Customer Reviews

Apple iBook Laptop M8860LL/A (700-MHz PowerPC G3, 128MB RAM, 20 GB Hard Drive)

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

 

 

This iBook is my first foray into the Mac world (making me a switcher I guess) and I must say, I am impressed and pleased. I got this laptop because it would be an easy and cheap way to check out mac products. I actually hook it up to a 19" monitor when I am home, or sometimes just sit in my lazyboy chair and work from there. Those who complain about the screen size seem to miss the point. It is small, light, and extremely portable. It would be small if this was your only computer, but for a laptop it is perfect. It isn't incredibly fast of course, but with a little bit more RAM it does everything I need it to (Word, Photos, E-mail & Web, etc). It is also, quite simply the most stable, beautiful, and fun computer I have ever owned. Mac osX is the operating system we have all known could and should be. It simply does not crash, and looks good in the process. The loaded software is also excellent. iTunes, iChat, iPhoto etc. are fun and solid. The battery life is great. I don't think this will be the last mac I ever buy. They are certainly more expensive, but the quality is superior and immediately apparent. Little touches make the difference. If you are looking for a very cheap entry into the macintosh promised land, this is the way to go.

This is the ultimate portable size. The person who complained that the 12" screen is too small doesn't get the point. The whole computer, when folded, is exactly the same size as a small standard notebook. It fits well in places others won't, and the screen is very high quality (not like some of the [stuff] you see on other brands).

As to the ignorant complaint that the G3 chip is outdated, the G3 has been updated numerous times, not just in clock speed, since its introduction. It will most likely be dropped in favor of the G4 at the end of the year, but it is a great chip in its own right, and the speed is fine. Every computer uses a chip that will be dropped or changed by the end of the year, by the way.

You won't find a better value for a small, basic laptop computer.

The iBook is very portable. It is about the same size as a spiral-bound notebook. It's not much heavier at under 5 pounds. Some people may think that the 12.1" screen is too small, but for me it is just the right size for a laptop. If the screen got much bigger, it would no longer be truly portable. There is no squinting going on to see the display, Apple ships the highest quality displays of any PC manufacturer...I highly recommend this iBook. Especially if it's going to be your first Mac like mine was. I'd also recommend buying a 256MB or maybe even 512MB stick of Crucial® RAM to go with it -- installation is incredibly easy. Apple even has videos of how to do it on their support site.

I have had great sucess with my ibook, while I own the previous model everything on here is the same besides a upgrade to video memory. I have enojoyed the flexibilty and power this machine has to offer, from the seamless interaction with windows (via samba) to the powerful genetic analysis tools avaliable (via the unix layer), I have been happy with my ibook, and with apple's serivce when there was a slight problem.

My suggestion is get this laptop, and pick up another 384 or 512 if ram and enjoy learning mac os x.

I bought this along with a separate 512 MB RAM chip (even some Apple employees will admit that Apple gouges you for RAM) and the 3 year AppleCare in August of 2002. I had been a longtime PC user, but after playing around with OS X, I absolutely fell in love. I was amazed with the ease of plugging in peripherals, like my digital camera and not having to install external software. Best of all, it's built from the BSD kernel, so it's amazingly stable! My only complaint is that I've had to send it back to Apple twice for hardware repairs, but both times, tech-support personnel were incredibly polite, and the unit was quickly back to me (less than a week down time).

This machine is an excellent value, especially for an entry-level machine. And, if you do your homework before you make your purchase, you'll know what you're buying and you won't be disappointed. This machine is a G3 and it is a very fast G3. My other Macintosh is a G4 running 450 MHz, and it's hard to tell the difference in performance between the two. In addition, my G4 has 512 MB of memory and I've yet to upgrade my iBook. (Most of these clowns that whine about the G3 and G4 don't know the hardware). The speed is there.

This is a clean machine. The design is very smart with all your communication ports conveniently grouped together on the left side of the machine. And the CD-ROM is on the right side. In other words, you don't have to close your notebook to plug something in, and when you access your CD-ROM, it doesn't hit you in the stomach or elsewhere. All this is located where your hands are.

This machine is small, portable and light weight. It is made to be that way, hence the 12 inch monitor. If you need 14 inches, pay for it. It is available. If you want DVD or a CD burner, pay for it. It is available. If you want a G4, pay for it. It is also available, but you won't get it for ...and it might be made out of titanium.

I've experienced no problem with heat dissipation. Mine runs quite cool, and runs all my applications well. The case is a polished bright white with an Apple logo that illuminates when the monitor is on. The interior is opaque white with translucent white keys. It looks easy enough to clean, but I plan on keeping the peanut butter away from it.

This machine comes with Jaguar which is a very nice update. Don't be fooled by the .2 in 10.2. Much has been said about Jag that is good, and it is true!

I would recommend this system to just about anyone. Just check the specs, and get what you want. As for myself, I'll be keeping mine!

Peace!

Good:
OS X doesn't crash all the time like the old Mac OSes! Yeah!!! (For the first time ever I had a Mac on for more than a day without a crash!!!). So yeah, OSX rocks!

Cheap!!

Bad:
Not the best components. Get a good padded bag, if you set this thing down to hard, stuff starts to fall of.

Slow. Slow, slow, slow. But then who buys a laptop to run more than Office or a few card games? More than adequate for students, and light business use.

I just wrote this review for almost the exact same notebook as this one:

I really enjoy my iBook when it works. I not very computer savy and it is perfect for a novice like me. My main complaint is that I have had to send it back twice for repairs. The first time the screen died. I mean just died. I turned it on, heard a pop, and that was it. Sending it back wasn't much trouble, but by the time I got it back about three weeks had passed. Then it stop booting and made a funny grinding noise. They sent me a new hard drive (quickly this time) but that didn't do the trick. I just sent the whole thing back and I haven't got it back yet. So I love it, but I really wish it was more reliable.

I've been an Apple user around 15 years and (obviously) think they're great. This is the 1st Apple computer I've had to return. Here are the pros and cons of this iBook:

Pros: Great price, very nice monitor clarity and brightness, ample hard drive space, adequate supplied memory which can be upgraded, OS 10 (Jaguar) looks cool, thin and light.

Cons: Heat. Temperature-wise, this computer gets very hot on the entire underside and io the bottom-left corner of the top side (to the left of the touchpad). The previous iBook I owned, the tangerine iBook, had minimal surface heat. You need to place something in between you and the laptop of your placing it on your lap.

Screen size, too small at this size.
Durability: feels flimsy (but it is thin), the all white shell gets dirty easily.
Design: in-person, the white opaque plastic looks cheap to me, not my favorite design. Even the square power cord lacks the personality of the older "yo-yo" cords.
Drive: no cd burner or dvd playback.

Conclusion: if you can hold off until Apple introduces its new design for the iBook I would suggest waiting. However, if you want an Ibook and want it now, there's no other choice so you'll have to work with what Apple's giving you. My recomendation: look into similarily priced (but better featued) laptops from Compaq or Sony.