What about the ibook

[limike28]

Seems to me that regardless of these issues the iBook has been very successful. The G3 iBook I bought was my first mac and I loved it. I did outgrow it as I became more accustomed to the mac platform, but my friend is still using that machine with no problems.

I would hope that apple takes note of the logic board issues, and that a new intel based ibook squashes those issues.

 

[fryke]

Apple clearly had a lot of problems with the iBooks - but they also had a lot of success with them. Since their replacements will have completely new motherboards, anyway, we can safely assume that their problems won't be the _same_ at least.

 

[Jason]

My iBook gave me no problems at all, in fact it worked perfectly up until this last week when I sold it (I miss it already), I will probably be stupid with my money and buy a new one when it comes out... doh!

Reasons I like the iBook:

-It's price to quality ratio, high quality, cheap price
-Small and light, but still durable
-Generally good on battery life

I used my iBook, for internet browsing, typing notes in classes, as a portable media player/storage device, etc... Nothing heavy, I never needed a lot of power for anything I did, and I like my laptops to be portable and last a decent amount of time on batteries... Not all of us are looking for desktop replacements

 

[Yang shushu]

We all view things from different angles don't we? I am still using my G3 iBook from 2001 every day and it rarely gives me any trouble. I could do with some more speed, but it works fine to watch a dvd on the road, write academic work on, surf wirelessly, listen to music, burn various discs, play games, make webpages etc etc. I wouldn't hesitate to by a new one, even with the Intel ones around the corner. I carried mine to the Chinese countryside innumerable times, to small Indian villages, all around Asia and Europe, dropped it to the floor a couple of times, etc etc - and it still works fine. It was never repaired (only by me...) and it still looks shining white and beautiful.

FF

 

[Reality]

The iBook G3 my mother purchased was a complete lemon. It was repaired a good 9 times under the single year she owned it. When it wasn't at the Apple shop the screen was turning purple, ghost-ing up, ect. Finally I called Apple about it when it died its 10th time. I was on the phone with them for about 2 hours and they agreed to a exchange. She got a brand new iBook G4 and the difference between the G3 and G4 was noticed right away. So far the G4 has had no problems so I look forward to seeing if the Intel iBooks can be ever better.

 

[lujhu]

I love my G4 ibook. My wife and I live in Taiwan and it is our connection to home (Canada). We have had no problems with it. We surf the web, video conference home, store/edit/print pictures, work, write grad school applications, watch DVD's, play games and listen to music. It is in use 14+ hours a day. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. They are the computer of choice among my friends and everyone loves them.

I must admit, that getting an extra gig of RAM made it run a lot quicker!
Without a doubt, the ibook is a durable and versatile machine.

 

[Rhisiart]

I carried mine to the Chinese countryside innumerable times, to small Indian villages, all around Asia and Europe, dropped it to the floor a couple of times, etc etc - and it still works fine.

Looks like I am being out gunned here and perhaps rightly so. I suspect that my iBook may have come off the production line late on a Friday afternoon. However, like Yang Shushu, mine did cope with two weeks of lectures in 45 C in India (the case was warped before I went).

 

[ApeintheShell]

I think they need to quit keeping people in the dark about this. You know they have some plans laid out for the next ibook or equivalent, and whether it is intel or not will affect a lot of peoples purchase plans. I would be pretty upset with apple if I bought a powerbook in november and then all the sudden they announce this huge change that maybe I wouldve really liked to wait for. At the very least let us know if they are planning an intel switch for all their laptops. Damnit.

Apple let the whole world know they were switching to Intel processors last year.Suprisingly, this was more important news than the war in Iraq and other big headlines at the time. All the big rumor sites and news sites reported Apple would release new computers with intel processors beginning in January 2006. Where were you Johnny Blaze?

 

[fryke]

Plus, they've now said that EVERY Mac product line will switch to intel over the course of 2006, so we know the timeplan. Although not whether the PowerMac will move to intel in March, June, September or December, for example.

However: Here's where the rumour sites and this forum come in. We knew beforehand that the computers which would go "Yonah" (i.e. intel core duo) were basically ready for MWSF. Several rumours talked about iBooks and PowerBooks going intel in the first quarter of 2006 already, for example. Just have to keep yourself informed, as I don't think Apple will change the surprise-strategy, since that gives them a lot of good press. (Worked for them ever since the original iMac more than five years ago!)

 

[Johnny Blaze]

I consider myself moderately knowledgable on the subject of mac computers, but I really didn't hear anything about the switch over until december. I also looked around on the apple website for a long time for information about a new ibook or something comparable with intel processor, and they mention nothing of it. You would figure they would a lot more info on their website about the switchover, but I guess you have to rely on other third party sites to learn the most about it.

 

[gwynarion]

I consider myself moderately knowledgable on the subject of mac computers, but I really didn't hear anything about the switch over until december.

I'm not sure how you can put these two statements together. Apple made a very large and very public announcement back in June, saying that they were going to migrate the entire platform over to Intel processors. From that time until pretty much this exact moment the IT and business press has been all over this news, speculating about it endlessly. The same goes triply for rumor sites like the one we're on right now. I can't think of a tech announcement in recent years which has received more coverage.

I also looked around on the apple website for a long time for information about a new ibook or something comparable with intel processor, and they mention nothing of it.

Well that's pretty much par for the course. Apple doesn't make announcements about specific product releases that far ahead of time. They've been keeping mum on this particular subject because they don't want to impact on the sales of their current sales. About the furthest in advance that they will usually announce something is about a month (like they did with the MacBook Pro).

 

[Johnny Blaze]

Oh yea gwynarion, how bout we fight about it ***. I bench 250 and have ***.

(EDIT BY FRYKE: KEEP IT DOWN, BOYS. THERE'S NO REASON TO BREAK BOARD RULES HERE...)

 

[fryke]

I understand you're angry, Johnny Blaze, but the info was out there. There really _was_ a lot of talk about it. You're right that Apple did not talk about it that much on their main website, and intel iBooks won't be on their website until you can actually buy them. They still want to sell their _current_ products, of course. Such a transition is always difficult.

 

[Jason]

Wow? Such animosity over Apple info?

The internet = drama.

 

[Lt Major Burns]

Was that fisticuffs on a geek site? brilliant.

 

[Rhisiart]

I consider myself moderately knowledgable on the subject of mac computers, but I really didn't hear anything about the switch over until december. I also looked around on the apple website for a long time for information about a new ibook or something comparable with intel processor, and they mention nothing of it. You would figure they would a lot more info on their website about the switchover, but I guess you have to rely on other third party sites to learn the most about it.

Yes, third-party sites are the way to go alright.

Does anyone have suggestions as to how best keep ahead of the game via third-party sources (other than this site obviously)?

 

[fryke]

macrumors.com has their hardware guide, but obviously sometimes Apple likes surprises even more and releases updates to hardware that according to the guide is "buy now - middle of life cycle", so you'll still have to read one or the other rumour site.

I guess there are a couple of guidelines that will help you when thinking about buying a particular (available) Mac model:

1.) When was it released in its current form? (macrumors.com's hardware guide is good for that.)
2.) Is an official Apple event near? (MWSF is early January, WWDC is in June, AppleExpo is in September usually. So if one of these dates are near, it's _never_ a good time to buy stuff, because a new version might be just around the corner.)
3.) Read rumour sites. You don't have to read them on a daily basis – and quite certainly not everything they say will come true. But if you want to buy an iBook and more than one rumour site says there's one around the corner, it might be worth looking more closely at all three points in this list again!

Plus, although you've already mentioned it and we _are_ here already: macosx.com. Create a thread like "Should I buy that iBook G4 12" right now?" along with information about _why_ you want to or have to buy it now. You'll certainly get a lot of info that _won't_ really help you in your decision (like: If you're into gaming, an iBook is not the solution, although for you it may be clear already and you aren't into playing computer games, anyway...), but you'll also get valuable opinions of people who have more or less experience in buying hardware at all the wrong and right times.

However: If you buy, then Apple updates and you do all these steps _afterwards_ (i.e. suddenly you find out that it all was so obvious etc.), you'll certainly get a few calls of pity but a lot of answers that are not _so_ nice...

 

[nixgeek]

How ridiculous this all is. Does it really matter at this early stage? Heck, I bought an iMac G5 in September and my sister got a G4 iBook for Christmas. And I KNEW that the Intel Macs were coming. Consider this: many people have said over and over that not all apps have been made Intel-friendly, so why get miffed about having a non-Intel Mac? Universal binaries will be around for a while for us PPC users to make the most of our Mac gear. Sure, I was a bit miffed about a month later when the iMac G5 Rev C came out to replace my Rev B bought in September, but so what? I'm happy with my purchase and it performs like a champ for me. Computers will always be one-upped at some point, so why gripe about it? Be happy with what you have until you can't use it anymore!

Being knowledgeable in a particular topic doesn't mean you know it all. This is why I have tons of bookmarks that I check up on because not everyone reports on the same topic at the same time, if at all. And even still, I don't claim to be that knowledgable in certain topics. As for the Intel switch, the news about it was all over the press, and not just the tech press. Whenever anything has the name "Intel" on it, it's bound to make mainstream news. Even the PC sites were reporting the news when it was announced.

No offense, but comments like that give people impressions that might not be justified, but are tough to shake off. Belligerence isn't going to help things at all. Be able to take the constructive criticism or risk alienating yourself from people who truly want to help. Not saying that this will happen, but who knows. Besides, we're all pretty civil here, so please let's keep it this way.

 

[Rhisiart]

No offense, but comments like that give people impressions that might not be justified, but are tough to shake off. Belligerence isn't going to help things at all. Be able to take the constructive criticism or risk alienating yourself from people who truly want to help. Not saying that this will happen, but who knows. Besides, we're all pretty civil here, so please let's keep it this way.

If it was anyone else, I could take offence, but I always take what you say with grace.

 

[nixgeek]

If it was anyone else, I could take offence, but I always take what you say with grace.

Thank you. I welcome constructive criticism as I am SO far from perfect, and I myself have been corrected numerous times and acknowledged the expertise of those who have corrected me. I learn from them and give them the props they deserve. I'm sure that's all anyone here would want. Not to much to ask for IMO.