What to get for a laptop...

[kingcrowing]

Yeah, another one of theses, you know the drill, what would you reccomend?
iBook 12" 1.33Ghz
Combo Drive
100GB HD
Add my own 1GB stick for a total of 1.5GB
$1300 (student discount)

pBook 12" 1.5GHz
Super Drive
100GB
1.25GB RAM (1GB of my own)
$1660

pBook 15" 1.5GHz
combodrive
80GB
512MB (I will upgrade eventually, 2GB is like $230)
$1800

$1800 is like my max, but i like the backlight KB as i use my laptop at night with low to no other lighting, i also like the bigger screen size, i currently have an 800MHz iBook G4 W/256MB

 

[stonyc]

Yeah, another one of theses, you know the drill, what would you reccomend?
iBook 12" 1.33Ghz
Combo Drive
100GB HD
Add my own 1GB stick for a total of 1.5GB
$1300 (student discount)

pBook 12" 1.5GHz
Super Drive
100GB
1.25GB RAM (1GB of my own)
$1660

pBook 15" 1.5GHz
combodrive
80GB
512MB (I will upgrade eventually, 2GB is like $230)
$1800

$1800 is like my max, but i like the backlight KB as i use my laptop at night with low to no other lighting, i also like the bigger screen size, i currently have an 800MHz iBook G4 W/256MB

My opinion...

Wait another week or two. There's really no sense in buying a PB now, when upgrades are rumored to be coming in the next couple weeks.

Other than that though... the backlit keyboard isn't a necessity. It's purely cosmetic, rather than functional because in the dark most of the keyboard will be illuminated by the monitor. It certainly looks -cool-, but don't get it just because of that.

If it were me (and I'm not saying this is what you should do) and I needed one of those options -now-, I'd go for the iBook and spend the extra $500 (well, $394 to be exact) on a Dell 20005fpw. You get more screen real estate than just the 15" alone, and the 12" iBook just has more bang-for-the-buck value than the 12" PB.

EDIT #1: Oh, and since you're considering the ibook and the 15" with the combo, it seems to me that the superdrive isn't exactly a necessity for you.. making the 12" pb less desirable versus the 12" ibook from that standpoint also.

EDIT #2: One more thing. Consider only upgrading the HDD on the ibook only up to 60 or 80GB. That $135 difference going from the 60 to the 100, that could instead go to a nice external HDD that will give you much more room than the 100GB would alone. Even upgrading only to the 80GB saves you $90, which when you combine that with the $100 left over after buying the 20" dell leaves lots of money for buying and external HDD or DVD-burner (if you really need it).

 

[WillMak]

ibook is the better value and you'll get longher battery life as well.

 

[puckhead193]

the backlight keyboard is waste, it looks cool but i think its not functional. The 12" PB seems ideal and then get an external monitor, if not then the 15" PB

 

[iAFC]

If it were me, I would pay $1299 and get an iBook 14" w/ SuperDrive, 60 GB hard disk and faster processor. Oh man, it really rocks.

 

[discoforce]

I agree with those recommending you wait; updates to the PBs "feel" close.

I disagree that the backlit keyboard is useless. I find mine to be extremely helpful during presentations or other times when the room is very dark. However, I would agree that this should probably be the *last* consideration for buying a new laptop

 

[PaRaGoNViCtiM]

I would go definitely go 15" Powerbook, but I would wait and see if they are updated.

 

[macOSX-tastic]

i would go with the 15"er. it offers portability and power. you should hopd off for a little while longer though.

tastic