iBooks (2 Viewers)

[La La]

i've been shopping around and saving for a laptop for a loooooooooong time.

my initial dream laptop was a 14" iBook and that hasn't wavered, so I'm pretty sure that's what I'm going to get.

but i thought it would be good to ask any of you guys who have them how you find them. i'm mainly going to be using it for CCI and internet and downloading music. (actually i tried helping my friend to download Morpheus on hers yesterday and it didnt work - are some music sharing downloads not mac friendly?)

currently one of the authorised dealers here is doing an amazing reduction on the stock, so now's teh time to buy i reckon.

anyway, any tips or advice/things i should look out for is welcomed.
ta

 

[La La]

shameless bump

 

[oh shit]

the drop in price may be a sign that they're bringing intel into the home imarket as well as the pro end stuff...
you'd get a similarly powerful pc notebook for less, but the ibook has the mac OS which is maybe worth the extra dough. my sister uses a 12" ibook for the same stuff as you and loves it dearly.
lots of software isn't mac friendly, that's the other thing. but for what you're after it'd be good. i think my sister's fav bit is the "apple on the back cos it glows"
12" or 15"?

 

[oh shit]

ps that was my first post on thumped from my first ever, new laptop
(which was gonna be a mac but isn't)

 

[La La]

thanks for the info b. - and congrats on the laptop post!

i was gonna go with a 12" but i relaly think after careful consideration i'd prefer the 14" (cos its an iBook not a Powerbook - which i believe comes in a 15)

the drop in price is because they're about to bring in a new chip, but that would put them out of my price range, so i think im gonna go ahead and get one now. i've heard they're hardy computers, and what im really after is longevity.

its a bit stressful cos ive never bought a computer before and just wanna be sure im makin the right decision cos its gonne be used alot over the next few years!

 

[ICUH8N]

I know a raft of people who use them and love them. Make sure you get
A) applecare
B) enough memory (at least 512mb)
and yeah, probably new chips later on in the year, but the universal binaries will be around for years yet, especially for office etc.

 

[La La]

hey, what's applecare; is that the warranty?

 

[ICUH8N]

Yep it's the extended warranty. You should be able to either get them to throw it in for free as part of a special offer/haggling on your part, or buy it within the first year (ie before your 12-month warranty runs out)

 

[La La]

deadly,
thanks for the help lads

 

[nofriendo]

apple are said to be stopping the ibook line of product though. Releasing new version called 'MacBook' for $999 i think. The new chip is much faster and the base release of the new one is quick cheap. So unless its a major reduction waiting could be better!

 

[nofriendo]

In any case!

Good luck with the Book!

 

[Anthony]

The wan bought a 14" ibook a while ago and it's excellent. You can worry about waiting for the intel chip version all you want but if you can get a good deal on the PowerPC iBook then go for it.

 

[tripoli]

have had my g4 powerbook for just under two years now and never an ounce of trouble. i'd recommend one, no bother.

 

[Wilbert]

deadly,
thanks for the help lads

I have the 14" iBook and have been using it for two years now. All of the major brands of music stealing (music-sharing yeah right!) is available for mac. Limewire etc.

Haven't had any problems with it at all. Works a treat. Avoid the 12" one. It's good but the 14" makes a big difference.

 

[La La]

cool, thanks fo rthe help - always nice to hear that people like 'em. they've got a good reputation, and id rather get one now than wait for the new chip, which wouldnt make much difference to what ill be using it for anyway.
huzzah!

 

[Anthony]

if you're going to get one now instead of waiting you m`ay as well try for a 2nd hand one.

 

[La La]

you reckon? i dunno, im more inclined to go the whole hog - i dont think the new chip will make much difference to me - and can i not always upgrade at a later stage?

 

[nofriendo]

upgrade on the ibooks is fairly limited, you wont be able to upgrade to the new chipset. The main thing you could upgrade would be the ram and i think thats fairly limited as well. As anthony said 2nd hand would be a good idea as a lot of people will be upgrading to new machines so ya could get one cheap enough

 

[snap-apple]

you reckon? i dunno, im more inclined to go the whole hog - i dont think the new chip will make much difference to me - and can i not always upgrade at a later stage?

you won't be able to upgrade the hardware. and it's very likely that future OS and major software package releases won't be backwards compatible. some will/some won't - no guarantees. if you're defo interested in buying new and you want a degree of future-proofing i'd hold off and buy one of the new intel-chip-based models. they'll do everything the current ibook can but not become totally obsolete in a couple years.

 

[Anthony]

all depends on when you want it and what your budget is.