I'm looking to purchase my first "book" and I'm looking at the 12"ibook loaded up vs the 12" powerbook.

Now i'm going to be using it primarily for school as well as some home use. My main concerns are as follows:
1. "future safe"
2. Durability
3. Portability (12")
4. Performance

So a loaded (+Wifi, +60GB, +BT) 12" iBook is 1855$ after taxes and a 12" Powerbook is 2182$ after taxes. I am planning on using the "book" for a few years to come.

So my questions are:
1.Is the faster processor and 64mb graphics card worth the price?
2.Am I going to feel outdated faster with the iBook or the powerbook?
3.Is the metal casing on the Powerbook easier to scratch?

Thanks!!! Any advice is apreciated.

Oh..and if i go for the Powerbook I am going to upgrade the hardrive to 5400rpm.

As well with either "book" I am going to add 512mb of RAM within a few weeks of getting the "book".

Thanks again!

The PB will also offer a larger HD, which is useful if you are going to have lots of digital media such as photos, music etc.

Both seem to be excellent computers.

One advantage of the PB is that it is easy to connect to an external monitor - something you may want to consider as the 12" screen really is small. This is a great blend of mobility and useability.

I have read that you can do this with the iBook too, but it requires a hack and I don't know how well it works.

I went for the iBook because of the 14" screen. I am a student as well. I also play the odd games here and there and it works fine with the 32MB video. From what I hear the iBook is more durable then the PB. Macs retain there value much longer then PC's so you could allways turn around and sell it in the future. I also like the look of the iBook. The PB's look nice as well. There both good portables and you would be happy with either. Just make sure you get as much memory as you can afford.

I've used a 12" iBook for several months, and own a PowerBook, both of which I used frequently at school.

If you are in it for the long-run, I think the PowerBook is a better value because you can max it out to a greater degree than the iBook (i.e. 5400rpm drive, larger drive configuration, more RAM capacity, faster processor). You won't notice the $300 difference over a couple of years, and the PowerBooks appear to retain a slightly higher resale value. Of course that's just my opinion of what I've been seeing on the ehMac board and eBay.

The iBooks can take bumps and repeated moving around a little better, but the plastic casing can scratch very easily. So it's a toss up on that front.

Additionally, the PowerBook's DVI port can come in handy if you ever see yourself using an external LCD display (which you might, as the 12" can feel cramped after a while).

Plus the PowerBook gets more oohs and ahhs. Seriously!

Plus, metal is way cooler than plastic!

Unless you turn the thing on. Then you could (slowly) fry an egg on it! Just kidding...

I've never had an ibook, but I'm more than happy with my powerbook. The aluminum is surprisingly hard to scratch (there's none on mine so far) and the metal just feels nicer.

If you plan on playing some games on it in the future, the 64mb video in the PB will be useful. Already, the minimum for many games today is 32mb of video ram.

If you can, go to a store with a showroom so you can compare the ibook and powerbook in person to see which one you prefer.

To summarize your concerns:

1. "future safe"------>PB
2. Durability-------->ibook
3. Portability (12")--->very slight edge to PB
4. Performance----->PB