PowerBook 12 vs. iBook: What's a Mac fan to do?

Computerworld - It's a nagging question for which there is seemingly no correct answer, akin to the "paper or plastic" query at the grocery store: PowerBook or iBook? Aluminum or polycarbonate? Twelve-inch or 14-inch?

Ever since Apple Computer Inc. released the iBook G3, Macintosh users have debated the relative merits of the company's entry-level laptop and its pro line of sleek PowerBook G4s. Until last fall, when Apple finally plopped a G4 chip into the iBook, the answer seemed pretty clear. If you wanted speed and had the bucks, get the PowerBook.

That advice is no longer as clear-cut as it once was.

Apple recently sent Computerworld two of its newest laptops for review purposes: a top-end 14-in. iBook G4, with a combination drive and an AirPort Extreme card for wireless networking, and an entry-level 12-in. PowerBook, similarly equipped -- but with a SuperDrive that can burn DVDs as well as CDs. The PowerBook weighs just 4.6 pounds, while the iBook weighs 5.9 pounds.

The upper end of Apple's iBook line has been edging ever closer to PowerBook territory over the past few upgrade cycles, and that's certainly the case with the latest iteration of white wonders.

The top-end iBook now sports a 1.2-GHz G4 chip, a bright and easy-to-read 14-in. LCD screen and a 60GB hard drive, and it can be ordered with an AirPort card. The entry-level PowerBook comes with a slightly faster 1.33-GHz G4 chip, a 60GB hard drive, a fairly bright, but sharp 12-in. screen -- and it has the AirPort card included. In fact, all PowerBooks now come with AirPort Extreme cards installed, one of the nice upgrades introduced into the PowerBook line by Apple last month.

The Powerbook is noticeably smaller than the iBook.

The iBook goes for $1,499, and that price now includes the AirPort card. (Update: In an earlier version of this story I incorrectly said the Airport card cost $99 extra. Actually, it's included in the top-end iBook, and costs $99 to add to the other iBook models.)

The PowerBook is $1,799, with the difference in price largely due to the SuperDrive. When ordered with a combo drive, that same 12-in. PowerBook checks in at $1,599, or just $101 more than the iBook with AirPort. Both come with 256MB of memory, which you'll want to double or triple before doing any serious computing. (The going price for a 512MB chip on the market is about $120, and I bumped the RAM in the the two laptops I tested to a healthy 768MB.) Both have 512KB of L2 cache memory. Both offer FireWire 400 ports and Universal Serial Bus 2.0 ports for peripherals. And the larger iBook can be ordered with an optional SuperDrive for an extra $200.