Whooopieeee - a glorified iBook

[pbmac]

Whoooppppiiiii!!! The PowerBook 12" is a glorified iBook!!!! Whooooooppppiiiii!!!!!! So what will the next iBook be? a slow model of the powerbook with no other differences (hmm... I guess without a PCMCIA slot)...

For me,... the iBook is by far a better deal - same casing (almost) as the PowerBook 12" with just a bit less power - on the raod that makes almost no difference though...

what do you think?

- pbmac

[dlloyd]

More battery life on the iBook! Yes!
I don't think I would trade my 14" iBook for a Powerbook, even if I could. It has real battery life of about about 4.5 hours. Show me another latop of ANY kind which can match that!

[kenny]

What do I think?

I think the G3 is dead.
I think it's high time for another great small PowerBook (I had a 2400 @ one time - very cool).
I think that the iBook will disappear within 2 years.
I think that's not a bad thing.
I think that the spot in the product matrix that the iBook holds will be filled with the 12" alBook.
I think that's a good thing.
I think that the 14" ibook is an albatross.
I think I might upset some people with that statment..
I think that I want one (and a 17" too )
I think built-in Bluetooth is cool (I have a T68i)
I think one should buy whatever fits their needs best.
I think I'm done.




BTW, the spec sheet claims up to 5 hours on a charge. Even if it's 4, having a G4 along instead of a G3 makes up for it. Or at least I think so.

So, yeah, it's a glorified iBook. But, so what? It's a big improvement. And the price will come down over time. I don't remember this kind of griping when the new iMacs were introduced.

[contoursvt]

Fujitsu Lifebook (P1100 model I think) has about 5 hours on the standard battery or 10 hours on a high capacity one. Its not a mac but batterylife is great.

http://www.fujitsu.ca/products/noteb...ies/p1110.html

[fryke]

If you compare the 12" iBook next to the 12" PowerBook, the iBook's a fat old lady.

[Cat]

If you compare the 12" iBook next to the 12" PowerBook, the iBook's a fat old lady.

*grin*

There is definitely an advantage to the 12" over the iBook: the G4. Even if you're not a heavy photoshop user, OS X itself should run better on a G4 because it can make use of AltiVec for all the nice graphicalities of the GUI.

Moreover you don't need to hack it to use an extra monitor...

[fryke]

i've noticed, though, that the graphics card of the iBook 800 is quite capable of quartz extreme, so interface speed is quite okay. the LAST argument about the extra monitor is true, though. my external TFT tells me to rather buy a 12" PowerBook than an iBook, as I don't like firmware hacks so much.

[kendall]

The 12" PB has a very nice feel. Its fit and finish is pretty nice as well. It doesn't look near as elegant as the 15" though. Especially when open. The keyboard and inside plastic?? leave more to be desired.

It's hard to justify spending $500 more when comparing a 12" PB to a 12" iBook. There is in no way $500 more there. Sure its smaller when you look at zoomed-in hi-res pics online but at a glance side by side in person, its not really noticeable. Kind of like the 22" and 23" Cinema Displays side by side.

The updates are great but why couldn't they have used a different screen? 12.1" at 1024x768 is a hard sale next to 15.2" at 1280x854.

Its a no brainer though spending another $500 for the 15". Its a near perfect mix of size and portability. Hopefully it will be updated soon and keep the same price margin.

As for being a glorified iBook, its hard to say. Its smaller but shares almost an identical design with the iBook. The insides are backwards though because its warm on the opposite side. Its definitely more than a iBook but I don't know about $500 more.