Home > Consumer Reviews > Apple iBook Laptop 14.1" M9388LL/A (933-MHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

I've owned three iBooks. The clamshell was a sturdy design, but heavy and limited. My G3 iBook 800 was great, worked well, but the screen was a little small (dense) and it didn't quite fit on the lap. Plus I wasn't a fan of the drive tray. So this new design is far better. It is much sturdier. They replaced EVERY material in construction for the better, improved battery life, and it is much faster. It might just be the perfect laptop at any price. For most people, it can even replace a desktop. Comes with tony hawk, plays beautifully. All other apps I have work perfectly, airport extreme is faster than airport, and keyboard is MUCH better (no longer squishy, better feedback). You will not regret buying this machine. Not sure that the 1GHz is worth the extra money. This model hits the sweet spot.

The iBook, Apple's "consumer" portable (a consumer simply being an everyday user), really has it all now: a very speedy processor, great graphics, great design (it took a few years for them to perfect this white beauty), great features (a lazy way of saying "All the other things on the machine I forgot to mention"), and most importantly, a great price.

Ever since the iBook went G4, the machine took on a whole transformation. It is no longer lacking in the processor department and thus is a very "well-rounded" laptop.

As for the machine itself, it's great. The entire laptop is white, crisp white (a mixed blessing...it's elegant, but very, very hard not to dirty it), and the overall design is great. Everything is ergonomical and compact: the little latch to close the iBook stays hidden on the top, but then magically appears as you close it. (Gotta love Apple's design team for those little things!) The keyboard, unlike other models, isn't "spongy."In fact, it is rather sturdy for a laptop keyboard. It is stationed to a strong metal backboard and if you take the keyboard and backboard off, you will see a slot for an Airport Extreme card (card that enables wireless internet). No more PC "NIT" cards protruding from the sides, everything is on the inside. The top of the computer has a translucent Apple logo that glows when you are computing in the dark. The trackpad is large and precise, and the button (Windows users, beware: no "Left-clicking" in the Mac world, only "Command clicking"!) is large and responsive.

Battery life is excellent, I get an average of 5 hours with normal use. The charger has a light indicating the level of charge so you know when the 'book is charged (green for charged, amber for charging) without turning it on or waking it from its "Sleep" mode. Panther, the latest version of Mac OS X (10.3), is stunning, powerful, and reliable in its own right (go ahead and check out those reviews or Jaguar's reviews, the previous OS X version.) I don't want to go into the benefits of its UNIX core, just trust me that it is stable. The "iLife" set of software is one that really revolutionized the Apple world, after OS X, software-wise. It's all here: iTunes (store, burn, and buy music in one easy-to-use program), iPhoto (organize, burn, share, print, edit, email, and more with a plug-and-play friendly piece of software), iMovie (for editing, storing, and organizing your DV movies), but no iDVD...no DVD burner (but you can buy an external one.) Some other good programs that supplement your iLife are Mail, Appleworks, iChat, iCal, etc. It comes with World Book 2003, Quicken, and a few others.

It's fast. CD's burn with one click. My iPod (a great addition to this for music lovers) loads with one slide of a Firewire cable (literally.) Safari has built-in pop-up control (never has a single pop-up existed here.) Games (only the Sims so far) load and play flawlessly. DVD watching is pristine. USB 2.0 and Firewire (a BIG plus for external hard drives) work at top speed. No bugs, no crashes, no viruses. This machine was engineered to have the software and hardware be integrated. Have a problem? You won't be told to call a different company. You will always have one number to call, and they can't transfer you (since they make the hardware and software)

What more is there to say? I love my iBook! It's light, user friendly, and works like a dream. Quick! Go order one. You'll be in for a treat.

I use this as a travel computer for work. All work PC's are dell machines. Word documents, Excel documents, and power point presentations can all move back and forth between the mac and the dell without problems. Obviously email and websurfing are interchangeable, too. This is my favorite computer. Small, light, large screen, holds personal photos and music, and almost never crashes. Compared to our Dells, this computer is a rock-solid saint.
Battery lasts a long time, plays DVD's, burns CD's that can be read by PC's.
Reasonable price, great value.

This little beauty came into my life around Christmas, and she and I have been inseparable since then. I ordered it directly from the Apple Store Online, and I had it maxed out on RAM, and had the optional 60G hard drive installed. I love the processor speed, immense capability, and versatility. The screen size makes it a suitable replacement for a desktop computer.

I do everything on this computer: word-processing, spreadsheets, music transcription, photo editing, Internet communications, audio editing, and managing my music collection. I have Office X, Sibelius, and iLife 2004. I run iTunes in the background, write a report integrating Excel and Word, plus can have all my pictures handy on iPhoto. I can have five or six applications running at the same time (not including iChat and MSN Messenger, which are ALWAYS running), and the processor doesn't even hiccup. I use an iPod 40G as an external hard drive (not to mention all dem kewl tunes!), and have a Canon PowerShot A80 digital camera, and an iMic audio converter. Add to that an AirPort driven wireless network and a laser printer, and you have an ultra-powerful home office for any kind of occupation, from music composition, culinary research, to communications-based businesses.

Although larger and heavier than the 12" iBook, I believe the 14" screen is definitely worth the extra weight and price. If you get it, the wireless card (AirPort Extreme) is a must. The optional built-in Bluetooth module is nice, especially if you have a compatible PDA or cell phone.

I didn't realize I would love owning a laptop. Until I met this one.

The iBook G4 is a great laptop! It runs like a charm. And is extreamly fast compared to the older iBooks. I can have several applications open and it works great! Such as I can have Safari, AIM, iTunes, and more open and play a game and it runs perfectly. In fact it would seem it is just as fast as some of the iMacs. It has very clear sound for iTunes or games or anything. Speaking of games: Because it has a very strong processor (G4 933 MHz) games run like heaven on it. Currebntly I have Call of Duty on it, a rather strong game, and it delvers the perfect experiance Mac gamers want. The iBook G4 aslo comes with for no charge at all Tony Hawk's Proskater 4 and Deimos Rising. Back to applications: Th iBook G4 has great applicatons such as iTunes, Safari, Internet Explorer, iChat, AppleWorks 6, iCal, iPhoto, iMovie,and more! This computer also has very long battery life. Around 4 or 5 hours! As for design, wonderful. It has a great screen, and great keyboard (in fact one of the best laptop keyboards I have used). And I like it's color. It's just a simple good looking white. There you have it, the great and almighty iBook G4. Trust me, worth it's money.