DuoLister Glen Fong presents the key considerations for
keeping a 2400 or jumping to the iBook.
(14 Dec 01/rpm)
This is at least a three-way comparison: stock 2400 vs. upgraded 2400 (MHz, CardBus) vs. iceBook (either version). Let me suggest that many of our arguments have fallen into the "I'm super-pleased with my existing system, but don't really know what I'm missing" syndrome. The trumping argument would be someone who has upgraded or gone "ice" and who would be willing to revert if they could get their money back. I used a 2400/180MHz/80MB as my main working system for three years. I went "ice" six months ago. I would not go back if even I could get a full refund (short of losing my job and needing to put food on my family's table).
The connectivity issue pretty much washes out because the 2400 can be upgraded to USB and FireWire, while the iceBook has legacy adapters for SCSI, ADB, and Serial. The exception may be the lack of a PC Card (not Compact Flash) reader for the iBook. The iBook's internal optical drive is not a crucial factor to me, and I even have the combo drive.
My main regret is the iBook's larger footprint. I would have preferred a 10.5in. over a 12.1in. screen -- with resulting footprint and weight reduction.
But these drawbacks are more than compensated for me by the iBook's MHz, memory, bus-powered, and battery-life advantages. And I'm not really a power user (e.g., I don't use Photoshop or OS X). Rather my large Word, AppleWorks, and PowerPoint files save much faster, and many more of them can be open at the same time without crashing. My productivity has gained considerably, and I could never go back.
And bus-powered external devices are a god-send. Besides ridding myself of at least three sets of power adapters/cords, there's the mobility advantages. I was showing a video in the middle of a presentation at a third-party site, and needed to revise my PowerPoint slides. I plugged in the bus-powered USB zip drive, saved my revised slides to disk, put the disk in the Windows machine, and proceeded with my presentation at the end of the video, and didn't miss a stride.
Then there's the iBook's battery life. It saved my butt on a Brazil project I was seriously under-prepared for. I was able to do all my prep working straight through the 10-hour flight. I had two batteries, and I still had juice to spare. I would have needed a half dozen batteries to do this on my old PB2400. Such are the kinds of advantages to a non-power yet real world user operating under deadlines and with only a 24-hour day.
Let me acknowledge that I too am subject to the "I'm super-pleased with my existing system, but don't really know what I'm missing" syndrome -- in that I have never used a TiBook. I'm still holding on to my Comet as a trusty backup system.
Remember the true test: anyone who has upgraded who would rather downgrade?