1.33 GHz good enough?

[iMatt mini]

Is that fast enough for the basic apps running all at once or will I see too many beach balls.
iChat, Safari, Mail, Word(or something like it)
Or should I get a 1.5 GHz PowerBook?

Is that change noticeably different?

 

[gwuMACaddict]

you'll be fine with an iBook... i thought you already asked us this in another thread?

edit- no, not you- lots of these threads floating around i guess... i think a 1.33 will be fine for what you say you want to do

 

[iMatt mini]

Yeah, I searched before I posted but I couldn't find an exact answer for my situation. I think I'll go with the iBook. And probably only 40 GB. I don't need much space. I doubt I'll install a lot.

 

[ITASOR]

Yeah, I searched before I posted but I couldn't find an exact answer for my situation. I think I'll go with the iBook. And probably only 40 GB. I don't need much space. I doubt I'll install a lot.

Remember, a 40GB is probably really 37GB. Plus the 10GB that is on it when you get it. Leaving you ~25GB free.

 

[terriyaki]

I've got a 12" 1.33Ghz iBook and it can easily handle all of those programs running at once.

 

[gwuMACaddict]

Remember, a 40GB is probably really 37GB. Plus the 10GB that is on it when you get it. Leaving you ~25GB free.

excellent thing to remember when purchasing a laptop

 

[pulsewidth947]

i got a 1.25 GHz mini, and its plenty fast enough. I've used it for photoshop (not hi res though, just on some 4mpx pictures and some vector) and it works nicely. And thats with only 512mb ram.

Plenty of ram will sort out beach balls.

 

[20rogersc]

My 14" 1.33ghz is fine to do all of those apps. It will run fine.

::20ROGERSC::

 

[JDOG_]

Yeah, I have a 933mhz. iBook with 640mb of RAM and it does Word, Safari, Mail, iTunes, Photoshop CS & iChat at once without a hiccup.

Just be sure to get a bigger hard drive, because that's the one thing you can't really upgrade without voiding your warranty. And ITASOR is right on the money in that you get significantly less space than advertised. I always enjoyed that about my thinkpad in that IBM gave you a 43.5 gig HD when you got it, 3.5 gigs for Windows & the rest for you...I wish others would do the same.

That & get a superdrive. You're going to want to burn DVDs and getting an external one is more than the $100 it will cost you now just to get one. Also, you might just enjoy the Powerbook a bit more, it's got so many great features (mirrored displays, Firewire800, backlit keyboard, shiny aluminum ) it's worth the extra dough if you've got it.

 

[iMatt mini]

I already have an external DVD Burner, not worth it to buy another one built in.
Edit: I can't even think of one thing off the top of my head, that I'll be installing though. I don't see why I should waste $50.

BTW: 12'' or 14''? I can't decide.
I use a 15.4'' laptop now.

 

[terriyaki]

I already have an external DVD Burner, not worth it to buy another one built in.
Edit: I can't even think of one thing off the top of my head, that I'll be installing though. I don't see why I should waste $50.

BTW: 12'' or 14''? I can't decide.
I use a 15.4'' laptop now.

Since you already have an external DVD Burner I'd go with the 12". It'll give you better portability and besides, the maximum resolution is the same in both the 12" and 14" anyways.

Use the money you save to buy some third party RAM.

 

[macbaseball]

To answer your original the 1.33 will not cause beachballs (with most apps). A lack of RAM will cause beachballs most often. Get the 12 inch and max out the RAM and get the 60 gig hard drive. For $50, a 50% increase in hard drive space is awesome.

 

[iMatt mini]

I doubt I'll get the 60 GB HD. I'll never use it all. I'll never use the 40 even. I'm the kind of person that removes stuff when I'm done. Not just leave it because I can. I doubt I'll buy much stuff to install either.

 

[QCassidy352]

My 1.33 Ghz 12" ibook handles all of those things without any hiccup at all. It was actually quite usable even with the 512 RAM; now that it's up to 1.5 GB, it's smooth as butter.

 

[WillMak]

I can run word, power point, firefox with multiple tabs, play a movie, itunes and have bit torrent enabled without any performance issues. 1.33 GHZ will be fine. *note I have 1.5 gigs on my ibook.

 

[ITASOR]

I can't even think of one thing off the top of my head, that I'll be installing though. I don't see why I should waste $50.

Hmm. You haven't seen iMovie, Garageband, or the rest of iLife have you? You might also be used to Windows program sizes. A program that takes a few MB's on Windows usually takes more on Mac. It's definitely not a WASTE, as the next os, and the next one after that will take more and more.

 

[zelmo]

I doubt I'll get the 60 GB HD. I'll never use it all. I'll never use the 40 even. I'm the kind of person that removes stuff when I'm done. Not just leave it because I can. I doubt I'll buy much stuff to install either.

Do you plan to use iTunes at all, now or possibly in the future? If so, I highly suggest getting the biggest hdd you can pack in, at least 60GB. My 1.33 PB handles all your listed apps and more quite admirably with 1GB RAM. My 60GB hdd is hovering around 48GB, with a 25GB iTunes collection eating up a ton of space. I only dabble in iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand, but the files I've saved use up another 6GB or so, and that's nothin' where A/V is concerned. I wish I'd sprung for the 80GB drive when I got this thing.

 

[PaRaGoNViCtiM]

ALWAYS, get the biggest HD you can afford, even if you don't think you'll need it! In 2 years you'll be very happy you did!

 

[devilot]

ALWAYS, get the biggest HD you can afford, even if you don't think you'll need it! In 2 years you'll be very happy you did!

Yeah, and for more than one reason; 1) you will have undoubtedly accumlated more "stuff" by then, and 2) better resale value w/ more HD space.

 

[iMatt mini]

I won't be selling it.

 

[VanNess]

To paraphrase Bill Gates "1.33GHz ought to be enough for anybody"

 

[iMatt mini]

I do use iTunes a lot. My library isn't very big though. I guess I'll spring for the 60 GB. I think 512 RAM is enough, eh?
It sounds easy enough to install more if needed right?

 

[mad jew]

If you're worried about many apps at once, you'll need RAM more than CPU. I recommend getting more RAM albeit not from Apple. It's very easy to install.

 

[VanMac]

Get the stock config for ram, then buy a 1GB stick afterwards. I'm running 1.5GB in my new 12" iBook, and it works great.

I only got the 40GB hard drive as I did not want BTO, just wanted to pick it up at the Apple Store. 80GB still would not have been enough anyway. I'm planning to pick up a LaCie external.

 

[aricher]

I love my 1.33 GHz 17" PowerBook. I maxed out the RAM to 2 GB - flies through everything you mentioned. The only time I hit snags is with large (750 MB -2 GB) Photoshop files - other than that it's smooth as butter. I won't be upgrading until the Rev. B Intel PBs are out - and I know that's gonna be awhile.