Rating: 
Summary: I Feel Like A Kid Again! More Fun Than My Apple II+
Review: ...This machine is PERFECT! I bought an Apple iBook Notebook M8603LL/A (700-MHz PowerPC G3, 256 MB RAM, 30 GB hard drive). I also bought a 20 GB iPod, a wireless base station, an Airport card, a 1-year membership to .Mac and the extended service agreement. I also bought Quicken and Microsoft Office.The whole package was not cheap however it works AMAZING. The iTunes/iPod ease of use and seamless integration is the best and no one should ever buy an old-fashioned .mp3 player that only holds 90 minutes. The iPhoto allowed me to build a slideshow and order photos on-line in less than an hour. The iMovie instantly recognized my JVC Mini DV Camera and Microsoft Office talks with my PC based office without a problem! I have few complaints expect this box is not cheap, the additional service contract is too expensive and I bought additional memory from 8004MEMORY to get the max RAM (Apple's extra RAM is too expensive). This has been a dream computer than NEVER freezes and I no longer think of words such as .bat, .ini, etc. If you buy one get a bigger hard drive if you plan to make movies, buy additional memory and if you want to use the iBook as a desktop replacement you may want to buy a bigger keyboard and a mouse. We bought one from Logitech that is made for Mac that has a number of iTunes and email functions on the keyboard. Also if you own a Mac and don't have Jaguar yet, GET IT. It is great looking and brings your Mac into the new century!
Rating: 
Summary: Took mine back to the store
Review: As a long time Mac user at home / pc user at work I feel like Apple has done a good job of staying just above or just below the PC in performance. I decided it was time for an upgrade and the only notebook in my budget was the iBook so I spent as much as I could to get the best iBook possible. The end result? My iBook takes minutes to do what my PC at work does in seconds. I work in advertising and spend most of my life working Adobe products. My iBook crawls at task that I have gotten used to taking no time at all. I found it was not usuable for anything "advanced". I'll grant you that it was fine for web browsing and Office but that was about it. I actually took mine back to the store and got my money back. Now I am stuck deciding whether to buy a Windows notebook or borrow money and by a G4 notebook. I am not happy with Apple at all about this. I am a loyal Mac user and I don't expect to be taken for a ride. I guess the fact is the G3 needs to be retired.
Rating:
Summary: A great portable experience.
Review: Flawless
This computer has worked flawlessly. The 14" screen seems bigger than my desktop computer, which has a 15" screen. I still get oohs and aahs over the sheer ease of use of this machine, and the battery life is better than expected. It is completely portable, which is what I was looking for as I began looking at laptops. I take mine with me everywhere. In determining whether to get the 12" iBook or the 14" iBook I came extremely close to getting the 12", but am glad that I instead chose the 14". My friend who was considering a purchase of a powerbook now wants to purchase a 14" iBook himself--amazed at the portability and large screen of this computer. To Improve
My only real complaint against the iBook would be the speakers. They do project so as to make you believe that the sound is somehow coming from the screen (which I love). However, they sometimes do not seem loud enough. I would suggest seriously looking at some good external speakers in addition to buying this computer. Primary Machine
I was able to begin using this computer a mere 5 minutes out of the box, and I am so enthusiastic about this computer that I may never want to use a desktop computer as my primary machine ever again. I am typing this review on my new iBook, as I recline on the furniture in my living room---and it feels great. Amazon
Amazon was very good at shipping on time, and packing the shipment well enough to make me happy with their services. You'll be glad you did
I take all my mp3s with me everywhere, am able to download digital pictures and immediately create things with them, edit movies, and watch DVDs or digital files (like Seinfeld) everywhere I go with this computer. In addition, I can do work, or just simply write documents in almost every location I visit. So if you are someone who is seriously looking at taking computing power with you everywhere you will love this computer! I know I do.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent choice
Review: Great deal between the ibook and the powerbook, great procesor speed, big hard drive and of course the DVD/CDR. Excellent size and weigth.
Rating:
Summary: This is my first laptop...and I am in awe of Apple & OS X
Review: Having finally decided to plunk down the money for a laptop, I looked around and saw many rave reviews for Apple's iBook line. This iBook seems to be on backorder at just about every retailer, and for good reason. Apple has packed in so many cool and high-powered features into this little (5.9 lb) notebook, it could be its best value Macintosh ever released. Like Apple claims in its ads, I had this baby up and running less than 15 minutes out of the box. It connected to my office ethernet network, my home ethernet network, and my home Airport network (see below) quickly and easily, and I am a networking novice. A nice, bright, 14" LCD display, 2 USB ports, a video-out port, an audio jack a FireWire port and a drive that reads and burns CD-ROMs and DVDs make this iBook feature-filled. I've already connected it to an external VGA monitor and projector for Power Point presentations (it comes w/a handy adapter), and with the handy Apple video adapter (sold separately), I was able to connect my iBook to my TV and watch DVD movies. Oh, and did I mention the speedy 700 mHz processor? It runs OS X much snappier than one may think, and I've even read that it beats out some pricier TiBooks with G4 processors for some tasks. My wife installed an Airport card and was surfing the net in 10 minutes w/the Airport Base Station (both sold separately). We can even go on the front porch and surf with Airport! And OS X? It is the prettiest, smoothest and easiest operating system I've worked with since I fired up my first Commodore 64 in 1983. I have Windows XP Pro at the office, but I love to come home to OSX on my iBook. It's just a smarter, more intuitive operating system. Preinstalled software also makes this a great computer. AppleWorks 6 ain't M$ Office, but for the price, it's darn good. iTunes is an elegant, easy to use audio player, and I am now the star of my family after I hooked up my parents' digital camcorder to my iBook (after buying a FireWire cable) and edited home movies into burned DVDs. My Dell desktop at work came with no cool CD or DVD-authoring software, and no software that turned me into a video auteur in minutes. The only drawback - and this is nitpicking here - is that the iBook's hard drive and CD/DVD-RW drives cannot be upgraded. RAM is ridiculously easy to upgrade, though, and for a few extra dollars, you can max your iBook out at 640 meg of RAM. So if you can get your hands on this top-of-the-line iBook (legally), do so. You will be very impressed.
Rating:
Summary: Switched from Windows
Review: I also came very close to purchasing the 12" version, but Amazon ran out and I ended up getting the 14". I've seen a 12" in a store and the screen size looks pretty decent and maybe even a little easier to carry with the smaller dimensions. If I didn't need the larger screen to give presentations, I would have definately waited for the 12" to save some money. My primary computer is (and still is) a desktop PC, but I have found no problems with the speed or memory in the iBook that would make it impossible to become a primary. It is as beautiful of a laptop as everyone says it is! Very sophisticated-looking. The only difficulties I have had were with the lack of manuals that came with the computer. I have used Macs before, but never had my own to configure and such. I'm so used to PCs that I had to stop and think how to setup certain things. Something that was very strange to me was that when installing an AirPort card, the AirPort box did not include ANY installation manual, but after finally resorting to my iBook manual I found the AirPort installation instructions!! Quite illogical if you ask me! What if I had lost the iBook manual? All in all, though, it's a great laptop. Wonderful clear screen and every feature you would need.
Rating:
Summary: Great product with a beautiful screen.
Review: I also came very close to purchasing the 12" version, but Amazon ran out and I ended up getting the 14". I've seen a 12" in a store and the screen size looks pretty decent and maybe even a little easier to carry with the smaller dimensions. If I didn't need the larger screen to give presentations, I would have definately waited for the 12" to save some money. My primary computer is (and still is) a desktop PC, but I have found no problems with the speed or memory in the iBook that would make it impossible to become a primary. It is as beautiful of a laptop as everyone says it is! Very sophisticated-looking. The only difficulties I have had were with the lack of manuals that came with the computer. I have used Macs before, but never had my own to configure and such. I'm so used to PCs that I had to stop and think how to setup certain things. Something that was very strange to me was that when installing an AirPort card, the AirPort box did not include ANY installation manual, but after finally resorting to my iBook manual I found the AirPort installation instructions!! Quite illogical if you ask me! What if I had lost the iBook manual? All in all, though, it's a great laptop. Wonderful clear screen and every feature you would need.
Rating:
Summary: iBook Rocks!
Review: I bought the iBook the day after Apple came out with the 14" screen version. It is a pleasure to work with this laptop computer. I use my iBook to process and retouch photos. Wonderful screen resolution and fast. I've hooked up a USB hub. Now I have my Wacom tablet, mouse, HP 1700 printer and CompactFlash card reader ready for use when I turn on my laptop. This laptop is not just for students, but for people who want to do a lot of work in a small package.
Rating: 
Summary: Underpowered, over-rated
Review: I bought this while trying to "switch" from my Dell laptop. I was woefully disappointed. The machine is painfully slow...slow...slow. Moreover, the construction is rather flimsy. I'm hoping the Powerbook will be a better fit. On the other hand, it is super-light, but at tremendous cost!
Rating:
Summary: Thinking of switching? Don't hesitate! This is the one!
Review: I can say, without a doubt, this is the best computer I have used in the seven years I have owned PC/Macs. I switched from Mac to PC in 2001 and switched *back* after seeing all the features, style and value on offer from Apple with the new iBook. Ready out-of-the-box for email, Internet, video editing, playing MP3s, printing photos, even burning CD-Rs. And all with the integrated easy to use and hassle free Mac OS X. I can attest to the claims of 6 hour battery life, the wireless web works flawlessly and is a cinch to install. In fact, everything works so well that until I sat down to write this I had forgotten how good I've got it!
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