iBook or Powerbook? Need a laptop for school next year.

Hello fellow Mac people,

I am trying to equip myself for college next year with a new Mac laptop. The problem is, I'm not sure what I will need. Let me give you some things I will be using it for, and if you could help me out with deciding how much memory, gb, whatever all that stuff is, to get... I would be forever grateful!

Next year I will be studying photography/photojournalism, and will need to be able to hook up a Canon EOS 20D camera and HP 2175 printer to my laptop. I will be using the laptop as sort of a "digital darkroom" so I will need lots of memory to run image programs like Photoshop. I'm also into webpage design and will need some room for those programs as well. It would be helpful to be able to store some of my images on the computer too. As far as resolution, I'm not sure what size screen to go for, but the 17 inch one seems a little extravagent to be carrying around. Right now I have a Zip 100 on my computer, but I'm not sure if it's worth getting a Zip drive in my laptop, or if I should just get a CD RW drive.

So here it is - my budget is somewhere around 2000. I think I can get a discount of 300 dollars on the Mac site through the student program.

HEEEEEELP.

If you are doing a lot of work with Photoshop, you will need the power that the iBook doesn't have, and the screen space the 12-inch doesn't have. The 17-inch is a little large for anything other than video work, and expensive to boot. I would advise against an external Zip drive, as it is one more thing to carry along. A CD-RW drive might work if you only need to make backups. If you need the space, either get a bigger HD in the laptop or get an external HD. The LaCie I have has been incredible...

The student discount is a great way to save money, I would advise using that saved money on RAM for the Powerbook. You do not need to buy from the Apple Store either... many online retail places offer the student discount as well as free memory or other options. I would go with macwarehouse or macmall... Anyway, good luck!

Be sure to get as much RAM as you can afford as Photoshop is very RAM dependent. I always buy RAM from Other World Computing (http://eshop.macsales.com/). Wherever you buy, make sure you get a lifetime warranty.

First the ibooks
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?family=iBook
next the powerbooks
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?family=PowerBook

I have a 15 inch powerbook with a superdrive, and I love it. It seems to me like the 14 inch ibook might be in your price range. I personally would get it with the superdrive so that you could create DVDs and I would get as much memory as you can.
:hi:

On the apple website, the 15 inch powerbook is still within my range, esp. with the student discount...

and is perfectly capable, the powerbook is just better. But frankly if that much horsepower is needed, a powerbook is going to suck compared to a desktop G5

It's just that an iBook would run slower than a Powerbook if I had multiple programs open. And this laptop has to last me at least through college, so it might be better to shell out a little extra for the powerboook.

The G5 isn't an option because I need the portability.

I agree wholeheartedly that shelling out a little more for a Powerbook and RAM will be well worth your investment.

A little improved, and a little less money.

Definitely happy about that. :)

Then go for the 15" Powerbook. You'll appreciate that extra inch of screen when you're up late editing photos

The 14" iBook would likely do just fine. And with the saved money you could add more memory, etc... Basically getting less computer in order to afford more "other stuff."

And while I have one and think they have advantages, you may not want either of the 12" books. I got my 12" iBook (which I'm on right now) as I wanted something ultra-portable. Plus, since it was my first Mac, I didn't want to spend a lot of money incase I found I didn't love it. I've had it nearly 2 years now and use it happily every single day.

But I think you'd likely go blind editing schoolwork photos on the 12" screen.

For $2,000, I'd get the powerbook.

I have a 17" Powerbook and it's big screen is a eyesaver. It replaced a 12" iBook. The difference in my work between the two is obvious. It also is a 2 ton monster to haul around. Great for a kitchen table desk workhorse, cumbersome and heavy as a portable. The screen's size also drains the battery FAST! Also, out of the poster's price range.

I would say the 15" is a great compromise.