Home and away flexibility for a price
Written: Oct 29 '00 (Updated Dec 19 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Complete package; easy to set up and use
Cons: Pricey
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| adjensen's Full Review: Apple iBook Key Lime Special Edition 12.1 in. (M82... |
I'm a Mac person from way back. 1985, to be precise. I've always had Macs around due to my work, but never actually owned one until the iBook. I wanted to buy a computer for my daughter to use that could double as something that her mother could take to school, so the iBook seemed a logical fit.
First off, this is a pricey affair. If you can't get beyond that, don't bother even looking at this notebook. You do not get $1700 worth of notebook if you are comparing it to a Windows machine. You're also paying a heck of a premium for the portability -- this is essentially an iMac in a clamshell, and you can get the iMac for under $900.
Past the price, it's a fairly good box, if your needs are limited to:
Games
Internet
Limited graphics processing (by which I mean that I can scan stuff in and make minor changes with it, but it bogs down if I start trying to do complex things)
General household computing (writing letters, keeping track of finances, etc)
Built in memory, at 64 megs, is a bit sparse, but it doesn't seem adversely affected by bumping virtual memory up to 128 megs. The (effectively) 4 gig drive is large enough (note that Mac software takes up far less space than Windows software, in general). The screen, at 800 x 600, is a bit tight for many uses, but this is a notebook, after all, and sacrifices must be made. The display is reasonably crisp.
Update: With the recent death of my main portable, a Powerbook G3, I moved most of my work over to the iBook while the G3 was in the shop. RAM immediately became a problem, so I bought a 256 Meg upgrade for about $130 -- installation was a total breeze; it took about two minutes. However, the screen size is a major problem, and I'm looking forward to getting my G3 back. 800 x 600 is far too small for my use (mostly CodeWarrior programming). Sadly, there is no way to upgrade the video RAM, so it's impossible to get better resolution.
Included software is surprisingly limited -- you'll have to budget a couple of hundreds extra dollars to add in some of the graphics and financial programs you'll want. It does come with Appleworks, an integrated program that provides word processing, spreadsheet, etc.
The box itself is reasonable light for a notebook, and the carrying handle is a nice addition for carrying to the library or to school. You definitely don't want to be walking around an airport like that, though. The feel of the keyboard is quite nice, and the design of the box leaves plenty of space for your hands to rest in a comfortable position.
I've hooked up a scanner, color printer, CD burner and Zip drive to the iBook via a USB hub, and everything installed and works well, with the sole exception being the CD burner, which took a couple of tries to get the software installed, but after that everything was fine.
My personal needs (I'm an engineer) preclude using the box for anything but casual home use -- the hard drive is too small for everything I would need to stuff on it, and the screen size is too small for my needs. It works fine for my daughter and her mother, though.
One very practical use would be to take it on a trip -- if your digital camera has a USB port, you can plug it right into the iBook, get your photos, do whatever touch ups might be required, upload the photos to the net, and have a "live trip report" which your friends and family could follow as it occurs.
All in all, this is a pretty good product, if you can get beyond the price point. If portability isn't a real need, get an iMac.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
adjensen
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Member: a.d. jensen
Location: Grand Forks, ND USA
Reviews written: 143
Trusted by: 111 members
About Me:
Now blogging reviews at http://kandsmil.blogspot.com/
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