iBook/Powerbook - parent wars!

[jondaapplegeek]

so, first off - just so you guys know:
16, living in england, just about to start 6th form to do:
english, phisics, maths and computing a-levels

I have been saving for ages, and wanted ot buy this powerbook:
15" Super Drive, 1GB ram, 128MB graphics

i have been wanting it way before Christmas, and my parents have kept putting it off, 'its to soon' 'wait for the price to come down' 'you dont ned it yet' 'lets wait till we talk to an expert' etc etc

Now, they are saying I cant have anything enless its the 12" iBook. Suddenly from the second highest notebook avaliabe, ive got to have the lowest. a 12" screen, 30GB harddrive, 256MB ram (add and extra 512 though") etc etc. I will ahve a 17" screen to plug in when im at home.

Remembering this is going to be my main computer - i wont have a desktop to use, this is FAR to small, surely.

Im into website design, so willw ant to use the laptop to create/edit images. I would also like to use the laptop to create posters etc for events that we do, and simple movie editing.

What do you guys think? This is no-where near good enough is it?

Thanks. Jon

[staph]

Well, if it's your money, why is it their business?

[jondaapplegeek]

oh, iv'e tryed all that!
all i get is 'when your 18 you can do waht you want'

[staph]

Well, for what it's worth, the entry-level iBook is just fine for image-editing, page layout, Illustrator etc. I've used one for just that on a number of occasions, although you really will want to plug it into an external monitor for layout stuff (image editing is probably a little less crucial). There's a firmware hack floating around to enable monitor spanning on the iBook, which will also make your life slightly easier.

I suppose with all the left-over money, you should gun hard for the harddrive upgrade to 80GB (it's acceptably priced, and will be well worth it if you start doing video editing stuff), and probably also the 1GB memory upgrade.

On the plus side, the 12" Apple laptops are really very light and easy to carry around. This is a good thing.

[usurp]

i would go with the 12inch ibook over the 15inch any day. i love the 12inch ibook, its portable and durable and beautiful :)

[staph]

i would go with the 12inch iBook over the 15inch any day. i love the 12inch iBook, its portable and durable and beautiful :)

I wonder if you can reach a compromise position with your parents and go for a 12" Powerbook?

[jondaapplegeek]

i doubt it, but thanks everyone, maybe the iBook isn't as bad i a thought!

[Franz Josef]

Jon - I think we should be clear, the 12" iBook is a good machine and OK for what you have in mind (assuming the movie editing is straightforward) and it's certainly much cheaper than the 15" PB you had in mind (which is a very nice laptop indeed). The price difference is there for a reason though - the 15" PB is a much better laptop, even if as pointed out above, not quite as portable. If your parents insist on the iBook then I suggest you must do the following as a bare minimum:

- have 768 MB of RAM. Tiger eats RAM.
- have an 80 GB HD (for an extra £79) - 30 GB really is very small these days.

These specs are particularly important given it will be your main computer.

[Luca]

Since you're not going to be pushing it very hard, I'd also say the 12" iBook is a good choice. The PowerBook is definitely better, but unless you need the extra power and features it provides, it's not worth the incredible £800 price difference. That's a ton of money you can save for other things... you can really max out your iBook. Get an external wireless keyboard and mouse, a stand like the Griffin iCurve, an external Firewire hard drive (if you need the space), a nice carrying bag, and at least a 512 MB memory upgrade (maybe even 1 GB, prices are still coming down on RAM). That maxed-out iBook won't grow a bigger screen or a faster processor, but it will still cost less than the base 15" PowerBook (with no accessories or upgrades).

Since you've waited so long, you can wait a little longer, right? I'd wait for the next iBook update before buying one. No one knows when it's coming (it could be a week from now, or a month from now, or even longer, though it's already long overdue), but it will certainly not be much longer. I can't imagine it taking more than three months from today for the iBook to receive an update.

I'd avoid the 12" PowerBook as it's not really much better than the 12" iBook but much, much more expensive. Their processors are almost the same, they're the same size and have the same ergonomics, and they're both just as limited in how much RAM and hard drive space they can use. The PowerBook's only advantages are a few minor features and the faster graphics chipset (which doesn't really matter that much).

[BarracksSi]

You say you'll be doing simple movie editing. What'll make a difference, then, is where you're going to be putting your finished movies. If you're putting them on DVD, you'll have to go with a Superdrive, of course -- and that will change your options.

If not DVD, then you'll be fine with just a big hard drive upgrade.

[Luca]

He can always get an external DVD burner. The drive itself should cost under US$50 (not sure what they cost in England), while a Firewire case should be around US$40 (again, unsure of the cost in England). Plus it'll be twice as fast as an internal laptop DVD burner.

Where do you normally buy generic computer equipment in England? In the US it's easy... there are a lot of places like NewEgg and ZipZoomFly that have everything under the sun, but they don't ship to England.

[BarracksSi]

He can always get an external DVD burner.
He could, but it won't necessarily be supported by iDVD.

MCE will do a Superdrive upgrade for the iBook, though --
http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=IBOOKSLDVDR8DL-A&Category_Code=STORDVDRW

Most importantly, it's compatible with all the Apple applications (iDVD, iMovie, burning from the Finder, etc). It's something that I'm still considering doing for myself.

[Brad]

Most importantly, it's compatible with all the Apple applications (iDVD, iMovie, burning from the Finder, etc).
For compatibility, just take five minutes to install PatchBurn (http://www.patchburn.de/) and it should work with everything. It works perfectly with the 3rd-party DVD±R/RW DL drive I just purchased a few months ago.

[atomicbartbeans]

The 12" iBook G4 is MY main computer, and I love it. Definitely you'll want an external display and Screen Spanning Doctor for when you're using it at home. Does everything you mentioned very well.