Customer Reviews

Apple iBook Laptop M8602LL/A (700-MHz PowerPC G3, 128 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Unlike many PC notebooks that are stripped down and lack features, Apple's iBook is a no-compromise portable that is perfect for the student (I'm one). It comes complete with wireless network capabilities, a high-speed ethernet port,usb ports, firewire, and enough hard disk space to satisfy even the most prolific digital photographer. If you still need room, just burn a few data cds on the cd burner!

This new line of iBook really performs well too. It is fast. MOst of the student's activities (surfing the web, writing papers, checking email) will fly. Ripping cds and watching movies is also fast. OS X is also a HUGELY important reason to have this machine. It ROCKS.

Features aside, this notebook is just cool too! Screen is awesome, it's sweet looking, and is really, really portable and durable. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

I love my iBook, and they keep getting better. This is no commodity notebook - Apple has put tremendous amounts of thought into minute details, and the result is the best consumer laptop out there. It's not intended for pro use, but I use it all the time for work when I can't be in the office. In addition to the great design, the best features are the Firewire port, which is essential if you have a DV camera or an iPod, and OS X, which is simply essential and has built-in al kinds of professional power features like Java 2 and Unix.

That said, these things don't ship with enough memory. 128 mB is the bare minimum for OS X. I'd get at least 256 mB, or even more (I have 320). If you're going to use your iBook at home much, the optional Airport card is a great investment (you'll need a base station too, but you don't have to buy Apple's).

For the future, I would love to see Apple add the G4 processor and the Superdrive so I could burn DVDs. A built-in stereo ADC so you can burn CDs from vinyl would be cool too (I use a thrird-party product). Battery life and weight are never good enough, of course.

Don't worry about Apple's viability - they have billions of dollars in cash and an established loyal customer base.

And I thought it was for me? Airport and Ibook means, email in bedroom, kitchen, living room, and bathroom =). I can't get her to let me use it, until I have to use it for work. I love the 12 inch monitor, I love the smaller size, I have another G3 computer so I don't need a bigger screen. I just put it in my suitcase, and i'm off. The Battery life is great! I let my kids watch DVD on trips. I've made a little place for the laptop to sit between the front seats in my van, instant portable theater! Nice little CD burner. I've never had such flexibility with any other computer in my life, and I've had many. Mac X is an impressive OS, and with a little added memory (i got an extra 256), I can't see too much difference between my Ibook and the 800mzh G4 Imac. Oh by the way, did I mention, that my Ibook makes other laptops look like plastic toy boxes. Nice looking machine. If you need a laptop, there is no other way to go. Way to Go Apple!

I'm a PC switcher who used PCs until January 2002. This is my second Mac within a year. I love it. I definitely need to add more RAM; 128M isn't enough as it bumps against the hard drive which affects battery life. This is a great little portable. Yes, you can use Adobe Photoshop on it, but I generally reserve my high-powered applications for a larger screen; i.e., my 17" Apple Studio Display. The G3 chip in the iBook can handle Photoshop, and most apps, but remember this is a laptop with a 12-inch screen. I love its small size and portability. It's great to slip into a purse or take outside and surf wirelessly from my swing in the oaks. I would recommend adding more RAM. Also the cord on the battery adapter is a bit fragile, as it is made of the kind of wire that isn't very flexible. Apple says you can wrap the cord up inside the adapter, but I prefer to keep it stretched out so that it lasts longer. Other than the wire on the power adapter, which is a minor complaint, I can't say enough good things about this little book. I do wish Apple would increase RAM capabilities in these to at least 1 G. You can never have enough RAM! I have also really enjoyed watching DVD movies on it. It's great to surf in bed and is super quiet. A nice break when you're tired of your loud desktop. And I can't say enough about the relaxing benefits of surfing wirelessly. My battery life, if I play a DVD, which is what Apple recommends as a battery test, is 2 hours; Apple uses this as a test because playing a DVD keeps the hard drive constantly in motion. If I am only surfing and chatting, and I dim the screen to increase battery life, I get about 3 1/2 hours. You will get more battery life if you add more RAM and dim the screen slightly. It recharges quickly; in about 2 hours. I am so glad I have an Apple iBook and would not want any other notebook on the market. Love the style, love the applications, and I chose the 12-inch screen over the 14-inch because I wanted the portability. I have a desktop, a PowerMac, so I was not looking for a desktop replacement, just something to journal/blog in, use Microsoft Word, Photoshop occasionally, and surfing, email and chat. The iBook has lived up to all my expectations except playing games in Yahoo is slow, which is primarily a function of me only having 128M of RAM. Anyone knows that isn't enough RAM. Oh, and don't think of using the speakers to play your iTunes! Get an iPod, headphones, or use your desktop's speakers for that. I highly recommend the iBook.

This is my first Mac, and I just love the iBook! The design is beyond anything that the PC world has produced. The thought that went into the big and little details is evident everywhere. The iBook is just a great pleasure to use, and OS X is a world class operating system.

My only recommendation is to get more RAM! I got 512Mb chip ..., and now with 640Mb my iBook flies. When I played with 128MB in the store it was much slower.

I bought one of these for my father who had previously had little luck with his windows laptop. Unfortunately, while 'testing it' I got hooked and had to buy one for myself. It is beautifully designed, from the feel of the case to the OS X software and is a very addictive machine. I don't feel the need for a larger screen: I like its compact size and low weight. It isn't the fastest laptop on the block, but is snappy enough for everything I need at home including Photoshop and occasional office work.

If you buy this laptop you do need to buy more RAM, especially for Photoshop and you don't need to, but you will also find yourself buying a digital camera, an Ipod MP3 player and finally a DV camcorder as well.

The sign of true addiction though is the purchase of the Airport Base station and card. True laptop bliss is sitting in the garden surfing the web... this is the first computer to bring the fun back into computing for a long time.

I've had my iBook 700 MHz for about a month now. I bought it to replace a PowerBook G4 400 MHz. I liked my previous PowerBook, but I was disappointed in a few things. The airport range was poor and the battery life was less than I would have liked. The iBook has very good battery life, excellent airport range, a small footprint, it's lighter than the PowerBook and more durable as well. Speed is very good for most programs and the screen (although small) is very bright and easy on the eyes. Overall, all I'm very pleased with the iBook.

This is a great CONSUMER portable. Great for the average person like me running the typical software like surfing the web, e-mail, office documents, burning CD's and yes using Photoshop... Don't however expect the performance numbers of a dual G4 PROFESSIONAL level desktop. That's not what the iBook is for. I would suggest purchasing 3rd party RAM. The 128M is really the bare minimum. Do some research to make sure you know what exactly your getting with whatever computer your thinking of buying. I lurked in Apple's iBook disussion forum for months before I bought mine and couldn't be happier with my purchace.

I just bought an Apple iBook (700 Mhz, combo, 12.1"), and I love it. Of course I had to get used to the new OS, but it was very easy. There is the mac help which has helped, aswell as calling the apple tach support (they have been very helpful). The only thing that I don't like is the fact of how easy it is to scratch the top, and for paying $1800 for the computer (+Apple Care Protection Plan), I would hope that it would be harder to mar. The only other problem I have with it is the small inatiquate speakers. I think for the amount of money payed I would have gotten better speakers. Otherwise, Ilove it; and for the student it is great. Although I do reccomend adding at least 128 mb more memory asap if you are going to run OSX, it speeds thing up a bit. If you bought an iBook, happy computing.

Well, as a programmer, I've used every version of Windows since 3.1, so I wanted to try something new. Linux is terrible as a desktop client. BeOS is dead, so that leaves MacOSX.

Many people talk about the high system requirements for OSX, and it's true, iBook with 128MB of memory just doesn't cut it. First thing I did was to add another 512MB of memory, now OSX is tolerable, snappy even if you stick to doing general office productivity tasks and web browsing.

The best part about OSX for me is the BSD UNIX foundation.
emacs, tcsh, ssh, apache, gcc all the geeky stuff that I need for programming is there.

so, is the switch worth it? I think so. I used to need two computers -- a windows XP client and a linux server. now I can do it all on the iBook.

I however do not have good things to say about Apple's iApps bundled witht OSX.
Both iPhoto and iTunes only appeal to novices.
iPhoto organizes your photos into its own multi-leveled directory structure based on date -- something I don't need on my already neatly organized photo albums on windows XP.
And as far as i know, quickly browsing/viewing photos at full screen like ACDSee is not possible with iPhoto.
iTunes similarly works best if you are just starting out with digital music, ie, ripping CDs with iTunes and letting it manage your collection. But I already have 25GB of mp3 on my windows desktop, moving them to the iBook is out of the question.
So what I really need is a simple program to play songs from a shared network drive. Fortunately, in the Mac world there's no shortage of good 3rd party software. I found Audion from panic.com which does what I needed (and much much more).