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iBook, Powerbook Specs?

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oingoboingo said:
...

My current 12" PB is the combo drive model, so the lack of a DVD burner in the iBook isn't an issue. The lack of audio-in is a bit of a bummer, but I usually use GarageBand on my G5 anyway. And for sure the PowerBook is a lot sexier looking, but at this stage if I can get the same level of performance out of a much cheaper notebook, then that sounds good for this particular poverty-bound postgrad student :)
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Make sure the $$$ you will get from selling the Powerbook is really worth it. Remember to factor in the price from any custom configuration you need to do. And yes, expect your current powerbook to sell for less than the new 9when it's announced) 12" PB. Another factor might be a lack of an Airport card if you don't have one now. You may not get as many $$$s out of the deal as one would think. So it may not be worth it.

Also, the other factor is the weight. The iBook weighs more. (To some it's not a big deal. But it is something you should consider.
 
Bear said:
If someone needs* a new computer, having it now is bette rthan waiting an unknown number of months. Maybe people who are waiting for a G5 Powerbook don't need a new laptop yet.

Also, grtting an extra year out of it comes partially from waiting several months to a year before you buy it. This again comes down to not necessarily needing a new laptop just yet.
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Basically I am on a Dell Desktop which is 4.5 years old and teetering... It still works (with the daily lock ups and crashes) and its gone a good 6 months longer than I expected it too.

I want portability, I want a Mac, I want something able to handle DV editing when I get around to that, as well as virtual PC for some of my apps. I want to be able to buy software and os upgrades in 3 years time and not cringe at their performance...which a G4 is much more likely to do than a G5...

But I done NEED it until this Dell finally collapses...
 
aswitcher said:
But buying a G4 is a move that makes sure that your computers lifetime is significantly more limited than a G5s is, ireespective of clockspeed. A G5PB running at 1.25GHz would in my mind have at least an extra year's life or more over a similiar G4, even if most things (not bus and ram) were the same. Waiting a few more months to get an extra year or more would be hard but in a year I would be very happy I had done it I think...




Yep, I have been giving that some thought. Indeed I have been half thinking that the new High end iBook or possibly the 12"PB might be a better choice because they are looking like they are peeking (I dont see a G5 in the 12" PB real soon) and half the cost of the 17"...

But I do want to catch dvds on it if I can...

Lets see what happens in the next hour...
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If you upgrade your software every year then perhaps that's true but just holding back a bit usually works fine. eg. I've a P166 Laptop that still runs Win98 as fast as the day I bought it. It does what I bought it for back then. It doesn't run some of the more memory hungry apps (only 64MB RAM) or games (only 2MB VRAM) but otherwise it's passable. The only problem I have with it (apart from Windows) is that I'd like to run iTunes on it but that doesn't run on 98.

On a Mac, recently, new OS and application upgrades have actually extended the life of old computers. eg. 10.3 runs faster on my iBook 500Mhz G3 than 10.2 and iPhoto v4 is leagues ahead compared to the previous version. The only thing that bites me now is RAM, hard disk size/speed and lack of VRAM (only 8MB so no Quartz Extreme). Even then, apart from the VRAM, those are easily sorted and I don't see why I couldn't use this iBook for another couple of years with the software I have on it now. It's also a damn site prettier than the new iBooks as it's translucent plastic and silver as opposed to that horrible cheap looking white plastic on the new models.

Saying that, I'll be in the queue for a 1.5Ghz G4 Powerbook when they come out as my needs have increased of late and I want a bigger screen. ;-)
 
OziMac said:
Hmm... wish there would be some more action on the US and Australian fronts - their lack of being down is disturbing...

:)
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OMG! The iBooks and Powerbooks are a ruse. Its actually the introduction of Europe iTunes Store!!! :eek:
 
aswitcher said:
OMG! The iBooks and Powerbooks are a ruse. Its actually the introduction of Europe iTunes Store!!! :eek:
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Beat you to it maaate, must be the southern hemisphere air!
 
Patmian212 said:
Well if those updates predictions are correct i will be buying a new 12' Powerbook or 14' iBook TODAY!
I will also max out the RAM at crucial.
www.crucial.com
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I got a 14" back in January, but really wasn't happy with the size of it compared to the 12" that I'm using now, so sent it back and thought I'd wait for the PowerBook updates instead. May just be me, but I didn't like the feel of it at all; not even the keyboard was particularly nice. Your choice, mind you.
 
aswitcher said:
Basically I am on a Dell Desktop which is 4.5 years old and teetering... It still works (with the daily lock ups and crashes) and its gone a good 6 months longer than I expected it too.

I want portability, I want a Mac, I want something able to handle DV editing when I get around to that, as well as virtual PC for some of my apps. I want to be able to buy software and os upgrades in 3 years time and not cringe at their performance...which a G4 is much more likely to do than a G5...

But I done NEED it until this Dell finally collapses...
Click to expand...
Lets see. the Powerbook G4 handles VirtualPC just fine, although it might depend on what apps you want to run. Also, the G4 is just fine for video editing. If you're doing heavy duty video editing, you're going to want a Powermac at some point. (For various reasons.)

Also, OS upgrades in 3 years will run just fine. Mac OS X is only speeding up with age. Heck, there are several things that sped up on 10.3 that were a pleasant surprise. As for applications, it depends on the people writing the paplications. It seems people have forgotten the fine art of writing software. However, this is a rant for another time and place. In short, you should be fine with most applications. The main issue will be brand new applications that may have code bloat. Oh did I mention that 10.3 also sped up various applications as well?

If you can wait, you don't need it just yet. If you can't wait (old system is falling apart) you may need to buy sooner.
 
mvc said:
Hey, it's just the European site's down, maybe they are launching iTMS Europe instead! :rolleyes:
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I'd be happy with that. It would be better than an update for the stuff announced at NAB yesterday. :(
 
Nothing yet! :(

I really hope we see some new stuff today! I would hate having to wait till tomorrow even though i know it wouldn't be THAT bad, but still. :rolleyes:
 
aswitcher said:
OMG! The iBooks and Powerbooks are a ruse. Its actually the introduction of Europe iTunes Store!!! :eek:
Click to expand...
Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if this happened on the 28th, that being the 1 year anniversary of the iTunes Music Store.
 
Bear said:
Make sure the $$$ you will get from selling the Powerbook is really worth it. Remember to factor in the price from any custom configuration you need to do. And yes, expect your current powerbook to sell for less than the new 9when it's announced) 12" PB. Another factor might be a lack of an Airport card if you don't have one now. You may not get as many $$$s out of the deal as one would think. So it may not be worth it.

Also, the other factor is the weight. The iBook weighs more. (To some it's not a big deal. But it is something you should consider.
Click to expand...

For sure...I'm only considering the PowerBook/iBook swap if it makes financial sense. We'll have to see what impact this update has on 12" PB prices...
 
RedEric said:
I'd be happy with that. It would be better than an update for the stuff announced at NAB yesterday. :(
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A lot of people will be thrilled with yesterday's upgrade, it's not because you don't feel the need to have pro-editing software and systems, nobody else does.

Yesterday was a great update for the pro video-editing users.
 
thatwendigo said:
In order:

The difference between 32 and 64 bit won't be felt by consumers for some time. The major difference is for professional applications and scientific usage, where huge chunks of RAM and certain kinds of math are more prevalent. Also, it doesn't so much speed things up as allow a greater efficiency in those kinds of calculations.
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Spoken like someone who has never used a G5!
;)

Fact is, everyone will benefit from the G5. OSX is a resource hog, and on anything less than a single G5 or dual G4, the OS feels sluggish.

Besides, consumers can appreciate the extra speed the G5 allows with apps such as iMovie and Garageband. Adding transitions and other FX are a whopping thirty times faster on my G5 than they were on my G3.
 
Hmm

klaus said:
A lot of people will be thrilled with yesterday's upgrade, it's not because you don't feel the need to have pro-editing software and systems, nobody else does.

Yesterday was a great update for the pro video-editing users.
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Well yes but considering I only give a s$%% about me then that's all that's important. :D :D :D
 
Now they've just murdered the UK website: Did not receive any response from application. It is possible that the application does not exist, or that the requested url is incorrect.

Apple
 
Torajima said:
Spoken like someone who has never used a G5!
;)

Fact is, everyone will benefit from the G5. OSX is a resource hog, and on anything less than a single G5 or dual G4, the OS feels sluggish.

Besides, consumers can appreciate the extra speed the G5 allows with apps such as iMovie and Garageband. Adding transitions and other FX are a whopping thirty times faster on my G5 than they were on my G3.
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Spoken like someone who didn't compare the G3 to the G4. The transitions were speeded up by the addition of Altivec. G4s have altivec as well as the G5.

For the average user, the G5 won't be much better than the same speed G4. This has been proven in some benchmarks of the Dual 1.42GHz G4 versus the Dual 2GHz G5.

In truth I wouldn't mind a G5 powerbook, however, all things being equal (and they are fairly equal) not buying a G4 when one needs* a new machine is kinda stupid. Especially when the G5 is probably several months out.

Not to mention the OS X 10.3 is less resource needy than 10.2.x was. I expect more clenaups in 10.4 as well. So this is not really a valid argument for needing a G5.

*Needs: Defined in a previous post of mine in this thread.
 
And the norwegian store

The norwegian apple store is down, too. I'm getting excited here. :D
 
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