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Though hugely popular, Apple's iBook range has suffered from the perception that it's not really a serious computer. This is less to do with its styling than its lack of power features, a compromise Apple was forced to make to keep the price down.
But with this second revision of the iBook, Apple finally seems to have delivered the promise of real power in a laptop at an affordable price and with styling that, whatever your opinion of it, is inarguably bold, innovative and guaranteed to get you noticed.
The new iBook is available in two basic configurations. The standard model, available in Indigo and the new Key Lime colour scheme features a 366Mhz processor, 10Gb hard disk and 64Mb of RAM. The iBook SE, reviewed here, comes in Graphite and Key Lime with a 466Mhz processor, 10Gb hard drive and DVD-ROM drive. Custom options include more RAM, up to a maximum of 320Mb, and a 20Gb hard drive, both of which will anyone with movie-making aspirations will require.
Our Key Lime iBook came with the 20Gb hard drive, which translated to 18.62Gb of usable space, and this, like the memory, can be specified when you order online from the Apple store. Don't waste your time looking anywhere else for a Key Lime iBook SE since it's only available directly from Apple, though the Graphite models can be obtained from Apple dealers.
The design innovations for which the iBook has become famous - latchless clamshell casing, integral carrying handle and pulsating power cable - all remain unchanged. The texture of the case exterior has assumed a gloss finish - or as Apple would have it, 'snow accent' - and the inside is matt finished with a large unbevelled trackpad centrally located below the keyboard.
With a significantly more powerful CPU, bigger hard drive, DVD-ROM and a new FireWire port, the iBook becomes a realistic option for Mac fans who would previously have considered nothing less than a Powerbook. Development of the latter has been in low gear for the past 18 months, largely as a result of Apple's failure to come up with a mobile version of the PowerPC G4 processor, or to break the 500Mhz barrier with the G3. The iBook has now all but caught up.
The FireWire port means that the iBook can now be used, like the iMac, as part of a digital video-editing suite. Accordingly, Apple is bundling iMovie 2, the revised and more powerful version of its basic movie-editing application. The port can also be used to connect one of the growing number of FireWire peripherals, including external hard disks and CD-RW drives.
While this can only broaden the iBook's appeal, for many the 12.1in TFT screen, limited to a maximum resolution of 800 x 600 pixels, will be an obstacle to serious movie editing. By comparison with the Powerbook's 14.1in and the lavish 15.1in proportions of some Sony Vaio models, the iBook offers a distinctly second-rate viewing experience for browsing the web, editing digital video, or watching DVD movies.
Replacing the 366Mhz PowerPC with a 466Mhz version that has 256Kb on-chip frontside cache running at the same speed, provides a big performance boost. The 4Mb ATi Rage Mobility 128 has been replaced with an 8Mb Rage Mobility 128 which, though not cutting-edge in terms of games performance, had no obvious problems with Bugdom and Nanosaur, the two games included in the software bundle.
Likewise, DVD playback was faultless, although, as seems to be the case with many laptops, it proved difficult to get a sufficiently bright screen image. An AV port provides composite video and sound output so you can watch DVDs or play games on your TV, and it also doubles as a headphone socket. More importantly, this cements the iBook's credentials as an educational machine. The composite out-signal mirrors the iBook's display and can be used, for example, with the presentation module in AppleWorks 6.0 to give a class presentation.
The iBook provides excellent connectivity options. There's an integrated 56K modem, 10/100Base-T Ethernet and a USB socket. With the addition of an Airport card, which fits neatly under the keyboard, you can join the world of wireless networking.
The iBook is undoubtedly rugged, functional, powerful and fun, and it may even be beautiful. Having to pay an extra £350 for sufficient RAM and disk space to edit a modest home video hurts a little, though, and the lack of screen space is irritating. But in every other respect, the iBook has come of age.
Contact
Apple 0800 783 4846 www.apple.com
See also:
Apple has unveiled several new versions of its colourful iBook laptop range and announced the availability of a public beta version of its next operating system, OS X. 13 Sep 2000All Notebooks & Tablets PCs
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