[optimus prime]

Hi, im new to this forum and i have something on my heart.
Im planning of buying my first mac ever. Im trying to figure out should i buy iBook or powerbook (12" each).

First: How does the new powerbooks display compare to the iBooks? i have heard that they use the same display. true?

and then the battery life, how much would be the maximum batterylife on the new 12" powerbook? 4 hours would make me happy? will i be happy?

[baaron]

Here's a start.

http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=4544

Edit: BTW, welcome to the forums!

[optimus prime]

Thanks for the link.
Sounds fair, but i didnt notice anyone saying anything about the battery life and the screen-quality...

[NaMo4184]

iBook has the better battery life. And they both use the same screen. You will notice allot of people recommend a powerbook. But the gap between the PB and iB is pretty insignificant compared to the money saved. If I had cash to burn then I would splurge on an powerbook.

[nato64]

i love my new 12" powerbook. battery does well for me, i get through the whole school day with it on no problem at all with it being asleep half the periods. at the end of the day it's like down to 30%. hmm... i guess that's like 2-3 hours of use which is pretty good i think considering it still had 1/3 charge left.

[optimus prime]

I have been reading a lot of Apple forums lately (obvious reasons) and a lot of people (almost all) say that the newest iBooks suffer from the "white bottom-corners". And so does my friends iBook. The bottom corners seems to be very white especially against dark backgrounds. Does the new powerbook 12" have the same problem?

[p-trick]

I've been doubting between 12" iBook vs PBook for a long time and finally went for the PBook (about 2 weeks ago).
why?
(i) I tend to keep my stuff for a fairly long time, so I thought I could spend a little more
(ii) looks, I just like the PBook
(iii) easier to run an external screen, which I will eventually do when old iMac dies

Bottom line: no really compelling reasons favouring PBook

Concerning the 'white corners': my PBook has it slightly on the bottom left one.

[optimus prime]

i found a place where they said that they have exact same displays. If thats true, i wont be buying neither one of em. The white corners i saw with my friends ibook were something hideous.

[GWARREN]

I have had this iBook G4 for a year and a half and have no problems with it. No white corners on the screen, and no dead pixels -my previous G3 iBook was the same. I couldn't recommend it more - I'll be buying a new one in the Summer or Autumn after there is a decent update, I have the cash, and they come with Tiger. Grrr

[YS 2003]

I just went through exactly the same debate yesterday, considering which to pick, 12" PB or 12" iBook. I went to the Apple Store and I saw both of them closely. At the beginning, I was leaning toward iBook as I was looking for a portable I can bring with me on business (my 15" Ti and 15" Al are too large for tugging them along for a trip for me). I wanted to take my Mac experience with me even if I am not at home.

I chose a 12" PB Superdrive. The reasons for that conclusiion are:

1. brigher screen (I adjusted iBook's display to 50% brightness and compared it to 12" PB's screen at 50% brightness. PB was brighter.
2. better keyboard
3. scrren spanning capabilities
4. use the external screen with the lid closed
5. faster CPU
6. PB can accept more RAM
7. better graphics card (64 MB), which is suitable for upcoming Tiger's eye candy effects
8. larger hard drive
9. tactile feeling of the anodized aluminum

I think 12" iBook is good on its own right. But, if you can spend extra doug, a 12" PB should be a better choice for you as it has better hardware to last for a while. The iBook's current hardware may not be adequate for Tiger. I am writing this post from my new 12" PB Superdrive.

[optimus prime]

When you compared them, did you see other differences at the screens other than the brightness? Im under that impression that all the new iBooks suffer from the white corners. Many say that apple changed the ibook screen during the last price drop

[defaultmike]

It all depends on what u're gonna use it for. I have a 2.0 G5. Recently I chose a 12"ibook over the pb. If u need a desktop replacementthen by all means, get a pb (though probably not a 12" one). But if you're looking for portability. I'd say get an iBook with a larger HD 60gb is fine. and you'll be a-ok. It does all I need it to do, and cost me 500$ less than the pbook.

[stevegong]

Originally Posted by optimus prime i found a place where they said that they have exact same displays. If thats true, i wont be buying neither one of em. The white corners i saw with my friends ibook were something hideous.

I don't think someone with white corners should make you have second thoughts. I have the newest 12" pb and there are no white corners. I'd say only a very few amount of people have the white corners problem and it may be worth your while to buy it at the apple store so you can open it and have a look.

The pb is a wonderful machine, and having owned 2 ibooks, I have to say the pb is a better choice. it's not that much more expensive really. The quality difference is quite big, I think. And besides, how could you live without those cool core graphics dependant effects in Tiger???

[Fooboy]

I just got a 2nd hand 1.33 ghz 12" powerbook. My battery lasts exactly at 4 hours with airport on and high (85%) brightness doing basic stuff ... email, chat, browsing - continuesly (I was at work).

and this battery is almost a year old in July

[optimus prime]

Thank you all, i will be ordering the 12" powerbook. Thanks!
I will take the cheapest model, because im short of cash. Thats cool right?

[Brad]

That's what I did and I'm cool as ice.

[optimus prime]

Ok, i ordered the damn thing.
Last question, is it noisy? how much noise does the fan keep?

[Brad]

It's pretty quiet. Volume is a very subjective thing and hard to put into words. In a completely silent room, you'll probably hear the fan (if it's on) as you're working on the PowerBook. Step just a few feet away and you won't hear it. Does that description help any? Unless the fans are on at full blast, you probably won't hear anything unless you're within a few feet of it.

If anything, the fan is more "slightly annoying" than it is "noisy." It usually creates a very soft, medium-frequency buzz when spinning. Of course, it's all in the ears of the beholder.

Also, keep in mind that the fan doesn't run all the time, but it does run much more frequently when plugged into an outlet.

[optimus prime]

How often does it run when doins something light, like surfing, iTunes?

my current pc laptop (sucks) fan comes in every 30 seconds. and the sound can be heard from another room almost. And no way in hell could i use this in the same room where my wife is sleeping. could i do that with powerbook (+ airtunes, naturally?

[Brad]

Oh wow. Yeah, it's nothing like that. I can sit right next to my sleeping girlfriend and the only thing that might wake her up is if I start typing too fast and forget to type softly.

[optimus prime]

Great!
anyone willing to buy a laptop what can also be used to dry wet hairs?

I expect that i will get that "Apple smell" with the new powebook? Its so lovely smell. I could rub the powerbook to my shirt, go out, and be a babemagnet!

[danm]

I think Brad nailed it, if there's ANY ambient noise and/distance between you and the PB, you'll never hear the fan(s). This issue was one of many reasons (along with winblows) I dumped my compaq and bought this 12" 1.5ghz SD, the fans were so loud on that comcrap I couldn't do any audio recording without picking the sound up.

[iDaver]

Originally Posted by Brad It's pretty quiet. Volume is a very subjective thing and hard to put into words. In a completely silent room, you'll probably hear the fan (if it's on) as you're working on the PowerBook. Step just a few feet away and you won't hear it. Does that description help any? Unless the fans are on at full blast, you probably won't hear anything unless you're within a few feet of it.

Um, I don't know about you, but I'm always within a few feet of a computer I'm using.

I'm considering a new iBook because I've heard the fan rarely ever runs, unlike the PowerBook. The fan never, ever runs in my G3 iBook but it's getting kind of tired, and the display isn't very bright.

[optimus prime]

ill be having my powerbook 12" within two weeks, so ill post some comments here afterwards....

[Brad]

Originally Posted by iDaver Um, I don't know about you, but I'm always within a few feet of a computer I'm using.

Yeah, I was just trying to illustrate the relative scale of the sound here, though.

my 12" PowerBook: audible within about 3 feet.
optimus prime's notebook: audible within about 30 feet.

[optimus prime]

oh wait...
we have people here with the new powerbooks, right?
and we got people here with new ibooks, right?

So lets compare, when doing something like surfing, iTunes, how often does your xbooks fan come on?

fight!

[optimus prime]

Brad, you are so fast

yea, this baby can be heard from very far away.
I can hear this screaming from the hangar (where i keep this overnigths) to my house, which is not even near the airport

[Brad]

I have the almost newest 12" PowerBook. I have the 1.33 GHz model from the last revision, but I really wouldn't expect there to be any drastic difference.

I've actually been listing to iTunes while surfing right now. With classical music playing at half volume on the internal speakers, I can't even tell if the fan is running unless I put my ear within a few inches from the back or unless I stop typing and listen intently between song changes.

[Kiren]

Just got the newest 12", the fan does come on, but its a very faint whisper. if theres any ambient noise you should not notice it.

[optimus prime]

how often does it come on? are we talking about seconds, minutes? hours even?