[Nomadic Logic]

I'm getting ready to replace my dying 15" Powerbook, and think I may go the iBook route now that they have Superdrive. Just a couple questions:

Does the 4200 RPM drive bother anyone?

Is the lesser video card an issue?

The most intensive thing I'd be doing is a little video editing of home movies, and I'd buy it with 1 GB of RAM anyway.

Thoughts?

[brokenjago]

The 4200 RPM HD is a bother for a lot of people.

The lowered resolution (to 1024x768) is too.

[bluedog]

I'm ok with the screen for most things and do iMovie. If you use FCP, InDesign, or Adobe pro apps the screen may bother you.

I replaced my drive due to its size not its speed.

RAM is your best upgrade as not swapping out to disk saves time and battery.

[brettcamp]

You might want to take a close look at the screen -- the lower resolution really seems blurry after a Powerbook, or even a 12" iBook. Although the current 14" iBook is a good value, you can get a refurbed 2004 or even early 2005 15" PB for not much more than a new 14" iBook, even with Superdrive.

If you can wait till January, Apple may introduce new, cheaper widescreen iBooks, which you might like more. Or even if you don't, that means the old 14" model will be cleared out at a substantial discount.

[Nomadic Logic]

Thanks for the feedback, folks.

I have placed my order for a 14" iBook with the 512MB of RAM, and will order a 1 GB stick from Crucial seperately.

Brett, I went the refurbed route when I switched. That is the dying 15" Powerbook I am replacing. It's pretty much soured me on refurbs. When I bought it, it had a 7200 RPM HDD which failed. Apple replaced it for me (with a 5400 RPM drive...bastages) and now that drive is failing.

As for the January rumors for the Intel books, I'm always very hesitant to purchase the first iteration of any product be it a computer or a car. There are always kinks to be worked out in the first cycle of anything.

[brettcamp]

Congrats!

[tooki]

Originally Posted by brokenjago

The 4200 RPM HD is a bother for a lot of people.

The lowered resolution (to 1024x768) is too.

Actually, the average iBook user isn't technical, and isn't bothered to even discover the specs, never mind be bothered by them.

tooki

[dreamryche]

The slow HD doesn't really bother me, except for when I'm working with audio in Cubase. I was planning on getting an external FireWire drive for audio anyway, so it's only an annoyance until I get that drive.

The resolution is bothersome at times, but Expose makes it much more tolerable.

[wataru]

Originally Posted by brettcamp

You might want to take a close look at the screen -- the lower resolution really seems blurry after a Powerbook, or even a 12" iBook.

The 12" iBook has the same pixel density as the 12" PowerBook (106ppi). I can't find the numbers, but I don't think the larger PowerBooks have a higher pixel density.

[brettcamp]

Originally Posted by wataru

The 12" iBook has the same pixel density as the 12" PowerBook (106ppi). I can't find the numbers, but I don't think the larger PowerBooks have a higher pixel density.

You're correct that the current 12" iBook and 12" Powerbook use the same screens at the same resolution: 1024-by-768. I think they're both made in the same factory on the same chassis, so to speak.

The 15" and 17" Powerbooks are really different animals from the 12". I'm not sure exactly how pixel density differs from resolution, but my eyes certainly appreciate the higher resolution I got when I sold my 12" PB and bought my spring 2005 15" Powerbook, which has a resolution of 1280 x 854. The new HD models introduced this fall have a still higher res: 1440-by-960 on the 15" and 1680-by-1050 on the 17". Even though I'm not a heavy graphics user, even staring at text and web pages all day is easier on the eyes with a higher resolution, not to mention the much brighter, sharper screen.

[wataru]

Resolution is meaningless. You could have a 1600x1200 display and it would still look blurry if the screen is 40'x30'. What's important is pixel density, which is the number of pixels per inch in the display.

I did the math on it, and you can get the pixel density with the formula

Code:
D=v/L*sqrt(h^2/v^2+1)

where h is the horizontal resolution (i.e. 1024), v is the vertical resolution (i.e. 768), and L is the diagonal length of the screen (i.e. 12.1"). The only source of error in this formula is the diagonal length, which Apple reports as rounded to the nearest 1/10".

For the 12" iBook/PowerBooks (h=1024, v=768, L=12.1), the pixel density is 106 pixels/inch.
For the old 15" PowerBook (h=1280, v=854, L=15.2), the pixel density is 102 pixels/inch.
For the new 15" PowerBook (h=1440, v=960, L=15.2), the pixel density is 114 pixels/inch.
For the new 17" PowerBook (h=1680, v=1050, L=17), the pixel density is 117 pixels/inch.
My guess is that the new 15" and 17" PowerBooks actually have the same pixel density, but the error from rounding the diagonal length puts them off a bit.

So in other words, your old 15" is the blurriest of them all.

[wardseward]

i use my ibook for photoshop work as well as games and the slower drive doesn't bother me that much. you get use to it really quickly.

[nJm]

Originally Posted by Nomadic Logic

I have placed my order for a 14" iBook with the 512MB of RAM, and will order a 1 GB stick from Crucial seperately.

The iBook only has one RAM slot, so you'll have to chuck out the 256mb that will be in the existing rarm slot (unless Apple has upgraded them to 512mb on boad and I missed the announcement).

My biggest issue with my iBook is the lack of video ram (when I plug in an external monitor, which is every night, I only have 16mb per monitor) and the slow internal HD.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by nJm

The iBook only has one RAM slot, so you'll have to chuck out the 256mb that will be in the existing rarm slot (unless Apple has upgraded them to 512mb on boad and I missed the announcement).

My biggest issue with my iBook is the lack of video ram (when I plug in an external monitor, which is every night, I only have 16mb per monitor) and the slow internal HD.

Memory (DDR SDRAM) 512MB PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SDRAM; supports up to 1.5GB; 1 available expansion slot

kthxmmmbye

[Nomadic Logic]

I am now in possession of my new 14" iBook, I've added the 1GB of Crucial RAM for a total of 1.5GB. I haven't put it through its paces yet, but I'm quite happy thus far. My Powerbook was only getting 38 minutes of battery power off the plug at the end, so the almost 6 hours with the iBook is a blessing.

The resolution doesn't bug me too much, nor does the 4200 RPM drive. I did a few things like convert .shn to .aiff and .aiff to aac today, and I think it may have taken a little longer than the Powerbook, but it wasnt horrible. I'll probably throw Hearts of Iron on the iBook and run a few games. See how it goes.

[CIA]

While not my main (big iron) machine, I love my 12" iBook. I got it refurb from apple at the start of the summer. The first one I got the was cheapest one available, and I needed to upgrade it. Put in Ram, airport card, replaced the HD with a 5400 80Gb model, and replaced the stock CD-Rom (they still make a just -rom model!? Shocked me.) with a 8x DVD-R Dual layer burner (K04).
Fried the machine during the upgrade process. iBooks are a nightmare to take apart compared to a 15" powerbook.
Put all the stock components back in, sent it back to Apple, they replaced with the newer model (at the time). 256 on motherboard this time, and came with 60GB drive vs old one's 40 (or maybe even 30, can't remember).
Replaced HD, CD, RAM, Airport again, this time smoothly, and now I have a wonderfull machine for travel. Awesome for Email, web, and a few other things that can't wait to be done at home on the main machine.
I wanted a 14", but after using one, I prefer the 12" simply for portability. It's so small and perfect.
I'm sorry you had issues with Apple refurbs in the past, I hope you don't give up on it. This coming from a person with a great re-furb experience, you can find some great deals.
Also, solid state stuff (like airport express basestations/cards) are a steal at the refurb store. I have 3 and they all look and act like they are brand new.

[wataru]

They fixed your iBook even though you're the one who fried it replacing the optical drive? What a lucky bastard you are.