For those who say Apple is too expensive....

[wepopfresh]

I just picked up an ibook 500 w/ 128mb of ram, 10g hd, dvd/cdrw combo drive for 929.00$, new.
So you can dispel the myth about the price not being comparable.
How many PC laptops weigh under 4 pounds, are as durable and well built at that price?

Oh, and that was retail, not online.

 

[Bovinicus]

That may be a good deal, but compare the price of a G4 based Mac to that of a Athlon XP based PC.

 

[Daovonnaex]

The iBook isn't a bad deal, nor is the Powerbook G4 (I own a Powerbook G4). However, the iMacs and PowerMac G4s are serious ripoffs (trust me, I'd know)--I own a Powermac G4. It cost a small fortune.

 

[wepopfresh]

I agree the price of the desktops is high, but my powerbook is my desktop replacement. My ibook is now the rugged ultra-portable. I would never by a desktop G4 cause I agree, what you pay is not worth what you get.

 

[Daovonnaex]

<< I agree the price of the desktops is high, but my powerbook is my desktop replacement. My ibook is now the rugged ultra-portable. I would never by a desktop G4 cause I agree, what you pay is not worth what you get. >>

I could never replace a desktop with a laptop...you're fortunate.

 

[Eug]

<< I just picked up an ibook 500 w/ 128mb of ram, 10g hd, dvd/cdrw combo drive for 929.00$, new.
So you can dispel the myth about the price not being comparable.
How many PC laptops weigh under 4 pounds, are as durable and well built at that price?

Oh, and that was retail, not online. >>


That's not under 4 lbs. Under 5 actually. Good machine although I think my iBook 600 is still somewhat slow in OS X, even though my iBook 600 is probably in the range of 30% faster than a iBook 500. (The iBook 600 has a 100 MHz FSB, while the 500 has a 66 MHz FSB. That, coupled with the 20% faster CPU is responsible for the 30% number in benches.)

But then again, for under $1000, that's an awesome deal.

 

[wepopfresh]

I'm sorry, i meant 5 lbs, but typed 4, i was thinking 4.9.

I have no use for a faster ibook, since i do have a tibook (which handles OSX quite well.). I really wanted something a little more durable, rugged, and mobile that i could rely on, and figured it was too good of a deal to pass up. I will probably only run classic on it, since it'll just serve as a multipurpose portable. (unless OSX.2 is much better than the current with g3's.)

I had considered opening the case, and grabbing the solder and bumping the bus up to 100 and the cpu to 600-400. Just toying with the idea.
But, it's not like i'll be using it like a workhorse, thats my powerbooks job.


I did notice with the new powermacs, the 800 has dropped to 1599. Thats not too bad, even though 1299 would have been better.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

G4 are awesome but pricey. the new imacs arent bad

 

[OnfireForGod]

If I got an apple I think my brother would make fun of me behind my back.

 

[benjamit]

was that ibook the 14.1 or the older one?

i was going to get an ibook before they came out with the 14.1 but for watching movies i felt that a comparably priced dell 14.1 was better

plus for the size of the new 14.1 ibooks, almost as large as my dell, i think that apple should have integrated some removable media

the new ibooks are almost bigger than the old powerbooks

why would people want the new ibooks when they can get the old powerbooks that are still better?

 

[IgoByte]

Where did you buy it?

 

[wepopfresh]

Picked it up at Circuit City.
It's a 12.1". The 14 are just too dam ugly. They look like a todler toy. I agree, why would you spend 1795 on a 14" ibook w/ a g3 600 when you can get a g4 550 powerbook for just a couple of bucks more. Slimmer, a better screen, and a lot more powerful.

The 12.1 on the other hand, is a true portable and will be good company when i need a laptop, but don't want to have to tote my tibook, or go to a place where my tibook might get damaged. (they are very delicate, you know)

 

[Lord Evermore]

While one can argue that a 500MHz PPC is faster clock for clock than an x86, I fail to see how a 500MHz machine is a "bargain" at almost a thousand dollars, even with a dvd/cdrw drive.

As far as ruggedness, I can't say, and obviously that's a light notebook. But I can get a 1GHz Duron HP with 256MB and a DVD drive and a 20GB hard drive with a 14.1 inch display that only weighs 6.5 pounds for $949 from CompUSA.

To me, a 500MHz laptop is outdated technology, so it SHOULD be cheap. Just because it's not too far behind Apple's top of the line in speed doesn't mean it's worth as much as high-end PC laptops.

So, yes, I still say Apple is expensive for what you're getting, even if it is nice hardware.

 

[Eug]

Hmmm... Some comments.

I don't think it's a good idea to watch DVD on a laptop, unless it's on the plane. It just sucks. (Both my PC laptop and my iBook had DVD capability, with CDRW also on the iBook.)

Bigger screen is not necessarily a good thing, esp. if it doesn't have a much higher resolution. The reason I sold my PC laptop was because it had a 15" screen. Too damn heavy. To get a smaller size is definitely worth extra money if you carry it around a lot. Plus a 14" screen laptop doesn't fit well in my briefcase. 13" @ 1024x768 would be perfect for me, but 12" is fine.

P.S. The iBook has a powered Firewire port. Some Dells have Firewire, but with no power, which defeats the point for many people. I have an internal wireless card, whereas with my PC laptop it stuck out the side. Etc. Modem and Ethernet is built-in, whereas on some PC laptops it requires a PC card. OTOH, the iBook has a piddly 8 MB on its ATI Mobility 128 and not very many output resolutions for its VGA port.

You need to read the specs with a grain of salt, both on the PC side and on the Mac side.

 

[BD231]

500mhz?, thats weak dude. The G3 is fast but but not that fast, you could get one of those new Athlon 4's from compaq at 1ghz+ for 1000 also.

 

[wepopfresh]

Well LE, you can go with your 1 gig duron. Personally, I don't find my penis size to be inadequate and find that the antiguidated g3 500 will do as my portable for all the things i need to do.

Travel---Got it covered
Code---Got it covered
School---Got it covered
Light DV Work---Got it covered
Move tunes back and forth with my iPod---Yep, Got it covered.



Hmm... These apple antiques sure do work well. You can't apply what happens in the pc world to the mac world.

Oh, and that duron, you failed to tell me it had firewire and cd/rw. It does, doesn't it? If you want to compare like machines, please do, if you think that is a better deal.

If you are what you eat, LE, then you sir would be crap.

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

List off all the software you can buy At the store? not what came with the imac or ibook or whatever. Now does it make getting a ibook for $979 all that great? When you can get a notebook for about the same price and has tons of software for.

Same with a imac or g4 whatever. No software. For the power users you have no power to control your computer and upgrade it at will. You also only have one crappy operating system to choose from. where for the pc you have several. going from suns os, to unix/linux, to windows. You can even make your own if you know how! Just take the linux code and go from there.

Also whatever you can do on a mac you can do on a pc and a pc has tons of software.

Speed doesn't matter for the most part. It's what you do with it. SPeaking for power users; the imac is the worst thing ever invented for the power users as you have little control.

For the average joe, ya a imac would be better but they cost an arm and a leg. where you can do the same exact thing cheaper.

 

[wepopfresh]

One OS? I seem to have more than one in hand.

Can your PC run it's native OS, and WinXp windowed, and Windows 98 windowed, and Linux windowed? Mine can on my powerbook. the ibook can, but not as well.



Most people don't usually upgrade laptops. There's not much to do besides add memory or get a bigger hd anyway, so whats the point?

No apple software? When you buy a Windows laptop, what do you get extra? I have no problem getting what I need, and for what I do, even the lowly ibook comes with a good start.

So what can you do besides play games that I can't.

Oh yeah, and I can hook up to my overpriced MP3 player and jam to some music.

(the same overpriced mp3 player that anandtech gave very high praise too)

Ignorance is no excuse.

Obviously you've never used an apple.

I use both.

 

[XeonTux]

Can your PC run it's native OS, and WinXp windowed, and Windows 98 windowed, and Linux windowed? Mine can on my powerbook.

yup, yup, yup, and yup. All at the same time and then some. Thanx to awesome programs like VMware (haven't tried XP yet personally but its supposed to work). Plus I can run MacOS (up to 8 I think) via a Mac emulator, Amiga Workbench via an Amiga emulator, C64...



I wish it were possible to peice together a lower end G3/G4 Mac out of the Hot Deals forum like you can with x86 systems. I would love to play around with OSX but cannot afford to buy even a used Mac that is capable. No emulator that I know of can run OSX either...and my system probably wouldn't be able to emulate a G3 at a decent speed anyway.

 

[Thyme]

<< The iBook isn't a bad deal, nor is the Powerbook G4 (I own a Powerbook G4). However, the iMacs and PowerMac G4s are serious ripoffs (trust me, I'd know)--I own a Powermac G4. It cost a small fortune. >>

BUT THEY'RE SO CUTE!!!! (and that's what matters )

 

[Mingon]

So what can you do besides play games that I can't.

I can use cad software - pretty much any software i want

Oh yeah, and I can hook up to my overpriced MP3 player and jam to some music.

well I have a 20gb archos which has a longer battery life bigger hard drive etc.. and its cheaper ok it wieghs more but I can handle an extra 100oz

Obviously you've never used an apple.

Obviously you've never used a sony vaio or an amd based machine



<< I use both. >>

 

[Eug]

<< Obviously you've never used a sony vaio or an amd based machine >>

[/i] >>


Sony Vaio's laptops are extremely expensive for what you get. Not a good example.

 

[wepopfresh]

<< well I have a 20gb archos which has a longer battery life bigger hard drive etc.. and its cheaper ok it wieghs more but I can handle an extra 100oz >>



Did i mention i can use mine with target firewire to make it a bootable drive, and run an OS off of it?


and it fits in my shirt pocket when i wear a shirt that has a pocket.

Isn't the archos only USB? Hmmmm....

How about a 32mb buffer for 20 minutes of skip protection.......

 

[Eug]

Actually one feature I find really cool is related to that. If someone with another Mac wants to browse my hard drive, we can firewire together with no additional software and he can access my drive directly, even bypassing my entire OS. ie. The first laptop's drive gets mounted directly as a standard external drive on the second laptop. This may prove useful to those who support them, because if someone mucks up the OS, you can still access the drive without removing the drive. However, I just use this feature to transfer files to my friend.

Of course, this feature can be password protected if you don't want anyone browsing your drive without your permission.

 

[wepopfresh]

Actually I've never used an Intel machine.
I have used AMD all the way back to the begining of time.
I wouldn't give up either of my AMD desktops for anything, nor would I give up my apple laptops.