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iBook and Dreamweaver/Photoshop - am I mad?

S

svejar

macrumors member
Original poster
This might be a dumbass question, but here it goes...

I'm thinking about getting an 12" iBook to use with Dreamweaver and Photoshop. Actually - I've thought about it for a long time, but I decided to save up instead of charging my credit card. And now I got the money!

Now I know that a 12"/15" Powerbook would be a better option, but - alas - I can't afford it. What I would like to know is: would the 1GHz G4 be sufficient? I will get an extra 512MB RAM.

Right now I have a 1,3GHz Athlon desktop PC (that is as large as a small house and makes enough noise to wake up the neighbours), and this machine is fast enough for my use, so I'm not expecting a powerhouse here.

The 1024x768 resolution doesn't bother me either, I'm used to work with that resolution.

So, I'm just checking here, to make sure that the iBook is "good" enough. I owuld appreciate any input from those of you that are using these programs.

Thanks for reading through this.

🙂
 
First off; congrats on saving and not putting it on the card! :-D

People undersell the iBooks performance sometimes. Even the old one, but especially the new one, are very capable machines. They'll handle Photoshop and Dreamweaver - especially with 512mb RAM. A lot of people do have big bucks to spend on machines, and demand the absolute fastest performances at the highest resolutions. You already know the iBook is 1024x768 and say you're happy to work in that resolution; with 512mb RAM, the iBook won't be the fastest, but it sure as heck won't slouch.

My advice? Don't worry about it. Get the iBook.

andy
 
While I don't have benchmarks handy to back up what I am about to say, I would say get the iBook. It is nearly as fast as my TiBook and faster (I am guessing) than my Revision A 12" Powerbook and both of these computers run these programs very well. I prefer the increased resolution of the TiBook, but that is a matter of preference only. I say go for it, you'll not likely be dissapointed.
 
Thanks!

🙂

Good to hear! Actually, my other option is to buy a Dell, but they are so incredibly boring...
 
I second what _pb_boi_ says. I have an iBook 600 Mhz that is a couple of years old. It was a bit sluggish so I maxed out the ram and now it clips right along. I use PhotoShop all the time and don't see any slowness unless I have a huge image with 600 dpi resolution (tried it just to test 😛 ) I can see a real difference between images printed from the iBook and from the iMac I also have. The image looks the same on both screens, but when printed, the image from the iMac is way darker - so I'm guessing the iBook does a better job of color management (I don't do any color management manually - it's not something I care much about)

I'm running Panther 10.3 with no problems. Rarely have to restart - except for those times when I installed Apple system upgrades or going through the airport, my iBook has been left on since I got it.

The screen on this baby is very sharp and I use it at the 1024x768 resolution and even these old (trifocal enhanced) eyes have no trouble reading the screen.

I even carelessly left it on the corner of a table and someone going by knocked it to the hardwood floor, but it kept right on running.

And besides, it's cute 🙂 🙂

m
 
the only drawback of the ibooks, as opposed to the large screens is that photoshop and dreamweaver have lots of interface room and many palettes, so it'll be tight on your screen. but if that doesn't bug you, i know people currently running DW and PS on clamshell ibooks.
 
I use Photoshop and Dreamweaver on a 12" iBook. No problems with screen space if you just open the palates you use.
 
I use Micromedia Dreamweaver MX and Adobe Photoshop CX on my 15" iMac 😱 (1 GHz, 256, 80). I don't really understand why people think OS X needs 512 MB RAM minimum? 😕 My father runs 10.3.2 on a G3 400 MHz, 128!

Anyways, you should be fine with the iBook with 512 RAM, but if you can afford it, try to get 768 RAM. Congrads on the new iBook!
 
musicpyrite said:
Anyways, you should be fine with the iBook with 512 RAM, but if you can afford it, try to get 768 RAM. Congrads on the new iBook!
Click to expand...

Yes, I will get an extra 512MB, so that will bring it to a total of 768MB!
 
musicpyrite said:
I don't really understand why people think OS X needs 512 MB RAM minimum? 😕 My father runs 10.3.2 on a G3 400 MHz, 128!
Click to expand...

I never understood this either. I was running 10.3.3 on my rev. B iMac w/ 192MB until a few days ago when it died 🙁 😡 . Now I just need to get the finances in order for my new eMac 😀 .
 
both those programs work just splendidly on my old g3 ibook with maxed out ram (640), so i don't think you should have too much trouble on a newer, faster 'book. enjoy it!
 
just because apple releases such crazily fast machines doesn't mean everyone needs it (unlike windows which needs all the help it can get... my family's 1.6GHz computer takes almost 30 seconds to launch IE on a fresh boot... it's a bit retarded) both of these programs run "ok" on my 800MHz iMac (512 RAM), except for launch times, but if you have lots of RAM there's no need to quit them very often... the only people (IMHO) who really need dual 2 GHz G5's are 3D people, and high-res photo editors... and of course VT needs them 😛
oops.. can't forget folders!

reality
 
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