Apple iBook G4 12-inch (1.33 GHz) review by PC Magazine

Apple iBook G4 12-inch (1.33 GHz) review by PC Magazine Apple iBook G4 12-inch (1.33 GHz)
REVIEW DATE: 09.29.05
BOTTOM LINE:
Plenty of upgrades, all internal—yet price is still under $1,000.

PROS:
Reduced battery life. Aging design.

CONS:
Budget price. More hard drive and memory options. Hard drive protection.

COMPANY:
Apple Computer Inc.

SPEC DATA
Price: $999.00 Direct
Type: General Purpose, Media, Value
Operating System: Mac OS X
Processor Speed: 1.33 GHz
RAM: 512 MB
Hard Drive Capacity: 40 GB
Primary Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW (Plus Minus)
Wireless: 802.11g
Screen Size: 12 inches
System Weight: 4.9 lbs
EDITOR RATING:

By Cisco Cheng

The latest Apple iBook (12-inch) may look the same on the outside, but some significant changes inside make it all the more impressive. Upgrades like a processor bump, added hard drive space, and more memory, along with several features passed down from the PowerBook—like a scroll touchpad and hard drive protection—greatly boost the Apple iBook's value, especially considering that the price remains the same low $999.

Though widescreen displays and special transflective screens are becoming the norm in consumer notebooks, Apple sticks to its guns by retaining a 1,024-by-768 antiglare display. A DVD of Titanic that we viewed looked a bit lackluster, even with the brightness turned all the way up, but working on documents in iWork '05 felt fine. We tried out the iWork '05 suite (30-day trial), using Pages and Keynote 2, which were intuitive but not as robust as Office 12. The newly added scroll touchpad is handy for scrolling through long documents and Web pages, especially since your screen real estate is only 12 inches.

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The increase in processor speed—from 1.2 GHz to 1.33 GHz—is slight, as is the graphics upgrade from the ATI Radeon 9200 to the Mobility Radeon 9550, effecting imperceptible real-world improvements in everyday performance. The 512MB memory is standard (finally!) and should improve speed. We'd like to see an extended battery option in addition to the included 50-Wh battery. The battery ran down while we were watching Titanic; it lasted just 2 hours 49 minutes—somewhat less than that of the previous iBook, which lasted 3:14. Most likely, the decrease in battery life is due to newer components that consume more power.

Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR raised the iBook's mobility rating, which was also bolstered by the 4.9-pound frame and the small adapter. And thanks to OS X, which is built on a strong BSD kernel (a variant of Unix), the iBook did extremely well on our Security ratings. Music and photo ratings were also very good because of applications like iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie, and GarageBand.

A 40GB hard drive comes standard with the iBook 12-inch, but you can now upgrade to a 80GB or 100GB for $100 and $200, respectively. The iBook has a built-in SuperDrive (DVD±RW) and Airport Extreme wireless (802.11g). Also, for added hard drive security, it has a built-in motion sensor, which parks the heads of the hard drive during a sudden fall or jolt.

Though it looks the same on the outside, the Apple iBook G4 12-inch is much improved inside. The hand-me-down features from the PowerBook, such as Bluetooth EDR, advanced hard drive security, and scroll touchpad, are welcome additions. Throw in the component upgrades for the same low price of $999 and the new iBook is anything but "same old."