Help! Powermac or IMac or Ti book??

[djniche]

Hey guys,

I have sold my 400mhz G4 tower and can't be without a mac for long.
I'm wondering if you can help me decide what to get.

First what do I do with my mac - use it for photoshop, illustrator, pagemaker and web design applications. Web browsing, music collection and some games. My budget is $2500 and would like a system that has a superdrive:

This could be my choices

The 17" Imac as far as screen would that be enough screen size to design?

A 933mhz tower that I would use with a 19" CRT

or should I go mobile for a 667mhz ti book with the combo drive and wait for the new Powermacs? Any of you guys design comfortable in that 15.2" screen?

I need to decide soon because my G4 leaves today and can't stand the though of using that PC i have for long.

Thanks hope you can help

 

[coolocity]

I personally wouldn't go for the Ti Book, a little too small for me, wouldn't be able to design on it. If you just want something that will do what you want, get the iMac, but if you have the extra money do it in style with the tower. Either of those should suit your needs quite nicely. Can't wait for my 17" iMac.. *drool*

- John

 

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by coolocity
I personally wouldn't go for the Ti Book, a little too small for me, wouldn't be able to design on it.

Try and tell that to my 800MHz TiBook... 15.2" LCD, with a DVI port for external monitor/display (comes with the DVI-VGA adapter).

Why do you think you need the superdrive??? The TiBook has the combo drive (so you can watch movies when you should be making those web pages ).

BTW, the new TiBooks with the Radeon 7500 have a higher resolution then the previous models. I have a 21" crt on my desk at work, and have no problem switching to the TiBook when I get home.

The Radeon 7500 has NO problem running UT and the 800MHz processor has no problem crunching through Photoshop files.

Which ever system you do get, I would suggest getting AT LEAST 512MB of memory right off the bat. Also, make sure that it doesn't use up all the memory slots of the computer (like the iMac will). For the TiBook, get the one chip and then go and get additional memory for less (then what Apple will sell it to you for). Don't bother with the $30 installation charge for extra memory on any of those computers. On the TiBook it's easy as can be (don't get the stacked memory) same for the tower. The iMac requires using some tools to get to the memory slot (if nothing else, you have to flip it onto it's side).

One last thing, the TiBook is the most compact of the systems, and will allow you to connect to a large screen when you need/want to. You cannot do that with the iMac. The display port on the iMac is for mirroring only (doesn't do you any good when needing more display real estate).

 

[carta]

New iMac-good enough for color work?

My local dealer has a 15" new iMac sitting aside an eMac. I've been able to rotate both screens so that they're side-by-side. The iMac screen seems brighter, even when both displays are configured with the same specs (given the specs that they share).

My experience with LCD screens is with a PowerBook G3, and it's pretty awful for finding a screen position for consistent color display. The iMac seems brighter and more consistent, with a wider range of viewing angles.

Does that mean that the iMac's screen is a good choice for color work? Or is a CRT still a better choice?

 

[djniche]

Try and tell that to my 800MHz TiBook... 15.2" LCD, with a DVI port for external monitor/display (comes with the DVI-VGA adapter).

Why do you think you need the superdrive??? The TiBook has the combo drive (so you can watch movies when you should be making those web pages ).

BTW, the new TiBooks with the Radeon 7500 have a higher resolution then the previous models. I have a 21" crt on my desk at work, and have no problem switching to the TiBook when I get home.

great point about the tibook - I have a 19" CRT that I can use with it for design if 15 is too small. And the mobile factor really attracts me to the tibook. Only problem would I be able to use the tibook as my main computer until i get a tower? How long does the battery in real use last you?

As far as memory I agree and have 512mb already waiting for the tower plus a 40 gig drive. If i decide to get a tibook any of you know any kits to use the hard drive as a outside drive maybe with firewire connection??

 

[billiam0878]

The high-resolution 17-inch iMac might be perfect for you, otherwise, wait for a couple weeks and see what is in store for the PowerMacs (DDR might be worth that wait).

Bill

 

[AlphaTech]

I hope that waiting memory is PC133, if it's from your old Mac and is PC100, then you have a nice keychain. As for the hard drive, I placed a 40GB drive into a firewire enclosure from OtherWorldComputing, and use it whenever I want to on my TiBook (OS 9.x or OS X). It took a few minutes to install the drive into the enclosure, but now that it is done, it's a snap to use.

I have been able to watch a full 2 hour DVD movie on my TiBook (during a power failure) and still had about 30 minutes of battery time left. Just remember, when playing a dvd movie, the disk spins 100% of the time and the hard drive doesn't go to sleep. That makes it pretty much maximum battery/power usage. I see in the area of 3 to 3-1/2+ hours on the battery when I am doing normal work (combo drive not spinning with either music or dvd).

The TiBook's display is also a lot brighter then the older models. Which helps in more then a few ways.

I also use the keyboard built into the TiBook, along with an external mouse. The combination works great. You can also plug in one of the Pro keyboards if you want, if you really need the extended keyboard.

 

[djniche]

about the ram i bought it about a month ago and almost certain that it is PC 133. I will for sure get one of those enclosures for the 40gig and it can be use with any future mac. Excellent!

I'm narrowing down my choices to the 17" imac and the tibook since the new powermacs are around the corner. I'll be able to get a 800mhz or 933mhz tower by the end of the year for much cheaper than the current prices.

17" imac has a dvdr for future movie making purposes and that screen will be enough for design purposes plus dvd watching

tibook 667mhz wireless internet, DVD/ CDRW / and great mac power on the go!

DEcisicions......

 

[djniche]

on the topic how the powerbook can replace a desktop...

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/210/business/PowerBook_G4_is_laptop_with_desktop_shoulders+.shtml

 

[AlphaTech]

The memory should say right on it what kind it is... Either PC100 or PC133. The store that you purchased it from might have sold you PC100 memory, since it did go into an older Mac system (they called for PC100, not 133 memory in all the literature).

Pretty much all that will happen, if it is PC100, is the memory won't be usable in the new tower.

As for the drive enclosure, they are great. You can take it, and connect it to ANY FireWire equiped Mac and use the files.

 

[Joshlew]

I'd wait for the new Power Macs..........

 

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by djniche
on the topic how the powerbook can replace a desktop...

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/210/business/PowerBook_G4_is_laptop_with_desktop_shoulders+.shtml

Cool, it's nice to see the media playing nice with Apple...

It would have been nice if they also mentioned OS X in the article, but they probably were using a windblows system, which crashes if you mention OS X.

I would like to note that the speakers in the rev. c TiBook are much better then earlier models. They are not tiny/weak, and you actually get some base out of them. They can't touch my Koss headphones, but then again, only high end speakers can do that (CSW).

 

[djniche]

I've heard that the powerbook's casing is very delicate and tends to scratch and peel easy? is this true with the newest models? have you experience this at all?

the 17" seem that they are going to take a while to be available so I have my eye on a 667 powerbook

 

[AlphaTech]

It takes more then a little bit of force to put any kind of marks into the TiBook's case. One of the people here at work had a book (one of those thick text/school books) fall from about 3' onto it. It busted a key or two off the keyboard and put a small crack into the case (on the far right hand corner). Even with that damage (we were able to get a replacement keyboard for free from Apple ) it's still in active use.

As far as scratching the surface of the TiBook, as long as you don't key it, it will hold up just fine. Use common sense when it comes to the laptop, any laptop for that matter.