[P1] G3 vs G4, iMac iBook etc.

[Ruffin Bailey]

>> My preference would be to go back to a desktop machine. I still prefer the
>> brighter screens they offer, and I get really cheesed off with the battery
>> life of a laptop.
>> 
> Price, and speed I think (more important in the long run, since Moore has
> always been able to fix the first issue in due time, but not always the
> second issue).

Before I purchased my 17" flatscreen iMac, I would have said to purchase the iBook, hands down.  The battery life is actually quite good in my 500 MHz iBook -- more than four hours.  If I need to use it longer in one place the AC power supply is a little too big to be easy to carry, but I eventually got over that.  Screen is crisp, and now with a decent processor the G4 iBooks are great machines.  My old iBook just isn't quite up to running OS X enjoyably quickly.

Anyhow, a few quick comments -- Panther with a G4 is fast enough that you really don't have to wait for Moore's Law to catch you up any more.  Either machine will be fast enough to run Panther at a good clip.  Both also have video cards that handle Quartz Extreme, so there's no speed hit there either buying the iBook.  As far as performance, unless you're doing something horribly processor intensive (which, unf. for me, includes running Java IDEs), the two boxes should eyeball about the same running speed.  Everything equal, I think I'd still go for a mobile Mac than a sessile one.

But you do already have an "X ready" Mac laptop!  For me, this boiled the question down to whether I wanted a Superdrive or not.  For about the same price as a new iBook, I got a G4 iMac refurb with Superdrive, and couldn't be happier.  The iMac flatscreen is super, and all the extra screen real estate is a real boon.  The sound from the speakers are also super, and really impressed me.  If you can grab the iBook from your wife at all when you *have* to be mobile, I'd recommend the iMac with Superdrive for about the same as a new iBook.  

But, as always, if you can wait until the next iMac upgrade, do.  Not only is there the rumored new iMac shape, the old ones will drop in price something crazy that same day.  If you have to buy/want to buy now, go iBook and get a bit more for your dollar.  The good thing is that, at this stage, you really can't go wrong either way.  And in the meanwhile, perhaps pick up something inexpensive to play with, like an old clamshell or even an older Powerbook 1400, which I've found to be a lot of fun.

Ruffin Bailey