I wanna buy my 1st mac..but..heellpp..

[ekaulia]

:)

I wanna buy that iBook, seems best for me, but i wonder will apple soon (this year) introduce new ibook? G4-iBook?

Actually is there any time pattern on Apple hardware release?

Should i just wait for OS/X 2?


---
Should we type it...
1; OS X or
2; OS-X or
3; OS/X or
4; OS\X or
5; OS:X ???? :)

[JayBee]

Actually is there any time pattern on Apple hardware release?
haha

hahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHH!!!!

*ahem*

Anyway, it's the old problem - do I buy hardware now, or wait for the next best thing?

The best way to deal with this (as on any platform) is to try to forget about what *might* be coming out, and look at what you want and need from your mac. Some questions to ask yourself:

1. How long are you prepared to wait before getting your grubby mits on a shiny new mac? The iBook G4 could come out tomorrow... or next year... and then what about the PowerMac G5?

2. What are you primarily going to be using your mac for? Processor intensive rendering stuff, or the odd game of Q3A and some spreadsheet work?

Of course, at the moment the iBook is the only G3 left in the product line, so the *next machine* dilemma is a little stronger than usual. However, I'm running OS X 10.1.3 on an OLD iBook SE G3 366 with 320MB of RAM, and it's serviceable (if not QUITE as nippy as I'd like it to be), so I assume the 600s are pretty nippy.

Basically it comes down to what you think you need. There's no easy way to predict when Apple will speed bump its lines - logic says the PowerMac G5 launch will herald the iBook G4, but who knows?

My advice? Dive right in with the best setup you can afford, max the RAM and see what you think... in the meantime, save for that G6 TiBook ;)

[ekaulia]

It is just that...

i read somewhere that mac os x use that Velocity ENgine ( i dunno what the h#?@ is that actually ;)) in G4, and G3 doesn't have them so think i'll wait if they're gonna release a G4 iBook this year.

If they're not then i hope that TiBook prices are lower than now.

thanx

[xchanyazy]

If you're prepared to wait, there's a -possibility- that we'll see either g4 ibooks or cheaper tibooks at MacWorld New York, which is in Julyish.

[ekaulia]

would like to see an
iBook:

G4 600/700 mhz
256 MB RAM upgradeable to 1 GB
40GB HD at least.
15" TFT (1600 x 1200 pixels)
USB 2.0
FIRE WIRE
NVidia GeFORce 4GO; 32MB DDR at least (i'll settle with GeForce 2 GO Though or RADEON)
PC CARD slot
OS X 2.0

PRICE: $1600 - $1800

:D :D :D
Come on APPLE, TOSHIBA can do it, why not you...

Copy of this , have also sent to apple

[famulor]

For your features.
G4 600/700 mhz
256 MB RAM upgradeable to 1 GB
40GB HD at least.
15" TFT (1600 x 1200 pixels)
USB 2.0
FIRE WIRE
NVidia GeFORce 4GO; 32MB DDR at least (i'll settle with GeForce 2 GO Though or RADEON)
PC CARD slot
OS X 2.0
PRICE: $1600 - $1800


I don't have any 'inside information' as to when Apple is going to bump the iBook to a G4, but looking at how they currently have their product lines set up, the rest of your features won't find their way into the iBook anytime soon. The PowerBook G4 has the bigger screen (and resoloution), the better graphics card (which probably will get updated soon), the higher RAM upgradability, the larger hard drive, PC Card, etc. OS X 2.0, will probably be called "10.2", and any Apple machine that you can buy now can be upgraded to run 10.2

I personally, am on a 500mhz G3 iBook right now, and I'm getting by just fine. I too wish I could have a G4 or a better graphics card, but Apple has dictated that for the higher end laptops. The iBook is all I really need for the time being, so I'm not in a hurry to upgrade soon. Your posts gave the impression that you didn't need this immediately, so my advice would be wait. If you get lucky, Apple could stun us all and throw a G4 in iBooks then. If not, there'll be different "TiBooks" which will drive the prices of the older models down into your range. What do you plan to use this computer for? That question can also help you in your search ;)

To answer your earlier question, the Velocity Engine is Apple Marketing spin for a technology called Altivec. Apple's G4 Site (http://www.apple.com/g4/) does a better job of explaining all of it's technical merits then I ever could, but basically, the Velocity Engine speeds up processor intensive tasks, like audio encoding, video and 3d rendering, image processing, and Mac OS X. It's a great thing to have. Hope this helps, and if you have any questions, feel free to email me.


-famulor
famulor@mac.com

[ekaulia]

:p

What I need is a mobile companion for my XP dekstop. Saw OS X and fall in love with the features and looks.

I am going to use it for :
Word,
excell,
Access (Any mac os version? compatible replacement?)

Photoshop (nothing fancy:p )
Programming (Learning)

Gaming (Neogeo/cps2 emulator is a MUST)

Most important, I Like Movies:
SO my VCD, MPEG, DIVX Collection Must able to enjoy it on mac.
Bigger harddrive is a must.

----

Looking forward to see 10.2. will it be better than previous version:
better speed.
Less RAM Req.

I don't wanna buy today iBook, because i have read from many review (mac/pc editorials) ; all seems agree that you'll really need a G4 and 384/512MB RAM for OS X to run acceptably...so I am still waiting....

:rolleyes:

Waiting only for this year though :cool: if APPLE to slow than, those Pentium 4M Toshiba's looking very delicious.

[famulor]

Word and Excel are both available under OSX by purchasing the Office v. X Suite (http://www.microsoft.com/mac/) from Microsoft. There are various different upgrade paths from prior versions, promotions when you buy Office and your Mac from a specific retailer, and education versions of the software available. Additionally, AppleWorks (http://www.apple.com/appleworks/) , which comes with the iBook, supports opening/saving both Word and Excel files.

Microsoft Access, unfortunately is another issue. The Mac division at Microsoft hasn't been especially clear if they're going to bring Access support over to the OSX or not. Your best bet in this situation (and a nice addition over all) would be to pick up a copy of Virtual PC (http://www.apple.com/macosx/applications/virtualpc/), which will let you run all of your XP apps on the iBook. It does this by emulating a Pentium processor and running a copy of Windows over that.

Photoshop 7.0 (http://www.apple.com/macosx/applications/photoshop/) will be shipping soon, and is fully compatible with Mac OS X, so you shouldn't have a problem there.

Apple has a lot of support for programming and developers, and I refer you to their site to see some of the options.


GeoMAME (http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=1808&db=mac) has a lot of positive support, and appears to be a great NeoGEO emulator. I'm not familiar as to what or how a CPS2 emulator would work, so I can't give any feedback. The folks here (http://www.emulation.net) would probably have some answers to any of those questions.

The weak point of laptop gaming in general is the trackpad. I game on my iBook with my external mouse when I'm at a desktop, but what's the point of having a laptop if that's your focus. FPS (think Quake) type games will always be better with a 'real' mouse. There's lots of fun arcade games that play well on my iBook, and a good variety of Mac games in general. The machine could use a Graphics card update (again, this is why waiting until July is a good idea). However, the Titanium G4 (http://www.apple.com/powerbook/) has a RADEON Mobility. Check out this site for the low down on mac gaming.

You'll find a variety VCD, MPEG, and DIVX players on the Mac. Try doing searches at this website, VersionTracker.com Viewing your videos shouldn't be a problem.

You mention in your post that a Bigger harddrive is a must. Does this hard drive need to be internal or external? Upgrading the internal hard book inside the iBook can be done, but it's quite tricky. If you insist on an internal drive, some Apple authorized locations will do it for a fee. External drives are cheaper, less treacherous, and can be used with other computers, such as your XP system (provided they are formatted correctly) If you want any questions related to external drives such as

sizes
prices
portability
compatibility with xp
Please let me know, and I'll go more in depth.

OS 10.2 has all sorts of rumored improvements that you can find across various internet sites and forums, but yes, things will get speedier. Less RAM requirements, I'm not so sure of. The more RAM the better in a system, anyways. I have 384mb in my iBook, it cost me 50 bucks when I upgraded and I installed it myself in about 15 minutes. I'm comfortable poking around inside my computer, so it wasn't that hairy. Any Apple authorized dealer will pop in a module for $30USD, but they might charge more for the memory. (This is all a moot point if you're outside the US) I don't do any Photoshop editing in X, so I can't attest as to how much memory it would need, and I suspect Virtual PC would tend to be a heavy hitter as well, but you've got plenty of headroom to do your emulators, programming, and Office apps.

I think I've already partially addressed your qualm with OSX and RAM, but here's the heart of the issue: More RAM is always a good thing, with any OS, and any User. If you don't think that the iBook has enough, add more. Apple won't stop you :-) The G4 issue, again comes down to a price/feature range issue. Apple may or may not plunk one in the iBook. Keep the Titanium open as on option if the G4 is a must, although from my standpoint the G3s are still very usable. Also, don't be tricked by the higher clock speeds of the Mobile Pentium 4s. Numerous speed testing sites have shown that the Mobile Pentium III's are actually faster. And in turn, the G4s can best those chips (As always, inquire for specifics.) In the end, it's your money, and you choose how it's spent.

I hope my suggestions are logical and answer some of the questions/give more informed statements to your comments. While Macs cost more from a monetary standpoint, I can honestly say they are worth every penny (or whichever currency your prefer :-)

[ekaulia]

Your infos are very informative...
This is HARD, you know.....waiting..

;)


Anyway, i'll wait 'til july (Mac WOrld??), hope they are releasing faster iBook, and new os X.

I like this site:

http://arstechnica.com/index.html

review on Mac OS X, so i am looking forward to what they say about OS X 10.2.


Thanks again.

btw> you use os x regularly with your ibook 500?

[sbur]

I just bought a 600 MHz iBook with dvd/cd-rw drive and 20 gig HD.

I use OS X as my only OS. Occasionally, I'll have to use classic....EndNote isn't OS X native yet.... :(

I do mostly Word, Excel, Powerpoint, email, and lineart stuff, but I also run some serious number-crunching stuff. It isn't graphics intensive, so g3 vs g4 is no big deal (b/c of video card).

DVD's play well, though I haven't tried VCD stuff. Also, iTunes makes burning music CD's a snap.

OS X runs really well on this iBook. I'm quite happy with it. And because it has the unix underside, It's making some of my colleagues who use SGI's a little jealous. :)

If only they would give me Endnote for Word vX, I'd be able to leave classic behind as well!

[ekaulia]

did it comes with developer tool cd?
:)

[sbur]

12'

(I wanted smaller for easier portability....)

There was not developers tools disk that I found, but I already had the December2001 tools from my desktop at home.

The more I have used this laptop, the more impressed I am with it.

I've had the following open at the same time

Word (Both v.X and 98 in classic for endnote compatibility)
Excell
Entourage
Netscape
Endnote (classic)
Chem3D
chemdraw
X-windows
Molden (X-windows)
and Gaussian (cranking out some semi-empirical calculations)

...... and it slowed down a little, but never lost usability or crashed. I have only had to reboot once because of a strange microsoft thing after I first installed the Office suite (v.X).

I've hooked up to a projector for a powerpoint presentation, written most of a grant proposal, and done some pretty intensive calculations. I get more done with this one laptop than I have with an (older) SGI workstation, a revA Tangerine iBook, and a g4 desktop combined.

I've never been a rabid mac fan, but I'm definately impressed. Windows XP is nice, but I have yet to see someone use it like I have been using the iBook in the last week.