I switched back...here's the results
Written: Dec 01 '02
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Pros: Elegant design, intuitive operation
Cons: erratic touchpad, laughable help support
The Bottom Line: It's worth switching and a pleasure to play with.
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| aglazen's Full Review: Apple iBook 12.1 in. (M8485LL/A) Mac Notebook |
I'm like the guy in the tv ad---a film maker, started with apple, switched to windows for 5 years...and two weeks ago, came back to mac. I got the 12.1 inch Ibook G3, and I think I can be helpful here for those in windows world considering the move. Here's my best shot:
-First, this is far more fun to use. Youdon't need a manual, it all just works just by doing the obvious things.
-I hate that it is bright white...wish it was metal, but I love that it has virtually no switches, buttons, lcd indicators, blah blah. You turn it on, you use it. The bad thing is the touchpad. Mine is very erratic, sometimes freezing, sometimes releasing, sometimes the cursor actually just dissapears. I've grown to attach a wireless mouse.
-The PHENOMENAL thing, well worth the switch---is that this thing works instantly without configuring, setting up, doing much of anything. I even installed Road Runner cable modem in my apartment, plugged the mac in, and it simply worked. I didn't need one of the 3 cd roms that supposedly were required to be installed. Same with two different printers and a digital camera. Plug and Play is the truth here, nothing like what windows puts you through.
-The software is truly fabulous. At first I was thinking "oh, jeeze, now I have to go pay $500 for microsoft office", but you don't. Appleworks 6 contains everytthing you need and it works intuitively. Word processing is just like MS Word. Mail works even better. Itunes is totally amazing, the absolutely best music manager on earth. Just wait til you plug in an Ipod and instantly/automatically syncs up.
-Little quirks that annoy: The usb ports are both on the left side, meaning if you plug in a mouse, yoiu have to wrap the cord around theback of the computer. I use a wireless (which also plugged and played without pestering loading any software). The ac adaptor plugs in on the right, 1/8 inch from the dvd drawer, so the cord often gets in the way. The ac adaptor itself is smaller than most and has a handy wrap-around device for the cord that goes to the computer, but they totally neglect a place to store the cord that goes to the outlet. It becomes an unruly mess.
-The computer comes with 128 megs of ram, which you really need to upgrade immediately. There is one open slot for more ram. I bought a 512 ram card for $79 over the internet, giving me a total of 640. Might as well when it's that cheap. Apple charges $200 for the same card.
-IMovie is fun for simplistic video editing. I'm using Final Cut Pro which rivals a $40,000 avid system.
Battery life is not 5 hours. I don't know where they came up with that number,but it's a total lie. I have done 3 hours and 20 minutes max.
Finally, tech support. This is a 100% full fledged joke. You cannot even find a phone number to call. You have to use this ridiculous "question" system to search for answers to questions, few of which even relate to the topic. And when you try to go deeper and really need help---they have the audacity to send you to a page where you can order extended warranties. Apple really should be ashamed of this dismal support. If you want to see online support done well, go to fujitsu.com where they have live chat with technicians.
Anyway, I am enjoying the experience, and I'm finding mac a lot of fun to learn and put through its paces. At $1299 , it's a real bargain, and I feel that I can recommend this laptop higher than any I've had to date, including the Fujitsu 2100 and the Thinkpad x23.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1299
Operating System: Macintosh
Screen Size: 12 inches
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30
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Epinions.com ID:
aglazen
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Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 1 member
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