Rating: Summary: Great Review: This is a really great product. It can do anything that I could possibly need. I had some trouble with OS X though, so I had to remove it and just use OS 9.
Rating: Summary: Super-Solid Laptop for Anyone on a Budget Review: To put it simply, Apple's new iBook is an engineering marvel. The design is sleek and elegant, yet the case can stand up to a good beating. The iBook comes with an awesome set of features--pretty much everything you might need is already part of the package, including FireWire, CD-RW drive, and 10/100 Ethernet. Despite having a relatively small screen (12.1" diagonal) compared to some PC laptops, it still supports a full 1024 x 768 resolution at millions of colors. The screen is very bright, and the battery, while not quite the 5-hour powerhouse that Apple advertises, still manages about three hours doing normal operations. The 500-MHz G3 processor is spritely and gets things done quickly, although it doesn't have quite enough power to do a large amount of movie editing or graphics work.A few drawbacks are as follows: The internal CD burner is only 8x at this time, which is markedly slower than the 16x and 20x external FireWire burners available now. The iBook comes with only 128 mb of RAM, which is just barely enough for most things. I would strongly encourage upgrading to at least 256 mb total, as RAM is very inexpensive these days. The video memory in the iBook is only 8 mb, with a weak graphics controller as compared to what goes into the G4 desktops. As such, the iBook is only mediocre at gaming. The 10GB hard drive is already pre-loaded with almost 5GB of software and sample mp3's, so I would highly recommend upgrading to at least a 20 GB drive. In conclusion, the iBook is a solid purchase for anyone who wants many of the features of a desktop machine, but in a portable package. The drawbacks listed above are mostly forgiveable, as sacrifices had to be made somewhere to make this such a reasonably-priced machine. The new iBook no longer has a built-in carrying handle, but Apple has managed to trim quite a bit of weight and bulk, making it a joy to use on a daily basis.
Rating: Summary: Brilliant, a shining star Review: Ever since I got my IBook my life has changed for the better with it's combo drive and airport wireless networking it goes where ever I go. It goes to work with me and does the work for me It plays music over PA systems for sports games manages web sites, edits movies, makes Video CD's does photoshop,the list goes on. It goes home and entertains me with DVD's and VCD's and the latest games anywhere and I can even surf the net Broadband without any wires. It has to be the perfect laptop for the price and it's so light too. I love it.
Rating: Summary: Poor Product Quality and Support Review: I bought this iBook model a few weeks ago at our University's Apple store. After doing alot of research and shopping, I decided to get off the PC bandwagon and go with the Apple. I felt that for the price, I was getting the best value, and I thought that this thing just looked great. I added 256megs of memory and a AirPort card. Out of the box, it was easy to setup, just a couple of steps, and I was off and running in no time. MacOS X is very nice, although it does not have alot of programs made for it yet. The problem started the day after I bought it, as I was typing a paper, the display went compleatly white. I tried restarting the computer, same thing. I reset the computer, same thing. I called Apple's support number, and a recorded message told me that unless you paid for a service plan, you did not ger 24 hr support and to call back during normal business hours, our to consult their website! GREAT!! I have a paper to get done and they tell me to consult their website...on my dead computer!!!! The next morning I took it back to the store, telling them what had happened, and they determined that it needed to be repaired. I asked if I could just get an exchange and they said that Apple's policy was once you buy it, the sale is final and I would have to wait the week or two that it would take to send it in for repair! Do not by an Apple, learn from my mistake.
Rating: Summary: iBooks are amazing! Review: This is simply the best computer I've owned. I've owned PC's and Macs. No doubt, Macs are by far superior. I wish I could afford another [$$$] for a G4 powerbook, but since I can't, I got this one. I can't believe the power, versatility, and the attention from others. As someone who writes software, and attends school full time as a law student, this computer does it all. My only complaint, hard-drive is small, so I bought an external firewire drive to store non-essential data. Dang, firewire is fast. Also, I have an iPod. It is of no "Practical" use, but try and take it from me and ....well.... the won't let me say it here. Let's just say, I love it. BUY and APPLE, if you can afford a G4 powerbook, get one. If not, trust another developer the G3 is still kick - a**.
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