<p>in my small 50 person dorm... I've seen 3 fried hard drives so far freshman year. All information gone. None of them were Macs.</p>
<p>Apple doesn't seem to run any "sales" per se, but it seems that in March and August/September (back to school time) is when they release new/updated versions of the laptops. Also, I think all new Macs come with iLife already installed. On a side note, I think it is only the "consumer computers" (iBook, iMac) that have Apple Works on them. The "professional computers" (including the powerbook) don't because I think they assume you will buy other software. Speaking of which; I would shell out the money for Office for Mac. The only compatibility issues I have seen with a Mac on campus are with those computers that don't have Office.</p>
<p>I think that Apple tends to release new products right after MacWorld which happens in January and July. They might release a new iBook in July which would drop the prices of the older iBooks in July/August but the PowerBook just got updated this January so I wouldn't expect another update so soon. I'm also looking for a new laptop as my Dell has completely died! I ordered a new Mac Mini but it came to about $700 not including a monitor, keyboard, or mouse, so I cancelled and am looking for a used/refurbished powerbook for 700-1,000. For advice check out the MacRumors forums, they usually know what their talking about.</p>
<p><3 my iBook G4. Small and mighty, can take it anywhere I go. Weighs less than anything I carry wth me.</p>
<p>Office Mac is worth the extra money..my brother says I'm a hypocrit for running Microsoft on a Mac, but...</p>
<p>We have Ibooks, have been great....one suggestion, the power cords are not great, suggest duck taping near "joint" section....make sure you get a mac-microsoft word program, there is a teacher student edition (comes with excel, word, etc) for a little over a hundred....its important for opening some attachments to emails, etc, otherwise rest of programs are great...we jsut got a G5, sooooo cooooll</p>
<p>This is what I have found: unless you are editing videos, a iBook is just the same as a powerbook- it's when the videos get involved that powerbooks are truly superior. As far as graphic design and programs like In Design, Pagemaker, and Photoshop, an iBook is all you'll need...</p>
<p>I bought the 12" and for a long time I wished I had bought the 15" until an alum from my school returned from his first semester and noted that the 12" was nice because it fits perfectly on your lap when you're crammed into a lecture hall, and you can take notes and such..just one element I never thought about, but is something to consider. Still, if I could go back I would have shelled out the extra money for the larger screen.</p>
<p>How is the processor of 12'' books? The fastest you can get is the 1.5 PowerPC and I was wondering if this was fast enough? I can get a good deal on a 12'' with 80 gig hard drive, 1.25 gig of ram, 1.5 Mhz processor for 1800.</p>
<p>If you've been using a PC for your entire life would it be hard to switch over to a Mac ? Like I've never even touched one. </p>
<p>:) I do have an iPod~</p>
<p>I eat Mac's for breakfest.</p>
<p>^^Apple offers educational discount (and it's a significant discount)</p>
<p>I have a 12" G4 PB, and I don't have a problem with the screen size.
Microsoft Office for Macs is REALLY laggy, esp. with MS Word...</p>
<p>ourTunes = gives you access to all of the music on the school network</p>
<p>Correction - like iTunes, you can only see people on your subnet of the network, which just might be your floor or maybe your whole building if its not that big.</p>
<p>Even though I'm a big PC person, and use a windows desktop, I'm probably going to be getting a 12" powerbook once the G5 version comes out. Since the new G4 came out, the student computer store here at UCLA is selling the older version (very little change from the new one) for $999 for the 12" - damn good price and very tempting, but I think i'll hold out for the more powerful ones.</p>
<p>If the iBook is as good as the Powerbook, then I'll have to reconsider my purpose.</p>
<p>icarus... guess my school is just doesn't have subnetworks then... I get music from the complete other side of campus.</p>
<p>Now that I think about it, I did buy Appleworks separately, but not from the apple store... found a cheaper price elsewhere =P (a place gave a student discount on the software, but the apple store doesn't, i think is what happened)</p>
<p>It's not hard to switch to a mac... there would be a transitional period, obviously, but once that's over you'll be amazingly happy and wondering why you didn't do it sooner. A kid in my dorm who had major computer problems this year said he's ****ed off enough, his next computer will be a mac.</p>
<p>if Apple thought the iBook was as good as the powerbook, they would be the same price. That doesn't mean the iBook won't do everything that you need your computer to do though.</p>
<p>Manderz... just tell your brother that Microsoft Office works better on Macs than it does on PCs... I do notice it lag sometimes, but I'm usually running 7+ programs at once (mail, safari, iTunes, printer controls, iCal, Appleworks, Word, AIM etc). Don't really like iChat, and haven't felt the need to switch to Adium.</p>
<p>really? thats interesting - well it can't be all one subnet... hmm must be some way to see the others. Cool - all the better for you.</p>
<p>And yes, the powerbook is better than the iBook - as soccer pointed out, there wouldn't be such a price difference if it were otherwise.
The one thing I can't stand about Macs is the one button mouse. Now I know you can add a multi-button later, but still... I can't live without my right-clicking :)</p>
<p>I made the switch to Mac about a year ago, and haven't looked back since. I haven't had a single virus, my programs rarely crash, and for those of you concerned about aesthetics, Macs are gorgeous. I have a 14'' iBook G4. 1Ghz with 512 Megs of RAM. If you get an iBook I HIGHLY suggest getting the extra RAM. It really speeds things up.</p>
<p>I do suggest getting Microsoft Office for Mac. Apple works is pretty generic. </p>
<p>I got an iPod as a graduation gift and I love how it matches my iBook (yes, I know, Im such a teenage girl).</p>
<p>The only reason I would go for the Powerbook over the iBook is if you're interested in gaming or hardcore graphics design.</p>
<p>Oh, and I second what citygirlsmom said about the power cords. The place where you plug the cord in on my iBook actually started to break off and then caught on fire. Thankfully, nothing was ruined (except the cord). I got a new cord, but I didn't go with one from Apple, mine is called an iGo. A company called Mobility Electronics makes it, and it's pretty heavy duty.</p>
<p>~Amy</p>
<p>Icarus: you might be waiting a while.
IBM has to come up with a low voltage version of the chip before Apple can do anything with it.
<a href="http://news.com.com/Apple+on+G5+PowerBook+Not+so+fast/2100-1044_3-5559311.html%5B/url%5D">http://news.com.com/Apple+on+G5+PowerBook+Not+so+fast/2100-1044_3-5559311.html</a></p>
<p>Hi guys,
I have been a PC user for my entire life.
But until after first semester in college. I have noticed there is a large number of engineering professors using Mac, and I have noticed that anyone use Mac loves it. so I think that must mean something. I am thinking about buying a powerbook</p>
<p>I got some questions about Mac, hope to get some feedbacks.</p>
<p>Is it true that Mac NEVER get virus and NEVER crashed?
Can I use Virtual PC to run every PC software, like PC games?
How do I do "cut and paste" thing on a Mac, since there is only one bottom on the mouse?</p>
<p>THX :)</p>
<p>I've had my Mac since this past Sept and I have never had it crash once... pretty good considering I use it so much.
As far as cutting and pasting goes: Press down the key with the apple and another symbol and x for cutting, v for pasting, c for copying. I had been a PC-only person before September and had been quite used to the right mouse button as well. But it really is not a big deal now that I am used to it. And it was a fairly easy adjustment.</p>
<p>No its not true that Macs never get viruses and never crash. They generally don't get viruses because there aren't any out there that are writen for the Mac OS. And they can crash just as much as a Windows machine. No OS is completely stable.
Yes you can use Virtual PC, but it is a massive (I mean huge - remember, your computer has to run two operating systems at the same time) resource hog and slows your computer, so games tend to not run very well.</p>
<p>Macs don't get viruses because they are such a small percentage of the market, that it's not worth anyone's time to make a virus for them.</p>
<p>Macs hardly ever crash. Occasionally a program will freeze, and you will end up force quitting that program, but you can start it up again no problem with the computer running fine.</p>
<p>To cut and paste u can use the apple button (known as command).</p>