[staph]

No, it shouldn't be too hard. You'll need a small Phillips-head screwdriver...

The Airport card isn't as scary as it looks. There's a little plastic tab at the end away from the slot; once you've removed the little wire retainer from on top of it and unplugged the aerial, you just need to gently tug for it to come out. It just slots in when you come to reinstall it.

For me, the scariest part about getting into the innards of my G4 iBook (but not my G3 iBook) was that the keyboard wouldn't fit back into its slots without being very slightly flexed. Not sure what caused that.

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by staph No, it shouldn't be too hard. You'll need a small Phillips-head screwdriver... The Airport card isn't as scary as it looks. There's a little plastic tab at the end away from the slot; once you've removed the little wire retainer from on top of it and unplugged the aerial, you just need to gently tug for it to come out. It just slots in when you come to reinstall it. For me, the scariest part about getting into the innards of my G4 iBook (but not my G3 iBook) was that the keyboard wouldn't fit back into its slots without being very slightly flexed. Not sure what caused that.

Urgh...this is making me nervous. I will be very upset if all of this money I'm spending leads to a bent keyboard......that doesn't sound very reassuring.....I really do want to save that extra money, but if it means taking a chance on damaging the Mac, forget it.

[staph]

No, seriously, the keyboard has tonnes of flex in it — it's not a solid, rigid piece of metal at all. Flexing it 1mm isn't going to make any permanent difference.

Seriously.

It only freaked me out because it took me 10 minutes to work out why the keyboard wouldn't go back in (which is why I mentioned it).

You'll be fine.

[Luca]

No no no no no no no no no no. DON'T buy RAM from Apple. Really, I know you think you're not very handy or anything, but adding memory to an iBook is one of the easiest things you can do. I did it two years ago before I had any experience building computers. Of course now that I've built a few I'm not nervous about something so simple as replacing the RAM, but back then I was a bit uncertain. Just go with it anyway, confront your fear and it'll be easy.

Haha, I sound like a psychologist or something. It's kind of true, though. It's very easy to fall into the "I can't possibly figure this out, so I'll just throw money at the problem" pit. You'll pay the same for a pre-installed 512 MB module from Apple as you would for a 1 GB module from Crucial. And while Apple's prices are very high for 512 MB of RAM, their price for 1 GB is astronomical.

I bet if you do this one little, simple installation now, you'll be more confident for the future and save a lot of money. Or you could be like the people who go into CompUSA and pay the guys $70 to install their memory.

[staph]

Yep, I should have just kept my big mouth shut.

Listen to Luca. Luca good.

[johnq]

Arrgh it's dead easy, you'll do fine. iBooks are rugged just do it slowly and watch what you are doing. Just realize the keyboard is attached by a ribbon, don't be in a rush and yank it off.

[Mr. X]

Ahh...I can do this!!

Thanks to all of you. I feel confident now! BRING IT ON!!

[Mr. X]

Should I call Apple tomorrow and tell them I want bluetooth preinstalled? It's only $45 more with my school discount... I wouldn't be using anything that requires it for awhile, but there's a good chance I'll have a phone that I'd like to sync up with it in a year or so. Can the Apple Store install it internally in the future for me? Should I just have it ready now? Or is there a good chance I'll never need it...?

[alcimedes]

if you want bluetooth installed internally, you have to do it through apple. otherwise you'll need to buy a USB dongle that sits on the outside of the computer.

it's ugly and not nearly as nice as having it internally.

(but yeah, do the RAM yourself. just order from www.crucial.com )

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by alcimedes if you want bluetooth installed internally, you have to do it through apple. otherwise you'll need to buy a USB dongle that sits on the outside of the computer. it's ugly and not nearly as nice as having it internally. (but yeah, do the RAM yourself. just order from www.crucial.com )

...but would I be able to take it to an Apple store a year from now and have the bluetooth installed internally? I think I'll need it eventually, but I'm looking to save as much money as possible, so If I can wait, I will.

[alcimedes]

no, you won't. my understanding is it's done when you order it, or not at all.

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by alcimedes no, you won't. my understanding is it's done when you order it, or not at all.

Ah, I better just do it then. (Unless someone can explain to me why I may never need it.....?)

I read something that someone posted at amazon.com:

The iBook is a great laptop - especially for those who are interested in trying out a mac. However, these laptops lack the minimum graphics card to support all of the features in the next MacOSX release (10.4) which will occur by May at the latest. Which means that Apple is unloading these iBooks to clear their inventory of the substandard graphics card and will soon upgrade this system to a GeForce card that supports pixel shading. Otherwise, MacOSX 10.4 will run slower on your machine because the graphics will be totally loaded under your CPU. With future iBooks, the upgraded graphics card will unload the graphics to the GPU. Huge speed difference. You might want to hold out purchasing an iBook for a few more months

Is any of this true?

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Mr. X Is any of this true?

Yup, unless things change before Tiger's release.

The current iBook has a Mobility Radeon 9200.

Tiger's Core Image requires one of the following:
* ATI Radeon 9800 XT
* ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
* ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
* ATI Radeon 9600 XT
* ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
* ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
* ATI Mobility Radeon 9600
* NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra
* NVIDIA GeForceFX Go 5200
* NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 Ultra

Of course, this only applies to Core Image. It's hardly required, but it should speed some GUI things up significantly (read: freeing up the CPU) as did Quartz Extreme.

It's important to note that the GUI is what will see major improvements from Core Image, not overall application performance. Tiger will still offer all-around performance improvements to applications regardless of the graphics chipset whether you have a G3, G4, or G5 based Mac.

[Mr. X]

That's kind of a drag. However, I need a new Mac NOW. I can't afford to wait four months; I have too many projects I need to work on. Besides, there's always something better coming if you wait a few months. No one would own a Mac if they were constantly waiting.

DAMN! I just checked the status, which now says "shipped." I sure hope bluetooth is not something I'll need anytime soon.

[Brad]

Unless you are a cell phone junkie or you want a battery-eating wireless mouse or keyboard, you'll never use Bluetooth at all.



I've yet to really find anything very enticing about Bluetooth.

[Luca]

I agree with Brad. Bluetooth is a waste of money. If its lack of usefulness isn't enough, the fact that there are so many conflicting "standards" out there hurts it as well. Early Bluetooth adapters won't work with keyboards and mice. Some of the Bluetooth adapters that are included with third-party Bluetooth input devices won't work with Bluetooth input devices made by other companies, or cell phones. I think... not sure though.

The ONLY advantage that Bluetooth has at all is that if you get it built into your computer, you can use a wireless keyboard and mouse without having anything plugging into your machine. Traditional wireless keyboards and mice require you to plug in a base station of some kind. Then again, traditional wireless keyboards and mice use RF technology, which is a hell of a lot faster than Bluetooth and won't be nearly as affected by skipping.

[johnq]

They do not eat through batteries if you use rechargeables, nor are you constantly recharging and swapping in batteries. It's more like once a month.

I have a good recharger:

http://www.ripvan100.com/products_recharger.htm

and an bunch of NiHM rechargeable batteries:

http://www.ripvan100.com/products_sanyo2300mah.htm

...for my camera, flash and Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse.

[Mr. X]

There are only two things that may make bluetooth useful for me:

1) wireless printer
2) a future cell phone

Apple told me that it is definitely too late, that once the iBooks and PowerBooks are built, they are locked down and can not install any internal bluetooth module. BUT, he told me that it's not so bad....having it externally on the side is not that cumbersome, and you can plug it in only when needed at home, and store it when not in use. Plus, knowing that it would be awhile (I would need to buy a new printer, cel phone, etc.), it really wasn't necessary to spend money on having it installed right away. I also thought, "what if there is some kind of bluetooth upgrade?" I would still need an extrenal one, since what I had installed would be the old version....so, really, only if you know you need bluetooth out of the box (or almost immediately after purchase)is it necessary to have it installed, IMO.

The extra money can go towards an iPod...

[staph]

Yeah, the plug-in bluetooth things are usually about 3–4 cm long, and about 1 cm wide. Not the kind of thing I'd like to carry around (for fear of walking into something and breaking my USB port), but not that cumbersome.

Think of it as like the bolt through the neck of Frankenstein's monster.

[johnq]

I like not having it internal (my iBook predates the internal option). I wouldn't need the module when I'm away from my Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse anyway, so unless you wanted to sync your phone while on the road, it's no loss.