Apple iBook G4 14-inch

A must-have for the rich fashion victim

Why has the iBook design always proved popular? Simple: with each new incarnation, Apple manages to come up with a budget machine that looks like a much more expensive one. Things are no different this time around.

The styling is almost identical to the older G3s, but the designers have introduced some small changes. The keyboard has thankfully been redesigned. The keys are no longer translucent, but instead match the gloss-white finish of the rest of the machine. More importantly, a metal frame has been added underneath the keyboard to stop the flexing that plagued previous versions. All models now have sexy slot-loading optical drives, and our machine was equipped with a DVD-RW burner. It also sported AirPort Extreme for wireless (Wi-Fi) networking.

Apple always reserves the latest processors for the upmarket PowerBook machines, so this iBook is built around a slightly slower 1.2GHz G4 processor. It's no slouch when it comes to performing day-to-day tasks, but start using it for more intensive applications such as video-editing or music-making and it does suffer a bit.

There are other weaknesses too. The company still hasn't added an audio-input socket, and you can only extend the memory to 640MB. But probably the most serious criticism you can heap upon it is the fact that it's a little bit heavy compared with some similarly priced PC rivals.

For all its weaknesses, this remains a loveable laptop. Battery life is excellent, and great looks mean it still stands out from the crowd.