buying an iBook today

[keyshawn]

Hey,

After reading over a bit in the forums here and more research on other forums [as well as going to the apple store by my house twice and played around with them a bit] , I've decided to take the plunge and buy an ibook for college. It's going to be my first apple computer, and have used them just a little in school.
I'm a bit nervous, but I'm just that way whenever I purchase anything [make an investment in] over $100...

A couple last-minute questions that I have:
- Can an ipod double as a sort of USB key ? [there's an offer for college kids to get a free 4gb ipod after rebate] could it store both music and data at the same time ? I don't really like the ipod interface at all, I'd prefer a creative zen/iriver, but if it doubles as a data transfer I might keep the ipod....which leads to another q:

- does OS X play well with other mp3 players besides Ipods ? Ultimately, I'm thinking of selling the ipod and using that money towards another player.

- While at the store, the ibook outer casing seems quite flimsy and fragile - is this a legit concern ? I know the powerbook has a better casing, but I don't want to upgrade to that. [IMHO, the small upgrades of the powerbook doesn't warrant the price diff. between it and the ibook.]

Anything else I should know about to help me rid myself of having irrational thoughts of being ripped-off ?!?!

Thanks guys and gals,
will.

[pattycakes]

Originally Posted by keyshawn

- Can an ipod double as a sort of USB key ? [there's an offer for college kids to get a free 4gb ipod after rebate] could it store both music and data at the same time ? I don't really like the ipod interface at all, I'd prefer a creative zen/iriver, but if it doubles as a data transfer I might keep the ipod....which leads to another q:

- does OS X play well with other mp3 players besides Ipods ? Ultimately, I'm thinking of selling the ipod and using that money towards another player.

- While at the store, the ibook outer casing seems quite flimsy and fragile - is this a legit concern ? I know the powerbook has a better casing, but I don't want to upgrade to that. [IMHO, the small upgrades of the powerbook doesn't warrant the price diff. between it and the ibook.]

storage is storage, so ofcourse you will beable to store music on your icrook as well as school data. now i dont know if you can use it for regular files but i think that there is a creative model that can (not 100% sure)

i dont see why a i crook would be dumb and only work with an ipod. check the box of the mp3 players you are thinking of getting

no idea about your last question.... i dont like macs yet not enough games for em:-P

maybe whith mactel ill be able to play games pon an apple, then it might warrent the switch

hopefuly this helps u a bit before you have to leave and hopefully someone who likes mac can hook you up with some more answers

[sadistikdreams]

Well, I don't know how much I can help you, but here's a fact:

Although the casing makes the powerbook smaller, it's a certain alloy that blocks out a certain percent of it's wifi compatibility. Like, if you're at the edge of a wireless network, it wont pick it up. With the ibook, it'll pick it up, since the case is plastic.

[westothemax]

Originally Posted by keyshawn

- does OS X play well with other mp3 players besides Ipods ? Ultimately, I'm thinking of selling the ipod and using that money towards another player.

OS X recognized my Creative Nomad Jukebox just fine. I'm not sure if <i>all</i> other mp3 players will work, but most should at least appear as an external storage device.

[t3m3st]

first off, congratulations.

Ok, I'll try to answer your questions.

The free iPod mini could be used as either a hard drive or a music player. I would suggest using it with the supplied Firewire cable, as that will give you a faster 2 way transfer.

I've had my iBook for a year. I toss it into a backpack every day. Sometimes I drop my backpack. It bounces around with my books, PSP in hard case, and DS.

I would say they are pretty durable.

I used to use MiniDisc for my portable music, but sony makes no software to connect it with a mac. I have had no success connecting it to use long play. I now have an iPod 20 gig and iPod Shuffle.

Feel free to IM me about any questions you may have.

[MikeSty]

Wait, you have two ipods???