Apple iBook G4 14.1 in. (718908454060) Mac Notebook

After reading this review, please visit my web page to hear the music produced, written and performed by me - Gareth - using this new iBook:
www.myspace.com/thisisgareth

How I ended up buying the Apple iBook G4 notebook:

When I bought my first iBook back in 2001, it was my first laptop. It was my first Apple anything. It was the solution to so many of my dreams. I wanted to become a writer, a pop star, a photographer, and act in my own movies. I wanted to be a one-man artist everything.

Instead I collected other artists music on iTunes and began surfing the web and discovered Epinions and started writing reviews! But I fell in love with my iBook and Apple's customer service. For 97% of the time, the iBook was perfect and never malfunctioned.

After a great four years with very little trouble due to the laptop itself, I wanted to upgrade because I really wanted to begin to focus on my music. The book that I started to write was too shocking for many to read and in a way a bit controversial and even embarrassing for me to share with some. So I turned to my first love, music, and despite GarageBand being the next best thing, my first iBook with a G3 processor and only 600mhz speed with only 384MB of memory wasn't going to handle GarageBand optimally the way I would need it. So I found an amazing software program to create and program my music called Reason 2.0 (it requires very little RAM, hard drive space, and my G3 was more than enough to handle it). I started creating my music at the end of 2004 and began to notice that I needed some extra power because I was getting too busy with the arrangements. Also using Reason, there was no where or how to record vocals.

So I decided I eventually needed a new laptop. The other reason that I ended up purchasing the new iBook G4 was because I was having hard drive issues with my G3. I was scared that I was going to lose all the music I had programmed and created. That would have been disasterous. So I ended up buying an external hard drive and backed up everything immediately. Andin perfect time too because in a few days the internal hard drive died. I got a new one installed and gave the G3 to my sister for Christmas.

The new iBook G4 has now become my music production and recording studio all in one. A dream has come true. My goal is to either get signed to an indie label, put out the record eventually all by myself, or have a music publishing contract to write for other artists. (I still also want to act, write, and inspire others to pursue their dreams no matter what obstacles present themselves.)

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The biggest obstacle in buying the iBook:

Well since I already had an iBook with 12" screen and work with a PC desktop computer nonstop at work, my eyes began to act funny. Sometimes I felt I was getting cross-eyed, which is not a good thing. With the 12'' screen iBook, I had to bring it close to me in order to work with Reason because there was so much going on on the screen that required precised detail; hence I was craving a bigger display to not put so much strain on my eyes. So I decided it was either an iBook 14" or a PowerBook 15" (which comes with a backlit keyboard - way cool!!!), both from Apple.

As much as I loved the look of the PowerBook, I was reading that the titanium casing was easily affected (it became soft and would get warped) by the heat the laptop generated. On the other hand, the iBooks were having logic board issues and the new design of the keyboard and its surrounding surface allowed for dirt and imprints to be easily visible.

The deal breaker for me in chosing the iBook over the PowerBook is that the PowerBook didn't have AppleWorks and was about $500-$600 more than the iBook with 14" screen, SuperDrive (that's a drive that can read and write both CDs and DVDs), and both built-in bluetooth and Airport (wireless networking). I loved my first iBook to begin with, so why not just get the bigger one?

As much as I wanted to buy from Apple.com, I decided this time around to purchase through Amazon.com. With Amazon.com, not only did I avoid paying taxes and shipping (you would get free shipping with Apple.com but still pay a nice sales tax), I also got a $125 rebate. The overall cost for my new iBook G4 was $1299 - $125= $1174. That's amazing as my G3 cost me $1,650 and it didn't have any wireless or bluetooth nor a superdrive!

Once I put the order in, I couldn't wait to get my new iBook G4.

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The day the G4 came!

I was at work and received the package there. It came in a huge box from Amazon.com, about 3 times bigger than the original iBook box. As usual, all Apple products come packaged in style. If you haven't experienced opening an Apple product, go out and buy one - from packaging to presentation, the way items are enclosed, you feel like you bought a top-brand luxury sedan!

The box is white and comes with a handle. There is a picture of the iBook on the both sides, one picture is a shut notebook and the other side is as it is open. Opening the box reveals an AC cord (this is a cord that can help you extend the length of space of the power adapter if you need it), packet of materials, power adapter, a phone cord (if you anticipate to use dial up), and a Apple VGA Display adapter and 2 DVD discs that contain the Installation, Applications and a Hardware Test to use with your computer. Underneath these items, in a secure hard foam casing, you will see a nicely wrapped up iBook waiting for you to take it out and unleash your dreams.

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Setting up the iBook:

Since I already had an iBook, the new iBook G4 was easy to get up and running. However, if you don't have experience using an Apple iBook, please read the User's Guide which includes setup, expansion, and troubleshooting information for your new computer. Reading this will explain how to set up your new notebook with ease and get familiar with its many amazing features.

Believe you me, once you plug in your power, you will now be up and running in less than 10 minutes from hitting the power switch. The first thing that takes place is your welcome from the computer and then some simple questions to help you set it up and running the way you want it to.

It's true. Within 10 minutes, you can be surfing the Internet on this amazing machine.

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The Apple iBook (M9848LL/A) Notebook's basic configuration is:

1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 processor, 512K level 2 cache

512MB of DDR SDRAM; but can expand to 1.5GB

60GB Ultra ATA hard drive

Slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD+/- RW, CD-RW)

14.1 inch (diagonal) TFT active-matrix XGA color display

ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 with 32MB of video memory

Built-in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet and 56K moden

Built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking (802.11g) and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR(Enhanced Data Rate)

FireWire 400 port; two high-speed USB 2.0 ports

VGA video output; S-video and composite video output

Lithium-ion battery for up to 6 hours of running time

Includes software: (for those not familiar with Apple software I will make a note of what these items are similar to in a Windows environment)
Mac OS X - version 10.4.2 Tiger (previously there was Jaguar and Panther); this is the operating system for the current iBooks and Apple platform. It is like your MicroSoft Windows operating system but worlds better.

Dashboard - a new application that allows you to access information from the Internet everytime you connect to the Internet without having to go to the Internet with widgets. You can get information on stocks, weather, airline flight info for instance. You can also access information from your Address Book or calendar without having to open them. Each of these items would be a widget of information.

Safari - Apple's Web browser; like Internet Explorer

QuickTime - much like Window's MediaPlayer

iLife - includes iTunes (music storage library and more), iPhoto (store, manipulate, print, share your photos), iMovie (star in your own film or commercials), iDVD (make and watch your DVDs), GarageBand (create, record and mix your own music))

AppleWorks - the everything package that includes word processing, spreadsheet, database, power point, painting, drawing - way simpler than MicroSoft Office.

Classic environment - this is needed to operate applications that were made in Classic- before Mac OS X was born.

Quicken (North American only)

World Book

Games - Marble Blast and Nanosaur 2.

And many others to list and include but that you will love to learn to use.


*** By ordering through Apple.com though, you can make your iBook the way you like it. You can get more RAM, more hard drive space, switch to a Combo Drive (plays DVDs and CDs but only burns CDs), or add iWork. Or you can always take your iBook to an authorized Mac store to add these enhancements later.

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How does it feel?

The new iBook 14" is slightly bigger and heavier than its smaller sibling the iBook 12". Whereas the 12" weighed 4.9 lbs, the 14" weighs in at 5.9 lbs. You can feel the slight difference but its not much to really give your muscles a workout.

My new iBook has been very quiet when I operate the Internet or use AppleWorks. However when I was using GarageBand for laying my vocals, the fan did come on. The fan was not intrusive like it is on PC laptops.

As far as daily usage, I keep the iBook in Sleep mode, which is like not turning off your computer 100% but just letting it rest until you use it the next time. You activate sleep mode by selecting it from a menu option. This mode appears to turn everything off and then is indicated by a glowing circle underneath the button to open the laptop. When in Sleep mode, you can open your computer and within 3 seconds, it is back and ready to work with you. This is helpful if you do use your notebook daily. I would compare Sleep mode with say Hibernate or Standby in MicroSoft. However, it is best to Shut Down your computer if you go inbetween more than 2 or 3 days of computer use. When using Shut Down, you also have to wait approximately 1 to 2 minutes to get the notebook through the booting up process.

The keys are much more smoother yet firmer than my older 12" iBook. There is a different sound in typing. I like how it feels now. The only difference from the 12" to 14", is that you have more surface space to rest your hands on while typing with the 14". This may be good or not depending on how much you use your computer. I say this because it is know that the iBook likes to get warm to severly warm in the lower left hand area. Visiting Apple Support site, many have commented about this particular symptom. It is recommended to always use your notebook on a flat surface and avoid using it on your bed directly to make sure that the fan within has plenty of space to allow the heat to escape. Again, the only time I experience the heat from the laptop is when using processor and memory intensive programs. For what it is worth, my 12" did this as well but I mainly could feel the heat from the bottom of the notebook since there wasn't as much space for your hands to rest on its keyboard.

And as I mentioned, because your hands now have an opportunity to rest on the keyboard itself with the 14" version, you run the risk of leaving your skin oils which will absorb into the surface to later appear as a grime or soiled area. So always try to wash your hands before using your notebook for a long period of time; especially if you have just eaten or touched something oily.

With regards to speed, even though the computer has more speed and memory, I don't seen any "speed" improvements on how things open from my old iBook but I do notice the efficiency of how things work when I have several things open or even the time it takes to start the computer from Shut Down. However, using anything iLife requires lots of speed and memory that operating any of those programs simultaneously or with another application such as AppleWorks or even iCal, you will notice the slow down of the system. However, using other things without iLife applications, the system seems to operate great!

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Warranty/Support:

So you get a lot for your money with the Apple iBook G4. It comes with 1 year Apple limited warranty and 90 days of free technical phone support. If you happen to need technical support after the first 90 days, you probably are better off taking it to an Apple Store nearby and use the Genius Bar - aka as their help/support desk - as I think there is a $49 charge per incident you have looked into over the phone. There were a few times I made a visit to the Genius Bar at an Apple Store with no additional charges to me for their time.

When you purchase AppleCare Protection Plan, you basically extend your coverage of both service/repair and phone support. This is great peace of mind.

I would recommend the additional purchase of AppleCare for any Apple product. I never purchased it for my first iBook but I do plan on purchasing it for this iBook right before the 1 year warranty runs out. It costs approximately $250 I believe.

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Back to my music dreams.

As I mentioned, I bought the new iBook G4 to replace my old iBook G3 in order to take advantage of the faster processor and memory as well as the bigger hard drive. To my surprise, I got a lot more!!!!!!

I was able to flawlessly transfer all my music files from my G3 to G4 using an external hard drive. For those of you who do own Macs, you can easily transfer all your data from a previous Mac into your new Mac at the time you set up your new Mac - there will be an option to transfer everything at that time without the need to every use an external hard drive or to copy and read files by CD/DVD.

The more I got.....

Someone advised me that I could export my music files from Reason into GarageBand and then lay the vocals on the song through GarageBand. That got me excited as I went to a recording studio to record one song and it was expensive and quite an involved process when the engineer didn't understand what I really wanted to accomplish while the clock was still running and my budget disappearing.

To my surprise, I was able to lay down my vocals without using an external microphone or additional equipment from the iBook. Yeah. When I recorded the vocals to my songs, I simply used the built-in microphone located on the laptop display portion that is on the right-hand side. It took me by surprise. Sure, using a professional microphone and studio would be best, but hey I don't have money to throw away and I can't sit and explain to an engineer all day long on the clock what exactly I want. Maybe later when I am rich and famous!

With GarageBand, I was able to import my music tracks from Reason. Then lay down vocals recording them through the notebook's internal microphone. And then editing them and mixing them to iTunes, where I can yield my songs in MP3 formats or AIFFs and AACs (these are more Apple standard formats). This gives me the freedom to edit and mix as much as I want and doing it on my own time and paying myself with education of my own craft.

If you would like to hear what I have created using the iBook, please visit my music page at www.myspace.com/thisisgareth. Here you will find some pictures of me but also two songs that I created and recorded using Reason and GarageBand. The songs are titled (1) Entregame Tu Amor (Give Me Your Love) and (2) No Hay Que Dudarlo (There's No Doubt About It). I hope you enjoy them and feel free to tell me what you think.

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The new things that I love about this iBook that I didn't have in my old iBook:
* I can record my vocals using GarageBand easily
* The 14" screen makes a nice difference in helping me with my eyes
* The CD/DVD is now a slot-loading drive rather than one where a drawer-like cradle would pop out from the side; One day I dropped my old iBook and the cradle opened and busted, basically forcing me to buy a new combo drive which was a nice $350 repair after labor was included. The only problem I forsee with the slot-loading mechanism, is that if you are not careful when putting your iBook in your bag, items could easily get in there.
* I am using the iPhoto to create my artist pictures
* More power and memory
* Battery life is about 5.5 hours when only using word processing; about 4 hours when using GarageBand; about 2.5-3 hours when watching DVDs.
* Quick battery recharge. A full charge is ready in under two hours.
* I love that it is basically a bigger, more powerful, more helpful iBook than my old one; even though when I gave the older one to my sister, it still ROCKS!
* Easily works with my Canon digital camera and iPod mini
* Easily works with my HP printer
* Oh yeah, did I mention this notebook is just EASY to work with!!!!!!

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If I had to write about things that I dislike bout this new iBook, they would be:

* Using GarageBand takes a lot out of the CPU and memory. I have some issues opening GarageBand if I have Reason already open.
* The computer came with a 60GB hard drive. However, when ready out of the box, I checked on the amount of GBs left and I started with approximately 47GB or so. That is because Mac OS X Tiger takes about 5 GBs of space and then iLife itself takes about 8 GBs which leaves you with approx 47 GB to begin with. After loading my music library back into iTunes, my Reason files, and photos, I have about 30GB of hard disk space left!
* I didn't care for the color of the keyboard and its surface too much. It's like a light offwhite surface. My old iBook had beautiful transparent like keys and a shiny silver-titanium look and feel to it. However, after a month, I am liking the new iBook just fine.
* Although i jumped from a 12" screen to a 14" screen, the resolution didn't change. With this, you will notice that the 12" screen of the iBook will look amazingly crisp and clear while the 14" screen is good, it clearly is just a magnification of what you see on the 12" without the crispness of it. However, it's not like I can't see things clearly or understand them, it's just that I think I can see edges a tiny bit fuzzy. Something I can live with without having to strain my eyes.
* With about 2 months of ownership on this new iBook, you can tell something has been smudging the areas around the track/mouse pad. As I said, the surface below the keyboard easily gets dirty because your hands have room to rest their while typing; this is not good because any oils or grime you have on your hands, will end up on the surface of the keyboard. And when the keyboard gets warm, those soils will cook themselves onto the surface. I already have evidence of these on my surface.

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The other reason that I decided to go with Apple was that I am familiar with their customer service and they do always stand by their products. You can visit their support page for quick help or call them at Apple.com.

Despite my fears of logic board failures, since I know Apple will come through, I finally decided the best notebook for me was this new iBook G4.

Plus, Apples have less chances of getting viruses unlike those PCs using Microsoft. This is important when it comes time to do your Internet shopping!

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For more information on the amazing things that an iBook can do for you or to get more familiar with other impressive Apple products, visit www.apple.com.