[DrDre]

I am planning to buy a new Apple laptop since my job will entail much more travel and frequent presentations (keynote) in the near future.

I am considering the 12" PB vs the new 12" G4 iBook.

While the PB is a wee bit faster and abot 1/3 of a pound lighter, I wonder if it can handle the bumps associated with constant commuting/travel as the iBook might.

I curently have a 15" TiBook which has lasted over 2 years, but has remained mainly on my desk, and when I do travel I have used a Waterfield design (sp?) sleavecase for protection in addition to a backpack or briefcase to carry it in.

In contrast, my wife has had an iBook (dual USB) 500 mhz for a couple of years, and she just tosses it into her backpack when she travels...including daily commutes on trains, etc. without the need for any case or other protection. The iBook has held up very well, with only a few barely noticeable scrateches on the case.

It seems to me that if you have to factor in a case to protect the PB, while the iBook can go straight into a backpack or briefcase then this would actually make the PB less portable.

Can anyone comment on the ruggedness of the 12" PB versus the new iBook?

Thanks for your help.

[Dr.Michael]

Hi,

I have a 12 inch Powerbook (never had an iBook). My thought would be: If you have to give presentations, do you want to do that with a Notebook full of scratches that looks ugly and worn?

Although the Alu case is much sturdier than the Titanium it certainly will scratch.

I protect my Powerbook with a neopren skin (tucano, caselogic, higoto). I did that before with my TiBook and after 3 years it looked as if I had taken it right out of the box.

With such a protective neopren skin you can put the Notebook in any case/backpack. Its worth the effort and the money (~20 USD).

Michael

[Skypat]

As Dr.Michael wrote I ordered also a tucano "second skin" for my brand new powerbook g4.

I am 100% satisfied of my PB but the iBook is certainely a good computer as well ! I have never tried it. The keyboard of the PB is the best I've ever used. The looks is great (more professional but chic, not sad as most PCs are). But of course the PB is more expensive ... depends on your budget.

[anaphora68]

My view on the 12'' ibook vs 12'' powerbook has been it depends on what you are going to be using it for, how long you want to keep the machine for, and how much expandability you need. For an everyday user, an iBook is fine but if you start getting into or plan on using your computer for digital photography/video, a powerbook becomes a serious consideration.

I was going to buy a 12'' ibook but then i considered that I am an amateur photographer and would benefit from the speed increase offered by the powerbook and expandability.

[effgee]

Hey there!

I found myself in a very similar situation a few weeks ago ... having owned a PB 15" Ti for nearly two years, it was time for an upgrade.

I knew from the start that the new 'book was not going to be a desktop replacement (I do a lot of photoshop work and already have a maxxed out dual G4) and that portability was going to be more important than the screen estate of the 'book itself. While I absolutely loved my 15' Ti, I usually found it a tad bit too large to be truly portable.

The deciding factors for me were:

1.) The 12" PB can hold up to 1,25 GB of RAM (iBook: 640), for occasional Photoshop work while on the road.

2.) The 12" PB has a DVI interface (iBook: VGA), which when connected to an LCD display offers a "crispier" image.

3.) The 12" PB does monitor spanning, meaning that you can hook up a second monitor and be able to use the screen estate on both - the PB and the external monitor. The iBook as a factory default does "mirroring" only. There's "hacks" available to enable this functionality on the iBooks, but I'm generally a bit suspicious when it comes to things like that.

Most important to me were points 1 + 3 above, with 3 giving me the option to hook up a projector to my PB, showing a presentation on the projector and keeping my notes on the PB's display - we don't want everybody to see our sacred notes now, do we? :-)

That being said, if neither of the points above are important for your work, I'm certain that you'll be perfectly happy with an iBook as well, they're fine computers.

Regarding ruggedness - as long as you get a sleeve to protect your 'book from scratches while carrying it in a briefcase/backpack, you won't have to worry about scratching it.

hth, cheers + good luck with your purchase!

eff

[Dr.Michael]

Hi again,

there is one more good reason FOR the iBooks:
In my favorite computer magazine (german c't magazine) they recently compared the 12 inch Powerbook 1GHz and the G4 iBook 1GHz (14 inch screen).
Apart from very small performance differences they found out that the screen brightness of the powerbook was only 108 cd/qm whereas the one of the iBook was 126 cd/qm.

Their conclusion was that the Powerbook does not have enough aging reserve.

This is a new aspect. Although it has nothing to do with you roughness question its a thing to decide.

I sold my Pismo mainly because the screen got too dim.

[ginoledesma]

Just a little defense for the iBook:

1. The iBook G4 will accept the same type of RAM as PowerBooks, and so support the current maximum RAM of 1.1GB (128MB on-board + 1GB). The PowerBooks by comparison come with 256MB on-board and have an extra slot (for a 1GB).

2. No comment. DVI is definitely better than VGA.

3. The iBook spanning hack is the "best free upgrade" one can get for the iBooks. That's one less feature to compare against the PowerBook. I've applied two days ago and have been enjoying the rewards of being able to use dual display with regular 17" CRT monitors.

The only downside to the current spanning hack is that it does not yet seem to fully support "clamshell mode", wherein the iBook's lid can be closed and you work with the external display as easily. The max resolution seems to be 1024x768 (whereas it should support more as when it is opened). My iBook goes to sleep all the time when I fully close it, though. There's an Open Firmware modification that can be done, but its not as yet 100% the way it should be.

[Tek]

i've been trying to decide between a powerbook and an iBook as well. I originally was holding pretty firm on a 12" powerbook until i came across MCE and noticed that you can get the 12" iBook w/ superdrive for less than the powerbook w/ combo. SO i made a trip to my local CompUSA to check out the iBooks vs Powerbook.

They didn't have the 12" iBook on display, but they did have the 933 G4. So i compared it to the powerbook. I closed down all running apps in each and then proceeded to open iMovie. The powerbook opened it consistently 1 second faster than the iBook. I then opened about 4 more apps including quicktime and final cut on the powerbook and it opened iMovie 1 sec slower than the iBook... pretty impressive. I know loading apps is mainly hard drive speed and what not... but regardless the powerbook was faster... even that aside... The powerbook looks gorgeous when compared to the iBook. I'm not anti-iBook, but the powerbook's aluminum case is beautiful and the white plastic of the iBook is merely pleasing to the eye... Oh and not to mention there was NO keyboard flexing on the powerbook and there was on the iBook... i'm usually pretty cheap, but i just can't turn down the better looking and better performing powerbook in this case... i know subjective...

and i figure if i get this sleeve then it will hold up better...
http://www.radtech.us/powersleevz.html

May God Be With You.
-Matt

[poisonmonkey]

Originally posted by DrDre:
Can anyone comment on the ruggedness of the 12" PB versus the new iBook?

Many bumps and my new 12" still looking sharp and shiny...

When traveling I keep it in the Mareware Sportfolio II... just in case... There are no scratches etc. I take my PB everyday on the TTC across the city to school and even after running to catch the bus my HD is still operating fine.

IMO if you want to be extra careful go ibook b/c it has its hard drive rubber mounted while the PB doesn't. I took the PB for the power....

[JVB_2112]

Can't really add much but... I had a 12" iBook that I traded for my current 12" Powerbook. My iBook seemed really easy to scratch while my Powerbook still looks as good as the day I got it.

JVB