PDA

View Full Version : What do you think? Will the new iBook fit my needs??!?!?!


defora
2005-08-10, 23:18
Hello, I’m a pc user looking to switch to Mac for this semester for college, and I was looking into the recently updated iBook g4 14”.

I have never used a Mac before so I was wondering if you could tell me if the iBook would be good for what I need it for.

I’m going to be using for Image Editing (Adobe Photoshop)
Web design (Dream weaver)
Microsoft office
I will also be putting my entire music collection on it.

So I was thinking about this configuration:
14” 1.42ghz
512 standard (will be upgrading to 1.5 gig when crucial ram is in stock)
100gig HD
Superdrive

Thanks for your input!
Cheers, Jmo
:)

AsLan^
2005-08-10, 23:25
The only thing I can think of is you might find the 1024x768 screen size limiting. In which case your next best would be the 15" powerbook. But if you are comfortable working on a 1024x768 screen then the ibook sounds like a good fit for you.

atomicbartbeans
2005-08-10, 23:27
Sounds like it will serve you just fine. Although "image editing" in Photoshop could mean a number of things... from 320x240 thumbnails to 500 MB commercial graphic design work. I wouldn't exclusively use an iBook for the latter. :) But for all practical consumer purposes, it's plenty for what you'll ask of it. I have an iBook from January (slower CPU, less RAM), and it handles Photoshop fine. :)

Luca
2005-08-10, 23:33
Save the money on the hard drive. Going from 80 GB to 100 GB for $100 is a total rip off (even if that were the actual price difference between 80 and 100 GB laptop drives, which it isn't; the actual price difference is around $50). If 80 GB isn't enough for you, then 100 GB won't be enough either and you should buy an external hard drive as well. They're cheap... for about the same amount of money you would have spent to go from 80 to 100 GB, you can buy a $50 Firewire enclosure and a $60 desktop hard drive (80 GB capacity).

The only disadvantage with an external hard drive is that it's cumbersome. Especially external desktop-sized hard drives... they are large and heavy and require a power outlet to run. But you can't beat them on price/performance ratio. Expect to spend about $50 on an enclosure and $60-$120 on a hard drive. Hard drives are really cheap today: $60 for an 80 GB, $90 for a 160 GB, and $120 for a 250 GB. Another option is to get a portable external hard drive, one that you can plug directly into your Firewire port without needing to plug it into the wall. That's a good way to increase your overall storage, but they're not exactly inexpensive - it'll cost $30-$40 for the enclosure and $100 for an 80 GB laptop-sized drive. Still, that's the only way you can have more than 100 GB of mobile storage.

You can always get the 80 GB drive now and add an external hard drive later.

sunrain
2005-08-11, 00:36
I would assume that the graphic work you'll be doing with Photoshop is related to your Dreamweaver work, so you won't need a horrendous amount of space for your Photoshop documents. I would also say stick with the 80GB. Buy an external drive later if you need, but I don't think you will.

Franz Josef
2005-08-11, 00:49
That looks like a fine machine to do what you want to do :) . If you aren't using Office particularly for Excel, you may want to look at the Apple iWork suite ($9) which has a word processor, Pages, and presentation application, Keynote. These are much easier to use than Word and Powerpoint respectively (I speak as a long term Office user) and much better value.

The Return of the 'nut
2005-08-11, 00:54
Save the money on the hard drive. Going from 80 GB to 100 GB for $100 is a total rip off (even if that were the actual price difference between 80 and 100 GB laptop drives, which it isn't; the actual price difference is around $50). If 80 GB isn't enough for you, then 100 GB won't be enough either and you should buy an external hard drive as well. They're cheap... for about the same amount of money you would have spent to go from 80 to 100 GB, you can buy a $50 Firewire enclosure and a $60 desktop hard drive (80 GB capacity).

The only disadvantage with an external hard drive is that it's cumbersome. Especially external desktop-sized hard drives... they are large and heavy and require a power outlet to run. But you can't beat them on price/performance ratio. Expect to spend about $50 on an enclosure and $60-$120 on a hard drive. Hard drives are really cheap today: $60 for an 80 GB, $90 for a 160 GB, and $120 for a 250 GB. Another option is to get a portable external hard drive, one that you can plug directly into your Firewire port without needing to plug it into the wall. That's a good way to increase your overall storage, but they're not exactly inexpensive - it'll cost $30-$40 for the enclosure and $100 for an 80 GB laptop-sized drive. Still, that's the only way you can have more than 100 GB of mobile storage.

You can always get the 80 GB drive now and add an external hard drive later.

I understand your reasoning but I have to disagree

The chances of upgrading the internal hard drive of the iBook at a later date are very small. it is best to max it out to the most you can afford. 20GB is considerably more space and if they are going to be doing Photoshop work and such it will be nice to have that extra room.

I feel it's a worthwhile upgrade and it's pretty stupid to depend on an external hard drive when you have a portable. I know because I have had to do so with my PowerBook G4/667 with a 30GB HD. I have an external portable 80GB and while it is small and light, it is still a pain in the ass I would have rathered replace the hard drive.

defora
2005-08-11, 02:40
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm curious where I can find a copy of iWork suite for $9? The apple store with the student discount say $49.

Thanks again!

The Return of the 'nut
2005-08-11, 02:44
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm curious where I can find a copy of iWork suite for $9? The apple store with the student discount say $49.

Thanks again!

i think it was a typo and meant 49.

Luca
2005-08-11, 02:44
20 GB is nothing. As I said, if 80 GB isn't enough, then 100 GB won't really cut it either. I mean, I'm all for upgrading the hard drive to be as large as possible (since it's an iBook), but I think spending $100 for an extra 20 GB is pretty dumb. That's five times what notebook hard drives cost (per unit of storage) and ten times what desktop hard drives cost. And remember that the $100 is on top of the $100 it costs to upgrade from 40 GB to 80 GB.

HezMah19
2005-08-11, 03:38
I've been doing quite a bit of Photoshop CS/iMovie HD/Downloading (in the order of 20>100MB a day...gotta love it when the Government is paying for ur downloads...) work on my PowerBook G4 15" (most recent model) and im starting to feel the squeeze from the 80Gig HD, boot it up to a Hundred Gig, or, if you think your gonna need more than 100Gig for ur Music/Dreamweaver/Photoshop work, do as Luca has sugested and get an external drive...

Question: how many gigs of music do you have? (or how many CD's)

HezMah19
2005-08-11, 03:41
and btw, iWork is really good value, I hardly touch office anymore, Keynote makes Powerpoint look like a program for 5 year olds...

BarracksSi
2005-08-11, 08:16
...Keynote makes Powerpoint look like a program for 5 year olds...
Nah, you've got it backwards... ;)

Keynote looks like it's easy enough for five-year-olds.. Powerpoint looks like you'd have to take a few classes to learn how to use it.

But seriously -- you'll get a 30-day trial of iWork. If you don't need Excel (really the only part of Office that isn't quite duplicated on the Mac), give Pages, Keynote, and Apple's organizational apps a serious workout to see if you really need to spend the cash on Office.

If it turns out that you need Office, get it now while you can get your educational price. It's awfully expensive to buy it later.

geneman
2005-08-11, 13:01
You may also want to take a quick look at the 12" iBook, it has the same screen resolution and is a lot more handy. Downsides: no internal DVD-writer, slightly slower processor. With the money you save you could buy an external monitor for your home setup, which would serve you well when doing photoshop work...

switchr92
2005-08-11, 19:35
You may also want to take a quick look at the 12" iBook, it has the same screen resolution and is a lot more handy. Downsides: no internal DVD-writer, slightly slower processor. With the money you save you could buy an external monitor for your home setup, which would serve you well when doing photoshop work...

I agree. Unless you need the superdrive, or you have terrible eyesight and a 12" screen is two cramped, I would definately look at the 12" iBook. Its 1 pound lighter, 2" smaller, and $300 cheaper. That will be useful for the $100 upgrade to the 100GB HD, which I think is worth it. 20GB is a lot of photos, and it could be the difference between the all-in-one sleekness of the iBook and a bulky external drive (even if it's a "notebook external drive", next to the iBook, its bulky). I would def. get, if I were you (which I'm quite obviously not), a 12" with standard 512MB RAM (crucial the way 2 go), 100GB HD, and iWork '05 pre-installed. This solution would cost you $1178, versus $1383 (more than $200 extra dollars left) (these two prices BOTH include iWork '05 preinstalled and edu. discount). Also, unless you need as much RAM as you can stuff into the notebook, I would go for a Gig instead of 1.5GB (more RAM-4-money).
Good luck. Switchr

switchr92
2005-08-11, 19:43
Oh yeah, and if you go powerbook, wait as long as you possibly can for the update. If you don't need it urgently, you will end up waiting a little longer for a better system for the same/less money spent.