View Full Version : Is the Powerbook that much better than the iBook?
well i narrowed down my choices down to 2. Either the 12" ibook or the 12" powerbook. I've been thinking if I should even consider the powerbook because i heard that the ibook has better battery life. my question is, is the powerbook worth all the extra money, and will the ibook be able to handle tiger if it has 512 ram? or should i just save up for the powerbook. Also, how much better is the battery life on the ibook, and are the screens the same? is the ibook noticeably heavier? Is the ibook comfortable playing dvd's? I know these are a lot of questions, thanks a lot.
curiousuburb
2005-04-01, 15:08
The screens are the same, but the PowerBook's Graphics chip will support multiple monitors (spanning), while the iBook's chip only officially supports mirroring (though there is a hack to enable spanning). And obviously, if you're going to drive an external monitor, the PowerBook's DVI option is far superior to iBook VGA out.
Whatever you get will run better with 512 than with the stock RAM. Ditto for 1GB vs 512, but less obvious.
Battery on the 14" iBook is better than any PowerBook... the 12" is rated the same, but given the slower GPU on the iBook, it is possible that the iBook will still last a bit longer on a given battery charge. (The biggest factor will be settings for screen brightness... run as low as you can see and get almost an extra hour.)
As for weight and size differences, the specs page for each will tell you exactly.
Neither is a bad choice.
My personal choice was the iBook. I moved from a slightly faster 15" Powerbook to 12" iBook, put in Bluetooth and 60GB disk to match my old Powerbook, upgraded the memory to the same, and I have barely noticed the change except that I have more money now and a new warranty. :)
LudwigVan
2005-04-01, 21:25
The subject line for this thread needs a bit of work. At first I thought it was an April Fools' gag. :)
On topic: What are your plans with the laptop, i.e. school or work? Knowing that may help others here give you better feedback on what to expect in particular circumstances.
Yeah - I reckon the 12" iBook represents excellent value presently.
Title fixed and extraneous posts removed. Lighten up on the poor guy's typo. :p
My girlfriend has a 12" iBook and I have a 12" PowerBook. If you have them side-by-side, you can certainly notice that the iBook is a little bit larger and heavier. If you didn't have them side-by-side, though, you'd never really be able to tell. As curiousburb suggested, check the specs pages for details.
Yes, it will absolutely be able to handle Tiger with an ample amount of RAM. So will my five-year-old desktop G4. There is some bizarre misinformation being spread lately that Tiger will only run on the latest and greatest hardware. That's not true at all. 512 MB is a good entry point and, honestly, should be standard across Apple's line. Anything less will very quickly make performance suffer. The more RAM you have, the easier it will be for you to multitask with more applications and documents open at a given time.
I've read a number of reports that the iBooks get much better wireless reception than the PowerBooks; so, that might be a factor in your decision as well. The PowerBooks may get a weaker signal because of the aluminum chassis (much like a faraday cage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage)). You'll notice that on the lid of the PowerBooks on the left and right sides are two plastic strips; these are where the Airport/802.11 antennas are located to get around the aforementioned effect.
madmaxmedia
2005-04-02, 03:02
Although the screens are supposed to be the same, the PB screen is brighter. Not a big deal, but it was a noticeable improvement for me when I switched (got a good deal so it ended up being a marginal upgrade price for me.) I always wished the iBook could get just a tad bit brighter (in well-lit conditions), and the PB just reaches that.
Otherwise they are very close. The iBook has awesome battery life too! Although the 12" PB is also pretty darn good. Also, I have a BT phone and there are some cool freeware programs that take advantage on the PB (including controlling KeyNotes presentations and iTunes, for example.)
Buy what you can reasonable afford, you should be happy either way.
Yes, while the iBook's battery life may be better, the PowerBook's is nothing to snuff at either. On a good day, I can still easily get over four hours on a full charge.
You'll notice that on the lid of the PowerBooks on the left and right sides are two plastic strips; these are where the Airport/802.11 antennas are located to get around the aforementioned effect.
Thanks Brad, I've been wondering what they achieved for ages..
Also, I have a BT phone and there are some cool freeware programs that take advantage on the PB (including controlling KeyNotes presentations and iTunes, for example.)
Dude... Any chance you can post some names of those for me...
Cheers. :)
I'm sorry if I wasn't very specific about what I'll do with the laptop but I'll be using the laptop mainly for surfing the web and watching movies. I'll be taking it to (high) school, so battery really is important and so is durability and portability. And if i get the ibook I will upgrade to 512 ram. I won't be doing any photo editing or gaming. Which one would be right for me?
Franz Josef
2005-04-02, 06:59
Dude... Any chance you can post some names of those for me...
Cheers. :)
http://homepage.mac.com/jonassalling/Shareware/Clicker/
One other issue is the feel of the keyboard. If you're a touch typist and do a lot of writing (which I think they still require you to do at school these days), the PB has a much firmer keyboard. But it's also very subjective, so try it out at an Apple store. :)
I got the powerbook, as I am now using it as my primary (only) computer I needed the larger hdd, airport, wanted the superdrive, bluetooth, and the newer GPU (a fact which almost made me consider the 15", but I'm glad I didn't, I love my 12") If you add all the options the iBook becomes almost as much as the powerbook, and so a much worse deal, it does as mentioned before have a bit longer battery life though. (of course the powerbooks can be extended some by disabling the things the iBook doesn't ship with, and still has adequate charge for me) However if you're leaveing it close to stock its not a bad deal. I think once you choose you'll be happy with either one, they're both good machines.
On a side note if you get the iBook you'll probably want to load something like sidetrack, it makes it so much more fun to surf the web etc.
I had the same dilemma when I had to pick my first Mac.
I choose the ibook.
I also just needed it for office and internet. So why should I spend the extra money? To begin with I didn't get more than 256 MB in it, and now I have 512 MB. To be honest I can't tell the difference, well, maybe with Tiger, but not for now :\ The iBook is also a tough little machine, but you should get some sort of sleve for it, in case you will be carrying it around in your backpack. That probably goes for the PB too.
One other little tidbit...AppleWorks (albeit not very OSX looking) still comes with the iBooks.
Not so with the PowerBooks which for the life of me, I can't understand. I suppose they figure PB users can afford to spring for something like iWork or MS Office.
I'll be taking it to (high) school, so battery really is important and so is durability and portability. And if i get the ibook I will upgrade to 512 ram.
Definitely get the iBook. The plastic shell can take much more of a beating than the aluminum one.
However, if you use it in all of your classes, don't expect even the iBook to last all day long. Plan on it lasting for 4-5 hours at most. You'll get the best of your battery life by turning off Bluetooth and Airport (which otherwise constantly broadcasting signals even when not connected), dimming the display as low as possible (the screen is one of the biggest battery consumers), and setting the processor performance to "reduced" in the Energy Saver pane of the System Preferences.
Also, if possible, you should put off this purchase for just a few more weeks. People are expecting Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" to be released some time this month and if you order after it's announced, you won't have to buy it later.
Revisiting this post as my need for a laptop grows. In researching, it really is apparent that the iBook is the better value.
I can't believe how much one could save by purchasing a refurbished iBook over a new PB.
For instance, a refurbished 14" iBook 1.33 GHz with SuperDrive is only $1299.
A new 15" PB 1.5 GHz w/o Superdrive is already $1999. Add one and it's $2199.
(Yes, it refurbished, but my experience has been great). You lose some nicities that the PB has, but all in all, it's still the way to go. Although, if there were some refurbished PB's, it may change things.
But overall, this underscores the need for a cranked up PowerBook line. :)
One other issue is the feel of the keyboard. If you're a touch typist and do a lot of writing (which I think they still require you to do at school these days), the PB has a much firmer keyboard. But it's also very subjective, so try it out at an Apple store. :)
I never considered my iBook keyboard bad (definetly better than the one on my Dell D600 from work) but after I started typing on my new PB I understand why people complain about the iBook keyboard.
Definetly a nicer feel and less typos (for me anyways).
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