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Level 2

372 points

15" Powerbook or 14" iBook?

Hi,

It is time to replace my 5 year old 12" 500 mhz iBook. I have been looking at the refurbished items at the Apple online store and I am torn between the 14" iBook and the 15" Powerbook with combo drive. The difference in price is $350. I know Apple will be coming out with a new Intel book sometime soon and I am not in a rush. My funds are limited. A refurbished iBook at $1049 is within my budget but I am thinking, for $350 more, I can get a slightly more powerful laptop with more twice as much videoram. 4 years from now, which will suit me more? I use my laptop as my main computer and use it for general computing needs (word processing, email, iphoto, itunes, safari). The most cpu intense program I have is Starry Night. Is a 15" Powerbook worth the extra $350 or should I just wait? I cannot afford a MacBook Pro and would not be interested in the rumored 13" intel iBook. I would like a 14" or 15" screen without breaking the bank. Is there anything negative I should know about the 15" Powerbook? Thanks for any info.

Thom

iBook 500 Mhz, Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Posted on Feb 11, 2006 4:40 PM

Best reply

macmaster05

Level 1

45 points

Posted on Feb 11, 2006 4:57 PM

Get a powerbook definately. Anything negative about the powerbook? You should know it kicks *. I guess thats negative, if it gets caught kicking *.

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19 replies

w4rmk

Level 1

19 points

Feb 14, 2006 9:10 PM in response to Thom F.

If you read the "Minimum System Requirements" on this page: http://www.apple.com/aperture/specs.html

You will see that the only Mac's with G4 processors that will run Aperture are: 15- or 17-inch PowerBook G4 with a 1.25 GHz or faster PowerPC G4 processor.

The 12" version has a different video card than the 15" and 17" models. Apparently Apple did not feel that the 12" video card was up to the task. As a side note there are a few articles floating around the Aperture message boards telling how to get around the installation checker to get Aperture to run on the 12" PB and iBooks. Even though this might work you are still running it on unsupported hardware and could be out of luck in future version upgrades.

I think Apple software engineers realized that they needed to allow Aperture to run on their Powerbooks because so many photographers use them in the field. I think they also settled on a compromise that most professional's have gone for the 15" or 17" models. Just a guess on my part of course.

Feb 15, 2006 1:00 AM in response to Thom F.

Got both (well actually sold my ibook to get a PB) and the screen makes all the difference... i just wish i bought the PB (despite all the bad credits it's getting) sooner

iSMH

Level 5

4,310 points

Feb 15, 2006 9:03 AM in response to Thom F.

I currently have a 12" iBook but I am thinking that a 14" screen may be better.

Same number of pixels on both of those screens - the 14 has bigger ones. Makes for a funky display, IMHO.

iSMH

Network 23

Level 6

12,333 points

Feb 15, 2006 9:24 AM in response to iSMH

I'm a "more pixels" guy myself, but for older people or people with eyesight challenges, "bigger pixels" is often better than "more pixels." I've got an older neighbor with the resolution cranked down on her LCD for that reason. She prefers the bigger pixels even though it's a little fuzzier. On the 14" iBook, 1024x768 is native, so it won't be fuzzy. 1024x768 is not a whole lot of pixels these days, though.

15" Powerbook or 14" iBook?