How good / bad are the current Apple iBooks?

[mshan]

Also, is upgrading the standard 256 MB of memory easy and doesn't void your warranty if you do it yourself?

 

[Longkid]

they definitly need more memory. i would throw another 512 in. remove keyboard, take out wifi card and holder (4 really really small skrews, eyeglass size) and drop it in. 10 minute job max, just make sure you get a really small skrew driver.

edit: also a good idea to remove battery first

 

[mshan]

So, there is a second memory slot to add an additional 512 MB memory?

And it won't void the Apple warranty?

Also, how's battery life on the 12 inch screen vs. the 14 inch one?

 

[Longkid]

the primary memory slot is fixed, cant access it. i was talking about the secondary slot which I think will handle up to 1GB stick if need be. when you add the ram you dont break any seals, remove stickers, etc so i dont think you void warrenty. cant speak on the battery life, no 14" to compare to.

 

[Eug]

The current iBooks are very good. I'd recommend a 12", purely for portability, and add a 512 MB stick from Crucial. (Or if you're short on cash, a 256 MB stick is OK.) Adding memory is easy, and does not void the warranty.

 

[n0cmonkey]

I'd love to get one to compliment my Powerbook...

 

[halfadder]

The current iBooks are probably the best that Apple has ever made in terms of build quality durability (aside from maybe the original boat anchor Macintosh Portable). Adding memory is really easy; it's swapping out the hard drive that's a royal pain.

256mb is soldered to the motherboard and there's one SO-DIMM slot for adding more. You can add up to a 1gb stick for 1280mb memory total, which is probably plenty for a machine that has just a 1.2ghz G4 and 32mb MR9200 graphics.

 

[hopejr]

BTW, it says how to add the memory in the user's manual, so you're supposed to do it yourself if not BTO.
iBooks are excellent machines.

 

[calyco]

Have to agree, I have a Thinkpad myself but my sister just picked up the 12" and I was checking it out comparing the two. Build is pretty solid and text/images on screen is very clear, something that suprised me since Ive never seen a nice 12" screen before (ie. Sony Vaio R505). Great for the price imo.

 

[Eug]

What's wrong with the Sony Vaio R505 screen? My nephew has it and it seems fine. (I hate that Sony's keyboard though, since it has smaller keys than normal.)

 

[hopejr]

I think the screens on the Viao's are way too shiny. Hard to see when there's a light shining on it.

 

[robisc]

I love my 12" 1GHz Ibook, even though the first one ran for about 2 days before it died, but then Apple sent me a new one and it is about 8-10 months old and never a problem. Like what is already posted, I agree you definitely need to up the RAM just as in all Apples, 256MB is way to little for OSX.

 

[mshan]

bump ^