I don't know how many of you guys are iBook people, but Apple just did a small upgrade of their line, and made it just a liiiiittle nicer, and got rid of their most expensive model. Here's the new line:

The new iBook lineup is immediately available through The Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers in two standard configurations.

The 1.33 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook, weighing just 4.9 pounds, has a suggested retail price of $999 (US) and includes:

-- a crisp 12.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix TFT display;
-- 512MB DDR SDRAM expandable to up to 1.5GB maximum memory;
-- a 40GB Ultra ATA hard drive;
-- AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps 802.11g WiFi wireless networking and Bluetooth
2.0+EDR;
-- two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400;
-- VGA video out, S-video and composite video out support;
-- 56K v.92 modem, Ethernet (10/100 BASE-T); and
-- a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) drive.

The 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook, weighing just 5.9 pounds, has a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US) and includes:

-- a brilliant 14.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix TFT display;
-- 512MB DDR SDRAM expandable to up to 1.5GB maximum memory;
-- a 60GB Ultra ATA hard drive;
-- AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps 802.11g WiFi wireless networking and Bluetooth
2.0+EDR;
-- two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400;
-- VGA video out, S-video and composite video out support;
-- 56K v.92 modem, Ethernet (10/100 BASE-T); and
-- a slot-load SuperDrive (DVD+/-R/CD-RW) drive.

Additional build-to-order options for the new iBook include up to 1.5GB of DDR SDRAM, a 60GB, 80GB or 100GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

This is great for me, as I was literally days away from buying the $1400 one because it had the Superdrive. Now I get to spend less on a (slightly) better machine. I'm quite pleased . I believe the RAM used to be 266mhz, and is now 333, and the max RAM is now 1.5gb, as opposed to 1.25 from before. Overall, Powerbook still beats it, but the price is too good to refuse for something so useful.

Mine cant do Bluetooth..

I am an Ibook fan though...

I really don't get that whole iBook thing. Still, way to expensive compared to PC's. I'd rather get myself a 'normal' Powerbook...

Roger

Missed calling apple store yesterday, glad I did.

Just ordered 12 inch iBook with 768mb memory and 60 gig drive.

Bluetooth will come in handy.



/A

Yeah, I'm planning on buying the 14" with a 100gb hard drive, and upping the RAM to 1.5gb. It'll be more than capable for a little mbox editing etc. while on trips, as well as schoolwork(I get the student discount, which also means FREE IPOD MINI!). Obviously, I'd love to get a Powerbook, but I'd rather spend that extra few hundred bucks on gear.

You definitely wanna max the RAM from the store. Upgrading that thing yourself is an absolute pain. (though much cheaper!)

Yeah, about 200 or 300 bucks cheaper, as Apple pumps up their memory prices by ridiculous amounts. I've installed memory in iBooks and other laptops before, and it won't be a problem. As a matter of fact, I've had more problems with Apple installing/fixing things than I've had with my own fixes.

Pfft, upgrading memory is easy. Took me less than five minutes. You just need a really small Phillips screwdriver to open the metal cover underneath the keyboard.

And yeah, the revision is a joke. 32MB graphics memory still? That's years behind the current development. I'm having a hard time respecting Apple as a quality computer company anymore (see my Soundtrack "Pro" thread). There's been a number of instances lately where it clearly shows that Apple nowadays is becoming more and more focused on "Joe Consumer" as a customer. Less demanding customers doesn't usually lead to higher quality products.

Shiny plastic is the new niche. Tupperware alliance just around the corner?

What a ripp-off from apple..Old (G4) technology still asking for over a grand..Sheeeshhhhh...

Whats the difference between the "Crisp" and the "Brilliant" screens?

I would guess that brilliant one might be one of those glossy looking LCDs that all the PC laptops are going to. They look a lot better for movies and stuff but the glare is really bad. I sure hope they dont put those on powerbooks.



Mark

For an iBook? (new one) Wow. It isn't like a powerbook or PC laptop. To get to the RAM...oh wait, I just realized I also replaced the internal HD, upgraded it to a 7200rpm drive. I had to pretty much disassemble the entire thing, had to unscrew more than 50 screws. It STILL isn't fast enough to run Ivory efficiently, though it's now at least able to somewhat ok.

I can imagine that taking long, since it's not a "user installable part"! Works well? Doesn't get hot or noisy or anything?

uosdwis

Yeah, the 32mb video card is dissapointing, but not a huge deal for me. It'll still run DVD's smoothly, I can check my email and this much loved board, and it'll be able to solidly run an LE project here and there. Just fine for my needs, and the Bluetooth, video card upgrade, and that cheesy sounding shock protection thingy are just icing on the cake. I like the addition of the Superdrive, the bigger hard drives(tho 4200rpm is still ridiculous, but that's what portable hard drives are for), and the larger memory capacity. Oh yeah, the little increase in CPU and bus speed is appreciated, too. It could have been better, but I won't complain, seeing as I was going to be buying an ibook this week anyhow.

Nice thing about iBooks is they're a lot more rugged than Powerbooks. Mine's been smacked around plenty and it's still going strong. Plus they're cheaper and almost as fast.

;

Does the fact that it doesn't have Firewire 800 affect the efftiveness of running tracks at 24 bit 96K?

Anyone try to run Pro Tools LE with full 32 tracks of audio at 24 bit 96K on a similar spec machine using Firewire 400 instead of 800? Was it able to do it?

I'd be curious about the Firewire 400, too, now that you mention it. I'll be mostly using the iBook for mBox level editing etc. on planes and trains, but I would like to know if I could run a mobile rig on it, with the proper interface. It's not essential for me, but it would be really cool.

I have ran an Mbox with Firewire 400 no problem, full 32 tracks at 24 bit 44.1 khz. But I'm curious about how it'll run at 96K.

Works great, no prob with heat or noise. Really should have been stock, though I guess for the target market the 4200 is ok. But for music, definitely must go 7200.

Mbox on firewire? Ok . . . I was actually talking about running an RME Fireface or something like it on Firewire 400 instead of 800.

I can't argue with that. But they do look quite nice, lol.

Read further up the thread, we're referring to a Firewire 400 external drive

Sorry, it wasn't completely clear. Still, I'd like to know if anyone has any experience using a Fireface or something like it with an iBook, and if so, how it worked out.

I dont think fw400 vs. fw800 matters at all when you are talkin about track count. I'm pretty sure a 7200rpm hard drive doesnt come near 400Mbs per second. You'd probably have to have a raid with 7200rpm or 10,000rpm drives to bottleneck fw400. I have an external raid enclosure that has both and I havent noticed a speed difference at all when using 400 or 800.



Mark

I should also add: it is really cool to have fw800 in powerbooks because I can run a hard drive and a fw interface at the same time. iBooks still only have one fw port. Tried daisy-chaining a hard drive through my interface and that didnt work for ****.



Mark