Powerbook vs iBook

Couple of discussions regarding the Powerbook vs iBook question:

* Apple – Discussions – PB 1.33 vs. ibook > noise & durability
* New PowerBook vs. iBook – The shootout.

Good summary in the later link:

* 12” iBook – it’s cheap and very good. If you can’t afford more, get this one.
* 14” iBook – it’s bigger, heavier, and more expensive than the 12”. I still trying to figure out why this is in production.
* 14” Super iBook – it’s bigger, heavier, and slower than a PowerBook. No idea why they make this one either.
* 12” PowerBook – it’s a really expensive, slightly upgraded iBook.
* 12” PowerBook w/ Super Drive – this is a nice model and you might need the Super Drive.
* 15” PowerBook – This is a great computer for the price.

Furthermore, there is some mention that the screen of the 14″ iBook can be blurry. Maybe both a 12″ iBook and a 15″ Powerbook is the sweet spot? 😉

Updates:

* Clamshell mode? – iBook likely to overheat with clamshell closed.
* 6hr Battery Life – Some reports of 6+ hour battery life. Impressive.

5 Comments

  1. Richard Parry Said,

    February 11, 2005 @ 10:23 pm

    I think if you want two computers, one for portable and one for power, then a 12″ iBook coupled with a G5 powermac would be the go. I still think a Powerbook is a potentially poor choice as a notebook because of their appalling battery life, but they do have really nice screens and they’re wicked quick. Really depends on what you’re after – my money would go for the little iBook for a portable, as I think battery life is invaluable on the road – but you need to have a good think about this.

  2. stateless Said,

    February 11, 2005 @ 11:08 pm

    That’s true enough. However as a portable desktop, rather than a portable notebook I think the Powerbook would be good value. Its not going to be any good on an airplane, but it will be good if you spend a month here and a month there. With tech my NX and maybe AFS, its much easier now to have a desktop in two locations which is easy to sync. However, I’ve always prefer to have a portable if I’m travelling. Then again, maybe a Mini Mac will be a better portable unit.8)

  3. Richard Parry Said,

    February 12, 2005 @ 10:24 am

    What I’d do, considering what you say, is to grab a Powerbook as your mobile workstation – since you want the speed and power and are willig to forgoe the battery life.

    Short term, I’d get a Mini as a workstation, to see if you use it all that much with a Powerbook as well. I suspect you won’t – PBs are hella nice machines, etc. Unless you’ve got the cash to get a G5 desktop as well, you probably won’t get much action from another desktop, as the speed/performance of the PB is great.

    In terms of portability, the Mini is damn cool but you still got the issue surrounding – well, keyboards and mice and monitors. If you have those at every location you’re going to, it’s great – they’re really small and light – but I bet you can’t gaurantee that.

    Still, the price is right.

    I’m tempted by the idea of a Mini to replace my G4 server. The Mini is roughly 1/10th the size, makes less noise, and is considerably faster. What would probably occur is that I’d get the Mini with at least 512MB RAM, and a 80GB drive, and that would be that. It’d sit there – silent – and no one need know it’s a server 🙂

  4. stateless Said,

    February 12, 2005 @ 11:24 pm

    I hear you. I’ve been thinking hard about this. The Powerbook is damn sexy though. You are right though. Maybe a I should get a iBook now, and a Powerbook or a Mini-Mac for each location, later depending on how that turns out. I think I will at least get a MiniMac this week, was planning to get one for my mother anyway. Be a good chance to play around at home for a week with one myself.

    Tell me, does OSX have a distinct before Admin and User accounts? How does it deal with Trojans and the like otherwise?

    Note I was reading this thread. The comments here indicated the the iBook was definitely more rugged and better for travel situations. The plastic skin is definitely very thick, and the battery life of 3-5 hours is comparable to the Thinkpads. Although having to shut down to switch to a second battery for the next 3-5 hours in order to completely match the Thinkpad will be annoying no doubt.

  5. Somewhere out there! » My Apple decision Said,

    February 16, 2005 @ 11:09 am

    […] Filed under: Apple — stateless @ 11:08 am After the discussions I had with my friend, I realised that a iBook+Mini combination was the most effective. I figured that […]

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