PowerBook/iBook vs. Windows Based System

Hello all! I'm an incoming freshman to UC Davis and i'm wondering the real performance differences between a Powerbook or an iBook vs. a windows based system with Cintrino technology. I've always been a PC guy and honestly, have always overlooked Apple's performance and Apple in general [ ], so I have no idea how G4's round up against Celeron's, Pentium's, or Centrino technology.

With a student education discount, 12inch iBook's with combo drives are around $999 and 12inch Powerbooks with combo drives are $1,399. With all the features Apple is including on their notebooks, this seems very enticing, noting Apple's fabulous looking design and all. The whole thinness of the notebook as well as the weight are a real plus for me.

I've seen some very nice Sony notebooks with Centrino technology, but the price keeps climbing with the added features such as wireless capability, etc that the Apple has. Above $1,600 seems a bit high for me, so I'm just trying to weigh the pro's and con's between the Apple and PC systems.

So my major concerns involve G4 performance between Intel's technology (Celeron, Pentium, Centrino), compatibility with other systems, physical specs (weight, thickness, as I cannot bring my car along, ease of mobility is a big factor), and the overall practicality of buying an Apple over a PC system for a new University student.

The price tag on an iBook with the education discount just seems that much more tempting considering the features and overall aesthetic quality of the Apple.

Any help would be highly appreciated [ ].

 

i'm in the same situation that you are. always been a pc guy but, as i wanted to buy a laptop, the apple prices are just to good. but well, it all depends on the software. what are you planing to run?

 

well, not being particularly in a specific major yet, (i got accepted for computer sience/engineering, but have decided not to go down that route)as im undecided, for now, i just plan on running word processing and other programs that are college necessities. office x seems like that would cover the bases there.

you think the apple powerbook/ibook is a good college notebook compared to _____ PC notebook? the whole intuitiveness of the OS and stability has got me curious, i'm wondering if the rest of the package would have any advantage as a college notebook than a PC would.

ya think the powerbook would be a little extreme? it's odd. apple just has that pull on me and i am more than willing to try something new. i just have to hear what everyone else has to say.

thanks everyone! [ ]

 

My wife has a 12" Powerbook. She loves it. It is the 1GHz model with a combo drive. It's a great notebook. Max out the RAM and it will do most anything you want to do at school. Powerbooks have a decent rep for holding their value. My sister-in-law is still using a 1999 Lombard Powerbook. It's not the fastest, but it does the stuff she needs: Word, email, web surfing, etc. And she's running OSX on it! Try running XP on a notebook from 1999--yikes!

The thing you have to ask yourself is how you're going to use the notebook. If you want to play games and stuff like that look at the Windows offerings. For multimedia and design, nice free apps like iPhoto, iTunes, iCal, etc. and the stability of a Unix-based operating system, opt for the Powerbook. Check out VersionTracker for links to freeware, shareware, etc.: http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/

iBooks are pretty cool, but they do have some max RAM limitations, and they only support monitor mirroring. The Powerbooks all support monitor spanning (two screens = lots of real estate). Another cool thing about the Powerbook is that you can run Mac OS X, Mac Classic (OS 9.2.2), Unix via X11, and Windows via Virtual PC.

With all that said, I just bought an IBM Thinkpad R51. The price was more than the 12" Powerbook: about $200-300+ but it can run MapSource software for my Streetpilot. Also, I want to learn Linux, so it made sense to look to the Windows world for this. The only downside to this notbook is that I had to add RAM to get it right to happily run XP Pro. The positives: B/G wireless, combo drive, 40GB hard drive, IBM reputation. PC Connection matched the price that IBM had on their site for the same unit. Since you're in school, you may be able to get a education discount on it also.

look twice : save a life : motorcycles are everywhere

 

thank you snorty for adding some insight for me and any others! i'm not planning on doing anything very specific such as programing, etc. the apple still remains a very strong contender for my next notebook. now you have me thinking about a powerbook due to the fact i'm going to likely spend 4 or more years in college and the room to upgrade the powerbook (ram, and the way you say they hold their value, etc) is very appealing.

that doesnt go to say that i can't do that with any other PC though. choices, choices.

are apples rugged machines? i've read that the ibook are more/less rugged, how do the powerbooks compare? i'm still wondering if any system has their advantages over each other if im not doing anything specific like video editing or programing.

 

I'd say you get better versatility by choosing PC notebook, because then you can have Linux and Windows running at the same machine.

There are very good Linux distros now that are easier to install than Windows and then you get that stability and safety Mac offers. And with Wine for example you can install and run Windows software under Linux, though it might not be as fast as under Windows, but hey, you would have Windows on the machine too, so games, Photoshop, Videoedit etc. wouldn't be a problem either.

And Windows XP is quite stable system. I've managed to crash it only a few times during these 3 years I've had it installed.

"I guess it's just the perfect time to send some roses."

 

I have an AA in info system but getting BA in electric engineering and masters in physics.

I bought my powerbook for school and personal use. I use it with maya for 3d rendering, i use photoshop flawlessly, i use it to play games like America army ops, UT2K4, and Quake 3. The proformance of this machine is stagering.

It takes less than 20 seconds to start it, and less than 10 to shut it down. About half a second to return from sleep mode.

The options (input) with the powerbook are great. Not only do you get firewire but firewire 800. The display expantion options are great as well. I will not repeat what you can just read at apple . . .

The powerbook comes standard with preinstalled software for video editing, photo arangement / slide show arangement, and built in movie making software. (iDVD, iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto)

the browser Safari is supperior to netscape and IE in my opinion. It is faster and easier to manage. I would suggest downloading the alt tab program ( you can look it up alt tab mac on yahoo to find it ) that way you can alt tab between aps like you are used to.

This machine has outproformed my desktop prior to being over clocked. It is running AMD 1700 pro overclocked to 2.0 with 400 front side bus, nvidia fx 5600 256, turtle beach snd card. XP OS.

AND i have not had any issues with viruses, bugs. I am a very savy windows user, i have only got 2 virus on my desktop over 2 years and that is with out virus protection in place.

The operating system is easy to get used to and learn if you already know PC's the fn and apple and command key will take more time BUT it is worth it. . .



17" PowerBook
1.5GHz PowerPC G4
1GB SO-DIMM PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SDRAM
ATI Redeon 9700 Mobility 128mb
80GB Ultra ATA @ 5400rpm
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)

 

H, I just graduated from UC davis and they fully support both platforms. The only thing is, if you are going to be taking math/engineering/science courses, MATLAB is used a lot and I am not too sure on the mac compatability. They have a wireless network that is eaisly accessed from both platforms (good whne class is boring).

I would get the mac, seeing as how you are likely to have no problems with it and apples serivce has been great in my experiance. I also believe that they have the best priced laptops around from the features standpoint. Plus, the battery life is great.

Unfourtunately I am starting law school and will have to get rid of my powerbook for a windows pc .

good luck

 

Matlab is suported in OS X http://www.mathworks.com/programs/mac/index.shtml
my majors are electrical engineering and masters in physics.

Most colleges have support for both mac and pcs in their networks. Some coleges even have wireless network suport.

I attend GMU and they have suport for both Mac and PC including wireless which is always nice . . .

17" PowerBook
1.5GHz PowerPC G4
1GB SO-DIMM PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SDRAM
ATI Redeon 9700 Mobility 128mb
80GB Ultra ATA @ 5400rpm
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)

 

Wow! Thank you for the highly appreciated replies! They are very informative and useful!

Ramble, I'm assuming you've had good experiences using your Apple on the UC Davis campus, which is great! Since I start at Davis in the fall. I've actually been thinking of leaning into something associated with Law. Why is it that you have to get rid of your Powerbook for a Windows PC? Is it simply due to compatibility? Does your law school require certain and specific software that you have to utilize there that the Apple does not support? Thank you for your opinion Ramble! It's good to hear from someone who went to Davis!

17inPowerbook, you seem very content with your Apple! Thank you for your insight on the Powerbooks, it's also great to hear from someone whose also a windows user. Though I don't think I'm looking to buy something as expensive as a 17" Powerbook, have you had any experiences with the smaller Powerbooks such as the 15" or the 12"? I was looking at the 12" due to its smaller size, light weight, and easy portability, but wondering if the smaller screen is going to affect me when I have to type essays and such. I also understand the performance specs on a 12" or 15" aren't up to par with the 17" and if that might change your opinion on the Powerbooks.

Again, thank you for all your replies! They are highly appreciated!

 

jescobedo Wrote:
"17inPowerbook, you seem very content with your Apple! Thank you for your insight on the Powerbooks, it's also great to hear from someone whose also a windows user. Though I don't think I'm looking to buy something as expensive as a 17" Powerbook, have you had any experiences with the smaller Powerbooks such as the 15" or the 12"? I was looking at the 12" due to its smaller size, light weight, and easy portability, but wondering if the smaller screen is going to affect me when I have to type essays and such. I also understand the performance specs on a 12" or 15" aren't up to par with the 17" and if that might change your opinion on the Powerbooks."
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The reason i got my 17" over the 15 and the 12 was simply size . . . i didnt want to be limitted to the screen. Using programs like Maya, and photo editing software it is a pain in the (you know what) with a smaller screen size.

You will be limmited on the size of your applications. In word type doc's though you could just make the font smaller to fit more in BUT that will strain your eyes. I have been bringing this thing around with me for a while it is very easy to transport. I have a bag system from www.timbuk2.com (a tote and a messanger). The 12" is 2 pounds lighter but 2 pounds isnt that much if it is $ you are concerned about get the 15" it is more bang for your buck than the 12" and you shouldnt have a problem with the screen beeing too small. That and the 15" can be up to par with the 17" proformance if upgraded. It all depends on what you want out of the product. If you are going to use it just for writing then go ibook, its way cheeper. If you want to play some games get a powerbook 15" upgraded some.


If i were you i would get a upgraded 14" ibook. You get the airport built in with the option for blue tooth built in when you order and if you wanted it the dvdr and cdr for 180 more (educational discount). The thing with powerbooks is expandability, ports and some more speed. If you just need something for school go ibook. If you want something for many years after school go powerbook. I plan on keeping this powerbook for at lest 5-7 years or even more. I still have a 1 gig slot open i can expand with and i still have a card slot ready for me when i need it.



17" PowerBook
1.5GHz PowerPC G4
1GB SO-DIMM PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SDRAM
ATI Redeon 9700 Mobility 128mb
80GB Ultra ATA @ 5400rpm
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)