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iBook: The Portable to Sink Dell?
by Remy Davison
Dell is in trouble. Big trouble. Beleagured even. Layoffs of 3,000-plus personnel.
Recalls of over 250,000 notebooks. Stores closing. Profits down.
Don't let the fact that Dell has a $31 billion turnover fool you into thinking it
has a comfort zone. It doesn't. A few years ago, Apple had $10 billion in sales and
a bigger market share than they have now, and they couldn't make a red cent. Still
more recently, Compaq thought they were very clever buying up tired old Digital and
took huge losses shortly thereafter. Mopping up the red ink has been a long and painful
process. Meanwhile, you may have noticed Compaq recently dropped to No.2 in the computer
market overall, despite (because of?) selling some of the cheapest boxes on earth.
Meanwhile on May 1st, the Apple empire struck back. Not content with riding high
with better-than-expected earnings per share on Q1 results, Apple announced the new
iBook. Cut to the chase: this new iBook's more about sex than power. And the figures
are sexy: G3 at 500Mhz; FireWire; dual USB; Airport; 56K; 10/100bT; real VGA out;
1024x768 display; 10GB hard drive; a RAM max of 640MB; 4.9lbs; $1,299. Of course,
if you want to spend more, you're welcome to: do you want an integrated DVD, CDRW
or DVD/CDRW with that iBook? And any color you like, of course. So long as it's polar
ice.
When in the wake of the disappointing December quarter results Apple iCEO Jobs said
they had some "amazing products" in the pipeline, he wasn't engaging in
his usual hyperbole. Better, faster, Power Mac G4s with 133MHz buses, more PCI slots,
DVD-R at the high end; GeForce 3 first on the Mac; the ground-breaking 1-inch thin
Titanium PowerBook G4; inexpensive, seriously cheap and well-equipped iMacs; iTunes;
Disc Burner; iDVD; DVD Studio Pro; QuickTime 5.0; Final Cut Pro 2.0.; OS X; and now
this - the new iBook.
Remember how well the original iBook sold? Enough to send it to the top of the portable
computer charts within weeks of release, despite the Taiwan earthquake. More than
500,000 units flew off the shelves in the first 12 months. The revamped (and vastly
superior) iBook 366/466 sold less well, to the extent that the costly PowerBook G4
more than doubled iBook sales in Q1 2001.
The iceBook will more than reverse this trend without any shadow of a doubt. Even
in a flattening economy where consumer demand has slowed and manufacturing is in
recession, kids still go to school, teachers still teach and people still line up
to go to college. And managers in executive suites who felt a tad self-conscious
carrying a fruity lime-and-glacier-white toilet seat into a project meeting can now
breathe easy and relax in front of their stylish, pearlescent portables. And even
sprinting up the stairs when they're late won't kill them: this iBook is slimmer
than Kate Moss (and probably easier to carry and a lot more durable).
It's All In The Numbers
Previously, we've looked at the PowerBook
G4 v. Wintel notebooks as well as the original
iBook v. consumer PC notebooks. The previous iBook was fast and well-equipped,
but relatively expensive. The iceBook changes all that. Dollar-for-dollar, feature-for-feature,
it's not only outstandingly competitive, but it comes fully loaded with fruit, regardless
of which configuration you choose. For this comparison, I selected Dell as it's clearly
Dell that Apple is targeting in the K-12 and college education markets, as well as
the consumer/home/small-business user. With this in mind, I went to the Dell online
store and configured a notebook as close to iBook spec as I could manage. It's best
viewed in tabular form:
| Model: |
Apple Macintosh iBook |
Dell Inspiron 2500 |
| OS |
Mac OS 9.1 |
MS Windows Me |
| CPU |
PowerPC G3 @ 500MHz, 256K cache |
Intel Mobile Pentium III @ 700MHz, 256K cache |
| Hard drive |
10GB |
10GB |
| RAM (base/maximum) |
64MB/576MB |
64MB/256MB |
| Display |
12.1" TFT, 1024x768 |
12.1" TFT, 800x600 |
| 10/100bT ethernet |
Standard - integrated |
Standard - Xircom PC card* |
| Modem |
56K standard |
56K standard |
| USB |
Two 12Mbps ports |
Two 12Mbps ports |
| FireWire |
One 400Mbps port |
IEEE-1394 PC card (delete option) |
| VGA out |
VGA and composite video |
VGA video |
| Video card |
ATI Rage 128, 8MB VRAM |
Intel, 4MB |
| PC card slots |
Not available |
Two slots |
| Optical drive |
24x CD-ROM |
24x CD-ROM |
| Weight |
4.9lbs |
6.75lbs |
| Battery |
5-hour LiION |
2.5 hour LiION |
| Wireless networking |
Optional $99 internal Airport card |
Optional $20 PC card |
| Warranty |
12 months, 90-day tech support |
12 months hardware/tech support |
| Price |
$1,299 |
$1,515 |
Note:
* The Xircom card specified was identified as 'not compatible with Windows Me' by
the Dell Store.
In all fairness, it is possible to configure the Dell more inexpensively so that
it undercuts the iBook on price. However, here I was attempting to match Apple's
feature set as closely as possible. But the Inspiron would be even more lacklustre
in standard form: a lousy 2MB video card; a tiny 5GB hard drive; no modem; no FireWire;
a Celeron instead of a PIII. Not impressive. Not Inspiring, Ron. Not competitive,
in fact.
If you're a Windows user with a considerable investment in legacy peripherals - for
example, serial/parallel devices, mice, keyboards - the Dell might just cut it. But
in this age of disposable printers and scanners, I doubt it. Moreover, the Dell's
apparent 'pro notebook' advantages, namely, the CardBus slots, are mitigated by the
absence of ethernet and FireWire on the Inspiron's logic board. Cram in the wireless
networking and ethernet PC cards and where's the FireWire card going to go? (yes,
it is possible - and likely - that you might be surfing wirelessly via modem and
be hardwire to an ethernet network at the same time. And be connected to a FireWire
peripheral). Having FireWire, Airport support and ethernet all hardwired into the
logic board means the travelling iBook owner is never going to forget a PC card.
More importantly perhaps, they're even less likely to bend, break or (gulp) sit on
them.
The Dell's RAM limit is not competitive either. If we're talking about DV (and the
iBook comes readily equipped with iMovie 2.0 and FireWire), the more RAM the better.
Applications such as Photoshop, ProTools or Final Cut Pro 2.0 (the latter demanding
over 100MB RAM to itself) push the minimum level of comfortability to around 320MB.
At least the iBook can grow with your needs. I doubt whether the 256MB Dell will
be anywhere near sufficient 12 months from now. But I'll bet 576MB will be.
Battery life is often seen as the critical element for road-bound movers and shakers.
While the new iBook may not live up to Apple's claims of a full 5 hours, it's likely
to approximate this in real-world use. And even with the extra-cost heavy-duty battery
optioned into the Inspiron, it won't do more than 2.5 hours - with the penalty of
the PIII dropping its speed to 600 or 500MHz as the CPU automatically kicks into
processor cycling mode.
Read that note below the comparison table relating to Win Me's incompatibility
with the Xircom ethernet card. Why? When was the last time Apple sold a peripheral
with a computer which was 'incompatible' with the standard system software? I'll
bet you pounds to peanuts that the NuBus video card you have on your Power Mac 6100
running OS 9.1 also works on your Mac II running System 6! Do you have any PC cards
incompatible with the Classic Mac OS? Probably not. And if you do, I'm betting Apple
didn't offer to supply you with them at point of sale. You get the point.
In the weight department - perhaps the second critical element in the road warrior's
decision-making process - it's a lay-down misère. Now hear this: the
new iBook is the lightest notebook Apple's built since the original PowerBook
Duo 210/230 (which were 4.2lbs, since you're asking). It's smaller and lighter
than the old PowerBook 2400. Neither the Duo nor the 2400 carried any on-board removable
media drives. Both had (by today's standards) tiny screens and, in the 2400's case,
a non-standard, small keyboard. That not enough? Think small notebooks are inherently
fragile. Think again. Think different: the new iBook is likely to be as tough and
shock-resistant as its predecessor - a model notable for its virtually troublefree
reputation. Unlike PowerBooks which can be easily damaged if you're not careful,
I've heard little to suggest that the iBook has any fragile areas or major design
faults (and I run a PowerBook website where people mostly write to me and complain).
The only real complaint I heard about the original iBook was that it was damn difficult
to change out the hard drive (true). 10GB (or 20GB, built-to-order) should keep you
happy for a little while though.
Oh, and it has stereo speakers. Finally. Really good ones too, so I'm told. I've
been complaining about this for a year and, indeed, suggested that the iBook should
be wrapped in Cube-like material, equipped with a set of dorm-shaking Harmon Kardons
and they'd sell gazillions of them. I'm glad someone in the De Anza suite is listening.
They have my email address, and my consulting services are very reasonably priced.
There's another quiet revolution happening here: never, ever has Apple
offered you a PowerBook with the fastest CPU married to the entry-level model. Never.
The PowerBook 5300 came the closest. But even that had better screens and CPUs available.
The Lombard 333 gave you a smaller cache and no DVD. The 2400 had a higher-powered
(and CardBus- compliant) model available in Japan only. The 1400 gave you a lesser
screen, a lesser processor and no CD-ROM in standard form. Base 3400s deleted ethernet.
Low-end Wallstreets deliberately made you feel like a second-class citizen. The Pismo
and Titanium G4 got closer: they give you parity in everything but processors, RAM
and hard drives. But when you shell out for the cheapest iBook, nothing's missing.
You get the same high-quality display; the same hard drive; the same 500MHz CPU.
RAM differences are negligible. Essentially, the iBooks are differentiated by nothing
but their optical storage drive and RAM.
In my book, Apple have achieved the miraculous. No one predicted this. For years
now (well - since 1997), people have been asking 'where's the Apple subnotebook'?
This is it. But there's more. The iceBook comes as close as it's marketably possible
to have a Pro portable at a consumer price. Screen and processor aside, it packs
most of the features of the PowerBook G4 without the weighty price tag. The fact
that it looks sensational is just a bonus. This really is a portable for all seasons:
it straddles three market sectors: Pro, consumer, subnotebook. People who
were going to buy a Titanium (maybe); Wintel crossovers; Mac desktop users looking
for a portable companion.
Different question: is the Pismo better? Yes, it is, in certain ways, but there's
enough value, power and sex in the new iceBook to make Wallstreet, Lombard and original
iBook owners seriously consider the jump as OS X looms larger and larger. Hell, even
I'm seriously considering it (and I don't even have any money).
Let me put it bluntly: if you're off to college this year and you don't require Windows-specific
apps for your course, you'd be insane to pass on the iBook. And, don't forget, there's
nothing stopping you running Linux on it. Or OS X's brand of Unix for that matter.
Enjoy it. Apple doesn't offer us bargains like the iBook very often.
Welcome, Dell.
Seriously.
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