[ShopGirl]

Hey

 I want to buy a new laptop, mainly for images & film...been thinking powerbook (remortgaging the house!!) but read a review that suggested ibook is better for wi-fi connection due to being housed in plastic.. Is it just general pros & cons between the two, or is one definately better than the other?

Also, want to buy it at the cheapest price possible, heard that you can buy them in Singapore super cheap, but I'm struggling to get any info on the web.. Is tax free at the airport or USA a better/cheaper way to buy?? Ahhhh so many questions.....

Big thanks  :D

[Bubba]

If you're trying to save money then don't buy a mac!

[vivahate]

if you are a student or know a student they get massive discounts on apple.com, probally 20% depending on what you want. 2nd hand is always cheap as well, specially for apples, but cheap iBooks are quite slow.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

20% may be a be optimistic, you've got to remember that the 'Apple store for education' excludes VAT.

Mac laptops are a classic example of 'you pay for what you get'. In my opinion they are without equal in terms of design/build quality/compactness, but you do have to pay over the odds compared to PC laptops. (at least £900 for a tricked out one, with 512mb and DVD-writer essential to make good use of iMovie etc)

I haven't heard of any problems with wireless connection to a metal Powerbook, they probably use the case as an aerial! Powerbooks are a bit faster, a bit smaller and a lot more shiny, however personally I don't think they are as tough as iBooks. We have several sets of older iBooks out in our schools and they stand up pretty well to use in the classroom, unlike most laptops.

[ShopGirl]

Ay, I know that Macs are more pennies, but I want to save cash and have the laptop of my dreams!! Here's the comments I found about the ariel/metal body.....

"And here we come to the bugbear of the PowerBook design. As Thomas Faraday discovered, the magnetic field inside a shell of metal is uniform. Hence the 'Faraday cage', used to block out intrusive radio signals..........
However, I found the wireless reception disappointing compared to the iBook, which has a plastic casing that doesn't absorb signals. Where the iBook would report 80-86 per cent signal strength, the PowerBook would be lower - 60-65 per cent. Sometimes it lost the signal altogether at a point where the iBook was reporting 80+ per cent - though I think those cases were due to something strange in Mac OS X 10.3.7, which can be slow to rejoin networks, especially after 'sleep'."
From http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/24/review_apple_pb_15in/page2.html
I want to get the best I can whilst I have the money, the plan for me is to be travelling a lot, so good connectivity & toughness sounds like a winner as long as I'm not losing out on other stuff..
A friend has been checking out the savings buying Tax free at the airport & you can save a lot... If I find a gbetter way to buy them cheap I'll pass on the word!!

[Bubba]

Also think of the software - you can download free "copies" of just about any windows software you can think of - I'm not sure this applies to the mac world in the same way.

Mac's are pretty, but overrated imho - OSx / Win XP == little difference.

Sorry for being cynical, it's just I've used macs a fair bit and am yet to be convinced of any tangible superiority over windows. And of course, Bill Gates has a massive shareholding in Apple, so really you're buying Microsoft anyway

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

:D[web]http://fishbowl.pastiche.org/2004/05/25/the_mac_is_a_harsh_mistress[/web] :D

[Yossarian]

i use a 17" powerbook everyday, connected to wireless in the office, and it works upto about 20m outside.  and our wireless thingy isn't that powerful.  i don't think it's any worse that any other laptop here.  

it is awesome, and i love using it more than the nasty black boxes i've had in the past.

[ShopGirl]

:D[web]http://fishbowl.pastiche.org/2004/05/25/the_mac_is_a_harsh_mistress[/web] :D

Fantastic!!

I'm definately getting a Mac, wouldn't even consider a PC anyway.. Was applewashed many years ago at art school... Got a friend checking out tax free prices on the way back from the US.. cool.. still unsure about ibook vs powerbook so I'm going to head to a shop & have a play..

[vivahate]

im psyched on my mac, only had it for a month and still getting used to all of the commands and stuff, i think when i have the intellimouse bluetooth mouse and get a digital camera it will really come into its own.

[ShopGirl]

im psyched on my mac, only had it for a month and still getting used to all of the commands and stuff, i think when i have the intellimouse bluetooth mouse and get a digital camera it will really come into its own.

Awesome, did you get a laptop? If so, which one???!!!

[vivahate]

no i got a Imac, my girlfriend has a ibook, the cheapest one, and its got pretty slow with her Mp3 collection and a few programmes installed, so i guess if i were you i'd look into a powerbook or a better ibook if you want to edit videos.