Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Tangerine Fusion

More than an iMac to Go

- 1999.08.05

The iBook has been dubbed by Apple as "an iMac to go," but the iBook has a lot of new features in addition to its portability.

This is a guide to help you know the big and small differences between the iMac and the iBook. I have grouped these differences into the following categories:

  1. Hardware Components
  2. Included Software
  3. Case Design and Appearance
  4. Capabilities

Hardware Components

  1. Hard Disk: The iBook hard disk has nearly half the capacity of the iMac's drive, but is more compact, rugged, and likely less expensive to manufacture.
  2. Processor: The iBook processor is a 300 MHz G3, rather than the 333 MHz one used in the iMac. It is actually the same chip, but is "underclocked" or slowed down to save power since iBook is battery-powered.
  3. Display: The iMac's monitor has a max. resolution of 1024 x 768 and a 13.8" viewable size. The iBook screen has a max resolution of 800 x 600 and a 12.1" viewable size. The iBook has a flat-panel active-matrix (which is brighter and sharper than the cheaper passive matrix) LCD screen, while the iMac has a traditional CRT display.
  4. RAM: The iBook has a RAM maximum of 160 MB, while the iMac can handle up to 256 MB

Included Software

The iBook does not include the Williams-Sonoma Guide to good cooking, but adds the game Bugdom and the Palm Desktop Organizer

Case Design and Appearance

You are probably already familiar with main appearance and color scheme of the iBook, so I'll talk about the smaller touches that set the iBook apart from the iMac.

  1. Keyboard: The iBook Keyboard is translucent white instead of translucent dark gray, and the key caps are tangerine or blueberry to match the trim color. The numeric keypad and other special keys are built into the main keys and accessed by the fn key and other toggle keys like num lock.
  2. Trackpad: The iBook has a square white trackpad with a trim color button, bound to be easier to handle than the round iMac mouse.
  3. Sleep light: The iMac sleep indicator flashes mechanically on and off, while the iBook indicator fades in and out gently.
  4. Rubber: The trim color part of the top of the iBook is rubbery to provide a good grip.
  5. Handle: Unlike the thick, fixed, white handle of the iMac, the iBook has a thin, folding, trim color handle.

Capabilities

  1. Speaker: the iBook has but one built-in speaker (thus no surround sound) and lacks a built-in microphone and an input jack, but it does have an output jack for 16 bit stereo on headphones or external speakers.
  2. USB Port: The iBook has only one USB port, while the iMac has two, limiting the number of peripherals used at the same time without a hub.
  3. Programmable Keys: These on the iBook can be programmed to open certain applications with one key click.

The iBook is a lot different from an iMac - and completely different from just about anything else. LEM

Links for the Day

Recent Content

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2010 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Low End Mac's Amazon.com store

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.