time for choosing

[Bryan Taylor]

I'm dithering over whether to purchase a 400MHz powerbook or a new 800 
combo iBook, I asked the question over at G-Books on LEM and got the 
response that (a) you need the 15" screen if thats all you got and (b) 
you need the 32Mb vram and the warranty on the iBook...
Now I've been gifted a dead backlight 500MHz iBook (its an insurance 
write-off) and I find on the Apple discussion forums that there are many 
unhappy people with similar dead backlights.
I know I'm asking for trouble but is this a common problem still on later 
models?

I can get the iBook to use an external monitor in a shop, now I'm waiting 
to see whether the claimant is going to return all the cables. I know you 
can repair it probably by replacing the video cable but I'm all thumbs, 
and the machine was written off because the authorised repairer said it 
needed a new entire display

Do people use the 12" iBook as their sole machine/screen? Is it tiring?

thanks for any or all answers
Bryan