What should I get? iBook v. PowerBook

Neither...get a Dell Latitude C840...

powerbook..

Hey, I can surf the net from my bed with my Latitude too...

Talking of bed, it's very very late yet again...I should either go to bed or become a professional owl...

Don'y buy any Mac... just yet. They have a big show coming soon and they are going to unveil new products. That usually knocks the prices down on existing products (like... my 12" Powerbook cost me $1799 a couple of months ago... they're $1599 now...).
But to answer your question, go Powerbook. The G3 processor is on its way out and a 867 mhz G4 is waaaaaaaay faster than a 900 mhz G3. I absolutely love my Powerbook. I sold my desktop computer after I got it. Its the only computer I own and its pimpin'. iBooks, there is a hack for monitor spanning, but with the PB, its built it, not to mention a built-in audio in jack. Yuo can get a SuperDrive for $200 bucks more.
But seriously, wait for the show to come and go. Some incredible deals could come up.
I could go on and on...

you're not dreaming...wait...maybe I am...you pinch me now.

Don't fight the Power. Buy it .

It depends. If you do lots of Photoshop and video work, get a Powerbook G4. If you're not doing things that require the extra speed a G4 provides, get an iBook (which has a G3 in it).

That's really the basic difference. I'm thinking of getting a portable Mac and I definitely need a Powerbook if I plan on doing any work on the road.

PS: Could we lay of the PC vs. Mac pissing contests? It's tiresome and there are other sites where that kind of debate can go on for eons.

Power is over rated, I do most of my work on a thinkpad X20 (first gen) with 128 megs of ram and a celeron 500 that runs at 300 Mhz on the battery. Even GCC is tolerable and kde2 isn't too slow with mozilla 1....

That being said, all my unix geek friends are getting iBook's. Small, relatively fast (gaming the domain of that p4 3ghz with a GF4/Radeon) and all inclusive in a well thought out way. No pccard slot though.

I'd only get a PB for daily photoshop/final cut pro usage.

iBooks are definately sturdier, I've dropped mine a few times and no problems...except the power adapter, but then that's the "weak" joint anyway.

My friend has a Power Book and drops his as well, the case splits easily on it.

So of course the moral is to not drop it...but things happen and I believe the iBooks are built for rougher use.

Hear hear! Fuck the Mac & PC fanboys and bigots!

dammit...go with the powerbook as it'll meet all your needs. If you want cheaper software then use the iBook...if you want better more up to date software (as software developers are shifting) then pick the powerbook.
I would take the Powerbook no matter what but wait for the new OS X announcement as there will probably be a software/hardware deal.

It's just that the Mac vs. PC threads are really irritating and I have to hear that shit for large portions of each day I work. Just ranting/pre-emptively voicing revulsion at the full-blown flame wars that may or may not ensue.

I think royaljack made the comment as a result of your response of waTed's suggestion to get a Dell***. Calm down, man. If you're not a Mac bigot or a PC bigot, then my comment shouldn't mean anything to you.

***or maybe waTed's suggestion to get a Dell

[Edited on Jun 09, 2003 by Stasi]

I would browse product opinions here.

These folks tend to be fairly experienced with many platforms from apple.

My advice? Buy something that has been out for a while. Apple has a history of rushing over design stability and I'd go with the 2nd or 3rd revision of a product before I'd get the 1st(where you pay more and it breaks more).

Before anyone jumps on me about apple bashing, I'd like to pre-empt any kvetching by pointing out all my advice here is so Elph is more satisfied with his significant technology expenditure, not to tell him what OS or hardware to use.

I read the fucking title. I made a fucking suggestion on iBook over Powerbook. And I added the fucking "PS" since there seemed to be a debate over PCs versus Mac.

Fucking sorry for the fucking confussion.

The Berklee School of Music is requiring next years students to have Mac laptops and are advising them to hold off buying until July, so there will most likely be some new hardware revealed by then.

http://www.berklee.edu/computers/continuing_returning_info.html

People at my university who do lots of Unix work tend to have Powerbooks. This includes the uber1337 coding gods here. I bought one, but I'm going to sell it since I realized that Linux support is not what I'd like it to be on those. It's a nice-looking laptop and all, but I buy computers for their functionality, scalability, and value, not for how cool they look.

Exactly! Too many people jump in when there's a discussion over what model of Mac to get and say "Get a PC!" and it then just becomes nasty and childish on both sides.

If you want a Mac and are choosing between models of Macs, someone jumping in and ignoring the Mac idea and just saying "Get a PC!" is just irritating. And can lead to a platform debate most people don't care to hear about.

Yeah, historically Macs were looked highly down upon by comp geeks like myself because the pre-OS X systems didn't let you get very deep into the brains of the thing, but Apple is doing good things using a unix-like operating system.

i've been trying to figure out what kind of mac to get too... i had a dream last night that i got an ibook, and i was very happy with it (in my dream), so maybe that's a sign. it could also be a sign that i'm a huge geek if i'm dreaming about computers.

No shit! I had a dream just like that Saturday morning. I woke up ready to buy a $1400 iBook - but I thought of all the other things I have to spend money on this summer and got a grip on reality again....

my iBook RULES!!!...i even have the matching Barbie iPod!!!