Power users: How fast/powerful is the new 1.67 GHz Powerbook?

[supafly1703]

How does it compare to a iMac 2.0 Ghz G5? Can it hold its own? When does it fail? I am in the market for a new 17" Powerbook and really wanna know if it is a marked improvement over my 1 Ghz iMac...worried about that FSB!

[sw1tcher]

Originally Posted by supafly1703

How does it compare to a iMac 2.0 Ghz G5? Can it hold its own? When does it fail? I am in the market for a new 17" Powerbook and really wanna know if it is a marked improvement over my 1 Ghz iMac...worried about that FSB!

IMO, a 1.67GHz PB would be able to closely match the iMac's performance, but only if you bump up the processor performance to maximum on the PB and keep the iMac at auto. If you do this though, the PB will get *very* hot.

On the other hand, if you adjust the iMac's processor performance to max as well, it'll beat the PB easily.

[risc]

Originally Posted by supafly1703

How does it compare to a iMac 2.0 Ghz G5? Can it hold its own? When does it fail? I am in the market for a new 17" Powerbook and really wanna know if it is a marked improvement over my 1 Ghz iMac...worried about that FSB!

I have a 15" PowerBook G4 1.67 GHz (64 MB VRAM, 1.5 GB RAM) and it compares very well to my GFs 17" iMac G5 1.6 GHz. My other Mac is a Power Mac G5 Dual 1.8 GHz (256 MB ATI 9800 XT, 2 GB RAM) and to be honest in day to day use I can't really tell the difference between the 2 machines. I can't fault my PowerBook at all, it's an amazing piece of hardware.

[iQuit]

Most people complain about the PB when it is a pretty damn speedy machine,it can handle major stuff such as video editing. A g4 and g5 architecture are a little different and I think the G4 is more effecient,they also have velocity engine to increase the performance. Overall the PB is a speedy machine and thanks to OS10 it makes it even smoother,but also remember,OS10 loves RAM.

[iQuit]

Also note that GHz to GHz...the G4 is more Powerful,if 1.0 Ghz G4 and a 1.0 Ghz G5 were tested the G4 would be much speedier. The PowerBook is a mighty speedy notebook though and compared to the iMac,there is not much that the iMac is better at,they are pretty much equivelent. The iMac may be a little faster,but nothing too noticiable.

[Abstract]

Originally Posted by iQuit

Most people complain about the PB when it is a pretty damn speedy machine,it can handle major stuff such as video editing. A g4 and g5 architecture are a little different and I think the G4 is more effecient,they also have velocity engine to increase the performance. Overall the PB is a speedy machine and thanks to OS10 it makes it even smoother,but also remember,OS10 loves RAM.

Yes, people complain too much about the PB. Seriously, people who do super-processor intense work on their 1" thick Powerbook and hope to have the fastest processor on the market as well are just dreamers. Sure, Apple could fulfill your desires and offer you a notebook with a G5, but they'd have to make it 1.5/2" thick or something, just like in the PC laptop world --- just like in reality.

The PB is fast.....comparable in speed to the other thin, lightweight, portable laptops in the PC world. People should stop comparing their PB to their iMac or PowerMac and complaining that their PB is slow in comparison. Its silly.

[CmdrLaForge]

Hi,

I will buy the next revision of thePowerbooks as well and I was wondering how much faster are the current iMacs. I reviewed many benchmarks and comparisons and found out, that the iMac is about 20% faster then the PB. That is true if both are at the same settings. You cannot compare standard settingson the iMac with max settings on the PB.
That means a task that takes 1 minute on the iMac will take 1 minute and 12 seconds on the PB. Or if a task takes 10 hours on the iMac it takes 12 hours on the PB.
Of course this is just general spoken but it gives an idea.
BTW, the iBook and the eMac are about as fast as the PB. There is a difference in performance but not as much as between iMac and PB.
The iMac is very interesting from a price/performance perspective. Much much better then the PB.
But as I said – I will go with the next revision of the PB. I hope that there is a PPC version before the first Intel version. If not I need to buy something other. Maybe iBook or iMac.

I just like to add that I would buy the current version as well. I am only waiting because I have no need at the moment. I will start some serious videoediting work around October and my guess is that a new version should come out by then.

Cheers
LaForge

[HasanDaddy]

I'm a filmmaker - and FCP is most important to me

the 1.67 ghz PB packs a ton of power ----- I'm very happy with its FCP performance, and handling of RT effects

[supafly1703]

Yea, I do a lot of processor intensive media related tasks (interconversion of movie file formats), and I know all of these things could be sped up on something faster than my 1 Ghz iMac. Also, some apps (safari, some java based apps, automator) can sometimes consume up to 50% of my CPU! Also, Dashboard can stutter...can the new Powerbooks handle these tasks with ease? I want instant Spotlight and no spinning beach balls

[pulsewidth947]

just remember you need to put in as much RAM as you can afford. A 1.67GHZ Powerbook with 512 mb just isnt gonna cut the mustard if you demand performance.

I'm awaiting delivery of the 1.67Ghz 15" PB with standard 512 mb RAM, but I've ordered 1 GB of crucial to put in until i can afford the next 1 GB stick. I really dont think theres going to be much I cant do with 1.67 Ghz and 1.5 GB Ram!

[evilernie]

I love my PB, probably more than a person should love a machine.

It does everything I need it to. Intensive Graphic design, garageband, iphoto etc. all work flawlessly in Tiger. Fastest computer I've ever used, but then again I've never used a G5, I upgraded from a 733GHZ G4. I did max out the RAM to 2GB when I bought the machine. (Thanks OWC). No regrets here.

[EGT]

I love my powerbook as well but i have been debating about going for something with a little more kick.

I have a Rev C (i think, 1.25ghz - 80gb hard drive) but i'd love something that has a bigger hard drive and maybe a slightly better processor, but i can't really complain with what i have now because i don't really use it for anything other than the internet, music, photos and the odd DVD.

The iMac is a very nice looking machine but i've decided the portability of the powerbook is just too good to give up. When the next update comes along, major or minor, i'll probably upgrade. I thought about installing a new 120gb drive but its too much hassle and i'm too lazy (+ it could all go wrong).

Looking forward the 2006/7 Powerbooks!

[bug]

I have a 1.67 17inch with 2 gigs of ram, and while I like it - it could be faster. I hit the limits regularly, and sometimes doing seemingly simple things will use 100% of the CPU. Some people say that it is unreasonable to expect so much performance from a laptop that is so thin, but many of the new Pentium M laptops that are the same size will blow it away, and have longer lasting batteries. I get 2 hours of solid using on a good day - but that is on max. performance and with the screen brightness all the way up - frankly because I find it unusable without those two settings maxed.

That being said, I love it, and currently there is nothing else out there that I would rather have. There are a lot of features other than speed, and those are the reasons I own it. ...but I'm certainly looking forward to Intel based PowerBooks.