Rating: 
Summary: Daziling Laptop
Review: At nearly the 1 GHz speed and with identical specs, this is a great value. Also, while not mentioned here, this does include all the latest software included with more recent, faster models, including iLife (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand), AppleWorks, Mac OS X Panther, Quicken 2004 for Mac, World Book 2004 Edition, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, and Deimos Rising. The hardware is identical to more recent, faster models as well. Aside from these notes, I can say I'm very impressed with the Mac experience, as this is my first Mac. The quality of the design of the hardware and software is unending and flawless. This is a great, lightweight (7.9 lbs) laptop for using to create documents or surf wirelessly. I highly recommend adding the Airport Extreme card, not included.
Rating:
Summary: Great value.
Review: At nearly the 1 GHz speed and with identical specs, this is a great value. Also, while not mentioned here, this does include all the latest software included with more recent, faster models, including iLife (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand), AppleWorks, Mac OS X Panther, Quicken 2004 for Mac, World Book 2004 Edition, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, and Deimos Rising. The hardware is identical to more recent, faster models as well. Aside from these notes, I can say I'm very impressed with the Mac experience, as this is my first Mac. The quality of the design of the hardware and software is unending and flawless. This is a great, lightweight (7.9 lbs) laptop for using to create documents or surf wirelessly. I highly recommend adding the Airport Extreme card, not included.
Rating:
Summary: 14.1" iBook by Apple
Review: First of all, let me say that I paid the 1500 dollars in September, before they changed all the iBooks to G4s and the USB ports to 2.0 . Why is this important? Well, a few reasons. Final Cut Pro only works on G4s. I paid 699 dollars for the upgrade that my computer could certainly handle, however the software was designed to look for a G4 or G5 in order for installing. So, as that wouldn't have been too aggrivating until I tried to take it back to CompUSA which I soon found out has a zip-O-la return policy, I got a bit peeved at both CompUSA and Apple Software design. Well, within two months of my purchase the 'new' G4 iBooks were on the net to buy, and I had my answer on Apples ideas for makeing a touch more money by getting me to buy a new laptop, if I want to run something like.. oh Final Cut Pro, or some animation software on the market. However, the reason I put five stars wasn't Apple's beautiful software marketing and design, or CompUSAs ability to move a person to consider programming a video game thats objective is strangling CompUSA employees. The real reason is that for laptops, and for this price, it is a quality laptop. You see, I can't justify to myself paying over 1500 of a base price for a tool that I'm going to be using out of my home. At any moment it could be stolen and I am much more at peace with a loss of 1500 dollars for a top of the line iBook which can be much more readily replaced than 3000 dollars for a top of the line PowerBook. My laptop has survived a 2 ft plus drop while open from a bed to a not so plush carpeted floor. There wasn't too much destruction done other than some of the lineing on the left edge of the screen and the battery doesn't fit as smoothly as before. Everything still works, including all the ports I use, like the USB, firewire, 56K Modem, and the Adapter port. It works fine on battery and plugged in, so I really didn't lose any functionality. The laptop operating system doesn't break down, although it does freeze every once in a while. The software that it comes with is very useful, and handy, and not as annoying as say, windows media player.. The text editing software that it comes with is ahhhhh!!!ggrrr.. when you try to program html initially.. fortunately, after going to the preferences you can fix this loading html pages as a web browser does initial setting. iTunes is fun, and useful, and the only drawback is that it doesn't read the song encoding on CDs that Windows Media Player does. So you have to either manually type the name of the song in by hand, or buy your songs off the internet at a buck a piece. The iPhoto works fine and allows for some adjustment, but if you're into adjusting your photos, use nothing less than Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 . Photoshop might well be a waste of 600 plus dollars if you get good at Elements 2.0 . In fact.. I'd dare say Adobe Illustrator and Elements 2.0 could be a grand combo. Safari is a good browser with annoyances with interpreting java on the web. No joke, web browsers that understand Java well on the web on macs are rare as leopard seals. There is only two of them. One is the Microsoft Internet Explorer(who stopped making new IEs for mac because Safari does everything it does) and the other is Safari. Every other web browser.. say.. mozilla?? like Netscape 7.01, Firebird .7 and Mozilla and Camino seem to all be carbonized. And the problem? Well, for some reason, carbonizing does not like Java or something. No Java, no chatting, or java online gaming. So the only chatting you can do say on Yahoo is on Safari and IE. No problem, they are both free. And Safari is included with all the new macs. But for your daily web browsing, you might want to download Firebird .7 . After you get the tab browsing down and the various keyboard commands, you will find its just the best daily browser out there. It runs secure bank transactions in xml fine and quickly. As a bonus AppleWorks comes with every new iBook, so you definitely have a decent word processor. But don't be fooled with the Microsoft Office that seems to be included, Microsoft wouldn't forgoe a profit that easily. The Microsoft Office on the computer is a 30 day trial. Office X is 500 dollars. Not too much for full licensing for a single user. And well worth it if you're in college or otherwise use it frequently. Look at QuarkXPress for some serious pricing.. oww. The clock is nifty and calendar is useful, and the internet options are easily read in the upper menu bar. And for entertainment, you can talk to the computer and it will do what you say.. if you can speak it well enough for the computer.. you know.. the standard speech recognition flaw. The fun thing about all this is that you talk to the chess game and play an entire chess game by speaking alone. It's actually pretty nifty. There is enough computer software out there for the mac, especially if you want to get work done and you work with video or images. The Mac OS X and Mac OS 9.2 don't save files quite the same way which can be a touch annoying if you are using old macs at school still. You have to specify the exact program to open this or that file between the two operating systems. This is easy enough.. as long as its only a file or two, come ten or so, and it gets a bit annoying. On the good end, it is more compatable with pcs now. There is a decent software translation of Windows XP for purchase for ultimate compatability. Wasn't too bad, but as always.. anything Microsoft runs as slow as a slug. Try a G5 if you want to run the Windows XP translation a lot. If Windows XP freezes, it doesn't freeze OS X, and thats kinda nice. Adobe has most of there popular software available on the mac, and so does Macromedia. And Living Language has their 9.0 versions of Language Lessons in plenty of European and Asian languages available on Mac. Also, if your into Video, Adobe dropped Premiere because Final Cut Pro was kicking their but in earning the market share. And if your into animation software, Cinema 4D 8.5v and Maya 5 both support mac, as well as Lightwave. So as far as getting something done, the mac is awesome.. it doesn't freeze much if you treat it decent(don't run a zillion programs at once). It simply works, and has better compatability than Linux. Although Linux rocks too, Mac OS X is a Unix base with more compatability. It is simply more compatable with stability than Linux. Microsoft Windows? Well, its compatable with a bonus of being hacked and virus wrecked and blue screened every so often. In other words... Microsoft Windows tends to limit me getting anything done.. particularly in Graphics Design degree which of course is only macs. As far as games, of course most of the games out there are made for windows. On the other hand, many might argue that if you are a real gamer, you own an XBox or a PS2 already. Besides, Microsoft XP is available for Mac. Like I said, get a G5 for that kind of thing. The chatting programs? Well, Windows Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and AOL instant messenger, as well as the OS X customized iChat version of AOL instant messenger that comes with any new mac. The Yahoo Messenger can't do as much as it can on Windows.. on the other hand.. it doesn't get hacked like the one on Windows, which doesn't freeze my computer, which makes my life a bit easier. If you're into video, you should remember two things.. one, VCD format. You know, that old laser disk format that any CD burner can place on a CD-R/RW. two.. if your into business cards, the business card CD-Rs can hold video flash presentations as well. So, basically, if your not looking for 2 hour movies on a dvd, you can easily burn animations as well as edit them from the CD-Rs on the iBooks. The other detail is that 400 firewire is the only thing sold on iBooks. 800 firewire is considered 'professional'. However, although my 400 dollar Olympus digital camera can make short videos, it, like many Digital Cameras on the market, does not have firewire. In fact, that is much more likely to be restricted to digital camcorders. Such as my Digital Camcorder does have. Still, you still have to look for a firewire port, not all camcorders have them. Hopefully, you found my review helpful. Oh, one more helpful hint. Certain Epson scanners come with Photoshop Elements 2.0 . A good piece of software with a needed accessory. I definitely recommend it. ArcSoftware is the usual accessory. Don't be fooled.. although its fun and useful, for work with multiple photos, nothing beats Elements 2.0 . Hope you all enjoy this laptop if you buy it. Obviously every business is out to make money and Apple is no different. But Apple OS X and Apple laptops as a combo are better and more useful than nearly anything with Windows on it. Brian
Rating: 
Summary: Bad reliability and tech supports
Review: I have bought an Apple 933 MHz G4 iBook for my wife. It worked beautifully in the first few days. Then it would not start up at all. My wife called Apple tech supports. After few questions, the lady realized my wife was not quite knowledgeable in the iBook and required some hand holding to debug the problem. She hanged up on her. I would never expect Apple support people would do that at all! The 2nd tech support was much more helpful. After running some tests, he decided the hard disk was not working and asked my wife to bring it to a nearby Best Buy for repairing. Best Buy asked us to pay for the shipping fee. We then called the tech support again. We were asked to bring it to a nearby Apple store so we don't need to pay for the shipping fee due to it's within 90 days of the purchase. It looks like the tech supports were more interested in whether we wanted to buy their Apple Care than fixing our problem. I always have very high opinions on Apple products until now. Later on I found out Apple.com has lots of informaiton regarding iBook problems and how to fix them. I was able to fix the start up problem after I have tried several instructions at Apple.com. But the computer failed again with the same problem the very next day! This time I could not get it work per Apple.com's instructions. I would suggest people check the Apple web site for all known problems before they buy any Apple product. I also found out that Amazon's supports were very responsive throughout this event.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrendous Customer Service
Review: I ordered my Ibook on the 5th of Dec.2003 received it on the 10th. Right out of the box it malfunctioned so they offered to repair it. That was the 10th of Dec. Now its Jan, 5/2004 still not fixed. I've talked to so many diff customer service represents, they are all courteous but none of them know whats going on. For about 15 days in Dec. the laptop was lost!!! they had no idea where it was. They are always trying to transfer you to another person who is just as unhelpful and would put me on hold hours at a time. I even spoke to one person who kept on refering to Apple as Phillips and I would correct him every now and then asking him, Dont you mean apple? I mean come on!! at least know what company you work for. I tried returning it but they wont let me on technicality and I had it for less than 2 days. Talk about frustrating experience..go get a dell
terrific customer service and you actually get to talk to people who know the name of their own company.
Rating:
Summary: Horrendous Customer Service
Review: I ordered my Ibook on the 5th of Dec.2003 received it on the 10th. Right out of the box it malfunctioned so they offered to repair it. That was the 10th of Dec. Now its Jan, 5/2004 still not fixed. I've talked to so many diff customer service represents, they are all courteous but none of them know whats going on. For about 15 days in Dec. the laptop was lost!!! they had no idea where it was. They are always trying to transfer you to another person who is just as unhelpful and would put me on hold hours at a time. I even spoke to one person who kept on refering to Apple as Phillips and I would correct him every now and then asking him, Dont you mean apple? I mean come on!! at least know what company you work for. I tried returning it but they wont let me on technicality and I had it for less than 2 days. Talk about frustrating experience..go get a dell
terrific customer service and you actually get to talk to people who know the name of their own company.
Rating:
Summary: Great Computer
Review: I use this as a travel computer for work. All work PC's are dell machines. Word documents, Excel documents, and power point presentations can all move back and forth between the mac and the dell without problems. Obviously email and websurfing are interchangeable, too. This is my favorite computer. Small, light, large screen, holds personal photos and music, and almost never crashes. Compared to our Dells, this computer is a rock-solid saint.
Battery lasts a long time, plays DVD's, burns CD's that can be read by PC's.
Reasonable price, great value.
Rating:
Summary: amazing bargain, fast & solid computer
Review: I've had my ibook G4 933 for a month now. I got it from amazon with their fantastic rebate and free shipping. So far, it's unmodified, but I've ordered 512 of ram. The computer is fantastic. It feels very solid. Everyone who sees it comments that it looks like the older ibooks but better. The keyboard is a giant step up from older ibook keyboards, and I prefer it to the powerbook keyboard. I have not experienced any of the mild problems that were reported with very early ibook g4s. I have been driving an external 8x dvd burner through firewire with no problems. Also use an external monitor with screen spanning. Everything is completely plug and play, including cameras, printer, scanner, and ipod. I love this computer!
Rating:
Summary: Great revision. Best laptop?
Review: I've owned three iBooks. The clamshell was a sturdy design, but heavy and limited. My G3 iBook 800 was great, worked well, but the screen was a little small (dense) and it didn't quite fit on the lap. Plus I wasn't a fan of the drive tray. So this new design is far better. It is much sturdier. They replaced EVERY material in construction for the better, improved battery life, and it is much faster. It might just be the perfect laptop at any price. For most people, it can even replace a desktop. Comes with tony hawk, plays beautifully. All other apps I have work perfectly, airport extreme is faster than airport, and keyboard is MUCH better (no longer squishy, better feedback). You will not regret buying this machine. Not sure that the 1GHz is worth the extra money. This model hits the sweet spot.
Rating:
Summary: Another Great Mac!
Review: Looks like Apple hit a home run with this one. This has been the best upgrade since my LC. With Panther my 933 is one fast machine. I downloaded US Army and it runs that with no problems. Max out the memory and get Apple Care. With broadband this one great appliance.
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