[afix]

Hey guys and gals. I posted this over on dt and I figured why not find out what response I'd get here too, so here goes:

Now that I see iBooks come in G4s finally, and the entry level iBook is decent for my needs, plus the airport, I'm really tempted to buy an iBook. I just figured I'd get some feedback from people.

Right now I'm running a P3 1 GHz, with 256 MB of RAM, a GeForce 2 and Server 2003. It pretty much suits my needs unless I'm playing video . All I really do is listen to music, talk on instant messenger and surf the net.

The iBook I want is an 800 MHz with 256 MB of RAM.

So, one of my main questions is will this iBook fair well with what I do? Probably the most intensive thing I would do is watch full screen video.

Another question I have concerning the video is how well the codecs are supported. Do wmv, real and divx support well?

Another question (I've got a lot) is how well is the battery life really? I know the website says up to 6 hours, but how accurate is that?

Also, can someone point me to a good site for mac themes? I just want to see what some of them look like.

Another question. Could someone give me a summary of the big diffrence between OSX and XP, is there a big learning curve like there was between XP and *nix?

Last question (for now) is if anyone could point me to some good professional reviews online that I can read.

That's all for now. Thanks guys. I'm sure I'll have more soon enough.

[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

Originally posted by afix:

Another question (I've got a lot) is how well is the battery life really? I know the website says up to 6 hours, but how accurate is that?

It is more like 4.5 at best.

[gonadman]

So, one of my main questions is will this iBook fair well with what I do? Probably the most intensive thing I would do is watch full screen video.

I would say that it should be no problem. I certainly found the iBook 800 much better than my wife's 1.3GHz Duron + XP machine. But I'm biased It depends on what kind of full screen video you'll be watching, i.e. which codecs you'll be using which you alluded to in your next question.

Another question I have concerning the video is how well the codecs are supported. Do wmv, real and divx support well?

Well they're all supported. You'll be able to play WMV with Windows Media Player provided by Microsoft. You can play Real files with Real-One player which Real.com also supplies for the Mac. Apparently you can use Quicktime with Divx, although I found it to be a bit slow even with the RAM maxed out to 640MB. I guess it depends on whether you're willing to watch Divx at less than full screen.

Another question (I've got a lot) is how well is the battery life really? I know the website says up to 6 hours, but how accurate is that?

Battery life is certainly not 6 hours, although it is good. I would say it's more like 3.5 to 4 hours of normal use when the battery is new.

Also, can someone point me to a good site for mac themes? I just want to see what some of them look like.

I don't know what you mean by "themes". You have to install a separate program to get OS X to be "themeable", but I'm sure you can use google to find out what program that is and where to find the skins. (I personally don't know)

Another question. Could someone give me a summary of the big diffrence between OSX and XP, is there a big learning curve like there was between XP and *nix?

Well, that's a mighty small question that could lead to an endless tirade of pointers. I can only recommed http://www.macosxhints.com/ as a good starting point, with a lot of common questions and answers available. On the whole I've found OS X to be more reliable - and once you get past the sometimes annoying nuances of the Apple GUI, you'll come to understand that it really is the "better way" to do things, and end up enjoying the entire computing experience more.

If you're going to be listening to audio a lot, I just have a friend of mine buy a Powerbook. He was blown away by the quality and the loudness of the audio output. It's not your average audio - we're not in Sound Blaster country anymore!

Last question (for now) is if anyone could point me to some good professional reviews online that I can read.

Sorry can't help you there. The best review I can recommend is reading through the forums here and all over the place and making a judgment based on the opinions you see. Remember most people will come to a forum if they've got something to complain about, rather than if they've got something positive to say. It's amazing how many people come in here and do say something positive though. Imagine that many people were posting "My Dell Laptop kicks ass and I want to have it's babies!!"

Anyway, I hope that helps a bit in your question to find a better place

[CeRtiFiedSkitZo]

OK I think I'll be able to answer some of your questions for you since I'm fairly new to the Mac world and I bought myself an iBook G4 recently.

First, yes you're able to play a lot of your videos on the Mac, all you need to do is dl a free program called Video Lan or VLC, this program will play just about all your video file formats.

Battery Life. Now this varies on what you're doing on your laptop. Now if you're emailing surfing the net, word processing, you can honestly get about 5:30 on your battery. Now if you're watching DVD you can get at least 4:00 on the battery. The best settings for the battery is to leave it on Automatic settings.

As for learning how to use OSX, I have to say it's much easier than WinXP. I made the switch on Nov 10 and I think I've gotten used to using some of the shortcuts. I think the only thing I missed from Windows was the right click.

Now comparing this to speed of a Windows Machine, now I work side by side w/ a Dell which is a 2.5 P4 w/ 512mb ram. Now I have a stock 933 G4 w/ stock 256 of ram, and I don't really noticed any speed drop off.

Since you're looking into getting a Mac have you tried the education discount?

[si_lance]

Originally posted by CeRtiFiedSkitZo:

As for learning how to use OSX, I have to say it's much easier than WinXP.

OS X is wonderfully easy to use since there are many GUIs to help, but also I much prefer *nix command line and it has that also. Best of both worlds.

Originally posted by CeRtiFiedSkitZo:

I made the switch on Nov 10 and I think I've gotten used to using some of the shortcuts. I think the only thing I missed from Windows was the right click.

I use a USB Kensington Orbit trackball and it right-clicks like a charm! Although I'm eyeing this bluetooth wireless optical mouse.

I use my G4 iBook side by side with my work's Dell X300 (1.2Ghz Centrino/512MB) ultra light notebook running XP Pro, and I can't see any speed difference between the two. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Also, my workstation at work is a Dell Optiplex with a 1.7Ghz P4 w/512MB, and it doesn't rip CDs any faster in iTunes than my G4 iBook. I don't think you'll be disappointed. VLC is the bomb also!

[afix]

I've got a Microsoft wireless mouse that works like a charm and hopefully I can just swap it on when I'm at my desk with an iBook.

And I'm a Junior in High School, can I still get the discount? Where do I learn about it?

Edit: I just thought of this, where do I (if I can) hook up an external monitor? I didn't see a space for it at CompUSA, but I couldn't see the back of the iBook. Is it there if there is one? Anf if there is, is it the digital VGA, or the 15 pin, 3 row one?

[CeRtiFiedSkitZo]

Originally posted by afix:
I've got a Microsoft wireless mouse that works like a charm and hopefully I can just swap it on when I'm at my desk with an iBook.

And I'm a Junior in High School, can I still get the discount? Where do I learn about it?

Edit: I just thought of this, where do I (if I can) hook up an external monitor? I didn't see a space for it at CompUSA, but I couldn't see the back of the iBook. Is it there if there is one? Anf if there is, is it the digital VGA, or the 15 pin, 3 row one?

If you plan to order it from apple.com, click education and go from there, everything is 10% off.

Trust me you won't go wrong w/ buying a Mac, I had the same reservation about buying Mac. I was sitting there trying to compare it to a Sony laptop. One of my main excuses not to get the iBook was because it only had 933mz compared to a a P4 2.6 gz Sony. The best advice would be to go to an Apple store or any other store like Compusa and try the system for yourself.

[fibroptikl]

Originally posted by afix:
I've got a Microsoft wireless mouse that works like a charm and hopefully I can just swap it on when I'm at my desk with an iBook.

And I'm a Junior in High School, can I still get the discount? Where do I learn about it?

Edit: I just thought of this, where do I (if I can) hook up an external monitor? I didn't see a space for it at CompUSA, but I couldn't see the back of the iBook. Is it there if there is one? Anf if there is, is it the digital VGA, or the 15 pin, 3 row one?

The iBook has a VGA Out, it's attached to a little cord that you plug off the side (I think, haven't looked at an iBook since my G3 800 and not sure if they have the cord or not). You can use a DVI Display on the VGA, just it won't be digital.

It does not include a DVI however; you'll have to get a PowerBook for that.

[afix]

Originally posted by CeRtiFiedSkitZo:
If you plan to order it from apple.com, click education and go from there, everything is 10% off.

You have to be a faculity member to get it off for High School. Oh well.

[discotronic]

Originally posted by afix:


Another question. Could someone give me a summary of the big diffrence between OSX and XP, is there a big learning curve like there was between XP and *nix?

For a side by side comparison of OS X and XP go here:

http://www.xvsxp.com/

Hope that helps

[alien]

The iBook only (officially) support video mirroring on an external screen. But there's a "spanning hack" that you can use if you want to.

Also, 256MB may be too little RAM, depending on what you'll use it for. OS X is memory-hungry...

VLC is good, it can play many video formats.

I believe the current iBook batteries last longer than those that shipped with the G3 models. My (a few months old) battery lasts up to 4 hours, which is according to spec.

[afix]

My thanks to everyone to helped out by answering my questions.

Now I have some thinking to do. If I do get an iBook I'll be sure to keep posting here and join in some good disscussions.

Thanks again.