Thinking of a notebook

[rcxAsh]

So I've been accepted into the university that I wanted. As such, I've started to wonder about whether or not I should get a notebook, and if so, which one?

I'm going to be in systems design engineering.. do you think that a notebook would give me any advantage/convenience there? Granted, I'd imagine that notes would still have to be taken by hand mostly however.. diagrams and such? Any engineering students here want to comment?

Whatever it is though, I know that I want to make sure that the notebook is light so that it won't end up sitting in my room. For example, my friend got a laptop in highschool, but he stopped bringing it to school due to the weight.

So, I immediately started looking at ultraportable notebooks/subnotebooks.

The Fujitsu P7010 has caught my eye in this class for it's internal optical drive.

However, my father was recommending that maybe I should not just concentrate on ultraportable notebooks, as you pay a premium for the size and end up with little on the power side. This is true. So I'm wondering what do you think some good middle ground would be for a university student? Or, maybe if an ultraportable is really the best? EIther way, still leaning to the lighter side of things.

Price is a factor to. I want to try to stay around $2000 Canadian...

I've never had a notebook before, so I really have nothing to compare all the weights and dimensions to. Sure, I can measure how much 5 lbs are, but I don't know what it feels like to walk around for an entire day carrying 5 lbs and added text books with me.

Any current/past university students here that have had a notebook through university?

Or anyone else who uses notebooks often?

What is a good weight range to look at? The Futjitsu P7010 is around 3.3 lbs I believe. Sounds light compared to most other 5-6 lbs notebooks. But again, I don't know what it's like carrying one around.

Remember that in university, I'll likely be doing a lot of walking.

Also, what do you think of those tablet convertable notebooks? Worth taking a look at?

[zackepceo]

Try looking at the 12" Powerbook G4. I would, myself, wait until the G5s come out by August, but the form factor is very small and around 4.5lbs. The processing power is surprisingly good, and, feature-for-feature, it's the lowest priced notebook in the 12" class.

[Cyker]

I tend to recommend Dell or IBM laptops these days; The other brands tend not to survive student transport so well :p (On that note, AVOID ACER! They make cheap laptops, but they suck royally...).
The IBM T-series has generally been pretty good, and recently we put in an order for a load of Dell D610s.

My best advice is to try and get an idea of what kind of stuff you're gonna be running on it 'tho; Either from profs or other students.
My bro uses stuff like pro/Engineer on his MEng course so we had to get a lappy that could cope with it for him (Main req. was lots of RAM and a half-decent 3D accelerator), but if you're only going to do Office-y stuff on it, you won't need that premium...
(Just make sure you get one with WiFi 'tho - Uni's are a warchalker's paradise :D)

[rcxAsh]

Try looking at the 12" Powerbook G4. I would, myself, wait until the G5s come out by August, but the form factor is very small and around 4.5lbs. The processing power is surprisingly good, and, feature-for-feature, it's the lowest priced notebook in the 12" class.
Wow, didn't know that Apple notebooks could be that cheap. Thanks for the info. The only problem is that I don't know how much time I will have to fiddle around with learning a new platform... I currently use Linux with Windows on the side.

At this point in time, I think that I'd feel more comfortable using something that I know I will know how to use immediately.
I tend to recommend Dell or IBM laptops these days; The other brands tend not to survive student transport so well :p (On that note, AVOID ACER! They make cheap laptops, but they suck royally...).
The IBM T-series has generally been pretty good, and recently we put in an order for a load of Dell D610s.
Yah, it sounds like IBM is quite solid (and apparently, they run Linux very well). Dell, however. It seems that some of their laptops are made of plastic? At least, my dad's and my friend's are. After some years of use, my dad's Dell Inspiron 3500 is falling apart from just using it at home. My friend's older Dell notebook is also coming to pieces. (On my dad's the hinge is starting to crack and the left mouse button broke off.. on my friend's there are miscellaneous cracks in the plastic, the clasp is non-functional and his IR transmitter is loose.. that's probably from some years of use, though, my dad's laptop, on the other hand, has spent most of its life at home).

Is Acer that bad? My friend recently got an Acer laptop and it seems quite nice for the price he paid. Granted, I haven't seen what an Acer laptop looks like after a few years of use.

What would you say about other Asian brands though, such as Fujitsu, LG, Sony or Toshiba?
My best advice is to try and get an idea of what kind of stuff you're gonna be running on it 'tho; Either from profs or other students.
My bro uses stuff like pro/Engineer on his MEng course so we had to get a lappy that could cope with it for him (Main req. was lots of RAM and a half-decent 3D accelerator), but if you're only going to do Office-y stuff on it, you won't need that premium...
(Just make sure you get one with WiFi 'tho - Uni's are a warchalker's paradise :D)
That's some good advice. I will see what I can find out. Especially since you mention that your brother required a lot of RAM. Since I will be in engineering as well (systems design, however) it may be something I should find out more about.

Oh and WiFi is definately a must lol.

Thanks again for your thoughts guys

[zackepceo]

I can also vouch for IBM laptops. They are a real pain to service, but the reliability is pretty good. I hear rumors of an IBM tablet coming soon; I think it would be good if you waited for that.

[JackAxe]

I recommend a Powerbook 15", I love the 12" also, but the slightly larger screen is nicer on me eyes. I agree with Zack though, there's no other notebook for the price that can touch a 12" when it comes to quality and features. Its size is definately excellent for carrying around. Not to say a 15" is huge. Mine is much smaller then every single PC 15" I've had the torment of using, or setting my eyes on. All Powerbooks are only an inch-think and have very small screen bevels. PC notebooks are generally much larger, even the so called small ones. For the budget an iBook is also an excellent computer. The Powerbook will have DVI out and support a second screen though, where as the iBook supports video-mirroring with an adapter. One advantage of an iBook, is that it's built like a rock. They made it out of bullet-proof plastic, so it can withstand quite a bit without breaking. My Powerbook is Titanium and the new ones are aircraft aluminum.

If you want a quality-well-built notebook that's worth every penny, will hold its value, and will "last", then buy an Apple. But if you want "cheap,"(Not meaning affordable.) then go with pretty much any PC notebook brand.

Another benifiet of going with an Apple portable, is that you'll get "true" sofware to hardware integration and absolutely the "best" software of its kind pre-installed. There is no equall on the PC side to what you can do with a Mac right out of the box.

<]=)

[rcxAsh]

Hey everyone, thanks again for replying. Ahck! I acidentally messed up the quote tag in my previous post. I don't know if you caught it or not.. but I accidentally enclosed a portion of my reply in quote tags. So if you get the chance and feel so inclined, could you read the middle part of my post again?

More specifically, I was asking about Acer and other Asian notebook brands such as Fujitsu, LG, Sony, etc.

My friend recently got an Acer. What did you mean, Cyker, by Acer notebooks sucking?
I can also vouch for IBM laptops. They are a real pain to service, but the reliability is pretty good. I hear rumors of an IBM tablet coming soon; I think it would be good if you waited for that.
Hmm, sounds interesting. Do you have any hints as to how much it will cost and when it will be coming out?

I'm hoping to get the notebook sometime in August latest. I'm just trying to do some preliminary research at this point in time.

One store nearby has an LG XNote LU20 tablet convertible for a pretty cheap price. Anyone know anything about this one in general?

I'm intruiged by the whole tablet convertible thing, especially since I have a UX40 as my PDA. How useful are these really though?
I recommend a Powerbook 15", I love the 12" also, but the slightly larger screen is nicer on me eyes. I agree with Zack though, there's no other notebook for the price that can touch a 12" when it comes to quality and features. Its size is definately excellent for carrying around. Not to say a 15" is huge. Mine is much smaller then every single PC 15" I've had the torment of using, or setting my eyes on. All Powerbooks are only an inch-think and have very small screen bevels. PC notebooks are generally much larger, even the so called small ones. For the budget an iBook is also an excellent computer. The Powerbook will have DVI out and support a second screen though, where as the iBook supports video-mirroring with an adapter. One advantage of an iBook, is that it's built like a rock. They made it out of bullet-proof plastic, so it can withstand quite a bit without breaking. My Powerbook is Titanium and the new ones are aircraft aluminum.
Wow sounds pretty solid!
If you want a quality-well-built notebook that's worth every penny, will hold its value, and will "last", then buy an Apple. But if you want "cheap,"(Not meaning affordable.) then go with pretty much any PC notebook brand.
This sounds quite true. However, the Apple crowd seems very exclusive? The question that I have is that as a long time user of Windows and a more recent user of Linux, how will I fit in?

The worry that I have about getting an Apple notebook is that if I need to use Windows software for a course, what will I do?

Another general question about Apple notebooks.. how are their internalization support? Can they easily display Chinese characters in an English environment? I don't know if anyone has any experience in this.. but how does it compare with Windows and Linux? (I'm using SCIM for input in Linux). I hope to take additional Mandarin courses in university, so this would be helpful I'd imagine.
Another benifiet of going with an Apple portable, is that you'll get "true" sofware to hardware integration and absolutely the "best" software of its kind pre-installed. There is no equall on the PC side to what you can do with a Mac right out of the box.Yeh, I haven't used a recent Apple computer, but I think I know what you mean here.

Question though. I haven't checked recently.. but how nicely/easily does Linux run on the PowerPC platform (that is what PowerBooks are, aren't they?)

[JackAxe]

This sounds quite true. However, the Apple crowd seems very exclusive? The question that I have is that as a long time user of Windows and a more recent user of Linux, how will I fit in?

Perfectly. I had two friends that were big time Linux peeps, one now uses and loves a PB 12", the other a G5. I also have a good friend who was big time PC nut for years and finally saw the light last fall. He's now on a G5 and despises his PCs. He also has a Dell 15" Pentium M notebook, which he uses on the train, but is planning on replacing it with a Powerbook.


The worry that I have about getting an Apple notebook is that if I need to use Windows software for a course, what will I do?


Which software?

Unless you've invested heavily in windows software, there are either the same apps for the Mac, or equivilents. OSX Macs fit perfectly into a Windows enviroment. I speak from experience, since my office has both PCs and Macs. There really is no format that either computer can't read/write or work with now days. Of course each comp has its own executionable format. If my PCs weren't inflicted with such a poor OS, I would use them more. But as they are, WinXP has a long ways to go. I guess that's why they're calling the next OS Longhorn. ;) There are many apps that are included with OSX that actually surpass even some of the purchased apps on the PC. My OSX Macs were the first computers I've used, where I didn't need to install a tons of extra utilities just to get it to do what I wanted.




Another general question about Apple notebooks.. how are their internalization support? Can they easily display Chinese characters in an English environment? I don't know if anyone has any experience in this.. but how does it compare with Windows and Linux? (I'm using SCIM for input in Linux). I hope to take additional Mandarin courses in university, so this would be helpful I'd imagine.


Yes, OSX displays and works with Chinese and all other languages wih absolutely no problem. OSX apps can display unicode natively and that's on a basic install. I would say it's better than Windows and even Linux in this area. I work with unicode quite a bit, since all my demos for an unnamed corp are generally translated into ZH, JA, PT, KO and ES. ZH is Chinese. My other client even has me working in Arabic. I can't personally type in Chinese of course, but OSX is completely set up to do so. You can specify which languages are priority and which input(s) you would like to use.

Another factor about OSX, is that it uses the GPU to render and display all fonts on the screen. What this means, is that they not only do look as clean as possible, but they'll display and scroll instantly much faster than "any" PC. They use RGB aliasing, which Microsoft talked about in the past, but like so many other features has yet to implement. And on this note, OSX uses the GPU to render all windows, so even lower end Macs can display, scroll and move images and text around better than any PC. This will change when Longhorn finally is released, but unlike OSX, it won't have benefit of years of refinement and enhancements.


Yeh, I haven't used a recent Apple computer, but I think I know what you mean here.


Apple has spent billions on R&D and innovation and it shows. If MS didn't have its cash cows, I'm sure they might have actually tried to improve and innovate upon their software more, to me it seems like they're rotting. Apple has done a wonderfull job and has given me apps like GarageBand for free, which I would gladly pay for. I pay for the ugprades of course, but they only get better with each revision. :) Apple really tailors their products towards the consumers and pros now days.


Question though. I haven't checked recently.. but how nicely/easily does Linux run on the PowerPC platform (that is what PowerBooks are, aren't they?)

I haven't personally ran Linux on a PPC, Zackepceo would probably know? But my friend who has the 12" stopped using Linux all together, since everything he liked about it, he could do right out of the box with OSX's Unix. so I guess you can say he's a Unix peep now. My other Linux friend moved to Mac for video editing and also stopped using it.

If you live near an Apple store, they're worth checking out. It's a completely different world now and Windows isn't the only choice if you want to stay compatible. Even Microsoft is using Macs to develop their new XBox 2 titles. :D (G5s running a PowerPC derivative of WinNT.)

<]=)

[neogin]

1 thing that i regret .. i picked vaio fs550 over powerbook 12" .. the battery on powerbook is very good .. 5 hr on it .. unlike the vaio .. 2.30 hr is the best .. (with lowest setting..)

[Karim]

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=cpu_VAIONotebookComputers_S380&Dept=computers

Very, very nice notebook. One of the best designs on the market. Super powerful, thin, 4.2 pounds with battery.

Getting a notebook with solid Linux support.. that's tough. Even tougher is getting a notebook that does not come with Windows. Most vendors simply won't even do it. Maxdata(.com) is one that will. Some of the people here are right about looking into Powerbook, too. And Linux runs fantastically on PowerPC. Please please please give Powerbook some proper consideration.

1 thing that i regret .. i picked vaio fs550 over powerbook 12" .. the battery on powerbook is very good .. 5 hr on it .. unlike the vaio .. 2.30 hr is the best .. (with lowest setting..)

FS550 is a garbage design..

[neogin]

for me .. s series is so gay .. it depends on what u like ..

s series .. ripped off price .. crappy stuff inside .. battery is omg .. poor .. it's thick .. and .. it's heavier than my previous laptop .. which was 3 years old .. the feature not that far behind ..

i also read on many reviews before i picked on fs550 .. s series xbrite display is not as good as bigger series .. such as fs550 .. go read ..

[Karim]

I sell both of them all day every day so I'm good on the reviews, but thanks. I'm surprised that you find 4.2 pounds to be heavy. I don't think my 9-year-old little sister would have said that, lol. And as far as "crappy stuff inside"... S is more powerful than FS, and still smaller.

[rcxAsh]

Hey again everyone.

Ah, mentioned Apple notebooks to my dad... (I can't afford a notebook on my own, parents are helping - they're not as "cheap" as Clies lol) and he doesn't like that idea very much... So as nice as they sound, I don't think I could convince him otherwise. Thanks soo much for the explanations JackAxe! You've got me interested in Apple's line of products. Hopefully some time in the future I can explore them further.

neogin and Karim, are those models available in Canada?

BTW, how is Sony support though? I'm sure that you guys have noticed that some people don't like the Sony Clie support...

Anyone have any thoughts on LG and/or Fujitsu?

[neogin]

i used sr series before .. they were 2.9lb .. what do u think about that ..

and no way that s series is better than fs .. if u put same hardware in it ..

the crappy stuff here .. the price u pay on s series .. u can get better add on items on fs and t series .. and not much different on major hardware .. xbrite screen on s and t series quality can't match fs series tho ..

oh .. and the screen on fs is 15'' wide screen .. serve on different purpose .. and the battery on s series .. lol i will laugh lounder if it can go beyond 2.30 hr with high setting ..

oh .. and many notebook on the market .. u can get 14'' with around 4-5 lb .. why get just 12'' then ? the size ? then probably u want to get lighter than 4.2 with 12'' ..

but i still think toshiba and apple .. are good to go .. if rcxash still wanna buy .. cheap and good quality ..

[BGRDigitalDeath]

Mac users never seem to bring up the “cons” when discussing apple products.
I own a 12” G4 Powerbook, and have had it since they first came out. It’s been replaced 3 times. Once because the soundcard died and twice due to heat issues.
Common issues with powerbooks and ibooks
1 Heat. They run HOT… Running on minimum setting my CPU temp is 128 F when I am using it at full speed the temp spikes at over 140F. The case is the heat sink so you cannot place it on your lap or anything but a hard surface or it will quickly overheat. The outside surface temp on some parts of the case gets over 120F! The fan inside the case are not efficient in dissipating the excess heat.
2. Battery life. Or rather lack of battery life. At the lowest settings the battery on a 12” Powerbook is only 3h 20min, maybe 3h 45min with the airport shut off. I have never seen the battery indicate that it had 5 hours of life. The iBooks have even less of a battery run time.
3. Design. Bad…Bad…Bad… The aluminum case bends and warps easily! Each of my three powerbooks had the same design defect. The case around the battery department is deformed right out of the box and is easily bent in during use and transport. The plastic trim is not flush with the rest of the case. Fingerprints and normal wear show up right away. The iBooks scratch easily and the screens are damaged by pressing against the keys when the lid is closed, (not so bad on the powerbook). Replacing a HDD is a major pain and not for the faint of heart. The iBooks have a defective logic board which causes a lot of problems. The case around the screen on the ibooks comes unglued and Apple fights replacing it. The ibook batteries last a year… maybe…

I am in charge of over 200 ibooks as a part of my job. I have to send back 4 ibooks a week on average. Each of the ibooks has had its battery replaced at least once. 20% have had the charger replaced. 90% have had the logic board replaced. 38 drive trays would not stay latched. 4 had screens go bad in the same spot. All have wear spots on the screen from the keys. 73 have had HDD failures. 6 airport cards failed. And 36 replaced keyboards.

Tiger isn’t that impressive so far. I’ve had it running since noon today and have yet to see anything that justifies the $129 price tag for a point upgrade. Maybe I am just hard to impress.

Between my dell laptops and ibooks, the dells run better with far, far fewer problems.
I use PC’s, Linux and Mac. Each OS has it’s own good and bad points. Use what you comfortable with.

(typing this from my powerbook)

[Karim]

LOL, that post was AWESOME!

"Blah blah, powerbook is flawed, blah blah defects heat blah blah," ....... *this message brought to you by an Apple Powerbook*

^_^

Anyway, I think they had the right idea with the materials, though. It's kind of silly when you think about it, that something that gets hot, and suffers from heat, you wouldn't want to insulate, but instead use conductive materials. But it's a LAPtop, lol, so in the case of Form And Function, you actually have to give Form precedence over Function. But they didn't, so you're right.

I don't know anything about Canadian availability... but I would assume that it would be. Oh yeah and don't listen to Neogin about the S 380, I don't know what Neogin is on about :p

[JackAxe]

The reason most Mac users don't talk about the "cons," is because we "don't encounter them first hand." I know of only one person out of a dozen Mac friends that is having hardware issues, but he was the one that decided buying a refurbed rev A G5 would be a good idea in the first place. But the other somewhat modern Macs he owns, a DP 1G, TIBook 867 run great. Even his old Quadra 700 still works.

I've had my 1Ghz TIBook since fall of 2002 and besides needing a new battery,(Its old.) It still runs just as good as the day I bought it. My heat is minimal since my case is "titanium" and the components are just right for its small form factor. My friend's 15" Aluminum does get really hot in comparison, but his CPU is also 500 Mhz faster than mine and his shipped with a 9700 GPU, so that creates noticeably more heat. But he has not had any hardware issues.

And on this heat thing, you're using a 12" and from day one of its release, peeps have mentioned that the 12" was too small to get rid of most of the heat. It's a trade off, if you want better cooling, you need a larger notebook. Tis why the P4 notebooks are sooo huge and you will never see one in a 12" form factor like the G4.

Which rev of 12" did you get BGRDD? My friend's is a 1Ghz 12", I think a rev B and he's never had problems, nor has he really ever complained about the heat. Sorry to hear that yours has had issues.

BTW, I've gotten about 5 hours, but that's with the screen dimmed and proc not set to highest performance. My average power time when the battery was new, was about 3.5 hours and that's on the highest performance settings and brightest screen. I would say mine performed about 98% of what Apple stated it would. I think Zac mentiolned that the newer Powerbooks shipped with a weaker battery? This might account for your PB not getting the promised power life.

Now you mentioned CD latch, so that means your company has the "older" iBooks which I think were the first to use "Asus" boards? Anyways, Apple has addressed these issues with the "newer" models and will replace any of the "older" iBook's Logic-board for "free." My parent's iBook runs great, the same is true for my friends. He never turns his off. I don't know of any PC notebook that is that reliable. And if you take 200 units of any comp, you're going to encounter about the same percentage of failure rate for batteries.

The AC adapters that shipped with the earlier iBooks and even my TI-Book weren't adequate though. Apple designed the cord too thin. Mine and my wife's actually burned out after a year. I called up the Apple store and got a replacement about 10 minutes after driving down.


You should consider getting something like this for your screen;
http://store.yahoo.com/lovemacs/icpb215mssl.html

*Shaking my head* Not worth $129. I just don't get it. :confused: The fact it allows Apps to use 64-Bit memory makes it worth 10 times the asking price for me. *Sigh* I will probably never understand. Apple clearly lists all of its features on their site and has for months, so knowing this, what exactly were you expecting out of Tiger?

<]=)

[sebring]

(On that note, AVOID ACER! They make cheap laptops, but they suck royally...).

I must disagree with you here. The best of many computers I've owned is my current Acer Aspire 2000 laptop. I've had it for nearly a year and a half and the performance is great and I still get nearly 5 hrs of battery life. The screen is beautiful and I've not had a single problem with it. Also has some of the best sounding speakers I've heard in a laptop and good volume. Also, it only weighs about 6.5 lbs. with the battery.

[rcxAsh]

Hey, thanks for the information about the flipside of Apple.

I know a couple people in my school have PowerBooks. One guy, I've only once seen him plug it in to an outlet. Granted, I don't have many classes with him (none this semester in fact), but it does seem like a testemant to the battery life.

I really wish that I could try an Apple notebook, but my father isn't allowing it. After all, since he's paying for 50% and upwards of the cost, he has some say still...

I must disagree with you here. The best of many computers I've owned is my current Acer Aspire 2000 laptop. I've had it for nearly a year and a half and the performance is great and I still get nearly 5 hrs of battery life. The screen is beautiful and I've not had a single problem with it. Also has some of the best sounding speakers I've heard in a laptop and good volume. Also, it only weighs about 6.5 lbs. with the battery.
Yah, I don't doubt their performance.. my friend has an Acer Travelmate 3200, and it's pretty nice. 6.5 lbs sounds a little heavy for me (is it?) But I know that some of the Travelmate series are thin and light. (Such as the 3200)

The question that I have though, is how well do they take incidental physical abuse and wear-and-tear? Also, how is their support? Eg, if something dies, it will be bad to be out of the loop for a few months. Another friend of mine has an HP notebook. He had some backlight problems over the summer and sent it in. It came back a few months later fixed.. then about a month or two later, the backlight gave out again. I don't think he's gotten it back yet. Even one month is a long time for something you would expect to use on a day-to-day basis.

How is their support?

BTW, anyone ever had or know anyone with an LG notebook? Regarding heat problems, I've read a review for one of them that praised it well in this aspect.

[JackAxe]

For the longest time, Apple really didn't really tailor to consumers, nor were they developer friendly, so I can understand why your dad wouldn't want to buy one. That and most peeps think they're only good graphics. :) Only using one will change these peeps views

My parents didn't switch on just my opinion alone, nor did they ever even consider Apple. My dad asked all of his patients which notebook they used and the common response from the PC peeps was don't buy one and get a desktop, where as the Mac peeps were the oppisote. Me bringing over my PB did help though. Anyways, it has been about a year now and their slot-loading iBook runs without a hitch. The deathBook BGRDD described, is not a machine I would've recommended to them and would've pushed them towards a PB if that were still the case.

*rambles* Must finish installing Tiger on me remaining Macs now.

<]=)

[ungottable]

my sister uses her 17'' G4 powerbook for high demanding task apps like photoshop, macromedia mx studio, and other, and she has her laptop flat on the desk and has never had problems with 120F surface heat. That just seem more like an exageration than actual fact. :rolleyes:

BTW, all batteries on laptops give out after 1 yr... not just the macs! And on the side note, I too manage somewhere between 200 laptops everyday. I have service repair men working on them constanly... but wait... that's not a mac they're working on... oh yeah, it's a PC! :p

-ungottable

[zackepceo]

My 12" powerbook used to get hot, but after I deleted an energy saver preference, wrote some new Open Firmware settings, and recalibrated my battery, I get over 4 hours of battery life with WiFi on, screen at 100%, and USB usage, with the Powerbook's processor never going over 140f. The only time I hear the fan is when I try to use it on my bed. That makes it mad. As for being too hot for the lap, it's usable when the processor is in power save mode and you're not doing anything more intensive than watching a DVD. Keep in mind that I have the Revision A powerbook with the Geforce 4 and 867Mhz processor. The only times I have ever had a problem with it is when my power adapter's cable started fraying, and when I had to get my keyboard replaced because of a very unfortunate accident involving screwdrivers and a fly. The battery is just under 2 years old now, and it still holds a strong charge because I condition it every month. None of DD's case defects have happened to me except for some scratches on the palmrest, which a quick coat of AlPaint will fix.

iBooks, on the other hand, I have had nothing but bad things with. Creaky hinges, very poor touchpads, spongey keyboards, very bad airport reception, trim that comes off, batteries losing their covers.. Such is the reason I will never buy an iBook. An iBook is a consumer product; I do not like 'consumer' quality.


Both are better than my friend's Toshiba, though. :D