I’m in the process of buying a laptop and had settled on the Powerbook 17’. It’s right at the top of my budget and I recently spotted that Apple has revamped the iBook 14’ so that it includes many of the good features of the Powerbook at half the price.
What’s the difference between the two machines in (relatively) plain English (note that if I got the iBook I’d increase the memory to 1Gb)?
I’d be using it for internet, writing and multimedia (watching DVDs, playing music, storing photos etc.). I presume the iBook will do all that just fine but will the 14’ screen be too small?
Strangely enough I just looked at both these models for a non-techie friend. Of course the Apple store doesn’t show any details for the items, forcing you to ask the saleperson who’ll blow hot air up your ass.
One important detail is that the iBook is a 14 inch standard format screen. The Powerbook is a 17 inch widescreen. This is important because the 14 inch 4:3 ratio has a proportionally larger viewing area than the 17 inch 16:9 ratio. The 17 incher is still bigger, but not by as much as you’d guess. Of course, personal preference and usage are the most important things to consider between the two.
The PowerBook has a faster processor. I’m not sure what the benchmark differences are between the two, but the clock speeds are 1.42 GHz vs. 1.67 Ghz.
The PowerBook has a more poweful video processor. It also has about twice the storage space. (60 GB vs. 100 GB).
Personally I’d tell you to run as fast as you can away from Apple products, but between the two (aside from how strongly you favor the widescreen) I can see no reason to spend the extra coin on the PowerBook over the iBook.
Am I likely to notice this unless I was running them side by side? And I’d bump up the storage on the iBook to 80GB.
Also on the screen size issue. I understand what you mean by the sizes being comprable because of the ratio change. However, wouldn’t the widescreen be much better for watching films? Or should I just save my money and buy a widesceen to plug it into?
Generally, I’d say that you won’t notice the difference side by side. If you were a power user who spent alot of time rendering graphics or something, you might notice.
I’m a PC user, and in the Intel universe that slight difference in processor speeds would be negligible. An Apple guru might say differently, but even so, unless you push the machine to the limit you won’t see the difference.
Also, I wouldn’t go so far as to say the the 14" and the 17" widescreen are comparable. A 17" widescreen is quite a bit smaller than a 17" standard, but that 14" is still notably smaller than the 17" widesceen.
One thing I wasn’t clear on between the two types of machines is if you can plug the iBook into a auxilliary screen or not. It specifically says that you can for the PowerBook line, but that may not necissarily mean you can’t for the iBook. Personally, if you can’t attach the iBook to a docking station and/or a standalone monitor, that’s a indictment against Apple on the whole.
I’m sure someone with more first-hand experience can clarify that point.
Of course, the big question that hasn;t been asked and answered is what do you need to use the laptop for?
Whoops, brainfart. I missed that line in the OP. Based on your needs I can see no reason why you’d need the extra processing power.
As I see it, it all comes down to choosing a screen. If you honestly intend to watch movies on the machine regularly, then it might be worth the extra $1000 for the bigger, better screen. I’d be annoyed that Apple doesn’t offer a better screen on the iBook level product, but these are the breaks when you choose Apple.
Also, remember the flipside to the bigger screen…a bigger laptop. If you intend to travel with it alot, that extra 3 inches or so might be a issue.
As usual, it probably won’t matter for me saying this, but have you compared it to a PC? You get SO much more for your money.
Something far more important than the similar viewing area of the two screens is the fact that the iBooks native and highest resolution is only 1024 x 768 whereas the 17" PB is 1440 x 900. I’ve gotten so used to resolutions above 1024 that I now find it all but impossible to go back to it… However, if this and the other ‘minor’ differences - slightly slower CPU, lesser graphics card, no PCI slot, no video out, plastic styling - the iBook is the pound for pound best buy.
I’m moving abroad and want it as a one-stop-shop for all my needs. I.e. I want to store all my music on it and use it to play it (I’ll get external speakers), I want to watch DVDs on it, I want to store photos on it (but will not be manipulating them much), I want to surf the internet wirelessly, and I need to word proccess etc. I’m definitely not a power user but I do want something that is fast and reliable (oh, and don’t try to persuade me out of buying Apple!).
That’s what I assumed. I felt obligatd to point it out. I’ll never understand you people.
If you really think you’ll be foregoing a actually DVD player-TV combo in lieu of this puppy, then maybe that bigger screen is worth the money. Honestly, it’s a pretty expensive upgrade, and kills you on the cost-benefit side of the discussion. Of course, if you can afford it and think it’ll make you happier have at it.
Like I said above, based on what you’ve said so far it’s almost completely a display decision. Bigger laptop, more screen, better resolution/video card, much bigger pricetag vs. smallish screen, compact package, good value.
For perspective, you could probably buy a flat screen TV and DVD player for the difference in cost between the two choices. Thats kinda absurd.
No, it’s something that’s dependant on the video card. Not sure how upgradable that type of thing is in an Apple laptop.
PCI slot allows you to attach various add-ons. In the old days this was where you plugged the modem/ethernet/WiFi card into when they weren’t built in. Not sure what you’d use today that wouldn’t just be a USB.
The video out is what allows you to plug it into an external monitor.
One other detail that you should be aware of, if you’re not already, is that Apple is switching to Intel processors sometime in the next 2 years. Assuming that happens on schedule, down the road you could be in a situation where new software will not run on your current PowerPC platform. Software written for Intel chip Macs will not function on PowerPC Macs.
At that point (unless software manufacturers develop two versions side-by-side) your laptop will accelerate to the point where it’s obsolete.
I wouldn’t say that in certainty. It’s something you’ll need to ask a Apple rep or Apple savvy poster here to clarify.
The video out makes it very easy to do. Not having one might not mean it’s impossible. Most PC laptops don’t have video outs, but they do allow for docking, and the docking stations have a video out. Macs typically aren’t this flexible.
You’ll have to wait for someone more qualified than me to say with certainty if you can or can’t.
Thanks, Omniscient, I had heard about that. Frankly I doubt I’ll be buying any extra software and I’ll hopefully buy a new computer in 4-5 years so I don’t think it matters.
On the video out thing I found this on the Apple website:
Yes, you can indeed simply hook up an external VGA-screen to the iBook. The iBook has a mini-video output, and comes with the aforementioned adapter to VGA. Just plug the adapter in, then hook it up to the VGA-screen, and the iBook will recognize it.
I use mine in that way with a separate LCD-screen, works perfectly.
Fair enough, but if the press releases are accurate they’ll be making the conversion in the middle of 2007. That means that software developers, within 12 months, might already be stopping development on programs for your machine (development on things like this can take years). So those hopes for 4-5 years might be irrational. I’d guess that you machine will be out of date within 3 years as a result. That might be good enough, and perhaps there’ll be enough parallelism to stretch it to 4 years. So long as you’re aware.
As for the video thing, that’s good, but note that Apple displays don’t have VGA inputs AFAIK. They use DVI, which is the standard on the PowerBook and Power Macs. The VGA should at least allow you to use a alternate brand, though it won’t be a high performance display.
BTW, did a quick look and the iBook’s video card is not upgradable. You’re stuck with the resolution it’s set at, this could be a nuisance if you were thinking about attaching a much larger monitor externally.
It’s a 15’’ LCD monitor (no-name brand, Samsung clone) at 1024x768. That’s the video card’s max resolution, I think. It works fine with a larger monitor as well, of course.
I find it fine for watching movies; the image of a DVD is very clear. You could also hook it up to a TV if you buy an adapter for that (you have to buy an adapter to s-video or so, and an adapter to connect s-video to SCART or the standard antenna plug). I have done this, and that works fine too. Of course a TV resolution is normally much lower than a monitor.
The monitor is connected in ‘mirrored’ mode: it mirrors your iBook screen. There is a software hack (screen spanning doctor, you can google for it) which allows to uncouple the external screen (like the PowerBook can do standard). The hack may damage older iBooks, so no guarantees, but I believe the current ones will work fine with it. I’ve used it without any problems on my iBook (make mid-2004). It may be possible that this hack also allows for higher resolutions, I don’t recall.
Very interesting. It seems the chaps at Apple realised the only major difference between iBooks and Powerbooks was the screensize and they disabled the iBook’s ability to support different resolutions and screen spanning. The patch seems to give these back to you so that I could connect a 20’ monitor and run it at higher res.
I think I’m going to go with the iBook as I can’t justify an extra £900 just for the lovely brushed metal. I’ll use the money saved to buy an external monitor if I think I need one, plus some other bits and pieces (an airport hub, external speakers, an iPod Nano!)
Thanks for the help guys. If you ever want to come to rural Greece to check that it’s all working, feel free!