Got an Original PowerBook G4 Titanium, Tiger?

[128keaton]

I was passing through Denver and I saw a nice little PowerBook G4 for sale/salvage. I PM'ed the owner and he was trying it with the wrong adaptor (40W, its needs to be 45W or higher, never heard of a 40W adaptor). No pictures yet, but I think its the 500MHz model. Anyway, I was wondering how well Tiger would run on it, since I want to use it as my 'grab and go' machine (I have an AirPort card 😀). 10.3 isn't quite usable today, and for me Tiger is really pushing it (500MHz with Leopard is equivalent of shooting yourself in the face, plus I have a soft spot for Tiger). Does anyone have any experience with Tiger on a 500MHz machine? Thanks!

 

[gavinstubbs09]

My digital audio Power Mac is a 466MHz G4, and Tiger runs well on it. I don't use it as much as my MDD which is the main goto G4. Max out the ram and your TiBook should be happy with Tiger!

 

[jrsx]

I thought the first gen PBG4 was 400 MHz..
I ran Tiger on a 500 MHz G3 (iBook), and it was fine. I'm sure a 500 MHz G4 would be great!

 

[Intell]

The first TiBooks came in 400Mhz and 500Mhz models. They have a nice 1MB L2 cache that adds a fair bit of pep to them. I say go with Tiger. Leopard may be a bit much for them as their GPU is the ATI Rage 128.

 

[eyoungren]

I thought the first gen PBG4 was 400 MHz..
I ran Tiger on a 500 MHz G3 (iBook), and it was fine. I'm sure a 500 MHz G4 would be great!

The 500mhz model was released at the same time as the 400mhz model. It cost a bit more.

OP, I have experience with Leopard 10.5.8. on a 400mhz TiBook. With 1GB of ram it ran just fine. It was somewhat slower than Tiger, but if you killed the eye candy it was never noticeable.

My coworker here ran Leopard on a PowerMac G4 450 PCI with 1.75GB ram for two years at least with the Adobe CS4 Suite and other design tools. She was a bit slower, but the G4 got the job done.

I had Tiger on my old TiBook for years. It was the only Mac I used that it was stable on. I have a hate for Tiger about equal to the perception out there that Leopard is slow.

Highly unstable in a networked server environment.

 

[ptdebate]

Nice find! I can tell you've been wanting a new TiBook recently 🙂

I can't speak directly to the 500MHz model as mine is a 1GHz, but I have seen a video of someone running tiger on your 'Book:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCCip-vsJr8

Looks like it runs well enough, but you might want to disable some graphical UI effects.

 

[eyoungren]

Looks like it runs well enough, but you might want to disable some graphical UI effects.

You shouldn't have to. When I got it, it installed and ran very well without disabling anything on my 400mhz TiBook.

Which is why I was so disappointed at how badly it worked on the G5 at work in a networked environment.

 

[ptdebate]

You shouldn't have to. When I got it, it installed and ran very well without disabling anything on my 400mhz TiBook.

Which is why I was so disappointed at how badly it worked on the G5 at work in a networked environment.

I've noticed that Tiger is pretty crash-happy on my 1GHz TiBook for whatever reason. Would you recommend that I upgrade to Leopard? I have 1GB of RAM.

If so, I have a supplementary question for you, Erik. Will the TiBook 1GHz read dual-layer install discs? Because I'm pretty sure the Leopard retail DVD is dual-layer.

 

[eyoungren]

I've noticed that Tiger is pretty crash-happy on my 1GHz TiBook for whatever reason. Would you recommend that I upgrade to Leopard? I have 1GB of RAM.

I'd recommend it. But that's just me. My son has the 1Ghz DVI Titanium with 1GB ram too and he's running Leopard just fine. In fact, his Mac is pretty much a rocket. I would have kept it myself if I hadn't promised it to him. 😀

If so, I have a supplementary question for you, Erik. Will the TiBook 1GHz read dual-layer install discs? Because I'm pretty sure the Leopard retail DVD is dual-layer.

I'm pretty sure that you don't need a dual layer DVD drive to read a DL DVD. You need one to write a DL DVD, but a normal DVD drive should read it.

I believe I just installed Leopard from the retail DVD on his Mac.

 

[128keaton]

I'd recommend it. But that's just me. My son has the 1Ghz DVI Titanium with 1GB ram too and he's running Leopard just fine. In fact, his Mac is pretty much a rocket. I would have kept it myself if I hadn't promised it to him. 😀

I'm pretty sure that you don't need a dual layer DVD drive to read a DL DVD. You need one to write a DL DVD, but a normal DVD drive should read it.

I believe I just installed Leopard from the retail DVD on his Mac.

Yeah, you don't need a DL-DVD drive. My last Ti, I installed Leopard on (DVI).
Thanks for the replies, I'm pretty happy. Maybe, after I upgrade the RAM, I can run Leopard for fun.



EDIT: I would probably kill for a DVI 1GHz Titanium, considering my first mac was one with a 600MHz and 512Mb of RAM. I hacked Leopard on it (I was 11 at the time) and it was still pretty fast.

 

[agottschling]

I'd recommend it. But that's just me. My son has the 1Ghz DVI Titanium with 1GB ram too and he's running Leopard just fine. In fact, his Mac is pretty much a rocket. I would have kept it myself if I hadn't promised it to him. 😀

I'm pretty sure that you don't need a dual layer DVD drive to read a DL DVD. You need one to write a DL DVD, but a normal DVD drive should read it.

I believe I just installed Leopard from the retail DVD on his Mac.

You are correct. My old PB didn't need a DL DVD drive to read the Leopard disk.

 

[128keaton]

You are correct. My old PB didn't need a DL DVD drive to read the Leopard disk.

Excellent, I knew that!