd also recommend the 12" for a high school student for its sturdiness and portability. I remember how many books I needed to carry around at once when I was in high school, so I'd imagine that the 14" might be a bit unwieldy.

You do need to purchase a full version of Microsoft Office, but if you're just going to be writing papers, the version of Textedit that comes with the Mac OS should serve you just fine.

If you're in or will be in Calculus, the next revision of the Mac OS (Tiger) is rumored to include a graphing calculator application.

Since all iBooks are now well over 1Ghz in speed, any new iBook you get should last you quite awhile, as 1Ghz is becoming the cut off requirement for many applications.

[nredman]

Originally posted by ryter221:
I am going to purchase and iBook ASAP, but I wanted to know I should start out with. I am a sophomore in high school and I mostly want to use it for internet, IM, and schoolwork. Thanks.

i'd go with the 12" iBook. if you can find a refurb from apple or smalldog.com then you could save some cash and get some more memory. also if you or your parents have high speed internet i would try to get an airport to go wireless - i don't think i could live without wireless anymore. good luck

[discotronic]

Originally posted by nredman:
i'd go with the 12" iBook. if you can find a refurb from apple or smalldog.com then you could save some cash and get some more memory. also if you or your parents have high speed internet i would try to get an airport to go wireless - i don't think i could live without wireless anymore. good luck

I would skip the Airport base station and just get a 3rd party router. I picked up a D-Link Wireless G router for $20 recently. The cheapest Airport will run $129. Some of the NetGear Wireless B routers can be had for $10 new.

[brettcamp]

Your iBook will come with all the applications you'll likely need in school and for fun, especially AppleWorks, which includes word processing, spreadsheet, database, etc. and can read and write MS Office documents. If it's not adequate, checkout the free NeoOffice before spending $ on MS office.

I'd also recommend boosting the RAM to 768 mb by buying a 512 mb chip; it's easy to install yourself. And if you're going to be hauling it around a lot, I recommend getting AppleCare to extend the warranty to three years.

Great choice: it's the ideal computer for high school and for most collegians, too.

[jamil5454]

Yep, I've got a 12" iBook and I'm a senior in high school. Since I will be graduating soon, I'll probably give this one to my mother (she's a music teacher) and buy one of the new models when they come out.

Just curious - NO ONE uses a laptop in high school classes (with the exception of a few compsci students), so are you going to be taking it to class at all? If not, I would save some money and get the Mac Mini to last you two more years and then buy an iBook for college. If you buy an iBook now, it won't be in good shape buy the time you graduate, and most likely you'll want a new laptop for college.

In my school district, most teachers don't allow laptops in class because it's seen as a "distraction".

[sminch]

brettcamp said exactly what i was going to say. neooffice/j is all good imo - much better than the dog that is appleworks, and one hell of a lot cheaper than office. spend the money you save on that on ram (i've got 768 and it's all good).

the ibook 12 is a great little machine. you won't regret it.

sminch

[ryter221]

Thanks a lot guys! I'm going to try to wait until Tiger comes out, and then I'll buy my iBook. Thanks again!