A ZDNet review of the new iBook is very favorable, though fans of the previous consumer portable design won’t be pleased with some of the disparaging comments about the “old” iBook.
The critique praises its thinner, lighter design and “tasteful, pearly white polycarbonate case similar to the one found in the Titanium.” The iBook’s speed, feature set, and display (which has a native resolution of 1024 x 768) are also praised. The only negative thing mentioned about the revamped consumer portable is that the drives are fixed, note swappable.
On the other hand, the review says it “wouldn’t been hard not to improve on the old iBook.” Why? According to the critics, it was too heavy, too big, its screen was too small (and boasted a top resolution of 800 by 600 pixels), and came in “obnoxious colors.” They also didn’t care for the plastic handle (though that’s one of the things we’ve heard several people lament about the redesigned iBook).
Still, the reviewers conclude that Apple’s been on a roll lately. “In just the past few months, Apple has shipped Mac OS X, released its fastest Power Mac G4 desktop to date (733MHz), introduced updated versions of the iMac and PowerMac G4 Cube, and shipped the blockbuster Titanium PowerBook G4.”
Apple introduced the revamped iBook on May 1. Weighing just 4.9 pounds, Apple says it features the first 1024-by-768 resolution 12.1-inch display in its class, FireWire for video editing, up to five hours of battery life, and a 500MHz G3 processor. The new iBook offers the choice of a CD, DVD or CD-RW drive for easily burning music CDs, or a “Combo” DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive for both burning CDs and watching movies on DVDs. Pricing starts at US$1,299.