More Mac Musings

[major_clanger]

Still thinking about getting a Mac, but working out exactly what I want is proving a bit harder than I at first thought.

Having at first said that I didn't want a portable so that I could leave my computer behind and spend my weekends with bugshaw, bugshaw then pointed out that this would just mean that I would end up using hers instead. Also, various friends with laptops of both PC and Mac varieties extolled their convenience, so I started to think about a 15" PowerBook. Awfully expensive though, and then Apple upgraded the iBook to a G4. But the iBook only has a 1024x768 screen in both 12" and 14" versions, so I might as well go for the more compact version. Expect that neither iBook can drive an external display at better than 1024x768, and I really had envisaged using a portable with a large screen whilst it was parked on my desk. Now, the 12" PowerBook can run a high-res external screen - but do I really want to pay some £400 extra just to get that capability? And if I do, another £300 will get me a 15" PowerBook with a screen probably good enough for desktop use of itself... So, round and round Apple's pricing policy I go. And, to make matters still more fun, the 20" iMac has just come out, just in case I do want to go for a desktop machine after all.

Oh well, if I vacillate for long enough, Apple will just come out with something new instead. Intriguing rumours now surface that the Cube may be making a comeback...

MC

Comments

Strong recommendation

[autopope.livejournal.com]

Do not buy a 15" powerbook. I speak as a 15" Powerbook owner (pissed-off). They're lovely desktop machines, but they're fragile; mine has a crack in the case after a 12" drop onto carpet, and they're notorious for hinge problems. Bluntly, they're assembled to such tight tolerances that they're too fragile to use as a portable unless you're very careful. And the new 15" Aluminium ones have a known problem with the display developing weird white discoloured spots -- Apple have withdrawn them temporarily.

My previous Mac was a G3 iBook. The 1024x768 display was not a problem; Mac OS/X is designed to be more economical with screen real estate than X11 or Windows. I'm now eagerly awaiting delivery of my next Mac -- a new 12" G4 iBook. The G4 iBook is a sweet spot on the price curve -- for 850 quid you get a lot of machine, and to get a 25% clock speed improvement and the ability to burn DVD-R's you need to jump to the 12" Powerbook, which is 60% more expensive. The iBooks have an acrylic case which is pretty tough (although easily scratched -- I'm covering mine in self-adhesive transparent film for protection), a brilliant battery life, and they just rock. Order direct from Apple and you can tweak the spec; mine is coming with a 60Gb drive (instead of the usual 30Gb one), fully maxed out on memory (and the new iBook uses DDR SDRAM and a faster bus), and 802.11g. Fully maxed out, the 12" iBook G4 costs about 1100 quid (and by trading off some of the extras I ordered you could afford a spare battery).

Incidentally, the 12" Powerbook can run an external display with the desktop spread across both the internal and external monitors. The 12" iBook is supposed to only be able to use the external display as a repeater for its own display. But it's got 32Mb of VRAM and a Radeon 9200 video chipset ... and there's a firmware patch that lets you tell the video chipset to drive the internal and external monitors separately, just like the Powerbook.

Ahem

[autopope.livejournal.com]

Screen Spanning doctor for iBooks.

Re: Strong recommendation

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

I've certainly seen colleagues with case/hinge damage on the 15" old-style powerbooks, though mine is unscathed. Maybe I'm just careful! However, the new 15" has a different hinge design, identical to the other powerbooks and the iBooks, now that all the ports have been moved to the side.

Havinjg said that, I think you have a point about the iBook being a good place on the price curve at the moment.

An alternative major_clanger might want to consider is using an iMac as a 'transportable'. If he's not planning to use a laptop as a laptop (though that is pretty useful, I'm discovering with my PowerBook), and just wishes to ship the machine from place to place, then the iMac is easily unplugable as a single unit and transportable in a car.

I would advise, though, that it might be an idea to wait until January and the next MacWorld, since this is traditionally when major announcements are made eg. the flatscreen iMac. If there's to be a new cube, my guess is that it'll be announced then.

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

As a variant opinon. Jordin used his TiBook quite happily for nearly 2 years. He has recently passed it on to me and bought himself another 15" PowerBook. He travels a lot and this baby has a lot of miles on it. But the only things which needed replacing were the battery and the closing catch.

MKK

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

I have a 15" iMac (the first anglepoise one), and a 15" Powerbook, and I adore them both. We don't let the kids use the Powerbook, though, for the reasons Charles mentions. If you're going to be at all rough with it, then the iBook's probably a better bet.

I prefer to use the iMac at home; it's incredibly convenient to always have the monitor in exactly the right comfortable place. I *would* like a larger screen, and we had a notion to buy a better, external screen for the Powerbook.

Last time I looked at this, the option of buying an iBook *and* an iMac worked well for some sorts of setups.

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

Ta for all the helpful comments and feedback, espacially to autopope for the pointer to the iBook display hack, which would seem to remove my potentially key issue with buying an iBook. I've also been costing up the 12" model with an upgrade package and came to much the same amount (well, £1300 or so including AppleCare, which I am assured is an extremely good investment). Considerably less than a PowerBook...

MC