pumbaa
CAGiversary!
About a week ago now, I got my Brand Spanking Used iBook 500 in the mail. I paid $420 for it shipped (with airport, OS X 10.3, the DVD/CD non-burning combo and a 256mb stick included). I also bought a Tucano 2nd skin and a new Apple battery for the iBook, bringing the entire purchase total to around $560. This is some of the best money I've ever spent.
I was worried about speed while considering this iBook, after all from a PC users perspective... a 500 hz computer is essentially worthless, especially while trying to run the most current OS. Luckily, those speed worries were for nothing. The machine does exactly what I want it to do, and while it is slower than my PC (a 2.4 P4 w/ 512mb) it is most definitly in the realm of useability. A surprising testament to the uselessness of Mhz numbers...
Mac OS X is AMAZING. Everything just WORKS. Airport just works, my iPod just works. I plugged in my USB hub (which had my Microsoft wireless mouse and my HP printer in it) just to see what would happen. It just worked. I was amazed. In fact, coming from a PC world... OS X was very confusing to me it first... simply because its so damn simple yet powerful. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to install or delete programs... I researched and realized there WAS no uninstall menu. There WAS no installer program. Just drag and drop. Friken amazing. No crazy rouge files to delete... the system just makes sense. The whole purpose of the OS seems different. When you maximize a window... it doesn't fill the entire screen. This puzzled me at first, but it makes sense. On a 12" screen, I still have enough desktop space to see mutiple programs. I LOVE STICKIES. They are amazing... why can't Windows have small touches like this? Battery life... is shockingly good. Full screen brightness? Airport on? 4 HOURS +. Playing a DVD with full screen brightness? Still around 3 hours. I actually put it to the lowest screen brightness and turned off Airport, and it estimated 7 hours of battery life. Simply amazing.
Most importantly, the thing is SLICK. This is technically a 5 year old computer, yet its smaller and lighter than most Windows machines out there now. The size and weight of a medium textbook (I'm in college). People see me with it and can't believe I got it for the price I did. Apple design is truly amazing, and despite a few surface scuffs... my iBook is still a beautiful thing. I love how it sleeps. No exterior lights, but a small little breathing light magically appears. Hell, even the AC adapter makes sense (I got the "yoyo" model i suppose). Small enough to just stuff in my bookbag.
I've been coming to grips with the system, and I'm sure I'll learn a lot more in the future. I'm using shortcut keys a lot more than I do on my Windows machine. Control-Click is a switchers best friend (and made me realize that the only thing a mouse needs is one button and a scroll wheel). Anybody out there who thinks Macs are too expensive, get a used one. It's not the same, 500mhz on a Mac isn't 500mhz on the PC. Needless to say, my next computer is going to be a Mac. Apple caught me early. I'm 19 and in college, always liked Macs but never got one, and the iPod Halo effect got me in. My 4 year old system runs like a charm, I can only imagine what a brand new one is like. Thank you Apple, thanks a lot.
I was worried about speed while considering this iBook, after all from a PC users perspective... a 500 hz computer is essentially worthless, especially while trying to run the most current OS. Luckily, those speed worries were for nothing. The machine does exactly what I want it to do, and while it is slower than my PC (a 2.4 P4 w/ 512mb) it is most definitly in the realm of useability. A surprising testament to the uselessness of Mhz numbers...
Mac OS X is AMAZING. Everything just WORKS. Airport just works, my iPod just works. I plugged in my USB hub (which had my Microsoft wireless mouse and my HP printer in it) just to see what would happen. It just worked. I was amazed. In fact, coming from a PC world... OS X was very confusing to me it first... simply because its so damn simple yet powerful. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to install or delete programs... I researched and realized there WAS no uninstall menu. There WAS no installer program. Just drag and drop. Friken amazing. No crazy rouge files to delete... the system just makes sense. The whole purpose of the OS seems different. When you maximize a window... it doesn't fill the entire screen. This puzzled me at first, but it makes sense. On a 12" screen, I still have enough desktop space to see mutiple programs. I LOVE STICKIES. They are amazing... why can't Windows have small touches like this? Battery life... is shockingly good. Full screen brightness? Airport on? 4 HOURS +. Playing a DVD with full screen brightness? Still around 3 hours. I actually put it to the lowest screen brightness and turned off Airport, and it estimated 7 hours of battery life. Simply amazing.
Most importantly, the thing is SLICK. This is technically a 5 year old computer, yet its smaller and lighter than most Windows machines out there now. The size and weight of a medium textbook (I'm in college). People see me with it and can't believe I got it for the price I did. Apple design is truly amazing, and despite a few surface scuffs... my iBook is still a beautiful thing. I love how it sleeps. No exterior lights, but a small little breathing light magically appears. Hell, even the AC adapter makes sense (I got the "yoyo" model i suppose). Small enough to just stuff in my bookbag.
I've been coming to grips with the system, and I'm sure I'll learn a lot more in the future. I'm using shortcut keys a lot more than I do on my Windows machine. Control-Click is a switchers best friend (and made me realize that the only thing a mouse needs is one button and a scroll wheel). Anybody out there who thinks Macs are too expensive, get a used one. It's not the same, 500mhz on a Mac isn't 500mhz on the PC. Needless to say, my next computer is going to be a Mac. Apple caught me early. I'm 19 and in college, always liked Macs but never got one, and the iPod Halo effect got me in. My 4 year old system runs like a charm, I can only imagine what a brand new one is like. Thank you Apple, thanks a lot.