OT: iBook or MacBook Pro?

Rails
1

Well, the worm has turned and I think I may actually get an Apple ;P.
But I can’t decide which one. Pros and cons:

14" iBook:

  • modem (for when broadband kicks out, or on the road and there’s no
    WIFI)
  • screen is probably big enough (though I currently have a 15" Dell)
  • doesn’t get as hot as the MacBook
  • almost half the cost
  • less likely to get stolen
  • 1/4 to 1/5 as fast (in theory)
  • no isight (not a big deal)
  • older model - not as in the future :wink:

15.x" MacBook Pro

  • Over 4-5x faster (though I’ve read reviews that say Apple’s claim is
    exaggerated)
  • remote
  • isight
  • screen has more resolution
  • gets hot
  • kinda wide for a laptop
  • lacks s-video (but adapter is available)
  • no modem (but usb modem is available)
  • superdrive is only 4x (rather than 8x)
  • almost twice as expensive
  • Apple’s latest and greatest
  • software that isn’t Universal or just doesn’t work on the new Intel
    platform
  • Firewire 400 instead of 800
  • Applecare is $100 more
  • more likely to get stolen

Despite my listing more negatives for the MacBook Pro, I’m still on the
fence - price is probably the single biggest factor, followed by the
“bells and whistles” factor.

These are reviews I’ve read:

Also, would you buy from Apple’s online store (any tax savings?), one of
their physical stores, buy refurbished, or buy used from a third party
(I heard Applecare transfers to new owners)?

Thanks for any opinions!

Joe

2

What about a used iBook until the second round of Mac’s intel laptops
and Adobe CS is available for the intel machines? I have an iBook and
am going to wait to switch.

3

Peter M. wrote:

What about a used iBook until the second round of Mac’s intel laptops
and Adobe CS is available for the intel machines? I have an iBook and
am going to wait to switch.

Any idea what the second round Intel laptops will be like? And when?

Also, where’s a good place to get a used iBook: eBay, classifieds,
Craigslist, …?

Joe

4

You can currently get great deals on refurbished Power Books on Apples
site
if price is an issue and you want something a little more then an iBook.

Josh

5

I have a 12" Powerbook 1.33ghz and my business partner has the new
MacBook. The difference between the two is night and day. I have been
looking to sell my 12" just to upgrade. It’s worth the extra, IMHO.
Stuff like Photoshop is deathly slow, but anything that has been
optimized, is unbelievably quick.

–
Adam Lindsay
[email protected]

6

“joe” == joe [email protected] writes:

Well, the worm has turned and I think I may actually get an Apple ;P.
But I can’t decide which one. Pros and cons:

14" iBook:

You have noticed that the 14" and 12" iBook shave the same display
resolution, I hope? You don’t get more pixels with the 14" one, just a
physically larger machine.

Is there any solid information on the MacBook’s battery life yet, by
the way? One of the things I really like about my iBook is that I
can get 6.5 hours of battery use out of it.

	     Calle D. <[email protected]>
	 http://www.livejournal.com/users/cdybedahl/
         Try again. Try harder. -*-  Fail again. Fail better.
7

Yeah, I thought about that. But a (currently not listed) refurbished
MacBook Pro is only $150 more than a mid-range refurbished PowerBook.
Probably worth spending the extra $150 in that case ;).

Joe

8

OT: Do you guys do all your Rails development right on your
iBooks/PowerBooks/MacBooks or do you have desktop Macs too? Which do
you
use more?

Brian

9

iBook:
MacBook Pro:
Despite my listing more negatives for the MacBook Pro, I’m still on the
fence - price is probably the single biggest factor

check out the barebones versions of MSI’s s262/271. CoreDuo/Turion-X2
respectively, highest macbook model performance for lowest ibook price
(hows this? no apple markup - you buy all your parts from newegg). plus
metal instead of plastic case, an incredibly useful row of
pageup/down/home/end keys along the right edge, 2 mouse buttons… i was
a Apple user since my grandparents purchased a IIgs for me and my
brother in the late 80s but theyve all been phased out in favor of
gentoo-amd64 systems MSI (portable) and Shuttle (desktop)… getting
everything for half the price of Apple and being able to configure
everything the way I want, not the way some dictator in Cupertino
decides is a welcome change…cheers

10

On 4/1/06, Brian B. [email protected] wrote:

OT: Do you guys do all your Rails development right on your
iBooks/PowerBooks/MacBooks or do you have desktop Macs too?

I only have an iBook.

11

On 1-apr-2006, at 14:06, Brian B. wrote:

OT: Do you guys do all your Rails development right on your iBooks/
PowerBooks/MacBooks or do you have desktop Macs too? Which do you
use more?

I had an old Titanium but now moved most of the work onto a G5 Quad.
I think I will be using the desktop more although a laptop would
suffice if I didn’t have to do more than Rails development

12

Yeah, I was just looking at screen resolutions. 1024x768 seems small to
me. On my Dell 15" I have it maxed out at 1600x1200. Neither the MBP
(1440 x 900) nor the PB (1280x854) can match that.

The reviews I’ve seen show MBP battery life at about 3.25 hours.

Joe

13

On Sat, 1 Apr 2006, Calle D. wrote:

Is there any solid information on the MacBook’s battery life yet, by
the way? One of the things I really like about my iBook is that I
can get 6.5 hours of battery use out of it.

My MBP, now about a month old, gets slightly better battery life than my
older 15" PowerBook – about 3 - 3.5 hours – and that’s without turning
down the brightness all the way, etc. The batteries are really thin,
making carrying a second one easy.

The real test will be at WWDC, where everyone tries to keep their
notebooks alive for 9 hours a day, all week long.

–Jim

14

Brian B. wrote:

OT: Do you guys do all your Rails development right on your
iBooks/PowerBooks/MacBooks or do you have desktop Macs too? Which do
you
use more?

Brian

FWIW, I do all my development (including Rails) on a 12" Powerbook right
now. The low screen resolution (1024 x 768) isn’t that big a deal. I
just swap between the terminal, Textmate, and a web browser using
Exposé. Works pretty well.

15

On Sat, 1 Apr 2006, Joe wrote:

Yeah, I was just looking at screen resolutions. 1024x768 seems small to
me. On my Dell 15" I have it maxed out at 1600x1200. Neither the MBP
(1440 x 900) nor the PB (1280x854) can match that.

Honestly, having used PC notebooks with such ludicrous resolutions, I
don’t see the appeal of needing to squint to read anything. I jokingly
considered adding a frensel lens on a stick in front of the screen, a la
Brazil.

Most people I’ve seen with these notebooks invariably end up using
larger
font sizes in their editors, or for the system, or docking the notebook
all the time with a more regular sized screen.

–Jim

16

I do the exact same, except I use “Desktop Manager” to get 3 virtual
screens.

17

On Sat, 1 Apr 2006, Adam Lindsay wrote:

I do the exact same, except I use “Desktop Manager” to get 3 virtual screens.

Check out “Virtue,” now back in development under a new maintainer.
Universal, even!

http://virtuedesktops.sourceforge.net

–Jim

18

Jim Zajkowski wrote:

On Sat, 1 Apr 2006, Joe wrote:

Yeah, I was just looking at screen resolutions. 1024x768 seems small to
me. On my Dell 15" I have it maxed out at 1600x1200. Neither the MBP
(1440 x 900) nor the PB (1280x854) can match that.

Honestly, having used PC notebooks with such ludicrous resolutions, I
don’t see the appeal of needing to squint to read anything. I jokingly
considered adding a frensel lens on a stick in front of the screen, a la
Brazil.

Most people I’ve seen with these notebooks invariably end up using
larger
font sizes in their editors, or for the system, or docking the notebook
all the time with a more regular sized screen.

I don’t squint nor use larger fonts (what’s wrong with changing font
sizes anyhow?). 1600x1200 is hardly “ludicrous” - you can fit lots more
stuff on screen. My 20" monitor is set to an even higher resolution -
love it.

Joe

19

carmen wrote:

check out the barebones versions of MSI’s s262/271. CoreDuo/Turion-X2
respectively, highest macbook model performance for lowest ibook price
(hows this? no apple markup - you buy all your parts from newegg). plus
metal instead of plastic case, an incredibly useful row of
pageup/down/home/end keys along the right edge, 2 mouse buttons… i was
a Apple user since my grandparents purchased a IIgs for me and my
brother in the late 80s but theyve all been phased out in favor of
gentoo-amd64 systems MSI (portable) and Shuttle (desktop)… getting
everything for half the price of Apple and being able to configure
everything the way I want, not the way some dictator in Cupertino
decides is a welcome change…cheers

12" screens? No thanks. Desktop Linux? No thanks again.

Joe