12" PowerBook vs. iBook+Mac mini?

Question

I noticed the specs of each of these models and the 12" PowerBook has the exact (if not worse) specs as the last G4 mac mini:
1.5 GHz G4 167MHz Bus, 512k cache
PC3200 RAM
5400 RPM hard drive
ATi Radeon 9200 AGP 4x, 64MB.
The 12" PowerBook's specs are:
1.5 GHz G4 167MHz bus, 512k cache
PC2700 (worse than the mini's) RAM
5400 RPM hard drive
nVidia Go5200 which is the equivalent of the Radeon 9200.
My main focus is the specs between the 14" iBook and 12" PowerBook, iBook specs:
1.42 GHz G4 142 MHz bus, 512k cache
PC2700 RAM
4200 RPM hard drive
ATi Radeon 9550, 32MB
So the PowerBook has a faster HD and .08GHz more speed than the iBook but isn't the PowerBook's graphics card worse than the iBook? The 9550 out performs the nVidia 5200, in my opinion. So why does Apple charge so much more for a laptop that's not even that much better? $400 -ish price difference for a faster hard drive? I doubt you would be able to tell the difference between 1.42GHz and 1.5 GHz. What's worse is that they fool you in to thinking the PowerBook's graphics are better since it's got more dedicated memory. What's going on? Is buying a 12" Powerbook worth the $400 premium compared to the iBook G4? What are some reasons that justify Apple's higher price for the PowerBook?

Answer 1

The Powerbook has audio in port.
The internal speakers, while very small are still better quality than the iBook.
The casing is higher quality, in my opinion.
The Powerbook supports extended desktop. With the iBook, you are stuck with the best resolution the internal monitor will support unless you run unsupported hack programs that may or may not work with the next OS upgrade.
While I can understand why you might look at one graphics card and say it performs better because it happens to play a few games better due to a recent issue with Invidia drivers and the last OS update, but there are many ways that the card performs better that you are overlooking, possibly because it's not something that matters to you. The Powerbook's video card supports connection to DVI monitors or VGA monitors while the iBook only connects to VGA. (Both have TV connection options as well but ignoring this as they tie on this.) The higher dedicated memory comes in handy when you are running a large external monitor at full resolution and still running the internal monitor.
For a fair comparison, you need to look at all the differences between the two laptops. Now after looking at the differences, you come to the conclusion that they don't matter to you, then you should go with the iBook. I wouldn't trade my Powerbook for the iBook even if you threw in $500 for the trade. I don't want to have to worry about extended desktop being supported in the future.
You can't compare desktop computers to laptop computers. For one, some of them do not come with monitors and they all usually do not have the most power efficient processors. They don't need this because they are plugged in all the time. They don't have a $100+ battery either.
You also have to understand that there are different release dates for some models. This means that a consumer level machine might catch up a little with a pro level machine before the next pro model is released. There will usually be some options like extended desktop that will still remain unavailable or unsupported on the less expensive model. The 12" Powerbook's days are numbered as a computer you can buy as new. The smaller MacBook could be available any day now. I still think that it will be a useable computer for years to come and I don't want an Intel Machine quite yet.