The *book buyer's dillema...

AdmiralAK · #1 December 23rd, 2003, 12:39 PM

Aaaaalll right...
Here's the situation:
G3 blue and white at home working great, although I find the need to be mobile more and more, and seeing how my G3 is a tower and cant move this is a problem. I still want to keep my G3 but I am looking for a new primary device.

my options?
iBook G4
Pros:G4 processor, nice look, enough memory for now, bluetooth (

)
Cons: Memory max out at 640MB, no superdrive, no backlit keyboard

powerbook G4
Pros: backlit keyboard, higher resolution, PCMCIA slot, memory up to 2GB, superdrive
Cons: No bluetooth, price (ouch)

I really need bluetooth, but I do not want to be limited to a no DVD-R capability and dont want to be limited to 640MB of memory (my G3 has 702 in it now). Do you think I should wait and see what comes down the road in the near future (PB with bluetooth?) or just say to hell with it and buy a PB and a BT adapter (pain in the derriere) ?

bobw · #2 December 23rd, 2003, 12:57 PM

Cons: No Bluetooth

Bluetooth is built-in to every new PowerBook G4 model.

**Cheryl** · #3 December 23rd, 2003, 01:13 PM

While the iBook is made with the clutz in mind, the PowerBook is probably more of what you need.

RacerX · #4 December 23rd, 2003, 01:14 PM

Many of my clients have been very happy with the 14" iBooks (even the G3 versions). I would point out that Apple's maximum memory for their systems is based on what is currently available in the way of memory. Apple said that my PowerBook Wallstreet would have a maximum memory of 192 MB... I have 512 MB installed on mine right now.

It'll always be a combination of budget and needs when you pick a system. For me (and my budget) my old Wallstreet was great. I put money into it as I had it and I haven't felt any burning need to buy a new system (the G4/500 upgrade eliminated our plans for an eMac by filling almost all of our needs... except in the area of games, but we don't make room in our budget to spend that kind of money on games).

The current 15" PowerBooks seems to be the best for usability and portability (they were having display problems in the early versions), while the 14" iBooks seem like they would be the best value verses there usability and portability.

**Giaguara** · #5 December 23rd, 2003, 01:30 PM

Powerbook may probably keep you happier longer.

all g4 pbs have bluetooth .. and ram - you may want to later upgrade your ram.

I'm sure the g4 iBook satisfies many many users .. but PB sound what you really want. If you'll use the mac for lets say 2 years longer you'd use the iBook, the price/year will be lower ..

edX · #6 December 23rd, 2003, 01:35 PM

Hi Tolya!! i hope all is well with you. i just wanted to remind you that MWSF is only 2 weeks away and any changes to the offerings will come out then. seems worth waiting to see if anything happens. it almost always does, even if it's something minor.

AdmiralAK · #7 December 23rd, 2003, 01:39 PM

GADZOOKS!!!!!!
they DO have built in bluetooth?! WOW man I am almost sold! (I need to look at more literature).

The other thing that I am looking at is screen size. 12" or 14/15" ? I am using a G3 iBook here at work which I can take home overnight if work needs to be done and I like the form factor of it. My non-paying-friends and relatives (i.e. not the ones making the purchase) throw in their 2 cents about 12" being too small. What do you guys think?

Gaming is also part of my thinking, given that I cannot play any games on my G3 since I am either not home (@ significant other's house) or the games that I have interest in require at least an 800Mhz processor (G3 at home = 350Mhz) - this isn't my main concern though. Now that I know that BT is on the powerbook I would be quite happy qith a 12" one

alllright, now, memory, whatever model I buy, I do not want to buy apple memory since it is usually more expensive than going out to buy some other reputable memory online. I have never owned a laptop. On a desktop I can open-em up, perform my surgery and get done in no time. In laptops how easy is it to perform such operations on my own?

last but not least...now I can install all those OSes on a powerbook and VPC and mock my PC using friends hehehehe ;-)

** amendments **
I always try to buy a little higher up that my needs because I have noticed that I grow in my computing needs. When I got my first perfoma I bought a bottom feeder. Just a 2X CD-ROM and a floppy, 250MB HD, 68040 with no FPU. 2 years into using it it was already kinda getting outdated (gen 1 PPCs were out at the time I bought my performa). By the time 4 years had passed I had bought an external zip drive to try to have more space, I had programs that were slow, things I could not install due to space concern and so on

When I bought my G4 almost 5 years ago I bought a step up, granted I bought a CD-RW (which has SCSI probs that I need to fix) and added some memory, but other than that it still chugs along. I never thought I would be using DVDs as I do (man those have kicked in, cant even find VHS tapes any more, lol) - got quite a few USB peripherals, really taking advantage of the built in ethernet (which I did not have on my performa), it's been great

on the laptop I would like to get one with a superdrive to try my hand at some movie making ;-), admitedly though this is not my number one priority.

AdmiralAK · #8 December 23rd, 2003, 01:42 PM

Ed!
My old friend! long time no see! gotta chat sometime to catch up on things

Macworld was also on my mind that is why any purchase that I will make is probably going to be in the summer - I think that doing some research into things prior to buying is a good thing ;-) six months outta do the trick

My old mac G3 is probably going to become a fileserv for my laptop and my girlfriend's PC. a sun machine might be coming into the family in january (probably a webserv here at work that I will own.)