How far can u push a g4 powerbook?

[kyuuki]

Hi, Im in the market for a new apple laptop thus probibly getting a 17inch 1.67ghz powerbook with 1 gig of ram, (used for uni ( Graphic design))

How far can this machine be pushed? generally what kind of use can you get out of photoshop graphical editing / basic vidio editing (nothing extremly fancy) anyone had any high end user problems?

also does anyone know if low end maya work would be possible on this machine?, nothing spectacular just single frame basic rendering.

just trying to get a feel for what it can do / what i will be able to do with this machine, thnaks in advance for your help.



Regards, kyuuki

 

[wheezy]

You can do quite a bit, it'll handle photoshop just fine, especially if you get the 128MB card in there. I don't know about Maya, but I imagine it can do the simple things. I do just about everything on mine. I haven't tried Motion yet, but I think it would struggle with that. However, photoshop and graphics won't be a problem for ya!

 

[smitty078]

You'll be surprised at the performance you can get out of and the load you can push onto that machine. I have a 1.5 ghz powerbook and it's a very fast machine for a G4.. as a matter of fact it's probably the fastest G4 you get. As far as load on the machine, it's capable of running at 100% cpu usage with no heat issues at all. I think it will do a lot more than you think it will a lot better than you think it will. My only suggestion is to max out the ram and get the 128 meg video card option.

 

[slipper]

it's capable of running at 100% cpu usage with no heat issues at all.

really?

 

[revenuee]

i imagine you could push it off a desk

LOL ... i'm content running almost all tasks on a G4 400 ... i think you'll be fine ... the only thing is HD content authoring is questionable to non existent

 

[aussie_geek]

You'll be surprised at the performance you can get out of and the load you can push onto that machine. I have a 1.5 ghz powerbook and it's a very fast machine for a G4.. as a matter of fact it's probably the fastest G4 you get. As far as load on the machine, it's capable of running at 100% cpu usage with no heat issues at all. I think it will do a lot more than you think it will a lot better than you think it will. My only suggestion is to max out the ram and get the 128 meg video card option.

The PowerBook is an awesome machine but you must keep in mind it is a single processor system . If you are trying to do 2 intensive tasks at once, you will pay a big penalty. My dual 867 still beats the PowerBook at some tasks - especially like extracting MP3's, working in Photoshop and watching EVE TV simultaneously.

On single tasks, the PowerBook is a firecracker.

The heat situation is something to be considered if you are going to be doing too much on your lap - they do get quite hot.


aussie_geek

 

[qzak]

hey kyuuki,

i got the same thing ur looking at gettin (17" PB G4 1.67ghz with 1gb of Ram) a few months ago. I'm a visual communication design major so i'm running Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash on it all the time, most of the time when working i have at least two of those programs open at the same time. i try not to open all three. everything works fine. the only time i really see much lag is when opening a new file in photoshop when i have one of the other programs working too.

i dunno, up to you, I was worried at first that they'd be a G5 coming out at the end of the summer or something, but now looks like i'll just have to be saving up for the Intel PoweredBook comin out around this time next year (hopefully)! I was happy with my choice, i'm sure you would be too.

 

[tsaib]

Low screen resolution

In my opinion the biggest problem with the current revision of 17" PowerBook is its fairly low-resolution screen, at only 1440x900. Purely in terms of screen technology, PowerBook is definitely lagging behind the rest of the premium laptop industry.

 

[kyuuki]

Thanks all for the help, very much apreciated.

i think i will go for this powerbook, i need somthing portable and high powerd now thus cant wait for a g5 / or a pentium m powerbook, and this machine seems to be capable of everything i will want it to do.


Regards, kyuuki

 

[Dafke]

Maya works fine on my 12" pbook, as well as the Adobe and Macromedia programs. I use Maya for architectural imoressions and i was surprised by how well the graphics card and the processor(when rendering) performed. Get a lot of (V)RAM off course.

 

[Onkelskrue]

Have anyone tried to use the Final Cut Studio suite on it? I plan on being on the road for about a year and I have a HDV camcorder from Sony with me. There will not be a need to author HD DVDs, but I do need to capture and manipulate in HD resolution. I am looking to get the 15 (since the 17 can't do 1920x1200 anyway) with 128 MB video and 2 GB ram.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Lars

 

[Tan from London]

Screen resolution on 17 inch

Sorry about my ignorance here but I know the screen resolution is not as good as some PC laptops but if you wer to say conenct the 1.67 gh 17 inch to a Apple 23 HD monitor or 20 inch monitor, will the screen res and brightness be as good as the Imac 20 inch?

I intend to run Quark 6.5 on mine.. documenst with loads of high res images... will this cope? At present i have a 733 G4 desktop?

Thanks

 

[KingSleaze]

The heat situation is something to be considered if you are going to be doing too much on your lap - they do get quite hot.


aussie_geek

And that's why it's a NOTEBOOK and not a LAPTOP. As has been abundantly noted, even a low amount of warmth over a long period of time can cause dermatitus or reduced sperm count in men. And don't even think of insulating your lap with a pillow or blanket, the heat buildup can be detrimental to your notebook computer.

 

[MacTruck]

You see you have to ballance the powerbook between your legs so that only the edge of your knees touches it. But heah its great in the winter time.

 

[Rod Rod]

Sorry about my ignorance here but I know the screen resolution is not as good as some PC laptops but if you wer to say conenct the 1.67 gh 17 inch to a Apple 23 HD monitor or 20 inch monitor, will the screen res and brightness be as good as the Imac 20 inch?

I intend to run Quark 6.5 on mine.. documenst with loads of high res images... will this cope? At present i have a 733 G4 desktop?

Thanks

The screen quality of the Apple Cinema Displays is supposed to be superior to the iMac G5 LCDs. According to various posts here, the 20" iMac G5's LCD is the same as the last (plastic-case) 20" Apple Cinema Display. The 17" iMac G5 display is as bad (or good, if you're at all impressed by it) as the 17" iMac G4.

Quark will most likely run better on a current PowerBook compared to your 733MHz PM G4.