If you already own a desktop, consider getting a 12" iBook if you want portability. Still has oomph, better battery life and it's cheaper (wait till next week to see if there's an update because at the very least, prices will drop on current models).

It all depends on screen res. I love my wife's 12" iBook. In most ways I prefer it to my 15" PB but I can't live with 1024x768. I'm very interested, to say the least, in the upcoming iBook update. If they make a higher res model without losing the battery life I'll be all over it.

I am not an Intel performance geek, but the ibooks are toys for children if you ask me. If you want a portable that you can trust and works for all your task go for a PB. Somebody here preferred a 12 ibook to a PB 15, which is the same as prefering Toyota to Ferrari.

Well, most Toyota's get better gas mileage are more comfortable and can carry more people and gear. One ain't necessarily better than the other.

a ferrari is most certainly better than a toyota. if you didn't want it, you could sell it and buy a toyota with a little left over. but who would sell a ferrari to buy a toyota?

so yeah, I would go for the powerbook. but again, might want to wait it out. CNN even has a story about the new updates.

perhaps you can wait a few more days and check out ibook's new offerings... since there are rumors that there will be a 15 inch ibook...

True, but in reality driving back and forth every day to work I just hate going over the speed bumps and stop and go traffic. I much prefer to drive my every day driver. That and I can't take the thing to the movie theater and just park it there, you know? Definitely wait for the rumored revision.

I hear ya. I'll just wait patiently until the new ibook revision comes out, before jumping to a hasty decision.

if you want quality you have to go with the powerbook. going between the powerbooks and the ibooks in the store, the powerbooks are built so much better. you can feel it in the keys and in the casing. i have no doubt that it performs well, but to me the extra price for slightly more power, a better screen, and better build quality, id definatley go for the powerbook.

as for the car references, the iBook is like Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, quick drives well and cheap. unfortunately so is the build quality. the powerbook is more like a BMW 5-series, quicker, drives better, and a lot more expensive. but you get what you pay for in build quality. that's my take on it.

'Tis definitely a more realistic car comparison!

I'm going to chime in, there's seems to be some talk that the PB has better quality then the ibook. I don't think apple sacrifises quality between the two models. Additionally the ibook can handle a drop a lot better then the PB. Search the forum of all of the PB owners lamenting that they now have dents and the like because of a very minor drop. The problem is that aluminum deforms easily.

I saw an apple employee drop a running iBook on to the floor from about three feet (don't try this at home) and it was still chugging.

The plastic is just more durable pure and simple.

The iBook also gets better battery life.

The differences are under the skin. The PB has a better resolution, you can span the screens if you have an external monitor (mirror only with a ibook) you can run the pb closed. The PB has FW800, DVI and a few other bells and whistles.

For me the difference was can I handle the 12 inch screen - not with my eyes. How did the 14" feel in comparison with the PB and finally since there's only a vga out and I wanted to hook it up with my cinema display, that cinched it for me - PowerBook.

I think the performance is close enough between the two that you probably won't notice it and like my thesis above the ibook's case is studier, I think if you can read the 12" pb's screen it makes a lot of sense to go with that and save yourself some money.

Good luck
Mike

I'm a 12" powerbook owner, I chose it because of the superdrive, which you still can't get with a 12" iBook. Otherwise, I would've picked the iBook because of better durability and better airport reception. As for looks, I slightly prefer the look of the iBook. But the keyboard of the PB is definitey better. I think when you go to an Apple store and see all your options, side-by-side, it would be much easier to decide. You'll know which features matter most to you. Agree that performance wise, they are close enough that it isn't a big factor.

What indication do you have that the PB is better built? I own both and, if anything, the iBook is the more durable machine. It would take a lot more force to crack the polycarbonate shell of hte iBook then it does to dent the aluminum of the PB.

The keyboard is better on the PB - no doubt. The iBook's keyboard flexes more. I assume this is because it lifts up for access to the RAM/WiFi while the PB has a solid backing. But I don't see how you can extrapolate this one difference into an overall statement about build quality.

Like others have said, the biggest choice comes down to the screen. (As a side note I'm bitterly disappointed that today's iBook updates are so minor. I was fully prepared to go buy a higher res, widescreen iBook today.)

The updates are here and laughable.
But then again, Apple's a genius at Mind Control (aka 'think secret'). Consider this: they upped specs that were available nearly 8 months ago. This, a 10 month update, mind you.

All this to say, Apple's a genius in marketing (no genius observation there). They love to play the anticipation, sweaty palms, rumor mills, and hustle everyone with specs that make us feel better for waiting and harboring ludicrous delusions.

Think, in another few weeks, there'll be a PowerBook update that we'll go gaga over, simply to justify our own delusions for having waited it out this long, expecting better.
Go Apple.

the ibook may be more durable, but when you press the keys they just feel more flimsy and not as well put together as the powerbook. use them side by side and you can tell. i could tell just from a press of the track pad button

Not with the Mactels on the horizon.

LOL - you think Apple's going to sit on the already outdated PowerBook specs for another year (when they go Intel)???

It might not be in a couple of weeks, but it will surely be by sometime this fall that there will be another bump in the specs for the PowerBooks, with further tweeks and price drops.

BTW, I was also fabulously underwhelmed with today's iBook "updates." The increased ram, and $200 price drop for the top-of-the-line iBook was nice, but the pathetic 32MB graphics chip still doesn't support Core Image (or does it? I've read mixed reviews on this), and how about the incredible jump from 1.33 to 1.42 GHz? A whopping 6.7% speed bump? wOOt! (not!!)

I'm still hoping to buy a 1.8+ Ghz G4 PoweBook this fall, to replace my "aging" 1 GHz TiBook from 11/02 - don't disappoint me, Apple! I want PPC at it's peak, since I won't trust revision A of MacIntel PowerBooks (which will probably run my PPC apps more slowly, in emulation).



iBorg

I think there might be a slight bump in specs but not a G5.

I hunkered down and bought a 15" PB yesterday night.

Might not last me as long as I'd prefer, but at least it'll do until that day.

Quite simply yes. With the Mactels on the horizon you bet. if we even see a PB refresh it will be very minor. Just look at the iBook refresh, nothing too special.

Consensus is that the PB and iBook lines are going to be first mactel computers because they're been the longest w/o a major update. Apple is not about to bring out a major update on the PB's when in 2006 they'll be coming out with a major platform shift.

Mike

I didn't say G5, (I said a faster G4!) - I merely pointed out the ridiculousness of your suggestion that there wouldn't be a speed bump until the move the Intel next year!



iBorg

Uh-uh. Mactels are hardly "on the horizon," one year away. (And that's the projected timing, which is almost always delayed, made this far in advance.)

The meager 6.7% speed bump in the iBook to 1.42 GHz, was to avoid cannibalizing sales of the more profitable PowerBook, if the speed differential was too minimal. There is no way in hell that the PowerBook line will be stuck at 1.67 GHz for over a year, while awaiting the move to Intel. It won't be a G5, but will be 1.8+ GHz (or better), with other tweaks to graphics, etc., and another price drop. It'll come this fall, hopefully before classes begin, but more likely when the current mini iPod promotion ends in late September.



iBorg

Uhh, 1.67 to 1.8 is a meager jump.

That's what I'm going to do. I have a PowerMac G4 DP 1.25 (FW800) and 17-inch Studio Display on my desk, but going to get the 12-inch iBook on next Monday.