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Review : Apple iBook G4 14-inch
As most intrepid readers of this site know about a month ago I dug into my savings account and bought a tricked out state of the freaking art Apple iBook G4. I thought it would be smart to actually use it for a while before writing a review of it.
Going back to Mac and getting a newish Mac OSX machine was probably the best tech choices that I have made in my entire life. I chose a 14-inch iBook with a 1.33 Ghz. PowerPC G4 processor, 133Mhz system bus, 768 Megs DDR RAM, ATI Radeon 9200 w 32 Megs DDR RAM, and 80-Gig Hard Drive, Air Port Extreme Wifi-G, Super Drive DVD+RW burner , external USB Keyboard and an extra battery. This bad boy is running Mac OSX 10.3.8 but I plan on upgrading to Mac OSX 10.4 Tiger at the end of the month when it is launched.
As with Apple products the OS is integrated with the hardware and one company controls the entire package. First the hardware in this review. I will review the software experience soon. Here is a hint. It is so very very good.
Apple has two lines of Notebooks, the Powerbook and the iBook. This mirrors their line of Power Macs, iMacs and now Mac Mini. The iBook is designed to be an efficient road warrior notebook with a light weight, sturdy design and an energy miser battery. The design of the case is extremely elegant and simplistic. All the edges are rounded and it feels and looks like a big iPod. I bet you a million bucks that this is not an accident considering how many billions Apple is making on the iPod. It just feels damn good to use. The white design can smudge and show cat hair but it is nothing a wet cloth can't fix.
Like all Apple mice there is only one button on the track pad but I use a three button Logitech USB mouse when I am at home. The keyboard has a nice click to it and it is quite comfortable to use. But when I am at my desk I have an external Apple keyboard for any major typing. There are shortcuts for volume and screen brightness controls on F Keys. the ports are on the left side and the slot loaded Super Drive is quite nice. The operating sound is very quiet and my external USB hard drive is actually louder than the iBook.
The battery delivers three and a half to four hours of life. The battery is locked into the notebook using a coin as a key and you can press a button on the battery and a gage will light up and roughly show you the current charge. I recommend getting an extra battery. You can fly cross country and watch close to eight freaking hours worth of DVDs. When I went on a business trip and got stranded in several airports due to weather problems it saved my sanity. The 14-inch screen looks crystal clear and is super nice for your eyes. When I use DVDs of TV shows recorded on my set top DVD-Recorder it is better than any Tivo set up. The USB ports can use just about all my existing hardware from my PC notebook including, my digital camera, mouse, keyboard, scanner, thumb drive, external USB hard drive and game pad. Hell even the AC adapter is very cool looking and it tells you what it is doing by the color of the light on it's end. The hard drive does not really get full because you can fit 4.6 gigs of data on a DVD+R, DVD-R. DVD+RW or DVD-RW disk. I have a small stack of disks that contained most of the data that I used to have on my old hard drive. I seriously recommend using an external USB hard drive to migrate to the new Mac and OS. The Super drive has no problem ripping and burning a DVD without breaking a sweat.
The graphics chip is nothing to sneeze and and it delivers fast digital video and a kick ass game of Warcraft 3 and Unreal Tournament 2004. I am probably going to get Halo for my iBook when I upgrade to the new OS. It works wonderful with an iPod and Playstation Portable. There is software to link Palm OS and Pocket PC PDAs,
My only real complaint about the hardware is that there is no audio in jack. You need to use an external USB audio capture device if you want to do any analog audio recording.
To sum up the hardware it is the nicest, most well designed notebook computer that I have ever used. I look forward to getting years of use out of this iBook. Apple reputation for quality and cult like following is well earned. It is not like a PC with a very nice interface it is a different species altogether. There is a reason why Mac nerds get seriously obsessive about them.
If you think about it objectively a computer is probably the most personal mechanical appendage that does not directly hook up to your body. My iBook is a perfect extension to my mind. It is wholly Gibsonian Cyberpunk.
It is Insanely Great
Jake at April 15, 2005 
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Comments
only two things:
while I understand the urge to be different I seriously was shocked by the "color" white and instantly disliked it.
what was the price?
Posted by: Jim at April 15, 2005 02:05 AM
It's not as great as my ass!
Posted by: BBQ at April 15, 2005 02:46 AM
I love the iBooks but I have one problem with them. It's the same problem I currently have with the iPod (excluding the Shuffle) - The Price. Apple's products are far superior than a windows box but the price is just still too much for me. I can go build a very good windows gaming box for about 500.00 while an Apple machine with extra RAM HDD space, etc is outrageous.
If I do go ahead and switch to a Mac, it'll be with the Mac Mini. I'm seriously considering picking one up as a media-centeresque machine.
Posted by: snortin_php at April 15, 2005 06:02 AM
It does ship with an internal microphone. I'm not sure where it's located, but it's there.
Posted by: Scott at April 15, 2005 06:42 AM
It started at 1499 but it was around 2k with all the options. That is about the same as a similarly equipted PC.
Yeah I thought about the Mac Mini but I wanted a notebook.
No there is no internal Microphone in this model.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at April 15, 2005 07:06 AM
I'm running a 2.8Ghz P4, 768 PC3200 RAM, 2 80Gb Hitachi SATA drives, and a 9800 Radeon PRO and I have spent well under 1,000 for it. I know that there is a huge price increase when it comes to laptops but I just can't see throwing down that much bank on a laptop.
I'm pretty surprised to hear that the 9200 handles UT04 so well. I was running a 128mb version of that card before switching to my 9800 and it was terrible when playing UT.
Don't get me wrong though. If someone were to offer an iBook to me then I'd take it in an instant. I'd even be willing to pay something in the 800-900 range for it. But, if I'm going to throw down 2k then I'd probably shoot for an Alienware laptop or something similar.
Posted by: snortin_php at April 15, 2005 08:02 AM
The G4 PowerPC Cpu kicks ass at games. I like the fact that I can run it with out having major fans and a real battery life. It is also under 6 pounds.
it is not just for gaming. If I wanted a dedicated game machine I would get an Xbox and I have no problem making in investment in hardware that will last me. If you compare the iBook to a similar Sony or Alienware laptop it is quite reasonable. Now the Powerbooks those will break your bank account.
A Mac Mini with an EyeTV USB device and a Super Drive would kick much ass as a PVR machine.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at April 15, 2005 09:08 AM
Apple has an article showing how you can use an iPod to help move data files to a new Mac
http://www.apple.com/switch/howto/ipod/
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at April 15, 2005 09:28 AM
I got the same model with slightly different configuration at about the same time you did and share your enthusiasm.
Isn't that itty bitty hole in upper right corner of the frame around the screen a microphone? I haven't used mine, but the tech specs here http://www.apple.com/ibook/specs.html say "Built-in microphone". As you say, there's definitely no jack to plug in an external, though.
Posted by: Jeff Youngstrom at April 15, 2005 01:43 PM
Well I could be wrong about the internal Mic but I have not found it. I shall endever to find it.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at April 15, 2005 02:17 PM
that line-in statement really stuck out in my mind because i had a job where i had to carry around a 17" powerbook and capture audio directly from a mixer. SO, on the company's dollar, i went shopping and found this:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/
good luck.
Posted by: Ryan at April 15, 2005 11:28 PM
Personally, I think if you want a gaming machine, stick to virus ridden windows machines. Macs are for the creative arts and the folk involved. If you want to play tons of games, you should get a console. No installing, system req's, etc, etc. And the price for a Mac, think of it like this: You get what you pay for. If you get a $500 Dell, your going to get about a year out of it before it starts it's horribly fast downfall. Macs are built to last. I know people who have been using the same Mac for over 6 years, still running fine. A little extra RAM is all that's needed. That's why I own a Powerbook and an array of consoles. And if you mod your X-Box, you can do just about anything. My xbox is basically a PC media center that doesn't crash every 2 hours. Windows is so overrated.
Posted by: Shawn at April 16, 2005 08:46 AM
The mic is located just outside the screen on the right side. It is a very tiny hole.
Posted by: Tony at April 17, 2005 07:11 AM
Ah I see it now!
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at April 17, 2005 04:24 PM
Good to see some solid reviews of the ibook. Nice idea, getting first hand experience before writing. Im considering switching to an ibook for my next puter. Windows has screwed me over too many times. Unfortunately I dont play games any more (or not often), so would the graphics card still be put to good use when using applications such as illustrator, photoshop, flash, etc.?
Posted by: Charlie at September 30, 2005 07:13 PM
Yeah it is awesome at graphics apps and it play Unreal 2004
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at September 30, 2005 09:17 PM
Theres a built in Mic on that iBook i can see it. Look at the top right near the LCD. Thatg little dot is the most powerful Mic i have ever seen
Posted by: Austin at December 3, 2005 06:00 PM