[xyQco]

Hi,

I'm noob to the max. Don't know how to use a mac, never really used one, but I plan to. The mac I am looking at is a 1.2 Ghz 30 Gb of harddrive space, and 256 Megs of ram. See, 256 isn't good enough. To double it, it would cost me $62 dollars Canadian. This laptop costs $997 Canadian. Now... they are selling them because they are now obsolete, and the new 12' iBooks have come out: 1.33 Ghz, 40 gb, 512 megs of ram for $1200. Which is worth it? (I'm going to have to buy the $997 iBook soon, as they are fast running out.) I appreciate any replies, a lot. For I am noob.

-Steve

PS: sooo many people are telling me NOT to get a mac... ugh.

[sminch]

i'd totally recommend getting an ibook, if just to sit there with a dorky grin on your face while your friends' computers crash all the time, gradually slow down, refuse to connect to wireless networks, and need daily virus updates.

as far as the 1.2 vs 1.22 goes, how much difference would those 130mhz make to you? i'm running a 1.2 for simple day to day stuff, no heavy photo or video editting, just a few games, interwebbing, emailing, word processing etc and it is totally fine. obselete might be getting a bit too carried away when the spec increase is pretty marginal. if you think you'll need more power then maybe you do need to higher specced book, but perhaps you dno't. also, from what i've read here, ram may play a more important role than processor speed, so you might be better off topping up your ram than spending it on the newer machine.

my 2c, anyway.

sminch

[xyQco]

Coooooool. thanks, makes me feel better. Yeah, I was considering just buying a 1gb chip for around 120 dollars, which would give me a significant boost of ownage. 133ghz doesn't really do anything noticeable, but i am only using the laptop for word processing and stuff. thanks again.

-steve

[ghporter]

Worth the price? DARN TOOTIN'! The iBook is THE ultralight portable computer, combining enough power to get things done with a small size and light weight that makes it a pleasure to take with you. DARN TOOTIN' it's worth the price!

[jam8]

The ram maxed will def be your best bet. I'm on a 1 ghz ibook with 256mb ram and it's the fastest, most polished computer i've ever used. It only slows down when the ram gets overloaded by my using multiple ram intensive programs. Tomorow, however, i'm buying a gig stick to max it out, and then this computer will honestly be a supercomputer.

Ram is Tiger's best friend. If you know that, you'll have a fantastic computer.

[I was David B.]

The 1.2 Ghz iBooks are a bargain in the moment.

There are cheaper pc notebooks to buy. But with an iBook you get reliable quality and a very good service in case you need it.

Thats what you don't get with a cheap pc notebook.

[production_coordinator]

Originally Posted by xyQco

Hi,

I'm noob to the max. Don't know how to use a mac, never really used one, but I plan to. The mac I am looking at is a 1.2 Ghz 30 Gb of harddrive space, and 256 Megs of ram. See, 256 isn't good enough. To double it, it would cost me $62 dollars Canadian. This laptop costs $997 Canadian. Now... they are selling them because they are now obsolete, and the new 12' iBooks have come out: 1.33 Ghz, 40 gb, 512 megs of ram for $1200. Which is worth it? (I'm going to have to buy the $997 iBook soon, as they are fast running out.) I appreciate any replies, a lot. For I am noob.

-Steve

PS: sooo many people are telling me NOT to get a mac... ugh.

A few things:

1) The 1.2 Ghz iBooks are not obsolete, they are simply a previous model. It's like calling a 2004 BMW obsolete. I think you will find that they are nice machines.

2) I would simply upgrade to around 512 or more depending upon your budget. 512 is find for most common tasks.

3) Steve... don't worry about being a noob and don't worry about buying a Mac. There have only been a few times where I have said "gee, it would be nice if I had a Windows machine" and about a million where I've said the opposite. Ask your friends WHY you shouldn't get a Mac... I've seen "but you can't play games" to "because they are dumb"... the truth is... the Mac isn't for everyone, but it's perfect for me... and hundreds of thousands of other people.

Keep the faith... you are making a good decision [unless all you want to do is play games... then go buy an PS2 or Dell].

[broxy5]

Switcher, as are 3 friends of mine. My buddy and I both bought the 12" 1.2 ghz models w/ 768mb. We could not be happier. We both take them out often, and you can't beat the size, power and duribility. My home is 95% wireless (occasional mouse), but I have a router and an Airport Express. It's pretty cool. You won't regret it. I occasionally use PC's at work and have an old Pll at home, and I cannot tolerate them anymore. I tried to uninstall a program yesterday.......yah, I wanted to unplug all 49,000 wires and toss the brick out the window. Nuf said, I'm done!

[mpancha]

the ram upgrade and the faster chip alone are worth the $200 increase in price.

the "cheaper" one isn't obsolete, just like someone said earlier, its like calling the 2004 BMW obsolete. If you get the latest model, it will have added features which you may not use now, but once you're past your "noob to the max" state, you'll come to appreciate.

[xyQco]

sweeeeeeeet... I'm so buying a mac now. Thanks dudes. It makes my day. Peace out. I shall enjoy a mac soon... but the $200 increase one? or the 997... oh no. another dilemma.

[mikemako]

I recommend the new iBook for $1200. I feel that the extra speed (1.33 vs 1.2) and larger harddrive (40GB vs 30GB) are worth it. I'm not sure what's included with the older one, but the new one has airport & bluetooth built-in, slot-loading drive (instead of the tray that pops out), and it has THE AMAZING scrolling trackpad.. which allows you to scroll pages by placing two fingers on the trackpad. It is my favorite feauture of my iBook.

[sminch]

the 1.2ghz ibook is very likely to be capable of two finger scrolling, it just doesn't come built in - download iscroll2 for this. this app works sweet as on my 1.2 ibook, and i have never had any issues with it.

sminch

[brettcamp]

I'd agree with mikemako; you'll appreciate the larger HD, because the system and other included apps will take up a lot of space. The other new features are nice, too.
Either way, I'd buy a 512K chip and upgrade to at least 768 of RAM, no matter what you use it for, although I guess you could try the new one at 512 first to see if that's adequate for you.

[volcano]

Originally Posted by mikemako

I recommend the new iBook for $1200. I feel that the extra speed (1.33 vs 1.2) and larger harddrive (40GB vs 30GB) are worth it. I'm not sure what's included with the older one, but the new one has airport & bluetooth built-in, slot-loading drive (instead of the tray that pops out), and it has THE AMAZING scrolling trackpad.. which allows you to scroll pages by placing two fingers on the trackpad. It is my favorite feauture of my iBook.

Uh, the 1.2 Ghz iBook and the 1.33 Ghz iBook both have a slot-loading cd/dvd drive - that feature was introduced on the first iBook with a G4 processor back in October 2003.

I upgraded to the newest iBook because I wanted Airport and Bluetooth (both of which I use) standard. Another thing you should consider - the fact that Tiger (Apple's amazing OS) not only eats up a good amount of RAM, but it also eats up a good portion of your hard-drive space. Example? I upgraded my iBook to a 60GB HDD. I did a custom installation of TIger and didn't install a lot of extra bulk that I didn't need, and when I booted up my iBook for the first time, I had around 47 GB of space left.

[sminch]

the 1.2 should definitely have airport as well (i use mine all the time, and it came as standard) but i'm not entirely sure about bluetooth as i don't use it...

sminch

[canuck]

xyQco,

where are you seeing the $997 ibook?

canuck

[xyQco]

Oh, the 997 is with my school microstore, no more left.