Apple vs. Windows

My Aluminum 15 inch PowerBook last rev at 1.25GHz can kick the crap out of my friend's 2.7Ghz PC laptop six ways from Sunday. How the iBook compares to my laptop, I'm not sure.

stoid said:

My Aluminum 15 inch PowerBook last rev at 1.25GHz can kick the crap out of my friend's 2.7Ghz PC laptop six ways from Sunday. How the iBook compares to my laptop, I'm not sure.

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LoL....I find this hard to believe, even if that 2.7 was a celeron

purell16 said:

Does anyone know what a G4 iBook at 1.2ghz would be equivalent to (in terms of Pentium)? (Like...the iBook G4 at 1.2ghz runs as fast as a Pentium 4 at 2.66ghz)...that was just for instance, I actually dont know what the real equivalent is...thats why im posting!

Thanx
-Jason

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it depends on what r u doing..i run matlab, on my ibook g4 800, 640 mb ram, and in my lab on a p4 2.8 gig, 1 gb ram, running linux..and believe it or not, p4 is only marginally faster..like a delay of 3-4 seconds..

I think I heard somewhere that a 1.25 GHz PPC processor is equal to about a 3.0 GHz Pentium. I don't know how accurate that is, but it really depends on the RAM, cache, application your testing, and most importantly the OS.

And shouldn't you re-name this thread ''Motorola vs. Intel''?

purell16 said:

Does anyone know what a G4 iBook at 1.2ghz would be equivalent to (in terms of Pentium)? (Like...the iBook G4 at 1.2ghz runs as fast as a Pentium 4 at 2.66ghz)...that was just for instance, I actually dont know what the real equivalent is...thats why im posting!

Thanx
-Jason

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It very much depends on what you're doing. Some of my own C++ programs have been twice as fast on a PowerBook G4 1GHz compared to a Pentium 4 2GHz. On other applications, the Pentium wins by a large margin.

For "general use" I would make a wild guess and say that a G4 at 1.2GHz feels as fast as a Pentium M at 1.4GHz which should feel as fast as a Pentium 4 at 1.9 GHz.

purell16 said:

I was under the impression that the Apple laptops were a whole lot faster than laptops with Intel Processors. After reading all the replies, it seems like I could get an Intel Pentium 4 at 2.66 ghz for under the price of a 12 inch powerbook and it would be faster

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Oh yea, intel has them beat by far, especially with centrino.

But you won't find one as small as the 12 incher for the same price

meh

But then you have a crappy looking laptop and can only run Windows (or Linux, but I hate the power managment Linux uses for portables)
You must not have a mac now or you wouldnt even be thinking about a intel notebook.

gundamguy said:

But then you have a crappy looking laptop

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Common Apple-user misconception: There are other nice looking x86 laptops out there, they just cost a bit more

musicpyrite said:

I think I heard somewhere that a 1.25 GHz PPC processor is equal to about a 3.0 GHz Pentium.

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What? I thought they were comparing the 2 GHz G5's at the 2003 WWDC to a 3.06 Xeon, "the fastest PC money could buy". I'm not really a computer geek so I dont know if theres a difference between Xeon and Pentium, but I thought they were similar at least.

purell16 said:

I was under the impression that the Apple laptops were a whole lot faster than laptops with Intel Processors. After reading all the replies, it seems like I could get an Intel Pentium 4 at 2.66 ghz for under the price of a 12 inch powerbook and it would be faster

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The Apple laptops may not be as fast as an Intel based laptop when it comes to zipping files or making a word-table of contents, but you'll probably be more productive on an Apple laptop for 3 reasons:

1. The G4 at 1.2 GHz will not slow you down in most task, nor will a Pentium or AMD based processor. Unless you're into heavy gaming, serious video editing or similar stuff, the G4 is more than good enough.
2. Mac OSX is a wonderful OS. You'll enjoy working with it a lot more than Windows. Mac OSX gives you more time to do your work and less time to tinker with settings, drivers and viruses. Tinkering with settings in Mac OSX is usually done because you want to, not because you have to.
3. The iLife software you get with all new Apple computer can turn the most boring person into a creative and productive person.

purell16 said:

I was under the impression that the Apple laptops were a whole lot faster than laptops with Intel Processors. After reading all the replies, it seems like I could get an Intel Pentium 4 at 2.66 ghz for under the price of a 12 inch powerbook and it would be faster

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I don't know that getting a P4 2.66 Ghz laptop would be a good idea. That thing would suck the battery dry in no time.

You might want to look at the Pentium M, because they are built for mobile machines. They are clocked lower but are just as powerful if not more.

What can I say. If you need the fastest laptop there is, I think you'll have to go for an AMD 64 based right now.

If speed isn't the only thing that matters, then I suggest you get an Apple laptop. You won't be disappointed.

purell16 said:

Well, Im gonna have to say I am very dissapointed. I have never owned an apple before so I really wanted one. The entire time I thought that apple computers were way faster than Pentium's. But it seems like I was wrong.

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If you are wanting to buy a laptop for pure power, then sure go with a PC with a "pentium".

Of course if you want a laptop that is actually productive, has actual battery life, and looks good. Go with an Apple.

purell16 said:

what Laptop does everyone recommend on a budget of $1700?

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It really depends on what you are planning to do with it.

Gaming, video editing, surfing, development, watch movies, etc?
How much concern is battery life, screen size, etc?

Dippo said:

If you are wanting to buy a laptop for pure power, then sure go with a PC with a "pentium".

Of course if you want a laptop that is actually productive, has actual battery life, and looks good. Go with an Apple.

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Exactly. Also of note is that we are comparing Desktop Pentiums to Laptop G4s. Were we to compare Laptop Intel processors the difference would be more dramatic, while Intel may stick a 3ghz chip in a laptop it isn't usually running that fast because of the heat, they actually cycle down the proccesors in the laptops to lower hz.

As for Apple's being faster, the G5 is right up there with the latest Intel chips. Unfortunately they haven't been able to get enough quantities and/or the heat issue solved to put it in a laptop...YET.

purell16 said:

what Laptop does everyone recommend on a budget of $1700?

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$1399 iBook 14" 1,2GHz (edu discount)
$123 512MB RAM from Crucial
$62 Apple Wireless Mouse (unless you want a 3 button mouse)

$1584 Total

powerbook4me said:

Common Apple-user misconception: There are other nice looking x86 laptops out there, they just cost a bit more

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Ah yes, Cheap plastic and thicker than a large text book.... That is the type of style I want!

I dissagree, I have yet to see a laptop that is x86 that is near the style of an Apple. Everytime I see someone with one I can't help to think.. "Man you got hosed" (I know, I know, I should really find out whats on the inside, its not all about outward appearance.)

On your budget you could get a maxed out 12'' PB, or a Refurb 15'' PB with a combo drive. I am sure a 15'' PB would make more than happy. I know many people who do Photoshop and video editing with them without a problem. Speed these days has become a bragging right (IMO). I would imagine 1.25 would be plenty fast.

Koodauw said:

Ah yes, Cheap plastic and thicker than a large text book.... That is the type of style I want!

I dissagree, I have yet to see a laptop that is x86 that is near the style of an Apple. Everytime I see someone with one I can't help to think.. "Man you got hosed" (I know, I know, I should really find out whats on the inside before I should be judgemental)

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No, they all aren't cheap plastic and thicker.....

Just becuase you haven't seen one, doesn't mean they don't exist.

iBook or 12" Powerbook

That's what I would get. But I don't play many games. Also, in my experience OSX is way faster multitasking than Windows. Try burning a CD, encoding a DVD, playing iTunes, and browsing the internet. Well on OSX all ran smoothly. Plus I didn't mention Chatting as well. OSX has excellent memory management. This makes it seem faster than convential x86 processors. It is also why it Macs can be slower than PCs and PCs sometimes slower than Macs. Running one app at a time (like games) in a PC is clearly faster. However, in "real" apps Macs pull ahead.

powerbook4me said:

LoL....I find this hard to believe, even if that 2.7 was a celeron

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You shouldn't. I had a 2.5 Ghz Dell laptop that ran like a snail compared to an 800mhz G4 iBook. Apples are built more efficiently to maximize clock speed. The people at Apple said as an example to me one time a 1 GHZ G4 Apple is roughly equivelant to a 2-2.5 GHZ P4 PC.