I need all your input/advice!

[Wano]

My 17"PB with 512mb ram and 60gig hd seems really slow!

It takes about 3-5seconds to fully open mac osx help.
In iMovie it takes about 8seconds to open a 3minute project.
It took 3minutes to add a 2second earthquake effect.
It took 12secs to add a 2second cross dissolve transition.
It usually takes like 3-4seconds to close an app.
Word takes about 6seconds to fully open.
When opening a picture that is about 1.5mb it takes about 5 seconds.

Is this what I should expect, or is there anyway to speed the system up without buying more ram(which I plan on doing eventually)? I mean a 1.6celeron with 256mb ram opened word in 2seconds compared to 6seconds on my computer.

Will 10.2.5 speed up the system more?
Is there some kind of system maintance I can run to keep everything fast and smooth?

Thanks You so much in advance!

I am completely new to macs, so any advice will be welcome....thanks again!

 

[mnkeybsness]

imovie sucks a big one...don't judge speed on imovie....or iphoto...iphoto is slow too

microsoft apps like word take that long for me also...that's just they way it is.

 

[Wano]

Yeah, I completely agree...iMovies sucks so much. I am getting FCP3 tomorrow, hopefully it will be a lot smother.'

I just don't understand why it takes so long for small files or even the help menus to open.

 

[pilotgi]

One of the reasons that Mac help takes a few seconds to open is because it connects with the Apple knowledge base to search for any new additions to the one that's on your hard drive.

With 512 MB of ram, I don't think adding more will make apps open faster.

 

[rainman::|:|]

i would try all the standard fixes... repairing permissions, fsck -y, etc. there could be some random permission error somewhere causing lags in things. it does sound a little slow... some of it anyway... sounds like the speed i get on my 400mhz machine. definitely get more ram, OS X loves it...

pnw

 

[markjones05]

Originally posted by Wano
Yeah, I completely agree...iMovies sucks so much. I am getting FCP3 tomorrow, hopefully it will be a lot smother.'

I just don't understand why it takes so long for small files or even the help menus to open.

imovie isnt even close to being bad...
its not final cut pro 3 or avid but its the best free editing program ive ever seen.

 

[Wano]

Originally posted by markjones05
imovie isnt even close to being bad...
its not final cut pro 3 or avid but its the best free editing program ive ever seen.

Well, when working with iMovie it's not very frame accurate and there aren't many advanced features. It's fine for compositions and adding audio, but it is very limited and not very precise.

------------
I just got this computer on friday and it already seems to show a decrease in performance....I am downloading 10.2.5 now, hopefully that will fix things. If not, I guess I will run disk permissions or so. keep throwing helpfull hints/advice my way..thanks!

 

[Wano]

Ok, I am finally running FCP3 and it's really fast, so I am happy...cause that is what I baught the PB for.
But, is there any way to speed up the other apps like Word?
Thanks!

 

[vollspacken]

hmm,

I still use iMovie2... runs faster but audio editing sucks... guess I have to live with that

vSpacken

 

[Backtothemac]

Actually that is normal. Don't let your celeron fool you though. Windows gives the impression of speed because it only loads the GUI of a program when it is opened. Where as in OS X the entire program is loaded, all functions everything, not just the GUI. So, you get a more stable, enjoyable, although somewhat sluggist feeling OS. That is ok though, because you don't have .dll files to deal with

 

[vniow]

Backdawg's right, in Windows, the application starts faster, but it only loads a portion of it into memory, that's why Windows can get away with less and still perform as good as OSX with twice the memory, however, the application doesn't run as fast because only a portion of it is loaded at a time, the rest of it has to be accessed from the hard drive, in OSX, the entire program is loaded into the memory (providing you have enough unused) so it takes longer to load, but it runs faster compared to a similar program on a PC (assuming the two machines performed about the same of course)

Both have their advantages, if you open and close a lot of apps daily then the Windows method is superior, if you keep a lot of apps open all day, then the OSX method is superior.

 

[Grimace]

Word is the only one that weirds me out - it certainly shouldn't take that long. I've found that emptying my trash when it is *really* full helps with speed. Also, doing a full shutdown is helpful.