  | Apple iBook Notebook M7701LL/A (600-MHz PowerPC G3, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)
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Average user rating:  | |
 My 3rd Mac Laptop | |
| I have a Lombar G3, a Titanium Powerbook, and now this 14" iBook. This one is a great value. Lots of features, great build quality, a bright screen, a pretty fast CD writier, and a decent software collection ... and it looks pretty cool. It's met all my expectations. I highly recommend it. I run OSX exclusively and in OSX the sleep mode is superb. I rarely actually shut it down. I use it then just close the lid and charge it back up ... that way it's virtually "instant on" when you open the lid. Much better than in OS9 .... buy one. | |
| iBook Rocks! | |
| The problem with Apple is they make such dang gorgeous computers. Though my iMac was great, who could resist this with the 14" screen & CD burner? Realities: Learning the workings of OSX and dual booting take patience and a good Mac book (I use 'The Missing Manual' by David Pogue); spending more on the best looking laptop is no big deal (who doesn't spend as much as they can on a great looking car?), i.e., why would cheaper be better. The only criticisms I have would be with the workmanship--I don't think the integrity is as top notch as I expected, but that's not enough to knock a star off the rating. | |
 Good buy | |
| I am a regular Linux user and my requirements in having a laptop were (a) it have nothing to do with Microsoft and (b) be easy to use and carry. I toyed with the idea of getting a bargain laptop and loading Linux on it, but after playing with the iBook in the university's book store, I decided this was it. I have used this machine only for a month now, so I don't have extensive comments. By and large the machine is very good. What I liked: Apple has done a very fine job when it comes to the screen. It is brilliant and crisp. Setting up the machine to connect to the network (both via modem and ethernet) was effortless. Appleworks is great in converting MS files and the presentation suite is very nice. Hooking up this system to a projection system was very easy. (I have seen people struggle with their Microsoft based systems.) Loading up with software such as TexShop, OmniWeb, etc. was very easy and I could get going without wasting much time. The "sleep" feature and "waking it up" work very nice and are very convenient. What I didn't like: Apple should have made a much better keyboard. There is a perceptible and disconcerting keyboard flex. For an expensive machine such as this one, this would have been a basic requirement. Apple really cut corners in making the "press-to-open" CD drive. The drive itself couldn't get any flimsier. I can tolerate some keyboard flex, but the flimsy drive makes me not want to give it 5 stars. Of course, Apple's warranty system could be better, not that I needed to use it. |
