How good is the new iBook?

At this week's annual Apple lovefest, better known as Macworld Expo-New York, Interim Apple CEO Steve Jobs put a new face on its consumer computer marketing efforts. With the release of the iBook consumer portable, Apple put another stake into the ground in its continuing effort to become the Sony of home computers.

Besides the iBook, Apple also announced other consumer products and services, most notably:

- QuickTime TV (QTV), the Internet's highest-quality network for Web-based video and audio delivery.

- AirPort, a wireless local area network (LAN) solution for the new iBook consumer portable, that provides totally untethered Internet access for home and schools. Apple's AirPort solution includes the AirPort Card and Base Station that promises a bandwidth of 11Mbps, faster than 10Base-T Ethernet.

- IBM's Via Voice, the first continuous speech recognition software for the Macintosh platform.

- The combining of Apple and Akamai technology to build the backbone for Apple's new QuickTime TV (QTV) network.

- Mac OS 9.0, slated to ship in October 1999, with improved reliability as precursor to Mac OS X, which is still expected to ship in January, 2000, plus the addition of a greatly-improved Sherlock II Internet search engine.

The iBook, available in the same blue and tangerine colors of the current iMac, will cost $1,599 and will be available in September.

For that $1,599, the iBook will include a 12.1-inch TFT display with a resolution of 800 by 600 pixels; an ATI RAGE chip for accelerated graphics; a 300MHz G3 processor; a CD-ROM drive; 32MB of memory, expandable to 160MB; built-in 56K modem, USB and 10/100 Ethernet; and a full-size keyboard, plus a 3.2GB hard drive. Jobs also promised that the iBook's Li-Ion battery life was six hours. The iBook also sports quite a rugged design, including a polycarbonite chassis with rubber inserts like the higher-line professional-grade PowerBook notebooks that Apple sells. Plus you get two built-in antennae for the AirPort wireless LAN card, something no Wintel notebook can offer.

Like the discontinued Newton-based eMate, the iBook is a clamshell design with a built-in handle, but it does not include a latch. Instead, it reminds me of a giant version of the flip-top on a Palm Pilot.

At $1,599, Apple missed its earlier target of a consumer portable selling for under $1,000. Nevertheless, the iBook is a compelling, if rather large notebook computer that Apple will likely sell a ton of. In fact, most retailers I talked with after the announcement expect the iBook to be "hard to get until mid-October."

The real question, however, is how the iBook stands up to the Wintel competition. What can you get in the way of a name-brand Wintel notebook for $1,599? The cheapest Dell notebook (the Latitude CPt), checks in at $1,899.

For that, you get the standard black industrial-looking case, a 333MHz Intel Celeron CPU, two PC card slots, 16-bit SoundBlaster Pro sound, a smart Li-Ion battery, 32MB of RAM, an AGP port, NeoMagic MagicMedia256ZX 256-bit graphics accelerator with 4MB internal memory, a 14.1" XGA active matrix (TFT) display, user-removable 4.8GB hard drive, 24X/10X variable CD-ROM drive and floppy drive that fit into a media bay, plus Windows 98. The whole thing fits into a package weighing about the same as the iBook (a tad under 6 pounds) that's 1.77 inches thick.

So, for 300 bucks more, you get a slower processor than the iBook, no modem, Ethernet, or USB, but you do get a floppy drive and a couple PC card slots, plus a bigger screen, and a removable (and larger) hard drive. None of which are very compelling if you are in the home or consumer notebook market. Winner? iBook.

How about Gateway or Toshiba or IBM?

Gateway will sell you the Solo 2500 with an integrated floppy and CD-ROM, 12.1-inch SVGA TFT display, 32MB of RAM, 2 PC card slots, 4GB hard drive, and 333MHz Celeron for $1,499. But the battery is NIHM, not Li-Ion, the modem costs extra, and the case screams "business machine!" Winner? iBook.

Toshiba offers Satellite 2060 CDS , with 366MHz K6-2 processor w/3D Now, 32MB of RAM, 12.1-inch SVGA TFT display 4.3GB hard drive, CD-ROM, and 56K modem for $1,399. You don't get USB or Ethernet at that price, but you do get a very boring industrial design. Winner? iBook.

For $1,733.26, Big Blue will sell the very capable ThinkPad 390. For that, you get a 300MHz Mobile Celeron, 32MB of RAM, a 3.2GB hard disk, CD-ROM,and a 12.1-inch SVGA TFT display. But you don't get the USB or Ethernet or AirPort connectivity of the iBook, nor the good software bundle, and you have to live with a "strictly business" industrial design. Winner? iBook.

The iBook is a winner, all across the board for the home and consumer market. And if corporate types look beyond its cute blue or tangerine colors and clever design, they might find a machine they'll find a winner, too.

Let's just hope Apple can build enough of them.