[AmericanPsych0]

I am currently a PC user, though I am looking to Apple for my next purchase. I've been looking at both the 14" iBook and the 12" PowerBook. The configurations I've looked at are similar, and the prices are close to one another, but I'm wondering exactly how the PowerBook is better than the iBook. Looking at the configurations of the two notebooks I am looking at (which I will include at the end of this post), I cannot tell simply from the specifications why PowerBook costs more.

iBook 14.1"/933MHz/Combo drive ($1,424.00)
Keyboard/Mac OS X - U.S. English
640MB DDR266 (128MB built-in & 512MB SO-DIMM)
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Bluetooth Module
60GB Ultra ATA drive

PowerBook 12.1" TFT/1GHz/Combo drive ($1,534.00)
60GB Ultra ATA drive @ 4200rpm
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
512MB DDR266 (256MB built-in & 256MB SO-DIMM)
1GHz PowerPC G4

The PowerBook has a smaller screen, less RAM, but double the cache and is 67 MHz faster. Even so, it appears to me that the iBook should be more expensive, assuming they were built the same (ie were of the same series). So, what differences not shown by the aforementioned specifications make the PowerBook a better, or at least more expensive, notebook?

[anaphora68]

I don't know if this has an effect on speed, but the iBooks use an older generation of G4 processor, while the Powerbooks use the current iteration of the processor.

What are you going to be doing with thsi laptop? If you are going to be do any kind of digital graphics or video, you should go with the Powerbook because it is much more expandable.

You get better fit and finish, a sleeker package, a PC card slot, more ports for more money.

I was considering the iBook for a while but went with the 15 inch Aluminum (combo drive) because it matched my needs better and would last me a few years longer.

Hope this helps.

[ddma]

I think he is comparing 14 inch iBook to the 12 inch PowerBook. The 12 inch PowerBook does not have any PC card slot. But it has DVI ouput.

I think the 14 inch iBook is quit big compare to the 12 inch. You should either compare the 14 inch iBook with the 15 inch PowerBook or compare the 12 inch iBook to the 12 inch PowerBook.

I personally think that if you stacked in these two machines, you should concern about that if you would prefer a lighter portable computer or a bigger screen.

[AmericanPsych0]

PowerBook 15.2" TFT/1GHz ($1,889.00)
512MB DDR333 SDRAM - 2x256 SO-DIMMs
1GHz PowerPC G4
Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
60GB Ultra ATA drive @ 4200 rpm
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)

That's what I'm aiming for, should I get the 15". As you can see, it's pretty much configured the same as the 12". So, my question stands: what causes the price difference? What isn't shown in the specifications that makes this so much mroe expensive? I've heard bits and pieces from reading the forum about a flimsy iBook keyboard, and mentions of PowerBooks being built better? I'm not sure, which is why I was hoping I could get some straight answers from here.

[Scooterboy]

The 15" and 17" PowerBooks are really Apples Pro 'books.
Over and above the iBooks and 12" PowerBook, they have a faster system bus (167MHz), FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, Widescreen displays, support for up to 2 GB of faster DDR RAM, a PC Card slot, option for a lighted keyboard, ATi Radeon 9600 graphics card with 64 MB DDR RAM.

The 12" PowerBook is more like an upscale iBook. It's a beautiful, sleek machine, and if you have a DVI connected monitor you can connect any current PowerBook to it digitally but iBooks can only connect through VGA.

All PowerBooks support monitor spanning and iBooks only support mirroring (although there is an unsupported hack for iBooks which enables monitor spanning).

[iDaver]

On the iBook, the keyboard can be removed to install RAM and an Airport card. On the PowerBook, this is done from the bottom. Therefore, the PowerBook fixed keyboard is perhaps sturdier. I hear the iBook G4 keyboard is much improved over the older iBook G3.

The PowerBook has more (soldered on) RAM, slightly increasing its maximum RAM capacity.

The PowerBook has Bluetooth built in. It's optional on the iBook.

As already mentioned, the PowerBook will support an external DVI display.

[anaphora68]

The RAM in the powerbook is not soldered on, you can remove it if you want to. That's why there is a 2GB max in the Powerbook and a 640MB limit on the iBook.

[AmericanPsych0]

Would it be cheaper to, say, buy a PowerBook with 256KB RAM, then buy a 512 chip and put it in? I looked at the cost of adding a single 512 in and it was about $180 more than adding in two 256s, and that is simply out of my budget.

[anaphora68]

Your best bet is to buy the new RAM third party, you'll save a ton of money over the Apple markup.