I received my iBook last Monday. After tearing open the packaging excitedly, I booted the beauty up and started exploring. I later shut the machine down and went to check email on my Blue and White G3, and when I rebooted the iBook, it failed to show any video. It seems the light in the LCD had managed to burn out. After going through normal troubleshooting procedures, I called Apple, and they were on the case immediately. They shipped me another unit, which I received the following day. Needless to say, I'm quite pleased with their customer service.

Now on to the iBook. It's, as you know by now, quite attractive.(Assuming you like the general look of Apple's design.) I upgraded the RAM to 160 Mb with a 128 Mb module. The upgrade was painless, with only two phillips head screws and a shield to remove internally after the removal of the keyboard. The keyboard has two small latches which allow for its easy removal. It took me less than 5 minutes start to finish. It's much faster than I expected, and it easily seems as fast at most operations as my Professional Series G3(350 Mhz). It's a tad heavier than I expected, but I don't mind that at all. The screen is bright and seems to be larger than I thought it would be.

Thus far I have used it for email, web browsing, HTML editing, scripting work, games, design work, letter writing, and light database development. It has yet to crash even once. The function keys are programmable, allowing me one key access to my frequently used apps and saving me the screen space a docking utility would normally consume. The keyboard has a solid and springy feel, and I much prefer it to the one on my Gateway portable. Finally, I had forgotten what an underrated gem Apple's Location Manager software is. It allows me to change all of my settings with one menu command and saves me considerable time moving from work to home and vice versa.

I've connected to the Internet with the modem and gotten 49xxx every time, I've connected to ethernet IP networks and had fantastic speed. The video is responsive and clear. This is a fantastic notebook for someone who doesn't mind the limitations of a 3.2 Gb hard drive. With a DVD drive, it would be the perfect machine.



Recommended: Yes