<p>My iBook was recently destroyed in a freak accident and ofcourse...was not covered. Now I'm in the position of having to purchase a new laptop and I'm deciding between the 12" Powerbook and the 14" iBook. I use photoshop fairly extensively and I plan on playing with Quark a little bit too. The iBook seemed to withstand the photoshop application after sticking a butt-load of memory in there. My question is... is it worth upgrading to a smaller laptop(because of the price) or just going with what I already had?</p>
<p>the ibook is going to be updated very soon so if you decide to go for one I would wait. </p>
<p>For your purposes an ibook is still probably the best bet to go. there isnt much difference performance wise between the 12' powerbook and the 14' ibook right now, so you should only get the powerbook if portability is a real concern for you.</p>
<p>Hmm...well, they both have the same processor, but, the PowerBokk is a little more upgradeable and offers a few more options when customizing. It is also sturdier. THe iBook is plastic, whereas the PowerBook is metal. Also, the PowerBook has a motion sensor that will lock the heads on your hard drive if it senses a fall, that way there is less risk of data loss/damage.</p>
<p>Personally, however, I would not go with either. This is the PowerBook I'm getting for next year:</p>
<p> 1.5GHz PowerPC G4 w/ 64MB VRAM
1GB DDR333 SDRAM - 2x512 SO-DIMMs
100GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400 rpm
8x SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
AirPort Extreme Card
Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
AppleCare Protection Plan for PowerBook (w/ or w/o Display)
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
15.2-inch TFT Display</p>
<p>If you can afford it, go with a nicer PowerBook!!</p>
<p>Codasco: </p>
<p>What is that ibook called? Also, I have a question for macs in general. Can they play the games out on the market right now? I was wondering because that video card (ATI Rad. 9700) is pretty up there and can handle most of the taxing games on the market (esp. with that 1gig of ram -jealoussss). </p>
<p>-just a guy considering switching to a mac after gaming and living solely on a pc since kindergarten..</p>
<p>It's actually not an iBook, it's a PowerBook (iMac=iBook, PowerMac=PowerBook).</p>
<p>Natively, the Mac isn't so great for gaming. The hardware can handle it. but most of games are not written for the Mac. You MAY be able to get a Linux/Unix based game to run, however. You can also try Microsoft's VirtualPC (basicaly, a very nice emulator), but I'm not sure that Windows will be able to take full advantage of the video card when running on a softare based PC.</p>
<p>When are the iBooks getting updated? I will be purchasing mine in early August; is that too early for the update?</p>
<p>Updates usually coincide with the MacWrold Expo. THe next one is July 11-14...so it should be just in time for shcool.</p>
<p>I would go with the bigger screen. The 12 inch powerbook is like the underpowered bastard child of the real powerbooks and what you do sounds more like you would do to have the screen real estate. a 12 inch screen is just...really small.</p>
<p>Hell, when I have to do real photoshop work, it is all done on a calibrated 19" crt with a second smaller monitor (or the laptop screen) holding the tools and file browser. If you are going to be that serious, it wont matter because you will have a calibratied LaCie or similar crt sitting next to you on the desk but otherwise 12" is just so small.</p>
<p>Is the Powerbook getting updated anytime soon?</p>
<p>Size really matters less than resolution. Both the 14 inch iBook and the 12 inch Powerbook have a 1024 x 768 resolution screen, which means that they will both show the same amount of stuff (albeit the bigger screen will show things bigger).</p>
<p>You generally would prefer a high resolution screen for the applications that you are talking about, so I don't really know what to recommend. Of course, you could get an external monitor for when you are at the desk, in which case I would recommend the Powerbook since it has a more powerful graphics card.</p>
<p>what's gonna be on the new, upgraded ibook? i'm way excited to get mine for school next year and now i can't wait ahhh!</p>
<p>I hear people talking about how the Powerbooks are going to be updated this year. Does this apply to the ibooks as well, and what does this mean in terms of price for both the old and new iBooks?</p>
<p>Well I am waiting until July for my new laptop anyway so I can use my student discount again, so hopefully the update will be around by then. Supposedly they are announcing the updates in June, but who knows. I'm probably just going to go with the iBook again since price is sort of an issue right now.</p>
<p>I'd go with the one with the larger screen... you're going to use it alot and while you're squinting on a 12" screen you're going to regret not going with a 14" or even larger. Right now I'm using a laptop with a 17" screen but will probably go with a 14" or 15" next year.</p>
<p>Just a quick note: </p>
<p>rumors are that the iBook line will be updated at WWDC (june 6-10) and if we don't see an update there, the line will pretty much have to be updated by MacWorld in July. It's overdue for an update any day now so WWDC seems to be the most likely, so just hang on till mid-june/mid-july if you want to get an iBook.</p>
<p>As for powerbooks - I wouldn't expect an (though I would be thrilled if they did) update before sept. or october. So I'd say if you were looking at getting a powerbook, you'd be pretty safe getting one any time. </p>
<p>And from experience running quark xpress, photoshop, and a slew of other graphic production programs -- my old, slow iBook seems to handle them fine. The only thing is when working with photoshop and quark, my 12" screen pretty drives me nuts. When i upgrade computers, i'm going the 15" PB route (though I am going to wait till the next major PB revision). With RAM intensive programs like Quark and Photoshop, just make sure you soup up the computer with enough RAM to effficiently handle them.</p>
<p>Oh believe me... I am stocked up on RAM to stick in that thing!</p>
<p>I have a 12" Powerbook and I really love it. The small size isn't as bad as you'd think. Its quite handy when you're taking it with you. Though I 'm planning on getting the 17" Powerbook for college this summer (mostly because I won't be taking it with me, so the larger size doesn't bother me). Def get a Powerbook if you can afford it; they're much sturdier.</p>