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The Road Warrior Mailbag plus From The Archive - 12” iBook vs 12” PowerBook Revisited

• Re: iPhone 3G in Canada Article
• From The Road Warrior Archive - 12" iBook vs 12" PowerBook Revisited

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Re: iPhone 3G in Canada Article

Hi Charles:

Well, like you, I suffer from living in Canada with the absurdly high cell phone rates. Just check rate plans in other countries to see the kind of freedom people are given for a modest price, even in Germany. When we look at US rate plans from their various carriers, they make Canadian cell phone providers look like criminals.

I did have to laugh at the per month rates you quoted in your article... like $35 per month, or even $70 per month. I spend on average, with Fido, about $250 per month. I, however, use my mobile for business. I have one of the most "free" plans from Fido in terms of weekday/long distance minutes, with unlimited evenings and weekends after 6 pm. For ~$250 per month, I do achieve some freedom. The point is that, if you want any freedom with your cell phone in Canada, it will cost you much more than $35 per month, or even $70 per month.

For $70, for instance, you still have to add on the $7 system access fee and tax. Plus, you will have to buy voicemail or call display, another $4-$8 add-on. And you get no long distance minutes with these plans either, and chances are you will have to make a few long distance calls. Unfortunately, using long distance phone cards on a cell is byzantine and impractical. Plus, you will likely go over your alloted weekday minutes and have to pay for those extra minutes. In short, a $70 plan quickly turns into a plan that will cost over $100 per month. And we have not even started with a data plan yet.

As for contracts, I am using an unlocked Apple iPhone with Fido with no contract, so that is available if you want it. Just pay month-to-month and cancel at anytime, or change your plan whenever you want. That is the only positive thing I can say about my wireless experiences in Canada. Even at $250 per month though, I am hopelessly constrained by weekday minute caps and expensive long distance.

The thing is, some of us rely on cell phones because we have a mobile lifestyle. I can't use a landline because of my movements so I am one of those people who needs a cell phone with him at all times. I do piggy back my cell phone on Skype, and Skype has been great for me and my business, and doubtless saved me a ton of money. I have several numbers that I use for calls in, and I can phone to 34 countries (landlines mostly) for an unlimited amount of time 24/365 for $13 per month. Soon, Skype will be on the iPhone and I can start dialing over Wifi when I am not at home.

As for my home set up, I have a fiber optic internet connection with fast upload speeds which has vastly improved Skype call quality. In the end, the solution I think is to side step these cell phone carriers by using VOIP, period.

Here is an article on my blog related to yours.

All the best,
Holden

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Hi Holden;

Thanks for the comments and link.

Yes; I've investigated, for example, satellite Internet, in some detail, and have found that the same dynamic applies. The nominal monthly service fees (which are themselves ugly enough) are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, go stratospheric unless you sign on with a two or three year contract that has punishing cancellation fees, plus all the nickling and diming (so to speak - it's really huge quanitities of of dollars) with extra fees from both the provider and government, plus the usual sales taxes (13% on everything here Nova Scotia(, and you're talking serious money. Way more than I'm willing to cough up even though I'm frustrated to the point of distraction with dial-up Internet.

I agree about VOIP being one attractive solution. I have a good long distance service (YAK) that makes long distance calling very reasonable from a land line (real competition in play) and without broadband, VOIP is not practical, but eventually we'll get broadband service here at affordable rates.

Charles

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From The Road Warrior Archive

On July 20, 2004, I posted this column comparing the relative virtues of the 12" PowerBook and 12" iBook. I think my general assessment and analysis holds up pretty well four years on, but if making the choice between these to machines as a budget 'Book today, I would suggest that opting for the PowerBook is a no-brainer. The price premium has shrink to only a hundred or two dollars, and the PowerBook has proved to be a much more durable machine. The tricky part is finding one for sale, although it's pretty much a buyer's market in used G4 iBooks these days.

Anyone in this price range should also consider an early revision MacBook, which will be only a hundred dollars or so more than a 12" PowerBook, although those older MacBooks ran awfully hot and were afflicted with certain other issues.

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From The Road Warrior Archive - 12" iBook vs 12" PowerBook Revisited - [Originally Published July 20, 2004]

Fraternal twins, if you will

Last year I wrote a column comparing the relative virtues of the 12" G3 iBook vs. the then-new 867 MHz 12" G4 PowerBook. There have been several significant developments with both machines over the past 12 months — perhaps the most notable being the iBook line's upgrade to G4 status. The iBook and PowerBook 12-inchers shared many characteristics in 2003, and today they're even more closely matched, although there are still notable distinctions.

What got me thinking again along these lines was the recent price drop on these computers here in Canada. The iBook now sells for Can$1,449, while the PowerBook sells for Can$2,099 — a Can$650 difference or a whopping 45% more. In US dollars, the prices are $1,099 and $1,599 respectively, or $500 difference — also 45% more. Is the little aluminum beastie worth the extra capital outlay?

Actually, that's a substantially slimmer margin than the US$800 or 80 percent that originally existed between the $999 800 MHz 12" iBook and the 867MHz 12" iBook, but the performance and features margins are now slimmer too. While the PowerBook still has a 33 percent advantage in clock speed, that will not translate into one-third faster performance in virtually any real-world task. Nor is the features spread as wide as it had been. Both machines come with 256 MB of standard RAM, and both still share the same 12.1" 1024 x 768 resolution display.

That's the same screen as in my 18 month old 700 MHz iBook — wonderfully bright and razor sharp despite, or perhaps thanks to its small size and tight 106 dpi pixel density, I find it no harder to read than the 14.1 in. display in my Pismo PowerBook. In fact, I would say that it's probably easier on the eyes. The superb image quality afforded by these displays is attributable to those dense pixel counts.

It's like blowing up a photograph. The larger the print size for a particular negative, the more visible the grain will be, and the cool thing is that those who opt for an entry-level iBook get exactly the same display -- albeit with a different (but not necessarily inferior) video card.

The crossover between these two Apple models is closer than it was initially. A lot of engineering from the original dual USB G3 iBook was incorporated into the 12" PowerBooks, and then the PowerBook G4 motherboard was adapted to the iBook when it went G4 last fall, Both machines use a proprietary Composite video out cable dongle to hook up to external monitors. Both machines have pretty much the same array of interface connection ports.

So again, can the PowerBook's price premium be rationally justified? The answer, IMHO, is a qualified yes, but the qualification is that it depends on how important the PowerBook's somewhat but not dramatically richer specification is to you along with a significantly better keyboard and the aesthetics of an aluminum rather than a polycarbonate case.

Of course there are some significant differences as well. The LittleAl's aluminum case compared with the iBook's polycarbonate housing is in obvious one.

The LittleAl has an NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 graphics accelerator, as opposed to the iBook's last year's technology ATI Mobility Radeon 9200. graphics card. The base model at $1,599 comes with a combo drive, while the upmarket version at $1,799 has a 4x SuperDrive, which is not available on the 12" iBook. LittleAl also comes with 54 Mbps 802.11g AirPort Extreme, and includes internal Bluetooth support, while the 12" iBook optionally supports AirPort Extreme but needs a USB Bluetooth adapter.

LittleAl has a and a 167MHz system bus, compared with the iBook's 133 MHz bus. Both models now use PC 2100 DDR SDR (256 MB standard, expandable to 1.25 GHz). The PowerBook comes with a 60 GB hard drive, while the iBook has a 30 GB unit standard. LittleAl supports monitor spanning rather than just mirroring with external monitors; it has a real audio-in analog mini-jack, unlike the iBook with which you're stuck with USB audio in, and it comes with a wider selection of bundled software. The keyboard used in the aluminum PowerBooks is superior to the one that graces the iBook.

Both machines have DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support;
two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port, and and slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) drives.

It's a tough choice. Aesthetics are subjective, but on that score I'm ambivalent. The aluminum PowerBook looks great, but I still think my 700 MHz G3 iBook is stunningly attractive. I have a weakness for white stuff, and it's about as white as you can get.

The keyboard might be the clincher for some. It's the most intimate interface one has with a computer, and the PowerBook keyboard is definitely superior to the one in the iBook. On the other hand, for folks like me who mostly use their laptops in desktop substitute mode on a stand with an external keyboard and pointing device, the keyboard issue is of less moment.

Extra power and speed are always welcome, and with 33 percent more clock speed and bus speed, the 12-inch PowerBook will perform better than the 12 inch iBook without question, but is that margin (probably more like 15-20 percent overall in most real world tasks) enough advantage to justify 45 percent more capital outlay? Only you can decide.

If monitor spanning is important to you, then the PowerBook is the no-brainer choice, because that feature is not offered on the iBook, although otherwise, the GeForce video card may not necessarily be preferable to the Radeon card in the iBook. Note that the 15 inch and 17 inch PowerBooks have Radeons -- albeit the 9600 rather than the 9200 that ships in the iBook. Built-in Bluetooth might also tip the scales in favor of the PowerBook for some users, as might the $200 availability of a SuperDrive. But both machines share the same display, the same connectivity ports, both have relatively speedy G4 processors, and neither has a PC card slot. They are really more the same than they are different.

The 12-inch PowerBook is way cool. I would love to have one. However, I'm a low- ender by temperament, and for me saving nearly half the cost of my next system upgrade speaks louder than the shrinking list of PowerBook advantages over the iBook. At least I think so. Ask me again in about a year's time when I will probably be in the hunt for my next 'Book.

The 1.33 GHz, 12-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $1,599 (US), includes:
• a Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive;
• 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM;
• AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth;
• DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support;
• two USB 2.0 ports and FireWire 400; and
• a 60GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive.

The 1.33 GHz, 12-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), includes:
• a 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) optical drive;
• 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM;
• AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth;
• DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support;
• two USB 2.0 ports and Firewire 400; and
• a 60GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive.

The 1.0 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook, weighing 4.9 pounds, has a suggested retail price of $1,099 (US) and includes:
• a 12.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix TFT display;
• 256MB DDR SDRAM expandable to up to 1.25GB maximum memory;
• a 30GB Ultra ATA hard drive;
• two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400;
• VGA video out, S-video and composite video out support;
• Ethernet (10/100BASE-T); and
• a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) drive.


However, if you can afford the extra capital outlay, The LittleAl is shaping up to be a great computer. You can't go wrong either way --PowerBook or iBook.

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12" iBook and 12" PowerBooks Specifications And Features Compared

Processor

iBooks
700MHz PowerPC G3; 800MHz PowerPC G3

12" PowerBook
867MHz PowerPC G4

Processor Cache

iBooks
Level 2 Cache: 512K at 700MHz; 512K at 800MHz

12" PowerBook
Level 2 cache 256K

System Bus

iBooks
100MHz system bus

12" PowerBook
133MHz system bus

Memory Config and Support

iBooks
128MB of built in PC100 SDRAM
Single 1.25-inch standard SO-DIMM slot (3.3V) supports up to 512MB SO-DIMM for a total of 640MB of SDRAM

12" PowerBook
256MB of PC2100 (266MHz) DDR SDRAM (128MB built in and 128MB in SO-DIMM slot); supports up to 640MB

Hard Drives (Standard)

iBooks
20GB or 30GB Ultra ATA hard disk drive

12" PowerBook
40GB Ultra ATA/1004

Combo Drives

iBooks

Tray-loading 16x8x8x24x-speed (maximum) Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW); writes CD-R discs at 16x speed, writes CD-RW discs at 8x speed, reads DVD-ROM discs at 8x speed, reads CD-ROM discs at 24x speed. 24x CD-ROM drive on 700 MHz iBook.

12" PowerBook
Slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW): reads DVDs at 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at 24x speed, writes CD-RW discs at 10x speed, reads CD-ROM disks at 24x speed. Optional slot-loading SuperDrive.

Display

12.1" iBooks
12.1-inch TFT XGA active-matrix display
Support for millions of colors at 1024-by-768-pixel resolution
Support for resolution scaling to 800-by-600-pixel and 640-by-480-pixel resolution with millions of colors

12" PowerBook
12.1-inch (diagonal) TFT XGA active-matrix display
Support for millions of colors at 1024-by-768-pixel resolution
Support for resolution scaling to 800-by-600-pixel and 640-by-480-pixel resolution with millions
of colors

Graphics Support

iBooks
ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics accelerator with 16MB or 32MB of dedicated video memory and AGP 2X support

12" PowerBook
NVIDIA GeForce4 420 Go graphics processor with AGP 4X support and 32MB of DDR SDRAM video memory for 2D/3D graphics acceleration

Peripheral connections

iBooks
Two 12-Mbps USB ports
One 400-Mbps FireWire (IEEE 1394) port

12" PowerBook
Two 12-Mbps USB ports
One 400-Mbps FireWire (IEEE 1394) port

Video Out Support

iBooks
VGA, S-video and composite video output Video outport for mirroring with an external display or projector [requires included VGA video adapter]; S-video and composite video output to TV through Video output port (requires optional Apple Video Adapter, sold separately). Mirroring only.

12" PowerBook
VGA output using included Apple VGA Display Adapter. S-video output using included Apple Video Adapter. Composite video output using included Apple Video Adapter. Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports up to 1024 by 768 pixels on the built-in display and up to 1600 by 1200 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors

Audio

iBooks
16-bit CD-quality stereo sound output minijack
Built-in stereo speakers
Built-in microphone
Headphone out (minijack)
Support for external USB audio devices such as microphones and speakers

12" PowerBook
Audio line in (minijack)
Headphone out (minijack)
Built-in stereo speakers with midrange-enhancing third speaker
Internal omnidirectional microphone
Support for external USB audio devices such as microphones and speakers

Ethernet

iBooks
Built-in 10/100BASE-T

12" PowerBook
Built-in 10/100BASE-T

Modem

iBooks
Built-in 56K V.92 modem

12" PowerBook
Built-in 56K V.925 modem

Wireless networking

iBooks
Built-in antennas and expansion slot for optional 11-Mbps AirPort Card; IEEE 802.11b compliant

12" PowerBook
Built-in Bluetooth 1.1; AirPort Extreme ready (requires optional AirPort Extreme Card

Battery

iBook with 12.1-inch display:
47-watt-hour lithium-ion battery provides up to 5 hours of battery life on a single charge

12" PowerBook
47-watt-hour lithium-ion battery (with integrated charge indicator LEDs) providing up to 5 hours of battery life

Size and Weight

iBook with 12.1-inch display
Height: 1.35 inches (3.4 cm)
Width: 11.2 inches (28.5 cm)
Depth: 9.06 inches (23.0 cm)
Weight: 4.9 pounds (2.2 kg)

12" PowerBook
Height: 1.18 inches (3.0 cm)
Width: 10.9 inches (27.7 cm)
Depth: 8.6 inches (21.9 cm)
Weight: 4.6 pounds (2.1 kg) with battery and optical drive installed

Bundled Software

iBooks
Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, QuickTime, iCal, iChat, iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, DVD Player, AppleWorks, Mac OS X Mail, Microsoft Internet Explorer, EarthLink (includes 30 days of free service), AOL, Quicken 2003 Deluxe, World Book 2003 Edition, Mac OS X Chess, Otto Matic, Deimos Rising, FAXstf, PixelNhance, and Acrobat Reader; Apple Hardware Test CD

12" PowerBook
Mac OS X, QuickTime, iCal, iChat, iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, DVD Player, Mac OS X Mail, Microsoft Internet Explorer, EarthLink (includes 30 days of free service), Acrobat Reader, Art Directors Toolkit, FAXstf, FileMaker Pro Trial,
GraphicConverter, Microsoft Office v. X Test Drive, OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner, QuickBooks for Mac New User Edition, Developer Tools, Apple Hardware Test CD


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cmoore@macopinion.com

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