the difference btwn Ibook and power book for apple noob

[meggala]

Hi a close friend is considering a lap top and also considering the apple range whats the difference between the ibook and power book.
the computer will mainly be used for business and web stuff looking 768 ram 80 hd there seems a big difference in price.
also can you use an external monitor for the 12" laptop would a generic pc lcd work?
cheeers
meggala

[Kerpal]

the main differences between the iBook and the Powerbook is:

the powerbook has a 167MHz system bus whereas the iBook has 133MHz.

iBook uses Mobility 9200 whereas the powerbook uses a FX5200 on the 12" model.

the powerbook uses DDR 2700 whereas the iBook uses DDR 2100

the rest you can see here with these two links

http://www.apple.com.au/powerbook/specs.html
http://www.apple.com/ibook/specs.html

and you can plug in any monitor with the provided adapters

[meggala]

thanks that helped heap

[Opteron]

i own a 12" powerbook, you can connect a monitor through either VGA or DVI, the cables are supplied. P.S. i had the ram upgraded in mine from 256mb to 768mb for $190

[Widowmaker]

There are many differences, it depends on what you are doing, I am into graphics work, so for me the 128mb of graphics Ram and the ability to run crazy resolutions on an external monitor aswell as native on the powerbook's screen with no lag whatsoever was a nice selling point, on the iBook's you can only run "Mirror" mode when using an external monitor so both resolutions are the same, Ie 1024x768 on the 12inch I think.

Plus with the powerbook you get a nice backlit keyboard and sexy Alluminium skin.

Goto the Apple site and under the main iBook page and the powerbook page there is fine text with the technical specifications.

[Kerpal]

Originally Posted by Widowmaker

Plus with the powerbook you get a nice backlit keyboard and sexy Alluminium skin.

Goto the Apple site and under the main iBook page and the powerbook page there is fine text with the technical specifications.

you don't get the backlit keyboard with the 12" powerbook.

I gave those links before

[Ronin+Scissors]

Originally Posted by Widowmaker

There are many differences, it depends on what you are doing, I am into graphics work, so for me the 128mb of graphics Ram and the ability to run crazy resolutions on an external monitor aswell as native on the powerbook's screen with no lag whatsoever was a nice selling point, on the iBook's you can only run "Mirror" mode when using an external monitor so both resolutions are the same, Ie 1024x768 on the 12inch I think.

Plus with the powerbook you get a nice backlit keyboard and sexy Alluminium skin.

Goto the Apple site and under the main iBook page and the powerbook page there is fine text with the technical specifications.

There's also a harmless and foolproof hack that allows monitor-spanning for the iBook.

[Widowmaker]

Originally Posted by Kerpal

you don't get the backlit keyboard with the 12" powerbook.

What! go for the 15inch then, even if it's just for the backlit keyboard

It is really weird with a Apple powerbook, last time I was in Melbourne and had to get online to check some emails so went to starbucks, everyone had Sony Vaio's there, but when I pulled out the powerbook they wouldn't stop looking at me.

Originally Posted by Ronin+Scissors

There's also a harmless and foolproof hack that allows monitor-spanning for the iBook.

Yeah but I really doubt that the iBook's graphics adaptor would have the same grunt as the Radeon 9700 128Mb, normally I run 1600x1200 @ 90Hz on an external monitor and 1280x854 on the powerbook simultaneously with no latency problems.

[draculr]

If you want a powerbook I would wait until later in January when most likely new powerbooks will be announced.

[Kerpal]

Originally Posted by draculr

If you want a powerbook I would wait until later in January when most likely new powerbooks will be announced.

prehaps, Apple have been wanting to release a G5 powerbook but heat has been an issue. Its sounding like that they will release the "headless" iMac, iPod Speakers and Apple Australia will be launching iTunes for Australia. They will probably annouce that xsan will be available too. It sounds like this is what will be released at MacWorld.

If they do release a G5 powerbook it will be a lower speed prehaps 1.6 - 1.8, nothing as good as the desktops.

[Widowmaker]

Yeah I think they where offering a free airport express with all powerbook's, usally a sign they are getting a new model in, but I also doubt a G5, maybe a speed bump for the G4, but hopefully I will be eating my words and we will be able to get a G5 powerbook!

[decryption]

I suggest taking a read of this thread: http://forums.appletalk.com.au/index...topic=2697&hl= over at AppleTalk. We had the exact same discussion over there

[dewy]

I read some where that if/when the Powerbooks were being updated they were going to be getting Dual Core CPUS