School Laptop

[DarkAmeba]

I have been set on getting a 12" iBook for use at school for some time now. I love the look, and I like OSX. Then my Uncle sent me an Email about the discounts his company gets on Thinkpads. He's got some pretty sweet deals going, and now i'm torn. Which would you prefer:

Your price: $1,379.00
Highlights

- IBM ThinkPad R51 1830
- Pentium M 735 1.7 GHz
- RAM 256 MB (i would expand to 768mb)
- HD 40 GB
- CD-RW / DVD
- Mdm
- LAN EN, Fast EN, Gigabit EN, 802.11b, 802.11g
Centrino
- Win XP Pro
- 15" TFT XGA (1024 x 768)
- 32mb Radeon 7500 video

OR

Apple 12" iBook
? 768MB DDR266 SDRAM (256MB built-in & 512MB SO-DIMM)
? 60GB Ultra ATA drive
? Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
? AirPort Extreme Card
? Bluetooth Module
? Keyboard & Mac OS X - U.S. English
? 12-inch TFT XGA display
? 1.2GHz PowerPC G4
? ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32MB DDR video memory
Subtotal $1,241.00

Will be used mostly for chat/typing/DVDs. Possibly some very light gaming, but thats not important.

 

[Moe Madness]

I'm very fond of IBMs, but in that case I would take the iBook. Not only is it cheaper, it's better...

 

[imported_Lucifer]

I would go with the iBook too. Bigger HD, better video card, and an Airport Extreme card. OS X is a great OS. Very easy to use. Also, no need to worry about viruses or anti virus software or any spyware.

 

[kuangs168]

wat??? 1300 buck just for typing and dvd? no need such good lappy then, go dell save some money. unless you plan to do graph, music or programming applications later

 

[DarkAmeba]

Originally posted by: kuangs168
wat??? 1300 buck just for typing and dvd? no need such good lappy then, go dell save some money. unless you plan to do graph, music or programming applications later

Well this is my christmas and birthday gift from my whole family, i'm not covering it. Works out nice for me because i don't have to get tons of useless crap like my christmas & bday gifts usually are... instead i get a nice laptop. I'm kinda speed freak, and since it's a gift might as well have it be fast. Plus, i'm not a huge dell fan

 

[stingygrrl]

a lot of schools have educational discounts..are these those prices? IBM offers some schools discounts up to 30% off. Also just for regular discounts, you can start at discovercard.com and link thru to IBM thru their shopping portal for about 10-15% off. No need to use a discover card to buy using that link Amex offers a free 1 yr warranty extension, so definately use that if you can.
I was quoted a IBM 2378DUU for $1162 thru the education pricing (from a phone rep); this model lists at $1549. Basically it's the same as your R51 but in a T42 model (lighter) and slightly less CPU power.
OTOH, the Apple has that priceless cool factor

 

[Commodus]

There are some qualities to the iBook that would make me choose it over the R51:

Instant sleep/wake through manipulating the lid. Nothing like coming to class, opening the lid, and having the OS ready to go (instead of having to wait for "hibernation" or "stand-by" on a Windows laptop).

Rounded edges - this means that your iBook won't gradually wear holes in your bag, and it's nicer to hold.

Bluetooth - it just works better on the Mac in most cases. I'd be very tempted to get a Bluetooth mouse. It doesn't have to be Apple's, but nor does it have to be one of those deluxe Logitech or Microsoft versions. Kensington, Radtech, and others make more basic Bluetooth mice that will do the job.

 

[Corporate Thug]

another vote for Ibook

 

[newParadigm]

Get 12 inch PowerBook

Try to get one during MacMall back to school sale, they have all kins of crazy deals like free 512mbs RAM, and all kindsa other good discounts.

If you wanna get one now, i would still try to get a PowerBook, they just run better than the iBooks.


That is a a nice PC Lappy though, PentM 1.7 is more htan adequate for most tasks, however even the Radeon 9200 in the iBook would slaughter the 7500 (that is obv though)


Just some thoughts,

~new

 

[hopejr]

Go for the iBook. i have one the the 1GHz 12" iBook G4's (the version before the current one) and it's a nice machine. No problems with it at all. After getting it, it has fully converted me to macs (even tho I was a die hard PC user).

 

[Wuzup101]

I'd go for the iBook. They really are nice little machines. OSX is a great OS and I have to agree with the above comment about the wake/sleep feature. I take my powerbook to class every day and that feature is priceless... never have to worry about the machine crashing, getting a virus, etc... which is really a nice stress reliever for a college student. If you can afford a powerbook it's a slightly better machine... but that's up to you and your family... I'd say the iBook should be more than adaquate

 

[HermDogg]

Basic 256 ram, upgrade your own. Easy and much less $$$. Ibooks rock!

 

[Frightcrawler]

Go with the I-Book. In this comparison, it beats the IBM.
It's slower processor-wise, but everything else pretty much beats the IBM.

 

[losershot]

iBook, the thinkpad R series is way too big and heavy. Check ibook refurbs or educational discount if you want to save even more.

 

[jvarszegi]

iBook, because it's much smaller, has a bigger HD and better video, plus you already like OSX. I really don't like the Thinkpad's 15" XGA screen; you can view it as a waste of screen space or a waste of laptop size. Not only that, the Thinkpad is more expensive before you go buying extra RAM to remedy its biggest deficiency.

 

[DarkAmeba]

I've been thinking iBook anyways. Looks like i should go for it

 

[halfadder]

You'll love the iBook, but I have a few points to add after having used a PowerBook for about a year:
Order it with the specs you want, that way it'll be more fun right out of the box. (And be sure to have at least 512 MB RAM).
If you're going to make presentations with it, buy a copy of Apple Keynote, it's very slick.
If you qualify for the $99 bundle version of Final Cut Express, go for it. Excellent video app that's not missing too many features.
If your school is a member of the Microsoft program, they might be able to give you a legal copy of Mac MS Office 2004 for free, or for $10. Otherwise you can buy the student version for about $125.
http://versiontracker.com and http://widgetgallery.com and http://macsurfer.com will become your friends!
Learn how to use Expose!!
Learn UNIX!!

 

[gujuguy007]

i have a pc laptop right now but i wish i had an ibook. apple has all the software you really need. i mean what else do you need besides word processing, browser, and itunes. Also its great for graphics design...and offers a lot of stability.

the college that i attend offers educational discounts...both for apple (10% discount) and microsoft office (for $10). see if your college has something like this.

also you'll love not having a right click button...some might find it annoying...you just have to press ctrl and click.

 

[halfadder]

Does anyone make a notebook that has the "right" button sitting above the trackpad, and the "left" button below the trackpad?

I actually like the one button on my PowerBook, as my previous Toshiba notebook required me to dislocate my thumb to right click. With my PowerBook, my left hand doesn't leave it's home-row position and I just pivot my right hand from home-row typing position to trackpad usage position. To click, I just press down anywhere on the large trackpad button. When I need to right-click for a contextual menu, I use the little finger on my left hand to hit the control key while I click with the right. It's comfortable second nature now, but I still sort of wish I could right-click on any notebook by pretting a button above the trackpad. Having two buttons side-by-side is painful for my clicking thumb.

 

[hopejr]

Originally posted by: halfadder
Does anyone make a notebook that has the "right" button sitting above the trackpad, and the "left" button below the trackpad?

i've seen it but I can't remember what brand it was.
If you don't want to ctrl+click, you can get a two button mouse (or even one with a wheel and more buttons or whatever) as it will work with OS X.

 

[halfadder]

Yep, I keep a Logitech MX900 Bluetooth wireless mouse in my bag for times when I'll be doing a lot of pointing and clicking.