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Can I (should I) buy Leopard and install it on my Powerbook ?

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parkerlewis

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 23, 2009
12
0
I have a PowerBook G4 with Mac OS X 10.4.11.
1.67 GHz PowerPC G4
512 MB
75 GB HD

I'm thinking of buying OS X Leopard and doing a nice clean install on my PowerBook. Is this possible and is it a good idea?
 
yellow

yellow

Moderator emeritus
Oct 21, 2003
16,018
6
Portland, OR
I wouldn't bother. Tiger will end up being faster for you in the long run.
Particularly since you're at the minimum end of RAM requirements. Leopard will be horribly slow, and I expect Snow Leopard will be little better.
 
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airjuggernaut

macrumors 6502a
Oct 16, 2007
535
0
I had the same spec PowerBook just a few months ago.

It ran Leopard perfectly fine.

(Just up the RAM to 1gb if you can)

Put Leopard on it, or wait for Snow Leopard :)
 
M

macJC50640

macrumors regular
Jan 19, 2009
188
0
Buy it!

Tiger may be faster, but support will obviously end sooner then Leopard, so get the Mac Box Set while you can, as Snow Leopard will be arriving soon and that is expected to only run on intel machines, so that rules out your powerbook. Hope I helped.
 
T

Turmoil

macrumors regular
Jul 2, 2008
242
0
I run Leopard on my Powerbook with similar specs. It works fine. Waitinfg for Snow Leopard is a thought, but there is the possiblity that they cut off PPC Macs with SL. I'd go with Leopard. I never looked back.
 
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suprdave1

macrumors newbie
Jan 12, 2009
25
0
I'm running tiger and just upgraded to 1.5 gigs of ram and a 250Gb 5400 rpm hard drive. I would imagine I could run Leopard or Snow Leopard brilliantly.

I would suggest for you that have less than a gig of memory to drop the 30 or 40 bucks on another gig of memory - makes a HUGE difference. Very cheap for a very nice quickness increase.
 
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parkerlewis

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 23, 2009
12
0
Thanks everyone. I think I'll buy Leopard but you guys are right, I'll definitely upgrade the RAM.

Just a quick question though, how exactly can I do that? Do I go to an Apple Store and say "can I get some more memory?" Also when I go on the Apple Store website, all I get under memory are MacBooks. Where are the PowerBooks? or am I missing something?
 
ziggyonice

ziggyonice

macrumors 68020
Mar 12, 2006
2,385
1
Rural America
Actually, going to the Apple Store wouldn't be your best bet. They may not even still carry the RAM you need, as PowerBooks are about ready to bite the dust (in Apple's eyes, at least).

I'd recommend going to a RAM website and ordering online. A great site is crucial.com, which is very reliable and has very good prices. You can find exactly the type of RAM you need by using their site.
 
Erendiox

Erendiox

macrumors 6502a
Oct 15, 2004
706
12
Brooklyn NY
The short answer is no, it's probably not worth it. With the money you'd be paying for Leopard and the extra ram that it needs to run smoothly, you could be saving up to invest in a new machine that comes with leopard and more ram. The value of PPC macs is dropping, fast. It's not smart to burn too much money on them.

That being said, don't let me stop you if it's what you really want... my opinion is this way because I work at an apple resale/repair shop. I see lots of people spend too much money on older machines that end up breaking soon after. PPC is practically dead. Be careful where you put your money.
 
zelmo

zelmo

macrumors 603
Jul 3, 2004
5,490
1
Mac since 7.5
I recently got a MBP and gave my wife my 1.33GHz/2x512MB G4 PB with a fresh install of Leopard. She is very happy with the performance. I've only messed with it a little (I do have a new MBP after all) but it does seem to perform fairly well.
Don't know how you'd do with less RAM, but that's a pretty inexpensive upgrade.

Erendiox said:
The short answer is no, it's probably not worth it. With the money you'd be paying for Leopard and the extra ram that it needs to run smoothly, you could be saving up to invest in a new machine that comes with leopard and more ram. The value of PPC macs is dropping, fast. It's not smart to burn too much money on them.

That being said, don't let me stop you if it's what you really want... my opinion is this way because I work at an apple resale/repair shop. I see lots of people spend too much money on older machines that end up breaking soon after. PPC is practically dead. Be careful where you put your money.
Click to expand...

PPC may be dead as a platform, but if your computing needs are mainly web, email, Office, and iTunes, you can get a couple of years more out of your G4 with a small investment while you continue to save for a new Mac for later.
 
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parkerlewis

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 23, 2009
12
0
I really wouldn't be doing this if I thought I could get a new Mac anytime soon. The thing is, I can't. I just don't have the money. And I probably won't have the money for another couple of years. So until I get a new laptop, I'll have to make do with my PowerBook. I'm just really curious about Leopard and I wanna try it asap!

Thanks for the advice guys. Also crucial.com is great. I'll definitely be ordering from there.

PPC may be dead as a platform, but if your computing needs are mainly web, email, Office, and iTunes, you can get a couple of years more out of your G4 with a small investment while you continue to save for a new Mac for later.
Click to expand...

Exactly. A couple of years is all I need anyway!
 
Winni

Winni

macrumors 68040
Oct 15, 2008
3,207
1,196
Germany.
parkerlewis said:
I have a PowerBook G4 with Mac OS X 10.4.11.
1.67 GHz PowerPC G4
512 MB
75 GB HD

I'm thinking of buying OS X Leopard and doing a nice clean install on my PowerBook. Is this possible and is it a good idea?
Click to expand...


Like Vista, Leopard is a resource killer. Your CPU speed is okay for Leopard, but you definitely need more RAM. I reverted all of my machines with less than 2 GB RAM and processors below a 1.67 GHz G4 back to Tiger, because Leopard would only crawl on those systems.

The two things Leopard has going for it are Quick Look and the MUCH better network browser in Finder. Everything else is debatable in my opinion, but those two features justify an upgrade - and the costs for a memory upgrade for your notebook.

Just don't install Leopard on your machine as it is right now, you -will- hate it.
 
M

msb65

macrumors member
Sep 17, 2008
61
0
I can't really comment about whether it is a good idea (considering the price of Leopard, RAM, and SL's imminent release) but it is definitely doable. I have that exact computer and Leopard ran totally fine. I do suggest maybe 1 GB of RAM.
 
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Gioman

macrumors newbie
Jan 28, 2009
18
0
Sweden
I was under the impression that Snow Leopard was 64-bit only...
So Leopard would be the only way to cling onto supported Apple software (Panther is usually not supported today)...
As for the performance and investment isssues, I cannot really advise you.
 
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parkerlewis

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 23, 2009
12
0
Alright, so I think I'm gonna get 2 1GB memory. So I'll have 2GB memory on my Powerbook. Then I'll install Leopard and everything will run smoothly! Thanks everyone!
 
Erendiox

Erendiox

macrumors 6502a
Oct 15, 2004
706
12
Brooklyn NY
zelmo said:
PPC may be dead as a platform, but if your computing needs are mainly web, email, Office, and iTunes, you can get a couple of years more out of your G4 with a small investment while you continue to save for a new Mac for later.
Click to expand...

Very true. They're still perfectly good machines... but web, email, Office, and iTunes does not require plunking down $129 for Leopard. Go for the ram, absolutely, but think twice about upgrading to an operating system that you probably don't need and, to be honest, doesn't run so fantastic on the older G4s.
 
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