thegoat54 Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 If an iBook and a Powerbook have the same specs. Is there any advantage to getting the powerbook VS the ibook besides the fancy aluminum case? I just dont get why I'm seeing used powerbooks with worse specs sell for more than ibooks with better specs. Am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBK.Xscape Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 becuase this is like macbook versus macbook pro, the case looks better, maybe a bigger screen and its just the how they were sold as form the apple store, most people think that beucase it cost more it is better and it is like the professional edition or something, i dont know any specs on the ppc macs but they are pretty fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegoat54 Posted December 11, 2006 Author Share Posted December 11, 2006 can anyone else provide any input? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrks Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 I'm assuming you're talking about the 12" models of both books. First, the 12" Powerbook is the smallest Apple notebook ever made, which makes it very nice to take on the road. Other than that there are a few small differences between the iBook and PowerBook: -Video card, Nvidia vs ATI -the PowerBook has an extra speaker for mid-tones, which provides a "fuller" start up chime, but that's about all it does. -The feedback of the PowerBook keyboard feels way better than the iBook's keyboard -It'll be a lot cheaper to get the iBook fixed, parts and especially labour, it's a {censored} to change the superdrive on a 12" PowerBook. -The iBook won't feel as hot as the PowerBook -iBooks only have vga out, PowerBooks have DVI -iBooks can only mirror their video output, Powerbook can extended the desktop or mirror. (but you can hack the ibook to get the extended desktop) -PowerBook has an audio in jack, iBook doesn't That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Marvin Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Graphics wise, the Powerbook was much better - esp the 15 and 17" The Ati graphics can be OCed easily, unlike Nvidia. Also, Ati runs better in Linux (PowerPC support is rubbish anyway, though) The 15" Powerbook is also much easier to upgrade. But maybe my opinion on this is a bit bias! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munky Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 having been a PowerBook G4 12'' owner I can provide a little input. you're right insofar as the PB12 and the iBook 12'' had the same screen resolution etc, but the PowerBook had a faster bus speed (166Mhz vs 133Mhz I think) and could support more ram (i think). plus it was dead sexy and nice in aluminium... anyway, dont buy either - get a MacBook. With a gig of ram or more, it will hopelessly outclass either ppc machine. (i speak from experience - i owned a 12'' PBG4 and a MacBook 13.3'' in the past - the MacBook is WAY better.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrks Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 anyway, dont buy either - get a MacBook. With a gig of ram or more, it will hopelessly outclass either ppc machine. (i speak from experience - i owned a 12'' PBG4 and a MacBook 13.3'' in the past - the MacBook is WAY better.) True, true! A refurb MacBook from apple is a way better deal! I've also owned a 12" PB and now a MB. I find the MacBook feels a lot more solid compared to the PB. It's just so much nicer to live with, faster cpu, better screen and the wifi reception is unbelievable! The PB had the worst reception I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Nonny Moose Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 anyway, dont buy either - get a MacBook. With a gig of ram or more, it will hopelessly outclass either ppc machine. Not in Photoshop (yet) and certainly not in the thermal paste fiasco we've all seen on here either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBK.Xscape Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 haha but by tommorow it will, the UB beta for photoshop comes out tommorow so their is no more excuse to wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bptba93 Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 all i know is the 15" powerbook g4 1.5 is NIIICEEE my sister has one for college. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheoCryst Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 The 15" PB is very nice, yes, but I don't know if I would buy one at this point. For the price, you could easily get a refurb MB for much less. However, if you're comparing the latest 12" iBook to the latest 12" PowerBook, you'll find very few differences (PB has a better GPU, slightly faster CPU, SuperDrive standard, etc). But in the end, the PB looks more professional than the iBook, and people are willing to spend more for that (even when the specs are exactly the same). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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