[iMOTOR]

I ordered a refurb iBook 800 12in right after Christmas from powermax for $1188, weeks went by and they never sent it so I canceled the order.

Now after seeing the 12in powerbooks, I'm wondering if its a blessing in disguise that powermax screwed me on this one. I can't afford any of the new powerbooks, but I think the iBook prices might drop soon. I wan't a notebook so bad


Should I just buy one now or wait for prices to drop, or stay away from the G3's
altogether

Thanks for your help

[RMXO]

Originally posted by iMOTOR:
I ordered a refurb iBook 800 12in right after Christmas from powermax for $1188, weeks went by and they never sent it so I canceled the order.

Now after seeing the 12in powerbooks, I'm wondering if its a blessing in disguise that powermax screwed me on this one. I can't afford any of the new powerbooks, but I think the iBook prices might drop soon. I wan't a notebook so bad


Should I just buy one now or wait for prices to drop, or stay away from the G3's
altogether

Thanks for your help

best to wait. no one actually knows how the new 12 & 17 PB will perform until they are released. plus, with the way Apple is releasing new products. a new iBook migth be released soon or it might not. u have to decide if u can wait or if you really need one now. if u need one then go buy one. i bet there a tons of ppl trying to sell their new PBs or ibook since the new AluPB was released & u might get a deal.

[Chimpmaster]

The new g4 powerbook 12" has received mediochre reviews regarding its performance benchmarks (onle marginally better than the ibooks).

If I was you, Id grab an ibook now, or wait for the next rev of ibook. With the release of the new powerbooks, apple have actually cut the price on the 14" ibooks, making them a very attractive buy right now.

I just configured a 14" ibook with 384MB ram, airport card etc for $3256 AUS via education. Checking the US applestore, its cheaper again -$1515 US via education. Excellent value.

Im skeptical about the next rev of ibook. They cant add too much more to it as the last thing they want to do is close the gap too much between the powerbook and ibook.

I look at the current pricing of the 12" powerbook and the 14" ibook, and in the powerbook you are getting a smaller screen, a g4 processor, and a slightly better video card (gforce 4 2 go vs radeon 7500 - same vram). Sure, there are other benefits in the powerbook, but a lot of people dont need them.

Alternatively, purchasing a good condition 2nd hand previous rev g4 powerbook wouldnt be so silly either.

Ive seen the 400-667mhz g4 powerbooks at very reasonable prices.

Good luck with your purchase. In summary a 14" ibook (or 12 if you really prefer) or a 2nd hand powerbook are probably your best options.

[Superchicken]

Deppends on what you're gona use this comp for.

If you do Photoshop, uhh... music I guess... or video then the 12 inch PB is right up your alley... I'm planning on one becuase of the extencive amount of graphics work I do.
At the same time however, if all you're doing is web browsing, e-mail, listening to music, and just want a fast system then the iBook 800 should be great for you. The AluBook and the iBook will proform very similarly in things that don't use the altivec units... iTunes will be faster on an AluBook as far as ripping from a CD to the hard drive, iMovie will be faster, Photoshop or Fireworks or probably flash will all be faster.
Safari probably won't be much faster, neither will Mail or iChat least not noticably... esspecially since the Power Book 12inch doesn't have any L3 Cache.

The G3 and G4 when non altivec stuff is concerned proform very similarly.

As to the worrying about the revision... unfortunately I think the iBooks may suffer the same fate as the iMacs becuase of motorola's slowness on the G4 the G3 from IBM will probably not be used at higher clocks until the Power Books are over 1Ghz.

You might see a 900Mhz iBook or a 1Ghz iBook, but only after the 12 inch power book has a 1Ghz G4 in it... and that probably won't be for at least another half year