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How fast is a G4 667MHZ powerbook?

K

kelvinz

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 1, 2004
59
0
Seattle, Washington
Is it really slow? What pc chip would you compare this to? Is it faster than a mobile Celeron 2.8ghz?

I've been offered a 667mhz g4 PB locally but I'm kinda worried that it'll be really slow if you didn't notice ;)
 
The 2.8C is a crappy chip (buger all cache), but it's still 2.8GHz, I think that yes, it would be faster than a 667MHz G4, and by quite a bit sadly. Though I don't have any first hand experiance of either really, maybe someone else could chip in at this point ;) :)
 
edesignuk said:
The 2.8C is a crappy chip (buger all cache), but it's still 2.8GHz, I think that yes, it would be faster than a 667MHz G4, and by quite a bit sadly. Though I don't have any first hand experiance of either really, maybe someone else could chip in at this point ;) :)
Click to expand...

darn.. so I really shouldn't bother getting a used 667 then? :confused:
 
kelvinz said:
darn.. so I really shouldn't bother getting a used 667 then? :confused:
Click to expand...

I have a DVI 667, and it is plenty fast for me. It depends on what you plan to use it for and how much they are asking you to pay. I find that my G4 667 runs faster than my gf's G4 1Ghz because I have 768 megs RAM and she has 256. I use Word, Excel, Quicken, Safari, iPhoto, iTunes, and haven't had any complaints at all with the speed. With Panther it runs faster than when I bought it new 2 years ago. Hope that helps.

...of course if I had the money I would buy a new AL Powerbook. ;)
 
I got a 667 G4 TI powerbook and no it is not "slow". Will it run new games etc.? No, but for itunes, mail, internet stuff, diablo 2, warcraft 3, and anyother basic functions it works perfectly fine. But I would recomend that you have 512mb of RAM with it if you do get it.
 
Catfish said:
I have a DVI 667, and it is plenty fast for me. It depends on what you plan to use it for and how much they are asking you to pay. I find that my G4 667 runs faster than my gf's G4 1Ghz because I have 768 megs RAM and she has 256. I use Word, Excel, Quicken, Safari, iPhoto, iTunes, and haven't had any complaints at all with the speed. With Panther it runs faster than when I bought it new 2 years ago. Hope that helps.

...of course if I had the money I would buy a new AL Powerbook. ;)
Click to expand...


It kinda helps thanks! But I'm mostly going to be using the laptop for my photo sessions when I'm away from my PC. I was hoping to have something powerfull enough to process 6.3MP 6meg raw files quickly.

What's a fair asking price for a used 667mhz?
 
I'm thinking of getting a used TiBook too.

1GHz G4, 60GB hd, superdrive.

if i load this up with ram how fast do y'all think it will be compared to a new 15" ALBook 1.33 with the standard ammount of ram? 'Cus I wouldn't be able to afford extra ram for a while if i got the ALBook :confused:
 
LaMerVipere said:
I'm thinking of getting a used TiBook too.

1GHz G4, 60GB hd, superdrive.

if i load this up with ram how fast do y'all think it will be compared to a new 15" ALBook 1.33 with the standard ammount of ram? 'Cus I wouldn't be able to afford extra ram for a while if i got the ALBook :confused:
Click to expand...
get the newer laptop with less ram (minimum of 512 tho). I run both a 933 QS and a 1.33 12" on 512 and they are perfectly fine for anything I throw at them (including Maya). Unless you're the type of person who is going to throw everything into the cache (web pages, projects, etc.etc.) 512 is plenty. If you're really that concerned about the quantity of ram, get a G5.
 
It will be slow. Why don't you just wait till a newer processor comes out later this year or in early 2005? The G4 is surely going to be replaced in the PowerBooks by then, and then you will wonder why you bought an already outdated computer that would become even more outdated in a matter of months?

A friend of mine has an iMac G4 700 MHz, and he complains that it is slow. It can run Macromedia Dreamweaver 2004 MX and Adobe Essentials 2.0, but they do not run very fast. Word processing is not a problem, nor is surfing the net or listening to music. He can edit videos with either iMovie or Final Cut Express, but he gets slow performance either way. GarageBand works but it slow.

All this will change with the arrival of 64-bit notebook chips and 64-bit optimized software. In five years all Macs will be using a G5 or better, meaning they will all run on 64-bit technology, so all of Apple's software will be optimized for 64-bit processors, and your 667 PowerBook will be unable to run them (and it would only be 5 years old since you bought it).

All I know is that my Pismo, which was released and purchased in 2000, can run Panther just fine and will do the same for Tiger (I'm sure of it). I am seeing at least six years of able computer usage for that computer (starting in 2000). You should hope for the same for your computer, and getting a TiBook 667 will not allow that. I would much rather have an iBook than the computer you were offered, because they can run pretty much any software out for Mac (excluding really graphic intensive games and programs). That is not to mention that TiBooks are very likely to break with either a white screens or broken hinges, and that the TiBook paint chips, and that it is not really that durable. The iBook may scratch, but it is a very sturdy computer and can handle almost anything you throw at it (literally). You can even order iBook scratch remover from that iPod cleaning material company whose name I forget.
 
if the powerbook you are talking about is a 667mhz DVI model, then just buy it if you get a good deal. the older 667mhz model with a vga out is not as good.

i wouldn't compare it to a pc laptop, because even the slowest mac saves the day compared to the fastest win. it's the speed and usability of an operating system that gives apple hardware the biggest real-world speed boost, and you have to think about that too.

but to compare apples to apples, i'd say that the 667 DVI model is comparable to a 867mhz 12" revA powerbook. that's because the DVI has a L3 cache and the albooks don't. this is by the way real comparison - i previously had the DVI model and my friend has the revA 12" model, and we all had as fast powerbooks, in protools use and in everything. some apps were faster in the 12" because of the higher clock speed, but some apps were faster in the dvi model because that L3 cache really amazingly increasis the data throughput - the cpu is fed with enough data so it can be fully utilized, whereas the L3-cacheless 12" albook cpu sometimes is starving (waiting for data it needs) and therefore does no work sometimes.

if it's a 667mhz DVI model, buy it. it's a good machine. load it with 1GB of ram and change the hard drive to hitachi 7200rpm model, and you have a serious workhorse. if you're on a budget, i'd say that 512 megs of ram is "enough" for even serious protools / photoshop / fcp work, so if it already has that much and no room to expand, i'd say there's not a good enough reason to throw them away and buying the gig instead. BUT the hard drive on the other hand, that change gives even more serious speed boost, because all apps have to access the hard drive. (it is easy to change it yourself, i did it and never looked back.)

did this answer to your question? :)
 
it's hard to say what a good price is. How much RAM? What condition? Airport included? DVI or VGA model?

If it's a DVI in pretty good shape with 512 RAM or so, I'd say $800 might be fair.
 
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