MacReviewZone Discussion Board

[Don]

Comments or questions regarding Apple's iBooks? Post them here!


Don

[ June 19, 2002: Message edited by: Don ]

[<around>]

I looked at a new iBook today. The 12.1 700 with a total 128 meg ram. In short, in a totally unscientific tryout, it wasn't bad (OSX 10.1.5 (is that the right sequence?), btw). It had PS 7, Office on it so I started IE, PS 7, ImageReady, Word, PowerPoint and Worldbook. By the time I got to Worldbook it was chugging, but still going. I think bumping another 512 meg ram will improve what is already good performance. I can't afford a Tibook and this latest bump may induce me.

[<rudi>]

I'm glad to hear that.

Despite being a PC-network-engineer, I have always loved Apple ( although I haven't owned one for the last 4 years ) and ordered one yesterday from one of my suppliers in Belgium. This iBook is for 80% for fun use, but I want my customers to know that with the upcoming Jaguar, there's no reason why not putting a Mac in a PC-network. The only problem is special software, but: does anyone know how the Windows 2000 terminal server emulator for Mac is performing?

[<around>]

Just an "FYI" I took the chance and loaded X onto a 2nd rev. tangerine Ibook, 300mhz, with 320 meg of ram, 4 meg vram, and I must say that it works much better than expected. Not a speed demon of course but acceptable considering the specs. To see the OS X comments it takes a lot of horsepower but if this Itang is any indication, the new ibooks should be fine, especially with more ram and OS X native apps. One note, though. I did a system profile on this itang and it indicated L2 cache of 512. Is this the same cache on the new ibooks and if so, did they lower the cache and raise it again or is it the "running at processor speed" cache that is the difference?

[<switch>]

Hey Phillip,

I'm not yet using the iBook (haven't used Macs in several years, gonna switch back though within the coming week), but I have followed Apple and other message boards fairly closely and have the following suggestions:

It will definitely work as a notebook for college, and will handle those tasks with no problem. Best config? Hard to say, I like the 700, 12.1" for portability reasons. The 14.1" is nice but adds a pound and the screen res is the same as the 12 inch. The occasional game will be fine on an iBook, but don't expect great performance out of the latest 3D games. You'll want to upgrade your RAM to 384 or max it to 620, as OS X seems to love memory.

As far as Airport, if you want to use Airport by all means go ahead, they have a $100 rebate running on it so that's an incentive. Even with the rebate, it's a little pricey, you can go with another wireless router (see Macworld: wireless broadband routers for more information), and save sove money. I don't think Airport will get an upgrade anytime soon.

As far as waiting, if you can wait all the way till November then you may see a speed bump, maybe 100 MHz or so. There is an upcoming Macworld conference in mid-July, but odds are there'll be no updates then, since they just updated recently. Apple's supposed to be updating their OS in late summer (see OS X - Jaguar), and this should provide some new features and optimizations to OS X.

Btw, I'm speaking as a college student who is planning on buying an iBook soon and has also done research. I used to use Macs for several years, had to switch for a couple years because of some programming classes, but I'm hoping to migrate back to the Mac, and the iBook will be the first test/step.

[PJL]

I am looking to buy an ibook as shown in the subject. I am a PC user as well, however, I want to give Mac a fair shot here beucaue without a doubt i see advantages. So my questions are as follows:
In all of your depth of Mac knowledge, what do YOU suggest as the best configuration. This is your opportunity to shine! (for the most part, the new iBook will serve as a portable station for me in college - email, surfing, word processing, graphic work in photoshop for my business, a dock for my digital camera, and maybe a game -- MAYBE

Other than that, what do you suggest in the way of AirPort? Do you foresee better hardware soon or will the 2.0 upgrade be the extent of it.

Also, do you think i should wait until say September, October, November to purchase my iBook?

I am really looking to get some solid answers here as i have done enough research to formulate what i THINK i should have. But i want another opinion.. so please, leave one. Good, bad, harsh, or praising, i want to hear it! Thanks for your time.

[<Meg>]

I'm also a college student considering getting an ibook. I take some design classes, using photoshop and quark. The Mac lab at school is usually crowded, and the thought of sitting in my dorm room, doing my school work in pajamas is becoming very appealing. So, I'd pretty much be using it for school work and the internet. Would an ibook be good?

[<Christian>]

Hi Philip

I just changed from a PC desktop to a IBook as of now I would say I’m happy with the choice I made.
I see OS X as a very easy to use and trouble free operating system compared to windows less updates what could cause problems and less problems with viruses.
As for me I like to use my computer to get things done and not have to fix it or solve some problems it has.
The next point is battery live the IBook has one of the longest running times on battery for what I know there is nothing more annoying than a dead battery when you need a peace of information.
As for speed Apple works opens much faster about 2 seconds on a 500 IBook my 1200 Athlon with microsoft works was slower to do so I’m starting with 3D like cinema 4D and it runs fast enough for my demands.
Hope that helped Christian

[anna]

Hi im a student who is looking into buying the new apple i-book, 700mhz, 384mg SDRAM, and a 40Gb hard drive. I would be using it for school work mostly, also for home videos, digital pictures, email, web surfing....etc...
Anyways i wanted to know what people think of the new ibook and is it worth all the money! And would it be better to wait a month or 2 to buy it...?
Please send me a message!
thanks

[iFranky]

Hiya Meg,

I have some experience of the old revisions of the ibook (clam-shaped 366mhz) and I found, that whilst they're not "super-computer" fast, they perform fine for light photoshop and quark use.

An ibook sounds like the perfect solution for your needs, being compact, capable and reasonably priced. The only question would be over whether to go with the 12 or 14 inch screen - I would be inclined to favour the 14 for the graphics work you describe, especially since you imply that actual *portability* isn't too much of an issue ("and the thought of sitting in my dorm room, doing my school work in pajamas is becoming very appealing").

Although I have only used the new models in stores, I think they would certainly be adequate for your needs.

Hope this helps . .

Frank

[iFranky]

Hiya Anna,

As I said in my previous post, I dont' have a wealth of experience of the latest round of iBooks .. but from what I have read they are sound machines.

With regard to whether or not you should wait to buy one . . . you can wait forever to buy because things keep improving - the important thing to keep in sight is what you want from your computer.

If the current ibook does all that you want (which I guess i does) then you should certainly think seriously about it. waiting will drop the price .. but then a better ibook will come along.

My advice on computer buying is - dont' buy a new model as soon as it comes out . . . it'll be relatively expensive and "un-tried". Perhaps waiting for the next revision would be wise - or you could always buy the top of the last range ?

Hope this helps . . .although I gues its more questions rather than answers

Frank

[<billy>]

any idea when the G4 processors will be implemented in the ibooks? That would give them a serious kick.... when that day comes i'd recommend getting an ibook. G3 processors are much more inferior to G4 processors.

[<olee>]

Is there someone out there using iBook dual-usb with OS X 10.2 Jaguar.

All my friends told me that G3 is simply to slow for Jaguar, it is rather a click and wait feeling.

I would like to know if the Radeon 7500 cards improve on this problem on the new iBooks?

Apple says that Quartz Extreme of Jaguar can improve on this performance issue with a supported 32 MB graphics card, like the Radeon 7500. How much graphics memory is on the iBooks now, 16 or 32 MB?

How much memory do you recommend? Shall I go to for the maximum 640 MB?

[<ScottDodson>]

I just got a brand new iBook this last week. It's the 800 12.1 with only 256 ram.....and to tell you the truth about running Jag.....there is no problems at all! I haven't had one bogging problem yet, and I usually run photoshop, internet Explorer, Limewire, and iTunes at the same time. and as far as gaming goes on it......no problems there either, the radeon card (32 mb) seems to work pretty sweet.

[<eetee>]

I got a new ibook last weel (12.1, 800 w. 384 Ram upgrade free from Macconnection). I was a PC user before, but made the switch because my dell go too tempermental for the last time. My boyfriend has a 14" , 700 which he got a couple months ago, and still hasn't stopped raving about, so when I went shopping, I decided to check out the macs. I was looking for flaws, looking for reasons not to switch since I'd have to listen to the never-ending i-told-you-so' . . . but I couldn't find any, and the ibook, is not only smaller and lighter than most pcs out there, it is also significantly more affordable (I;m a grad student, so this was key).

I haven't had any problems with the OS--I used Mac Office, and the internet (cable modem), and it is plenty fast, intuitive, and way more reliable than windows.

One thing worth noting, I think the CDRW option is the way to go, since there is no floppy dirve--you need a CDRW or Zip drive to back up files . . .

Macconection is offering a free RAM upgrade to 384, plus they also have the free epson c42 printer (after rebates-you order the printer in addition to the ibook, and mail in rebates to get your $80 back). Also, they have the office promo for $199, and no sales tax for most states. . . All in all, this deal was better than most educational discounts (including the apple store, which charges sales tax).