Which of the first two iBooks should I buy? I don’t need anything larger than a 12-inch screen, so No. 3 is out. But for the life of me, I don’t know the difference between No. 1 and No. 2.
Remember, please, when explaining this: I am a complete idiot. Pretend you are explaining this to a not particularly sharp cavewoman. Basically, I need it for Internet acess, for researching and writing my books. I will have to save onto a floppy or a CD or whatever the hell you save onto nowadays, and send it to my publisher.
Also, how does one go about recharging batteries? With my old, Edison Wind-Up PC, I just never unplugged it and the batteries died. I never intend to take the computer out of my house, but it would be nice to take it from room to room w/o its cord. I can’t buy anything till after the New Year: I have a lot of bills coming in, and maybe they’ll have post-holiday sales?
I think the key is that drive supplied with number one cannot be used to write to CD which I suspect is likely to become more and more the main method for physically transporting documents, without recourse to a hard copy, allowing for further manipulation on another machine. You could always buy the cheap one and email documents.
The second has a CD drive which can read and write, ie place new info on a blank CD. Cool:)
I’m a buffoon, so take with a large continent made of salt.
I’m not a Mac person but I am somewhat familiar with notebook ergonomics. I would suggest you spend the money for the 14" screen with the DVD/CDRW drive. The additional screen real estate will make a big difference in usuability in the long run (especially for net researching) and the ability to access research materials, which are being put on DVD ever more often now (vs CD) . The CDRW will allow you to easily backup your research at one pass and send it to your editor or backup the text of your entire book/article on one CD.
I am assuming the data you generate from your reseach is far more valuable than the machine. If this machine is key to how efficiently you can research, send the few hundred extra for the more complete $ 1,494. machine package (after rebates).
You should typically get a 1.5-4 hours off a freshly charged battery depending on what you are using the machine for. The notebook will typically give you several levels or warning (sounds etc) that the battery is reaching exhaustion levels before shutting down entirely to allow you to plug it back in or shut it down.
As a side note if you have a cable modem you might also want to get get a wireless notebook PC card and wireless router/switch (about $ 170 together) that will allow wireless access to the net, your other PCs and the printer without having to plug and unplug all the time. Going wireless is inexpensive, convenient and a blast, and you can surf anywhere in the house or apartment you please - even on the porch or in the living room.
I’ll agree that a 14" screen is much preferable, and far easier on the eyes, especially when one is using a computer for any length of time. I wouldn’t use anything less, myself. Beyond that, what everyone else said. (In short, #3 is best, #2 if you’re dead set against the 14" screen.)
Before you buy anything, visit www.dealmac.com. They keep an eye out for the best current deals on hardware and software. For instance, right now the Apple store has some refurb iBooks for some fairly nice prices.
As for batteries, just leave the iBook plugged in when using normally and it will charge. All laptop batteries will eventually stop holding a charge (or lose the ability to hold them very long) after a couple of years of use. But up until then, the iBook is better than most – it’s designed to be used for long periods on the battery (they claim up to six hours which is probably a tad optimistic).
Thanks, all—I bookmarked those two other sites for buys. Hmmm . . . I guess since I’m a writer, I really should cough up the cash for the 14-inch screen jobbie that backs up onto CDs and DVDs . . . I always make three copies of eeerything, and bring one to the office.
I am planning to get cable Internet access (about $40/month!), as everyone I know with phone-line access says “don’t do it, it’s not worth the savings!” I have no idea what “going wireless” means (backwards cavewoman, remember?).
As far as the battery: I essentially never unplug the thing from the wall, as I work at my desk. So, should I unplug it from time to time just to keep the battery alive? How often and for how long?
IMHO you don’t need an iBook with a superdrive (which can write to DVDs). Burning to CDs (and reading DVDs) should suit you fine…and be much more affordable. Get the combodrive iBook I suggested in either the 12 or 14 inch flavors.
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Without being wireless, you will have a cable (looks like a phone line) that always has to be connected to your Internet cable “modem” whenever you want to be online. If you’re “wireless”, you could bring the iBook in to the loo and post to the SDMB while sitting on the throne.
If that mobility is important to you…then you need an Airport card to go inside your iBook, and an Airport base station that will connect to the cable modem. See here for prices …card=$99 and station $299
DVDs hold a lot more info than CDs…but for text (which is what you will be copying, right?) It’s hard to imagine that you need that much space. (And CDs are dirt cheap …spindle of 50 is 20 bucks or so, DVDs are more like 4-5 bucks a pop) . Most people who use DVDs (like me) use them for creating digital video productions.
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I really don’t think so…maybe somebody else out there with more experience can provide more info…but I don’t think you need to drain the batteries.
As a long time Mac user, I’ve got some experience with the older “clamshell” iBooks. Back when the first company was new and shiny, we bought my business partner a Blueberry iBook. He carried that for about a year and a half with no problems, getting the above mentioned 1.5 to 4 hours from the battery depending on use. That battery is still kicking as a backup almost 4 years later. 14 months after we got the Blueberry, we replaced it with a Graphite Special Edition (the first iBook with DVD). It got similar battery life. That battery, however, pretty much went belly up after 2 years after getting decreasing life. Replacement batteries were about $130.
As for SuperDrive or Combo drive, I’ve got a SuperDrive in my desktop machine. I’ve never burned a DVD, though I have burned a number of CDs. I think our Art Director has burned one in the year its been in the office, and that mainly for giggles.
Knew I forgot something. I don’t think so. I’ve been using my PowerBook mainly plugged in for about 4 months now, and haven’t noticed any decline in battery life, though admittedly it has been a fairly short period of time. You might want to wander over to the iBook Discussion Boards on Apple’s website. I think battery life is a fairly frequent topic.
