Customer Reviews

Apple iBook Laptop M8603LL/A (700-MHz PowerPC G3, 256 MB RAM, 30 GB hard drive)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just purchased one of these and am extremely pleased. I opted for the iBook instead of the PowerBook for several reasons. First off, the PowerBook puts off way too much heat. I've also heard several complaints of the paint peeling and the slot-loading CD-ROM giving problems. Also, I wasn't ready to drop [dollar amount] on a notebook computer. I was a little hesitant at first to buy something with only a G3 processor, but rest assured, after you upgrade the RAM in this unit, it works like a dream. It runs OS X very nicely (and that's supposed to improve when Apple issues 10.2 [Jaguar]). I regularly use Microsoft Office apps along with Adobe Photoshop, Internet Explorer, etc., the usual stuff. I don't notice it as being any slower than my iMac G4.

So anyway, if you're looking for a computer that does it all without a [big]price tag, I highly recommend the iBook.

Never in my lifetime did I ever think I would own a Mac. I was smarter than that. I made fun of people who used them. I don't need the simplified GUI, I'm not in the Educational field and rarely do graphic design, so why get one?!?

Well wouldn't you know it...as soon as I heard OS X was based on the BSD4.4 kernal, my ears perked up. Throw in a CD Burner, Apache, and all the practical and useful details of the iBook (way to many to outline here) and I was salivating to get my hands on one of these.

I first was MCSE certified in the late 90's, switched to Cisco/Networking and am finishing up my CCNP, and am currently a net admin for a major website in Seattle...and yes, I now own a Mac. My relationship with this powerful little computer is mind blowing. I can download mp3's and burn them to disk all on the fly, watch movies in the background while using a terminal window to do network configs. It has a cool little button on the rechargable batteries that lets you tell how full they are without having to turn on the laptop (think Energizer battery meters on AA where you can see if the AA battery is still good or not). The display is beautiful for a 12 inch. I can boot into the Bourne or Korn shell completely bypassing the GUI if need be. And (AWESOME SIDE NOTE) if a GUI app gets stuck, i can "kill -9 pid" from a term window and get back to work (uh, no rebooting like W2K).

I have a Cisco Wireless LAN @ home & @ work, and the built in wireless (airport) card works seemlessly between the two. It even picked up signal @ Starbucks on their network. I feel so Elite when I pull out my shiny white glowing ibook @ Starbucks and check my email and chat while eveyone else is stuck in analog mode reading the daily paper. True connectivity and digital bliss in a solid little package.

I won't fully give up my W2K laptop (comfort in the familiar), but oddly enough for this apple convert, my time spent on my ibook far exceeds my Windows use...very strange to hear those words coming form my mouth. Now I have all the Linux gurus @ work wondering why they settle for a Dell laptop with Red Hat installed when they could be running a native Unix OS on a laptop that already recognizes the built-in hardware. OS X is a gorgeous environment.

Mac's aren't just for teachers and kids anymore! =)

Kevin

This is my first experience with Mac OS X, so of course I'm very happy. A unix machine that will download pictures from my camera, straight out of the box - what could be better? I've considered a linux system for years, but getting it to work with my various peripherals would be a pain, and I can always dial up to work to use unix. Now I don't have to. The various details of this particular laptop are all fine - much faster than the 700-MHz would seem to indicate when compared to wintel machines, nice big bright screen, cool super drive, easily upgraded RAM, etc. Highly satisfactory.

Flawless
This computer has worked flawlessly. The 14" screen seems bigger than my desktop computer, which has a 15" screen. I still get oohs and aahs over the sheer ease of use of this machine, and the battery life is better than expected.

It is completely portable, which is what I was looking for as I began looking at laptops. I take mine with me everywhere. In determining whether to get the 12" iBook or the 14" iBook I came extremely close to getting the 12", but am glad that I instead chose the 14". My friend who was considering a purchase of a powerbook now wants to purchase a 14" iBook himself--amazed at the portability and large screen of this computer.

To Improve
My only real complaint against the iBook would be the speakers. They do project so as to make you believe that the sound is somehow coming from the screen (which I love). However, they sometimes do not seem loud enough. I would suggest seriously looking at some good external speakers in addition to buying this computer.

Primary Machine
I was able to begin using this computer a mere 5 minutes out of the box, and I am so enthusiastic about this computer that I may never want to use a desktop computer as my primary machine ever again. I am typing this review on my new iBook, as I recline on the furniture in my living room---and it feels great.

Amazon
Amazon was very good at shipping on time, and packing the shipment well enough to make me happy with their services.

You'll be glad you did
I take all my mp3s with me everywhere, am able to download digital pictures and immediately create things with them, edit movies, and watch DVDs or digital files (like Seinfeld) everywhere I go with this computer. In addition, I can do work, or just simply write documents in almost every location I visit. So if you are someone who is seriously looking at taking computing power with you everywhere you will love this computer! I know I do.

This is a great deal for a portable Mac. Superdrive, DVD, iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto and OS X, firewire, ethernet. I am extremely pleased with the package! As for those reviewers giving this a bad rap, I can only imagine that they are running dated software (DOH!) and must express doubt that they know what they're doing. Probably Windows users looking to bash the Mac. Sorry, but if you're looking to move into the future, for work, for school, for design, for entertainment, you can't beat this. Not to mention the oohs and ahs you're sure to attract. The only thing you need, really is to up the measly 256 ram to the max. You'll be cooking with gas in no time. This is one slick machine.

Having finally decided to plunk down the money for a laptop, I looked around and saw many rave reviews for Apple's iBook line. This iBook seems to be on backorder at just about every retailer, and for good reason.

Apple has packed in so many cool and high-powered features into this little (5.9 lb) notebook, it could be its best value Macintosh ever released.

Like Apple claims in its ads, I had this baby up and running less than 15 minutes out of the box. It connected to my office ethernet network, my home ethernet network, and my home Airport network (see below) quickly and easily, and I am a networking novice.

A nice, bright, 14" LCD display, 2 USB ports, a video-out port, an audio jack a FireWire port and a drive that reads and burns CD-ROMs and DVDs make this iBook feature-filled. I've already connected it to an external VGA monitor and projector for Power Point presentations (it comes w/a handy adapter), and with the handy Apple video adapter (sold separately), I was able to connect my iBook to my TV and watch DVD movies.

Oh, and did I mention the speedy 700 mHz processor? It runs OS X much snappier than one may think, and I've even read that it beats out some pricier TiBooks with G4 processors for some tasks.

My wife installed an Airport card and was surfing the net in 10 minutes w/the Airport Base Station (both sold separately). We can even go on the front porch and surf with Airport!

And OS X? It is the prettiest, smoothest and easiest operating system I've worked with since I fired up my first Commodore 64 in 1983. I have Windows XP Pro at the office, but I love to come home to OSX on my iBook. It's just a smarter, more intuitive operating system.

Preinstalled software also makes this a great computer. AppleWorks 6 ain't M$ Office, but for the price, it's darn good. iTunes is an elegant, easy to use audio player, and I am now the star of my family after I hooked up my parents' digital camcorder to my iBook (after buying a FireWire cable) and edited home movies into burned DVDs. My Dell desktop at work came with no cool CD or DVD-authoring software, and no software that turned me into a video auteur in minutes.

The only drawback - and this is nitpicking here - is that the iBook's hard drive and CD/DVD-RW drives cannot be upgraded. RAM is ridiculously easy to upgrade, though, and for a few extra dollars, you can max your iBook out at 640 meg of RAM.

So if you can get your hands on this top-of-the-line iBook (legally), do so. You will be very impressed.

Just got the new ibook, 256mb, 14" screen and love it. I haven't turned it off in a week and it runs fine. With my old PC I had to restart several times a day.

It works just like the commercials: stick in a cd, click "import" and you've got the whole cd on your hard drive. Stick in a blank cd, click "burn", and you've copied the cd.

It's light, and the powersaving features work great.

One complaint... I had to go to the Apple Store at the mall to get a carrying case that fit well.

perfect for the average user... probably not for a pc gamer... but for email, managing my music supply, papers, cruising the web, and all the other basic daily computer tasks i do... wouldn't need anything more...

...This machine is PERFECT! I bought an Apple iBook Notebook M8603LL/A (700-MHz PowerPC G3, 256 MB RAM, 30 GB hard drive). I also bought a 20 GB iPod, a wireless base station, an Airport card, a 1-year membership to .Mac and the extended service agreement. I also bought Quicken and Microsoft Office.

The whole package was not cheap however it works AMAZING. The iTunes/iPod ease of use and seamless integration is the best and no one should ever buy an old-fashioned .mp3 player that only holds 90 minutes. The iPhoto allowed me to build a slideshow and order photos on-line in less than an hour. The iMovie instantly recognized my JVC Mini DV Camera and Microsoft Office talks with my PC based office without a problem!

I have few complaints expect this box is not cheap, the additional service contract is too expensive and I bought additional memory from 8004MEMORY to get the max RAM (Apple's extra RAM is too expensive).

This has been a dream computer than NEVER freezes and I no longer think of words such as .bat, .ini, etc. If you buy one get a bigger hard drive if you plan to make movies, buy additional memory and if you want to use the iBook as a desktop replacement you may want to buy a bigger keyboard and a mouse. We bought one from Logitech that is made for Mac that has a number of iTunes and email functions on the keyboard.

Also if you own a Mac and don't have Jaguar yet, GET IT. It is great looking and brings your Mac into the new century!

I can say, without a doubt, this is the best computer I have used in the seven years I have owned PC/Macs. I switched from Mac to PC in 2001 and switched *back* after seeing all the features, style and value on offer from Apple with the new iBook.

Ready out-of-the-box for email, Internet, video editing, playing MP3s, printing photos, even burning CD-Rs. And all with the integrated easy to use and hassle free Mac OS X.

I can attest to the claims of 6 hour battery life, the wireless web works flawlessly and is a cinch to install. In fact, everything works so well that until I sat down to write this I had forgotten how good I've got it!