12" g4 powerbook vs netbook

Iiwii said:

ok so this might sound like a silly question, but im not really good with hardware stuff, would a g4powerbook be way better than a netbook, im assuming yes, but the thing that confuses me is that netbooks have a 1.6ghz intel atom processor and around 1-2gb ram, and this g4 12" laptop i want to pick up is 1.5ghz and 512mb ram, lets say if i wanted to run itunes or ableton line just to mess around??
i only want it to goof off a bit in ableton live and listen to music in itunes, maybe watch some movies, prefer hd rips ;-p
would either of them be able to do that, and if so which would be better
i know netbooks use windows, but i saw somewhere you can install mac os, and thats what i would do, if the netbook is more powerful, thanks
and sorry for the silly noob question ;-o

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If you want an optical drive and a half decent graphics card, you should probably get the PowerBook. But I don't know how they compare to netbooks with HD video.

A G4 powerbook, while older of course, still has a lot more to offer. A netbook is not a bad invention, but is made for extreme portability and suffers from a very small screen and a smaller than average keyboard.

Sure you can put OS X on a netbook, but the experience of OS X would much better be suited on a 12" inch screen vs. the tiny one on a netbook. I assume the price of a used G4 powerbook is about the same as a netbook and a new copy of OS X.

My thought is that if size and weight are a large factor in your decision, go with a 10'' netbook. Their are guides on the internet that will show you how to install os x on them if you want. The 12'' is a really nice size, but not quite as portable as the netbook. Also, the netbooks battery will likely last longer than the powerbook's.

I recommend the 12" Powerbook, but you should definitely max the RAM to 1,25GB. It's easy to do yourself and doesn't cost much.

While you could install OS X on a netbook I'm not sure if things like two-finger scrolling would work. Also, you won't get a firewire port. Finally, the keyboard on the 12" is much better and you get a nice non-reflective screen.

I've tried both options. I've hackintoshed a msi wind and a lenovo ideapad, both netbooks.

Netbooks have great portability, generally have nice, bright LED backlit screens, and hellacious wifi reception. I'm personally a fan of the lenovo due to it's mini thinkpad form and build quality.

I'm currently using a 1.5 ghz last gen 12" g4 powerbook for my throw in a bag, lug around the house to surf, email and write documents. Personally, I prefer the pb, assuming it's maxed out a 1.25 gigs of ram.

PB has better screen for my purposes (10" widescreen is not wide enough for me), nice scrolling trackpad with two finger right click, optical drive, bluetooth, and a positively luxurious keyboard compared to any netbook, save possibly the dell mini one. Scrolling aside, the postage stamp sized trackpads do not compare.

I can also upgrade my software with impunity. Depending on what installation method you use with a netbook, a numbered update (10.5.6 to 10.5.6) may break several parts of your hackintosh install. Hackintoshes have minor issues with hardware components: the wind's camera may not work depending on which version you get, and the lenovo's wired ethernet doesn't work under osx. In addition, my lenovo has a jumping cursor issue that I haven't been able to fix, at least one other person has reported the same issue.

My pb has a discrete 64 meg video card, netbooks generally use gma 950 graphics or some variant of intel integrated graphics. The gma 950 uses 64 megs of your main ram for graphics. I believe the general rule is that, all other things being equal, an discrete graphics chip has better performance over an integrated graphics card with the same ram.

Netbooks may or may not have better batteries. Many first gen netbooks like the wind and lenovo only have three cell batteries, which equate to roughly 2 1/2 hours of light use (NO VIDEO). My pb batteries get roughly 3 1/2 to 4 hours of the same use. And if you're good at scrounging, you may be able to find batteries and power adapters for a pb on the cheap.

Again, I like the powerbook. I type a lot, and the keyboard is hands down (get it? ) better. I like the screen and the trackpad much better as well.
If I already had a powerbook or late gen g4 ibook, I'd stick with it after maxing the ram and possibly upgrading to a speedier and bigger HD.

If you already have a boing boing recommended netbook, or could get one on the very cheap on craigslist, and just wanted it to screw around on the internet for an hour or two at starbucks, that could be a valid option as well. With a little extra effort, netbooks can dual boot into xp or windows7 with no performance hit. (Virtual pc on a ppc is, well, painful.)

If you're wanting to use either one as a primary machine and do intensive tasks, like encode videos, forget about it. Good luck on your decision.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/03/ibook-g4-benchmarked-against-hackintosh-netbook-comes-out-even

Engadget did some testing and determined that performance between netbooks and g4 ibooks were roughly even. I'm guessing that since a powerbook has better graphics than it's ibook equivalent, it may have a slight advantage over a netbook.

I had someone put in a wd 250 gig ide laptop drive in mine. Glad I did. Best buy on sale for $90, 3 year warranty, quiet as the grave.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=264209 covers a review from a samsung single platter 5400 rpm 160 gig hd. Since it's a single platter drive it's allegedly as fast as the 7200's. Notebook review calls it the fastest ide laptop drive available today.

Give me a PM, if you'd like.

Yeah, testing has a G4 ibook's performance as being around the equivalent of a netbook, as said above, so the powerbook should slightly edge out most netbooks as far as performance (though probably not the Asus N10 series, which uses an nvidia 9300M graphics chip). As for the 12-incher, the max upgrades to the 1.5Ghz model are 1.25GB RAM and 250GB HDD (not sure on SSD).

The difference is that my 12" powerbook feels like a brick compared to a netbook. It is deceptively heavy, because it looks so small. You could check online, but my guess is that it's around 5 lbs, whereas most netbooks are sub 3 lbs. On the other hand, the 12" screen size is much, much more usable for me than most netbooks 10" screen, though you could get the Dell mini 12 or Samsung's new 12" netbook to cover that. Also, my powerbook has a better keyboard than most netbooks, though HP's netbook and a few others have decent ones. Then, of course, there's the optical drive.

So, what do you want more, portability or daily usability? The powerbook will be slightly more expensive and slightly more powerful, otherwise it comes down to portability and usability. Oh, plus the powerbook runs OS X without any hacking.

...aaaaand that's my 2 cents.

Recently started a project to refresh my PB. For under 400, I bought 2 x 32gb PATA SSDs, optibay and a new battery. So far with just 1 SSD inside, it is a joy to use again. Althought there are occasional stutters associated with using a jmicron SSD, I am hoping when all the upgrades are done, it should work just fine.

The PB will handle graphics better and has a taller screen.

The netbook can give you far superior battery life, with the higher capacity batteries.

The Dell Mini 9, which is one of the best Hackintoshes, has a far better screen with a narrower viewing angle.

I am awaiting an HP 2140 with the HD screen, to replace my 12" PowerBook. I think the hard drive is dead in the PB and I'll prob fix it at some point, since it's otherwise perfect.

I'm anxious to see the HP. I'll prob put Linux on it vs. OSX to avoid the update headaches.

Adokimus said:

but my guess is that it's around 5 lbs, whereas most netbooks are sub 3 lbs.

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Stock 12" pb is 4.6 lbs . Current macbooks are 4.5 lbs. Heavy, yes but its all subjective. Its a bit annoying when you have a backpack full with a water bottle, books, pb, charger, etc. Pb keyboard beats any netbook keyboard hands down (imo).