jbl

Thinking about treating myself to an Apple laptop so that wife can monopolise the iMac G4. I know that I need to get an airport card for the iMac and we have just connected to BT Total broadband so a laptop becomes a possibility.
It is basically for home use-accounts, iphoto and imovie and www etc, nothing of a graphics or huge professional data usage.
I have read about the 13" Macbook (their newest ) but wondered if the older Powerbook might not fit the bill, one of the larger screen ones.
If anyone has used one then I would be pleased to read any comments on + or - points and any other comment you feel applicable.
I do not want a microsoft based one.

Thanks

JBL

Gigsy

If you don't need the big screen of the Pro Power Books, get the smaller 13" one that you mention. It's got the same dual core Intel processor as the Mac Mini I've been using to do a lot of video work recently and it's very impressive in that.

For £700 or so I think it's pretty good VFM... I'm even contemplating ditching my larger (and older) PowerBook Pro for one

RichB

Macbooks are now Core 2 Duo, better than the minis for now...
Definitely a good machine unless you need the fast graphics performance of Macbook Pro.
Don't bother with the black one though, bit of a waste.
I would go for the 2.0 White with 1gb of Ram. Hard to beat !

Blackscooby

I use a MacBook 2.0Ghz with a gig of RAM. Use it really for surfing and playing MP3s on iTunes via my Denon whilst down stairs. Use the BT keyboard and mouse, it's fantastic for how I use it altough right now it's a little far away and I'm straining to see the sodding screen !

Markus

For what you want to do, I'd say the 13" MacBook is ideal, it's got a mini DVI port on it so if you want to hook it up to a monitor/tv all you need is the appropriate connector, which is not included in the box, but it's not too expensive.

I'd agree with Rich about going for 1GB RAM if possible, Tiger (10.4) does seem to work better with 1GB or more.

AllanB

I'd also agree and suggest the entry level machine with at least a 1Gb of RAM. Do be aware that machines can leave the factory with both slots filled eg 2 x 256Mb chips rhather than 1 x 512Mb which can make upgrading a bit trickier hence I would suggest sticking one big chip in.

If you need any help let me know, Scoobynet discount !



AllanB

Echo

I just got a cracking deal on a black one but waiting for it to arrive. I would get the white one with SuperDrive and a Gb RAM. I only got the black one as it was on a special, cheaper than a white one (and C2D) through some 'connections'. I will be using mine for video work and will hook it up with a big monitor. If you want to use Motion I'd get something beefier but for general video work it's superb value!

Dieseldog

I just sold my black Macbook. I found the 13" screen too small and the quality of the screen not as good as on the gf's basic Vaio. The keyboard wasn't nice to use either and I just couldn't get motivated enough to learn all the clever ways of the Mac OS.

I did however notice that Dixons (or whatever they're called now) had it for £799 (Core Duo, not Core 2 Duo) on Saturday in Guildford.