New 700 iBook -- nice!

[Jason Bennett]

I thought I'd share my experiences with a friend's recent purchase of a 
new 700 iBook.
First, I should begin by saying she's a "switcher,"  having used a 
Wintel laptop for a few years before making the jump, thanks in part to 
the wise counsel of my wife -- she "switched" me from Amiga to Mac 10 
years ago :)

I was able to play with the 700 iBook for an evening, and I was 
*really* impressed with the laptop. As others have reported, the 700 
has a slightly different appearance, sporting a more solid white rather 
than translucent-white casing. The other alteration  is the palm 
rest/middle band, which is more of a light grey/beige rather than the 
silvery colour of the 500 iBook. Also, the palm rest felt slightly 
textured as opposed to the ice-smooth touch of earlier models. In 
addition to these changes, there was something else about the 700 that 
made it feel, well, really *sturdy,* easily on par with my clamshell. 
Before I get into trouble, I should say that I understand that the 
iceBooks are resilient, but they always felt a bit "flimsy" compared to 
the heavy clamshell (my wife has a 500 iceBook). I certainly don't 
think that any more after using the new iBook -- it feels like a solid 
laptop in every way.

Thanks to its faster processor, bus, and Quartz Extreme, the iBook was 
also quite zippy. It virtually flew through the boot process when 
starting up, and the applications felt responsive enough compared to my 
clamshell. While I've really enjoyed my clamshell, I can truly say I 
was tempted to make the "jump up," so to speak. Nevertheless, I'll be 
toting the tangerine around for another year at least without too many 
complaints. :)

So in short, if you have the chance to drop by an Apple dealer, check 
out the 700 model and see what you think.

Jason