[immsav]

The day before MWSF, I was ready to Switch® (to an iBook 800); now I'm not so sure.

The iBook with maxed-out RAM still looks like a good notebook, but the new little Powerbook seems very attractive, too.



Who has switched from a loaded iBook to one of the new Powerbooks?

Usage-wise, right now all I'm doing is text-editor-based web programming and html coding—just a little Photoshop for resizing and a guassian blur or so.

Will the Powerbook make this a more productive or enjoyable experience...and is it worth $500 more?

[seanyepez]

There are many threads that cover this exactly. You could probably find a lot of information pertaining to your question by reading the past two pages of threads.

I think the 12-inch PowerBook is worth the extra money. It's essentially an iBook, but it's got a G4, it's smaller, and you can get it with a SuperDrive. Minor improvements include a better keyboard, AirPort Extreme, and Bluetooth support.

My mom has a 12-inch PowerBook. Before this one, she's never really liked a computer. She even saw her TiBook a mere tool. I think she genuinely likes her 12-inch PowerBook G4.

[Hanul]

Who has switched from a loaded iBook to one of the new Powerbooks?

I switched from a maxed out iBook (800MHz/640MB/30GB/Combo/AirPort) to the PowerBook. I had an iBook 700 for half a year, and the 800 for a month, when the 12" PB came out.

I immediately put my 800 on ebay and ordered a max'ed out 12" PB. Why? The speed on the iBook is good, no complaints, graphics are smooth, and the Combo drive is fast. But still.

The plastic casing of the iBook looks nice, but it gets scratches really easily. Just wipe with a clean cloth and you can see very small scratches on the surface, which will add up after some time. The aluminium casing of the PB is much, much better in this regard.

The iBook's keyboard will bend inwards while typing and looks and feels cheap. The bending is caused by the keyboard being removable to get to the AirPort slot. The PB's keyboard isn't removable, it is very solid and looks great. Typing is very good on it.

There are several things purposely unavailable on the iBook: audio-in and monitor spanning.

I need Bluetooth, so built-in is more convenient than carrying an adapter. A big plus is the available superdrive. I always wanted to burn DVDs, now I can

The overall quality of the PB is so much better and nicer looking than the iBook. But don't expect speed gains, if your application don't use Altivec. Graphics power is also in the same league.

I'm very satisfied with the switch to the PB. Better casing, better keyboard, Bluetooth, DVD-R, Monitor spanning, and ripping MP3s in iTunes is much faster with a G4. I think it's worth the $500 more.

[Superchicken]

My suggestion would be check out both at a store and decide which one feels best to you. For what you'll be doing altivec will be used very little so a G3 will be about as fast as a G4 so yeah... go with what one looks best to you and feels best. The profformance difference is incredibly tiny outside of Photoshop, or Final Cut Pro.