12" iBook G4; A Review

I have always been intrigued by the Apple's iBook since its introduction. Not necessarily the design, mind you. The clamshell / toilet bowl design wasn't as attractive to me as the idea that Apple was offering an affordable laptop computer. It became more attractive to me when Apple redesigned the line and a necessity when Apple FINALLY upgraded to a G4 processor.

I purchased the iBook G4 12" 800 MHz in early December 2003. I have quickly recognized it as an excellent compliment to my home desktop computer, a Dual 500Mhz tower, on an AirPort wireless network (a separate review is in the works). Out of the box it is easy to appreciate the design. Packaged with Apple's OSX 10.3 Panther, iLife software, AppleWorks Suite, Quicken 2004, Encyclopedia and a few games (Diemos, Chess and Tony Hawk 4) you have access to enough applications to be productive out of the box.

I'm going to change things up from the format that I have used in my previous reviews and start with the ugly, as I would like to be a little more pessimistic as I wrap things up!

The Ugly: The Combo Drive is loud. Though, to the iBook's credit, you can hardly notice when you watch a DVD. Also, without headphones, you definitely get nothing more than a small speaker sound from the built-in speakers.

The Bad: I understand the logic behind Apple's offering of a one-button mouse/track pad. Sure, Apple marketing and Steve Jobs will tell you it's all about simplicity - it's about 3rd party vendor relationships people. Let someone else offer the wanted 2-button mouse/track pad with scrolling capabilities. I am getting better at using the control key but I would much rather have a right click button. Also, a spectacular design like this deserves to maintain it's integrity - this puppy smudges and scratches easily. I find myself "babying" it often.

The Good (dare I say great): No longer resembling a toy designed by Fisher-Price, I can pull the iBook out of my lap top bag and not worry about what the person next to me is going to think. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Spectators usually perform a double take. Often, in fact, mistaking it for the new PowerBook that has been getting a lot of press lately. It is sharp! Kudos for the implementation of the slot loading combo drive. Though it is loud, it is nice to have a laptop with less moving parts. I've worked on $3000 laptops that felt cheap whenever you needed to access the CD ROM. I have been impressed with the 32MB ATI Display. Some have said that they wish they had a greater choice of screen resolutions (1024x768 is the max) but I feel it is an excellent value for the money. The feel of the keyboard, which has been criticized on past iBook models. is much improved. Much can be said with regards to the battery life. Apple claims that you can achieve up to 6 hours - I haven't been able to do that under my "typical" conditions but it is still impressive. DVD playing will put you at about 3 hours - respectable. Typical use including Internet surfing, word processing, and the like have resulted in between 4 and 5 hours of battery power.

So in the first 3 months I admit to being a huge fan of the iBook G4 and would recommend it highly to those in the market for a portable, sub $1500 laptop.