Ok Apple Fans, Im thinking about making the switch...

Ive decided that I definitely want to buy an iBook. I'm looking to buy the little 12" one so i can have something small for class, traveling or carrying around without ac adapters.

My question.....do I get it before the Intel switchover or should I wait until after Apple makes the change to Intel based processors? Ive read many things so far that have taken both sides and I like the ability that you should be able to run a windows program at full speed on your Intel based mac (without virtual pc), but I don't want to end up with an overpriced pile of junk when basically I can just buy a PC laptop for much cheaper and it does the same thing.

So, help me weigh out the positives and negatives for both sides so I can make my decision in the next couple of months.

[sciguy125]

NOO!! Before I shun you, I'd like a reason as to why you've forsaken your PC brethren.

[Winged Globe]

Originally Posted by D.J. Fluck

So, help me weigh out the positives and negatives for both sides so I can make my decision in the next couple of months.

If you're going to wait anyways, you may want to check again after MacWorld Expo in January. Rumors are afloat about a possible Mactel iBook release, with price drop.

That said, it depends on what you want to do with it and what you consider overpriced. If you have some Windows-specific programs you absolutely want to carry around with you, consider waiting and seeing what pops up after the switch. There's no guarantees Windows will work flawlessly, if at all, but chances are good it'll get hammered out quickly. On the other hand, if you just want something that works for class and travel, there's no reason to wait (other than a potential price drop). Apple has pulled off chip transitions rather painlessly in the past, so whether you buy now or later, everything should still work as a Mac, and continue to work (including new program versions).* No matter the chip, an iBook will probably be more expensive to buy--but you do get what you pay for.


*There is some talk about whether un-ported code will run slower on Mactel, but it'll be hard to say until more people get to play with them. The chip is supposed to be a few steps faster overall (and thus might make up for any sluggishness) and have better battery life, though.

[Bill Moore]

Originally Posted by D.J. Fluck

Ive decided that I definitely want to buy an iBook. I'm looking to buy the little 12" one so i can have something small for class, traveling or carrying around without ac adapters.

My question.....do I get it before the Intel switchover or should I wait until after Apple makes the change to Intel based processors? Ive read many things so far that have taken both sides and I like the ability that you should be able to run a windows program at full speed on your Intel based mac (without virtual pc), but I don't want to end up with an overpriced pile of junk when basically I can just buy a PC laptop for much cheaper and it does the same thing.

So, help me weigh out the positives and negatives for both sides so I can make my decision in the next couple of months.

DJ, if running Windows native apps are necessary, then you should wait for the Intel based books. But you indicate you want to purchase in the next couple of months, and this will make you an "early adopter" of whatever is released. Like all early adopters, you will be one of the folks finding the problems that were missed. (This is the same for any OS upgrade, regardless of who releases it.)

Due to the number of people who have illegally hacked the Mac OS onto an Intel machine, though, it appears that the OS is already in a very stable format. Unless Apple does something stupid, like write an OS to cover two chips that forces compromises on each of the chips (like they did when they moved from the Motorola 68xxx series to the PowerPC chips), I think that all the bugs will be identified within a couple of months after release. That's when you need to be making your decision -- after others have determined if the machine is capable of doing what you intend.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by D.J. Fluck

Ive decided that I definitely want to buy an iBook. I'm looking to buy the little 12" one so i can have something small for class, traveling or carrying around without ac adapters.

My question.....do I get it before the Intel switchover or should I wait until after Apple makes the change to Intel based processors? Ive read many things so far that have taken both sides and I like the ability that you should be able to run a windows program at full speed on your Intel based mac (without virtual pc), but I don't want to end up with an overpriced pile of junk when basically I can just buy a PC laptop for much cheaper and it does the same thing.

So, help me weigh out the positives and negatives for both sides so I can make my decision in the next couple of months.

Welcome to the party, Deej! (I've used both 12" and 14" iBooks--the 14" is more my size, but both are plenty capable machines.)

I'd say go ahead and get a PowerPC-based iBook for two reasons:

1) There are millions of PowerPC Macs out there. People will not stop writing software that works on them overnight. (If Sanddrag's web server is any indication, people will be doing interesting things with them for decades to come.)

2) The first versions of Apple's products can be....interesting. The original version of OS X wasn't much to phone home about in relation to later versions, such as Jaguar/Panther/Tiger. (And who has a first-gen iPod? I know of one.)

On the OSX86 front, I have heard of folks being able to dual-boot Windows. If you need to run Windows programs, then you may want to consider waiting for more details on the X86 version. Other than CAD software, I've had no real issues finding programs that suit my needs.

[Ian Curtis]

Don't forget there are probably programs that will accept windows file formats and run on mac. Take openoffice.org for example. It works extremely well, albeit it takes quite a while to open on my (state provided) G4 iBook.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by iCurtis

Don't forget there are probably programs that will accept windows file formats and run on mac. Take openoffice.org for example. It works extremely well, albeit it takes quite a while to open on my (state provided) G4 iBook.

That wait time grated on me too much, so I plunked down the $50 for iWork. The only problem is that it lacks a spreadsheet program, so I still wind up using NeoOffice/J, an OS X version of OpenOffice.Org, for things like that. (Then again, OpenOffice.Org has never loaded particularly quickly for me.)

I highly recommend iWork. Pages has held up for everything from English papers to forty-page photo-laden facebooks, and the presentations I've done with Keynote have been nothing short of marvelous. And the suite exports to every format imaginable--Pages goes to PDF and Word (among others), and Keynote goes to PDF, PowerPoint, PNG, JPEG, and QuickTime.

[sanddrag]

Believe it or not, I have become so accustomed to Windows (XP) that I find OSX quite clumsy. I'm a wreck without a right click button and there are so many simple things I can't figure out how to do in it that I look like a total noob when using it. I suppose once you work with OSX for a while you will love it, but after using a PC for a very long time, I find myself missing it every time I go to use OSX.

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by D.J. Fluck

Ive decided that I definitely want to buy an iBook. I'm looking to buy the little 12" one so i can have something small for class, traveling or carrying around without ac adapters.

My question.....do I get it before the Intel switchover or should I wait until after Apple makes the change to Intel based processors? Ive read many things so far that have taken both sides and I like the ability that you should be able to run a windows program at full speed on your Intel based mac (without virtual pc), but I don't want to end up with an overpriced pile of junk when basically I can just buy a PC laptop for much cheaper and it does the same thing.

So, help me weigh out the positives and negatives for both sides so I can make my decision in the next couple of months.

Oh my........... I remember back in the day DJ...... oh well......

Welcome. Anyway, WAIT. Wait until an Intel iBook comes out, you should be able to dual-boot and also run OSX. I find that most PC only apps are only good on desktops, so having an OSX laptop is a great idea for notes, email, and internet. Also, from what I hear, the Intel iBooks will be much cheaper!

[Greg Marra]

WAIT!

There is a rumor circulating that Apple is going to drop the iBook prices by around $200 when they make the switch to remain competitive with $500 Windows based laptops.

[Danny Diaz]

Originally Posted by Greg Marra

There is a rumor circulating that Apple is going to drop the iBook prices by around $200 when they make the switch to remain competitive with $500 Windows based laptops.

It's about time. Black Friday $400 Specials on Laptops really make me want to buy a non-iBook even though I really REALLY like iBooks.

-Danny

[sanddrag]

The way I see it is this: For the things I could/would do on a $1000 iBook (going online, word processing, spreasheet, etc) I could do just as well or perhaps better on a $500 PC laptop. But the things I could do on a maybe $1500 laptop, I could only dream of doing on any Apple (mainly Solidworks and Inventor).

Why not just get a PC laptop like the other 90 someodd percent of the world.

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

The way I see it is this: For the things I could/would do on a $1000 iBook (going online, word processing, spreasheet, etc) I could do just as well or perhaps better on a $500 PC laptop.

Why not just get a PC laptop like the other 90 someodd percent of the world.

If that's all I was getting a computer for, and I was a PC person, I'd get a PC. If I was not computer literate, I would get a Mac, becuase Mac's are more intuitive. Also the benefits of a $1000 dollar iBook are more than that. It makes digital media accessible and easy for students. My iBook lets me do things with awesome things with media, without purchasing extra software. I can do my video editing for free on iMovie (which is actually pretty powerful), make my music for free in GarageBand, peruse my photos for free with iPhoto (which is pretty neat program), and buy perhaps the most incredibly school/work note taking program ever NoteTaker, which is only for Mac.

As for the second part of the quote, this equation has swung before. In the 80's the question would be "Why not just get an Apple II like the other 90 someodd percent of the world?"

[KTorak]

When I graduate HS (a long 2.5 years still), I may look into a Powerbook, if they have the ability to run CAD and stuff. As a Civil Engineer major, I need a powerful computer that can run the apps I need, hopefully Mac will provide for me by then.

[Brian Lesser]

Originally Posted by sciguy125

NOO!! Before I shun you, I'd like a reason as to why you've forsaken your PC brethren.

Actually, there are a lot of us who use multiple OSes for all of our computer studies. Nothing wrong with that

Anyways, what I would say is that while the 12" is a nice deal (decent display and everything), the only problem I have with it is that Apple doesn't give you the option to go with Super Drive (DVD+-RW/CD-RW) like they do with the 14".

Expect some decent software to come with the iBook. While it is somewhat basic stuff, it's really useful for many school and home projects (making movies, music, etc). Assuming they don't change anything with the iBook when the Intel processors come into play, one the best/coolest features with teh iBook is the fact that the casing is made of polycarbonate plastic (as in the same material used to make bulletproof glass) and has an internal magnesium frame for extra protection against dents, cracks, and even bullet holes ;D (all that info directly from the Apple site).

As far as waiting for the Intel processors, I do have mixed feelings about this idea. While there is a chance that there would be a price drop in the notebooks seeing that Intel is so common in many computers, there is also a chance that there would be a price increase assuming they make the Intel Processors proprietary (sp?).