So my works Dell with it's massive screen has had to go back due to me leaving. It also looks like my new work isn't going to shell out for a fancy laptop for me so I'm left with my 12inch iBook. Now I love it to bits but the small screen can sometimes be a pain, especially now I using monoDevelop and actually coding on it. For a higher resolution I'm thinking the only way to go is a Powerbook and the 17inch is very tempting. My question is, with all this talk of Apple going over to Intel I'm wondering whether I should wait for an Intel powerbook or get G4 powered one sooner rather than later.

My only advice is that, when buying any computer, you can always wait for the next revision to get some feature you're looking for, but if you wait, then you'll be tempted to wait again. So buy a computer when you need it and ignore the future. It'll be obsolete in practice before it's obsoleted by the manufacturer anyway.

I'm kinda prepared for the obsolecence factor, it's really wether having a powerbook that could run x86 flavoured linux or even (ugh) windows is worth the wait.

My point was that it's never worth the wait, because if you start waiting, you'll never stop beacuse there will always be something else to wait for, or you'll have to pick some arbitrary point to stop waiting, so why not just make that point be now?

I think this case is slightly different to the normal "wait for some incremental improvement to the spec" situation. Andy is talking about waiting for a very specific change to the Apple hardware that is only going to happen once.

Personally I'd wait. If my powerbook were to break today, I'd definately wait until the intel powerbooks are released. From what I've been reading OS X on intel is truely snappy (tm).

If screen real estate is the main reason you're upgrading, I'd wait a bit longer. The first printings of this generation's powerbook manuals contained references to HD screen options, so there's a good chance they'll make it out into the wild with the next revision. While a 17" pb may be higher resolution than the ibook, it's still dismal compared to real high res screen.

Waiting for the intel powerbooks might not be a great idea. The powerbook line is at 232 days at this point, which makes it due for an update. The earliest we're supposed to see an macintel is June '06, so that's a long ways off.

I'd say give it a month and buy. New powerbooks will probably come out.

Report yesterday from the Paris Expo:

Quote:
Apple's booth looks the same as it always does.....except for the black cloth draping one section of the booth and the absence of Powerbooks and iBooks in the booth.

Matthew

I totally agree with Matthew. Also, the iBooks have had a recent bump (now 512MB, Bluetooth 2.0, Scrolling Touchpad and Motion Sensor as std) which have skewed Apples product lineup a bit - the 12" Powerbook would be quite a dumb choice when compared with the new iBook.

To deviate slightly, as for actually buying the thing... I'd recommend getting it from John Lewis. Costs the same as the Apple Store or elsewhere, but you get 2yr warranty, and very good customer service.

If I were you Andy, I would wait.

But! Whilst I was waiting I would go out and buy a nice big Dell 2005FPW, and use that until the new intels are out. My Dual set up is great, I have both Windows and Mac desktops and TV all on at the same time, with loads of space left over too!!! Best thing(s) I have ever purchased! (apart from my Microsoft mouse!).

Having said that, you will look pretty stupid on the train plugging in a 20inch widescreen monitor into the phone charger socket

Cheers

Cris.

Many thanks for the comments guys, it's likely to be an xmas gift so I'll be waiting a month or two anyway.

Sounds like a plan Cris, I think the iBook will drive higher resolutions externally but really I like sitting in the living room with it on my lap. If I have to sit in the study then I can use any of my fine selection of obsolete computers to accomplish that task.

Ah so it's a new 50inch Plasma HD TV you really need!!!

Then you could sit in the living room and still have a big screen to look at, Amy would have to use the 14inch portable TV in the bedroom of course

Edit: Where is the old iBook gunna end up

Cheers

Cris.

Mmm, nice!

Not too sure about the where the iBook would end up, either give it to Amy to help her manage her ipod or more likely flog it to help fund the powerbook or buy a 350D.

That is another option, I really did love my Dell and maybe running linux on it (or even osx86) might make up for it. You're right about the silly discounts Dell will sometimes do, that's why I got my X50.

I actually just installed Fedora Core 4 on my Dell X200. The only bit left to get working is bluetooth. This Socket CF blueooth card doesn't work great in Windows and it seems it's the same with Linux.

I was getting close to getting an Apple laptop, but I love this X200. I decided to save my money and get something new and refrshing at the same time. Seems to be working out well!