Hey guys, did a bit of a search here, and everywhere else on the web, I just wanted to know your straight forward opinions.

I am tied between the iBook 12" $1599.00AU and the PowerBook 12" $2399.00AU.

The main reason being money. I really like the look of both, and this will be my very first mac experience so I want it to be a good one

I want the notebook for Web surfing, office apps, watching DVD's, creating Photoshop Graphics, maybe some flash/web work (don't know if 1024x768 will be big enough, I like big areas), and showing clients my current work progress in meetings (I am a web designer/app developer).

I currently have a AthlonXP 2600+ 768MB RAM desktop w/19" CRT, and this is the primary place for my creative work, I've been using PC's for a long time now, and never had the opportunity to use a Mac properly till now. So I am also used to zippy performance(from my desktop), and I want the same with my new purchase.

The only main differences for me between the two are the amount of RAM, speed of the RAM and the speed of the processor. I am actually more concerned if the iBook's 1.2Ghz will be more then enough for what I want to do. The other minor things like RAM can be upgraded later on, which I will be definately doing if I decide on the iBook.

I was going to purchase the Dell Inspiron 6000, but decided it was far too large for my mobility purposes, and I think the Apple's look heaps cooler when going to meetings for clients. To give an example, I am currently using an Acer Travelmate 360, 1.3Ghz P3, 256MB RAM, 14.1" to show clients my work, and use it for the above stuff, so I also want to know if these Apple notebooks will blow my current notebook out of the water....which by the way is for SALE!!
The other contender was an IBM T50 1.5Ghz P-M, 256MB RAM, 40Gig HDD which is going for around $1799.

iBook - 1.2Ghz, 256MB RAM, 30Gig HDD. $1599.00AUD
PowerBook - 1.5Ghz, 512MB RAM, 60Gig HDD. $2399.00AUD

If you're going to be doing regular graphics/Flash work, I'd go for the 12" PowerBook. But if it were me, I'd step up a notch and get the 15" PowerBook for the extra power and screen real estate which will come in handy quite a bit.

If you have the money then go with the PowerBook. RAM is very improtant in OS X. If you decide to go with the iBook then buy an extra stick of RAM from Crucial to bring it up to at least 512.

A 1.2 GHz G4 will be faster than your curent 1.3 GHz P3.

Big problem, can't afford it...I have to really justify spending the extra $800.00AUD on the 12" PowerBook in order for me to get it, in other words, it really has to out-weigh the iBook in lots of areas for me to spend the extra $800.

I do my main work on the desktop, so I'm not really searching for a desktop replacement, I just don't want the iBook to strugle if I do decide to do some minor work on it, Graphics/Web/Flash. For instance, if I'm sitting in my lounge room, and I come up with an idea of a design, I would like to pull out the iBook and do it and know it will perform, instead of running upstairs in the office, to do it on the desktop.

I'm not intending on replacing my desktop at all, the iBook will just be a helping addition. Like a side-kick if you will

Yeah, thats what I wanted to hear

i have no real Mac experience here, but I do know that comparing PC clock speed to Mac clock speed is like comparing apples to oranges. (Although I've heard that compring PCs to Macs is like comparing apples to oranges, which is complete rubish.. they are both computers.). Where was I...ohh yes:

Umm... my Pentium 3 800Mhz handled flash just fine. I would think that the iBook you described shouldn't have any problems as long as you bumb up the memory to at least 512 MB.

Yeah if I go for the iBook, it's definately going to be at least 768MB, but I'm not going to purchase the RAM from apple, cause they a bit expensive.

Check out appleinsider.com before you go out and buy an ibook.

Rumor has it that the whole line will be updated very shortly.

QUOTE:
iBooks are expected to gain improved video cards, 512MB of standard RAM and a 1.33GHz processor on the low-end of the product line. iBooks will likely top out at either 1.42GHz or 1.5GHz, sources said, with manufacturing being handled by Asustek.

Go with the one you can afford. In time, prices for the upgrades will come down. It might be a year but they always drop, especially if new technology is released.

I agree not to compare processor speeds between Mac's and PC's. The internal structure of a Mac processor is radically different from a PC's. I have both a Mac and PC and was surprised by the performance of my Mac while running at only 1.2Ghz compared to my 3200+ PC.

I also agree that memory is as important or more to a Mac than a PC. Get lots of memory. The performance boost is noticable.

Wait a few weeks before you buy the iBook they are due for an update soon. Some rumors even poit to next week.

As a companion laptop the iBook will be perfect. It will be even better if Apple updates the video card in the next revision as has been rumored.

While comparing speed between a Mac and PC is hard not just because of it being PowerPC vs. x86 it is almost universally agreed that for most tasks a G4 is faster than a P3 at the same clock speed. And G4 is also slightly faster than a P4 at the same clock speed. This may not be true for all tasks but you should be happy with the G4 speed wise. OS X is great at multi-tasking much better than Windows in my opinion and to take advantage of this add RAM. For the iBook 768 is a good amount.

Enjoy your new Mac, this is a great time to buy one since Tiger will be shipping very soon. Beware though I was in the same boat as you when I made the switch, I bought a PowerBook as a companion to my desktop PC, then wound up getting rid of the PC because I never used it anymore.

lol, I am actually scared of the same thing happening to me

Well, I was planning on at least waiting till the iBooks were released with Tiger OSX, so hopefull, they will update their hardware very soon.

I think I have made up my mind, and the winner is <insert drumroll here>........iBook!!!

Thanks for the help guys.

Good call. The performance difference between a current iBook and the 12" PowerBook isn't all that great (there used to be a substantial difference a few years ago). iBooks tend to get a little better battery life and are somewhat more rugged than PowerBooks. They also tend to have a little better AirPort range due to their having a plastic shell instead of metal.

As for the performance difference from your current laptop: my 800Mhz G3 iBook would probably run neck-and-neck with your 1.3Ghz PIII, so a 1.2Ghz G4 would blow it out of the water.