pls help new mac user: new iBook vs powerbook?

[Krissu]

I've decided to switch from my old pc to a new mac. I'm a fashion designer about to go study graphic design. I've considered buying a pb 15" but realised that I'll be on a very tight budget the whole term in that case. The new iBook 14" is about 900 € cheaper...Do any graphic designers use iBook? Is it capable of running ps/illustrator/flash/quark ect? What about the difference in screen resolution? The laptop would be my main computer. Really would appreciate your advise :) !

[Brad]

The iBook is plenty capable for Photoshop and multimedia work; just be sure you throw lots of RAM at it (as with any machine). The slower drive may affect opening/saving extraordinarily large files, but it's suitable for regular day-to-day operations.

The iBook's screen has a maximum resolution of 1024 x 768. That's really tiny for Photoshop work, especially if you work with a bunch of palettes open. The iBook officially only supports external display mirroring which means an attached monitor will show the same contents as the built-in screen at the same 1024 x 768 resolution. However, there is a widely-used hack available that will give it the ability to span the screen and use a much higher resolution on an external display.