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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning, powerful, reliable, January 10, 2004
The iBook, Apple's "consumer" portable (a consumer simply being an everyday user), really has it all now: a very speedy processor, great graphics, great design (it took a few years for them to perfect this white beauty), great features (a lazy way of saying "All the other things on the machine I forgot to mention"), and most importantly, a great price.Ever since the iBook went G4, the machine took on a whole transformation. It is no longer lacking in the processor department and thus is a very "well-rounded" laptop. As for the machine itself, it's great. The entire laptop is white, crisp white (a mixed blessing...it's elegant, but very, very hard not to dirty it), and the overall design is great. Everything is ergonomical and compact: the little latch to close the iBook stays hidden on the top, but then magically appears as you close it. (Gotta love Apple's design team for those little things!) The keyboard, unlike other models, isn't "spongy."In fact, it is rather sturdy for a laptop keyboard. It is stationed to a strong metal backboard and if you take the keyboard and backboard off, you will see a slot for an Airport Extreme card (card that enables wireless internet). No more PC "NIT" cards protruding from the sides, everything is on the inside. The top of the computer has a translucent Apple logo that glows when you are computing in the dark. The trackpad is large and precise, and the button (Windows users, beware: no "Left-clicking" in the Mac world, only "Command clicking"!) is large and responsive. Battery life is excellent, I get an average of 5 hours with normal use. The charger has a light indicating the level of charge so you know when the 'book is charged (green for charged, amber for charging) without turning it on or waking it from its "Sleep" mode. Panther, the latest version of Mac OS X (10.3), is stunning, powerful, and reliable in its own right (go ahead and check out those reviews or Jaguar's reviews, the previous OS X version.) I don't want to go into the benefits of its UNIX core, just trust me that it is stable. The "iLife" set of software is one that really revolutionized the Apple world, after OS X, software-wise. It's all here: iTunes (store, burn, and buy music in one easy-to-use program), iPhoto (organize, burn, share, print, edit, email, and more with a plug-and-play friendly piece of software), iMovie (for editing, storing, and organizing your DV movies), but no iDVD...no DVD burner (but you can buy an external one.) Some other good programs that supplement your iLife are Mail, Appleworks, iChat, iCal, etc. It comes with World Book 2003, Quicken, and a few others. It's fast. CD's burn with one click. My iPod (a great addition to this for music lovers) loads with one slide of a Firewire cable (literally.) Safari has built-in pop-up control (never has a single pop-up existed here.) Games (only the Sims so far) load and play flawlessly. DVD watching is pristine. USB 2.0 and Firewire (a BIG plus for external hard drives) work at top speed. No bugs, no crashes, no viruses. This machine was engineered to have the software and hardware be integrated. Have a problem? You won't be told to call a different company. You will always have one number to call, and they can't transfer you (since they make the hardware and software) What more is there to say? I love my iBook! It's light, user friendly, and works like a dream. Quick! Go order one. You'll be in for a treat.
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