15" superdrive powerbook... 128vram or 64?

[Chrispy]

Hey all. I'm looking to get a powerbook for school and work to replace the systems I have now (they are all being sold and I will have ample money to purchase what I desire). I thought about the 12" powerbook (I have a 20" Dell widescreen that I could hook up to) but then felt like I would want the 15" for when I'm not hooked up to the screen. If anyone feels like I should go 12" superdrive instead let me hear it haha I play WoW and I am also concnered that the graphics card in the powerbook vs the one in the iBook is much better. Is this true?

Second, and this is my big concern, if I go 15" superdrive should I upgrade the graphics memory to 128MB? I am afraid to BTO becuase of a bad experience with bad pixels and the inability to return in the past. Playing games like WoW and Unreal Tournament 2003 will I notice an improvement going with 128? You help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Chundles]

If you can afford it, get it. It's one of those things that can't be upgraded once you buy it and it will make ownership last that much longer knowing your card is the best you can get in a PowerBook.

Spanning to your 20" will be smoother and better with 64MB RAM driving each monitor rather than just 32MB. Gaming will be better and, if the cash calls to you, it can drive the beautiful 30" display......

Basically, if you can ask, get the 128.

 

[crazzyeddie]

Get the 128MB. The priceerformance ratio is favorable.

 

[javiercr]

Hey all. I'm looking to get a powerbook for school and work to replace the systems I have now (they are all being sold and I will have ample money to purchase what I desire). !

you may be a bit optimistic about the second hand value of your G3

BTO should create more problems for bad pixels , may be you were unlucky, and Apple shouldn't give you any problems to return it if you have problems. Even with remanufactured products you get the same cover as with new.

 

[bodeh6]

128MB of GPU RAM will help your new machine last longer and provides the ability to drive the 30" ACD. The $90 with EDU pricing is worth it.

 

[simon-says]

I went with the 128MB of VRam. It's not one of those things that you can upgrade later. Will 64MB get you by, yes. But as they say "some is good, more is better, and too much is just right". Really I have no use for the extra VRam, the last game I bought was Starcraft. I'm a programmer, and my GUI's never need a high end graphics card. I would like to try out Doom 3 though. I do hear that the ATi Mobility Radeon 9550 of the iBook is a little better if not on par with the NVidia GeForce Go5200 of the 12" Powerbook. Personally I'm an ATi fan through and through, been that way for a while. So maybe I'm biased. It also depends how long you are going to keep your Powerbook to say go for one or another. I will probably be using mine a few years from now, so it makes since to upgrade it as much as I can.

Don't worry about BTO, it's the only way I'd order. As for getting dead pixels, I sure didn't. I bought a LCD for my desktop back in March and was worried about the same thing, but none. Then none on my Powerbook.

I went with the 128MB VRam and really have no use for it, other than to say I have it. I'm very happy with my purchase, wouldn't trade it but for a better Powerbook. Who knows it was the ripple effect that wasn't support on older cards maybe there will be some feature that won't be supported like it in the future.

 

[Chrispy]

you may be a bit optimistic about the second hand value of your G3

Haha! I guess with my sig it looks like that is all I have I actually have 3 computers in my possesion right now and they are all being sold.