Forums | MacLife

lokey · 2002-12-15 12:39 am

Hey everyone... I've been sorta lurking here for a while reading posts and deciding my eventual computer destiny. After a 10 year or so hiatus from the Mac world, I'm thinking about dumping PCs and go with a Mac for my laptop. I need something to use on campus that is portable and reliable with a good battery life.... the iBook obviously fits that. Nothing in the PC world seems to compare. I do have some questions though if anyone could answer... thanks in advance.

By the way... I'm looking at the 12" 800Mhz iBook.

1. What is the actual battery life of the iBook in your experiences?
2. Is the AC adapter bulky or is it easy to carry around?
3. How do you like AppleWorks? Should I get MS Office or is AppleWorks good enough for my basic word processing needs?
4. What is the word on the AirPort cards and base? I've heard rumors of upgrades very shortly? Should I wait till after MW in January to get these?
5. Are you happy with the G3? (I'd love a G4 laptop, but its too big and I need portability)
6. Any thing I should look into, configuration recommendations or extra stuff you think i might need?

Thanks again... looking forward to your recommendations and such!

lokey · 2002-12-15 11:16 am

big_smile Thanks for your reply D'Eyncourt! I appreciate you taking the time. I'll be sure to get AppleCare as I've been seriously considering it recently you helped me decide.

As for buying third-party RAM, does anyone recommend a certain brand? I've never added/changed RAM in an Apple, let alone a laptop. In the PC I've always been told that you get the best RAM for the price at Crucial.com. Is that the case with Apple computers or no?

garrythegarlic · 2002-12-15 11:26 am

http://www.crucial.com/

Crucial has always provided me with good stuff. You CAN get cheeper RAM, but the one time I did, I ended up sending it back minus %15 restocking free and shipping, and getting Crucial anyway.

Oh and adding more RAM to the iBooks is so easy even Apple will tell you you can do it yourself (I think). There is one little screw between the F5 and F6 keys that you turn like half a notch, then there are tabs just before the last key of the keyboard on the top left and top right. Retract those, lift the keyboard, remove the airport card if you have one, two more screws (the bottom of my keyboard has a picture showing which ones) and there is your RAM slot. I think the full instructions for doing this were even in my manual.

iKst · 2002-12-15 12:16 pm

Hey everyone... I've been sorta lurking here for a while reading posts and deciding my eventual computer destiny. After a 10 year or so hiatus from the Mac world, I'm thinking about dumping PCs and go with a Mac for my laptop. I need something to use on campus that is portable and reliable with a good battery life.... the iBook obviously fits that. Nothing in the PC world seems to compare. I do have some questions though if anyone could answer... thanks in advance.

By the way... I'm looking at the 12" 800Mhz iBook.

1. What is the actual battery life of the iBook in your experiences?
2. Is the AC adapter bulky or is it easy to carry around?
3. How do you like AppleWorks? Should I get MS Office or is AppleWorks good enough for my basic word processing needs?
4. What is the word on the AirPort cards and base? I've heard rumors of upgrades very shortly? Should I wait till after MW in January to get these?
5. Are you happy with the G3? (I'd love a G4 laptop, but its too big and I need portability)
6. Any thing I should look into, configuration recommendations or extra stuff you think i might need?

Thanks again... looking forward to your recommendations and such!

1. I have my iBook 700 for few weeks now and i get from 3.5h to 5h battery life. When i take notes in class i only use Word and i put screen to min. brightness. 5h is not a problem then. And i get cca. 3.5 if i watch VCD with full brightness.

2. Adapter that came with my ibook is small. It has those cool flaps that helo you wrap wire around so it is realy portable. Cool.

3. I use MS office for taking notes and other "office" stuff. But im planning to switch to appleworks. Appleworks are much faster but MS office has some nice features. I will probably need some time to switch.
And AW can read MS word and excel docs. So compatibility isnt realy a problem.

4. I dont know anything about airport sorry.

5. I am happy with G3. It runs OSX ok, non-altivec apps run fast and thise altivec also run ok. I can easily edit movies with iMovie and work in Photoshop.
I have 384 ram in my iBook and it is fast. I also have 1.2 athlon on my desk but it doesnt get much atention sice i got iBook. And radeon 7500 is realy sweet, i can play MOHAA and UT with no problems.

6. Get 800mhz if you can, put 640ram in it and buy ext. firewire hdd if you need one. I got 80gig and its cool. It is faster than internal disk and i have all my games installed on it so i can only have important things and mp3s on my internal disk.

Well...i like this computer. Its cool, small and light and it has enough power for normal users and those who like something more but are not pros.
Better than any PC laptop and much cheaper and more silent than PowerBook. Perfect for students.

ike6116 · 2002-12-15 1:10 pm

As for RAM, I ALWAYS get crucial. You could pay a little bit less but for bad RAM it wouldn't be worth it. Crucial has prompt shipping, a great site, and excellent RAM, they cannot be beat.

As for AppleWorks, well, if you are used to Word and can afford it get that. You'll be more familiar with Word and it's documents will be more portable. AppleWorks is pretty terrible at this point. If you don't have the money there is always OpenOffice. big_smile

cyko95 · 2002-12-17 10:43 pm

1. What is the actual battery life of the iBook in your experiences?
On my 12.1 it's about 3.5 to 4 hours

2. Is the AC adapter bulky or is it easy to carry around?
It's quite small compared to most laptops. And the cord is short, with an extension that plugs right in if you need more length.

3. How do you like AppleWorks? Should I get MS Office or is AppleWorks good enough for my basic word processing needs?
Personally, I like, and I HATE to say it, MS Office X better than AW.

4. What is the word on the AirPort cards and base? I've heard rumors of upgrades very shortly? Should I wait till after MW in January to get these?
Can't answer this for ya. Sorry.

5. Are you happy with the G3? (I'd love a G4 laptop, but its too big and I need portability)
Most people, including me, do not need a G4 for most things done mobile. I'm happy with it. Keep in mind that this isn't the same G3 that first came out. They've came a long way.

6. Any thing I should look into, configuration recommendations or extra stuff you think i might need?
AppleCare, External Mouse, biggest hard drive available, and the most RAM you can get too!

Have Fun and Good Luck!

starrjellie · 2002-12-18 12:20 am

Make the switch to Mac. You won't regret it! I got my iBook today - 12" 800 MHz. It's everything I thought it would be and more! The AC adapter is not bulky at all. I'll keep you posted on the battery life when I know for sure.

milenko11 · 2002-12-18 11:47 am

1. What is the actual battery life of the iBook in your experiences?
2. Is the AC adapter bulky or is it easy to carry around?
3. How do you like AppleWorks? Should I get MS Office or is AppleWorks good enough for my basic word processing needs?
4. What is the word on the AirPort cards and base? I've heard rumors of upgrades very shortly? Should I wait till after MW in January to get these?
5. Are you happy with the G3? (I'd love a G4 laptop, but its too big and I need portability)
6. Any thing I should look into, configuration recommendations or extra stuff you think i might need?

1. Like the others i get 3.5 hours easily and more depending on what i'm doing. i usually have airport on and can get a little over 3 hours
2. never had a problem with the ac adapter being too big. it's fairly small compared to some laptops
3. appleworks is good enough for basic needs. Office will offer you more but if you are just typing up papers appleworks will be fine
4. there could be new ones coming out. the thing is, if you are going to just use wireless internet and not networking then the current ones will do you fine because the current airport can handle anything your isp can give you. but if you wait you probably will be able to get the current stuff cheaper.
5. i bought the ibook because of how small it is. i didn't want a Ti. they are too big for me. the speed is not an issue and i only have a 600 so you should be fine with a new one.
6. definatly max out the ram. throw in a 512 chip. you won't regret it and they are cheap enough

novocaineuser · 2002-12-18 10:00 pm

Just wanted to add that I work on and off in the entertainment business, and someone I met at work, uses an iBook 800mhz with Final Cut Pro, and records straight from camera to the iBook. It's a GREAT machine.

Red_Soldier · 2002-12-18 10:30 pm

I'll be sure to get AppleCare as I've been seriously considering it recently you helped me decide. ?

http://www.froogle.com/froogle?q=AppleCare%2BiBook

Something interesting that I discovered today is that you can purchase AppleCare from third parties....its news to me. Thought it would help.

icebook1 · 2002-12-21 1:17 pm

Well, I got a 500MHz iBook about a week after they came out. It's about 1 1/2 years old now, and doing great.

When it was new, battery life was about 4 hours. I remember how impressed I was, as my previous laptop was a 5300c that got about 1 hour. Now I'm down to about 2 hours. This is because I use the battery quite heavily (drain it) almost everyday.

Um... I started out on 9.1 and moved up to OS X. Quite frankly, I love OS X. I've got Jaguar (10.2) and love it.

Speed-wise... Mac OS X runs great. Although I find myself constantly lusting after a flat-panel iMac, I know that my trusty little iBook does everything I need it to do. And quite well at that.

As far as AppleWorks vs. Office... I use both on a daily basis. Word X is great if you just want to type letters and not get too fancy with inserting graphics. AppleWorks is faster by far, and I think it does better with graphics. I like the fact that it's an all in one app, and I can quickly switch to drawing or painting mode if I need to make a diagram of something. I can then group it (Command-G) and copy it into my WP document. It's never been that easy with Word.

My power adapter is the round one (a.k.a. the "yo yo") and I think it's fine. A little big for travel purposes, but overall good. The one thing that I hate about it is the white cord that attaches to the bottom. The connecter is pretty large and doesn't fit in my bag that well. But, this shouldn't be an issue for you, cause you're getting a new one (where the adapter is like that of an iPod)

Oh, and speaking of bags, if you're getting an iBook, you need to have a nice carrying case. I have the iceBook Bag from Dr.Bott and love it. It's small enough to toss in a backpack, and has a magazine pouch on the back to carry my issue of MacAddict. Inside, there is room for my iBook and then a zipper-pouch to carry cords.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I have the original iBook 500. You may be thinking that I have heaps of RAM and a huge HD. Well, I don't. I've got 192MB of RAM and a 10GB hard drive. The RAM I purchased from www.18004memory.com (got a stick of 128, have 64 on the board). The HD is stock.

Good luck with your purchase, and I hope that I could answer your questions.

titok16 · 2002-12-21 4:15 pm

actually, you cant get "applecare" without buying it from apple. well, its not applecare, but, it's repair for stuff and stuff...i got a contract with service net THEY SUCK!!!! DONT GET IT
well, im thinking that 3rd party insurance offers pro's too.....for instance, if they are PC ppl, and know nothing about macs, you can convince them that they have to fix something. however, it took me a good 6 months of calling pretty much every day to convince them to fix my computer. however, applecare would probably always deny you ithink.....
applecare also offers software help, i assume...that might be helpful

however, the bottom line is, whichever you decide to buy (i would get applecare if i had to buy insurance again, service net sucks soooo muck) THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT YOU SHOULLD WAIT UNTIL YOUR FREE 1 YEAR WARRANTY IS ALMOST UP. IF YOU HAVE HAD PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT THE FIRST YEAR, BUY APPLECARE, SINCE THERE MIGHT BE A FLAW IN YOUR COMPUTER/COMPUTER USEAGE/AREA THAT CAUSES PROBLEMS. HOWEVER, IF YOU DO A YEAR WITH NO MAJOR PROBLEMS, THINK ABOUT WHETHER YOU NEED APPLECARE...MOST STUFF BREAKS WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR.
eek
tito

iboy · 2002-12-22 3:20 am

I'd love a G4 laptop, but its too big and I need portability!

Actually, in terms of volume, the Powerbook G4 is smaller than the 12 inch iBook.

Nefarious · 2002-12-22 3:20 pm

If you're a clumsy swine or have relatives, guests and dogs as such -- get Applecare, especially for expensive or mission critical Macs.

Be sure to have backup. A Firewire drive is my preference.

As for Appleworks, I use it for drawing up presentations, but ThinkFree Office is also a leading MS Office competitor. I use Wordperfect for Mac in classic mode (Corel is the current owner of Wordperfect and must be corrupted by MS money).

titok16 · 2002-12-22 3:41 pm

hey! eek
dont be tricked into thinking that applecare will cover that kind of stuff!!! anything you do, or your dog does, or anything, is not covered by apple. the only things that are covered are if something breaks on its own. like, if your hard drive suddenly stops working, or blacklight dies.
applecare does not cover anything if you drop your computer, accidentally break anything, or spill anything on it....
just so you know
tito

reh · 2002-12-22 6:23 pm

I've been VERY happy with my 12" iBook 800 Combo.

If you do want MS Office, I think that $199 promo is over Jan 7.

PowerMacMan · 2002-12-22 7:42 pm

hey!
dont be tricked into thinking that applecare will cover that kind of stuff!!!

Yepp. And if anybody knows that, it is me.

About one week after receiving my iBook 500, I left the room to get a snack. When I came back, I died inside after seeing that my two cats had put their mouthes around the LCD and left very visible chew lines on the screen, as well as chewed up the power adapter, the mouse button, and the palm rest.

Apple would do nothing... sad

Oh well, that iBook 500 is gone (Mostly because of the damage, which made me go mad everytime I looked at it), and now I have a very well protected, away-from-kitties iBook 700.

jrethorst · 2006-08-30 12:31 am

Nefarious Bidding wrote:
As for Appleworks, I use it for drawing up presentations, but ThinkFree Office is also a leading MS Office competitor. I use Wordperfect for Mac in classic mode (Corel is the current owner of Wordperfect and must be corrupted by MS money).

It probably is, and has a lot of company. But WordPerfect (which runs without problems in Tiger, and has a Spotlight search plugin) has plenty of support at the Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wordperfectmac/, including links to the free download of the last Mac version, the necessary OS 8/9/Classic updater, over a hundred third-party files and links, and an active discussion/support forum.

akb825 · 2006-08-30 3:25 am

You've got to be kidding me, this is a 3.5 year old thread. I'm pretty sure all issues were solved about... 3.5 years ago.

tigerwolf7 · 2006-08-30 11:31 am

I love that GIF! I started reading this thread, and was going to ask the original poster why they weren't considering a Macbook...until I saw the age of the post!

More than 3.5 years has to be some kind of record!

Forums | MacLife

#1 2002-12-15 12:39 am

Questions from a potential Switcher

#2 2002-12-15 11:16 am

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

#3 2002-12-15 11:26 am

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

#4 2002-12-15 12:16 pm

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

#5 2002-12-15 1:10 pm

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

#6 2002-12-17 10:43 pm

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

#7 2002-12-18 12:20 am

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

#8 2002-12-18 11:47 am

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#9 2002-12-18 10:00 pm

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

#10 2002-12-18 10:30 pm

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

#11 2002-12-21 1:17 pm

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

#12 2002-12-21 4:15 pm

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

#13 2002-12-22 3:20 am

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#14 2002-12-22 3:20 pm

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#15 2002-12-22 3:41 pm

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#16 2002-12-22 6:23 pm

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#17 2002-12-22 7:42 pm

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

#18 2006-08-30 12:31 am

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

Nefarious Bidding wrote:

#19 2006-08-30 3:25 am

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

#20 2006-08-30 11:31 am

Re: Questions from a potential Switcher

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