My first mac...g5 or powerbook

[Ozi]

my brand new 15" is truly beautiful, so I am a bit biased...

But when you get the 1.5 15", you get heaps of screen, so I would certainly recommend the 15" over a 12".

As for Processor, there isnt a huge difference in performance (maybe 10% faster on 1.5 over 1.33) but the 1.5 comes with built in backlit keyboard. And that is majorly cool.

To upgrade the combo to superdrive, and add a backlit keyboard to a 1.33 makes it almost as expensive as the stock 1.5, so I would definately say 1.5Ghz 15" pBook is the one for you.

And then buy AS MUCH RAM as you can afford; you can never have enough RAM!

~ozi

 

[bexpert]

Extra MHz does not make up for lost RAM.

When you don't have enough RAM you need to use the drive -- at 50MB/s.

When you have 'enough' RAM -- it's accessed by a G4 (166MHz FSB) at about 1000MB/s.

This is very interesting. Is there any mathematical way to find out how much RAM is 'enough'?

I have a G3 iBook 600 with 256MB. On the one hand, I figure that this pokey processor won't make much use of any more RAM. On the other hand, I figure it could use all the help it could get. (I use it mostly for word processing and occassionally for audio and video editing).

So, how does one figure how much is optimal? And how much is too much? I know, I know, there's no such thing as too much--a lie. There is. Too much RAM is too little money in my bank.

Thanks,

Adam.

So

 

[johnnyjibbs]

This is very interesting. Is there any mathematical way to find out how much RAM is 'enough'?

I have a G3 iBook 600 with 256MB. On the one hand, I figure that this pokey processor won't make much use of any more RAM. On the other hand, I figure it could use all the help it could get. (I use it mostly for word processing and occassionally for audio and video editing).

So, how does one figure how much is optimal? And how much is too much? I know, I know, there's no such thing as too much--a lie. There is. Too much RAM is too little money in my bank.

Thanks,

Adam.

So

Actually, OS X uses all of the available RAM on your machine, whether that be 256MB or 4GB. However, if you're only doing word processing, or one thing at a time, it won't really make much difference to you. You'll notice the difference of more RAM when you start to have several things open. 256MB was alright for me for 3 months. Now I have 768 and it's much better when I have MSN, iChat, Mail, Safari, Word, iTunes open plus maybe the odd powerapp.

If you don't have enough RAM, the OS uses the hard disc as RAM, but since this is much slower, it is a bottleneck. When you have more RAM, it can cache lots more stuff into RAM, especially when lots of programs are open. The actual optimum RAM you need is dependant on your system, although the more you have, the better (however for example, 4GB of RAM, if that were possible in my PowerBook 12", would not really benefit me for my uses).

 

[Rod Rod]

PowerBook RAM, 1.33/1.5 price diff, G5 v. PBG4

bmwdmb1, if you're going with the 15" PowerBook I'd advise that the only RAM you order from Apple is the single 512MB module option. the stock configuration gives you 2x256MB modules, so if you go stock on the RAM and spent $100-130 on a single 512 (Crucial or other brand) stick your total would become 768MB, a net gain of just 256MB. the extra 256MB stick would become useless to you.

the price difference between the 1.33GHz 15" and the 1.5GHz 15" is $100 when you make all things equal (configure a backlit keyboard in the 1.33GHz, and add a superdrive to the 1.33GHz or downgrade to a combo drive in the 1.5GHz). the price difference between the 1.5GHz 15" and the 17" PowerBook is $100. upgrading to the 128MB video card is only possible in the 1.5GHz 15" and 17" PBs (there's no such option with the 1.33GHz one).

I have a 1.8GHz G5 single and a 12" 1.33GHz PowerBook (both with 512MB RAM; the G5 goes to 1GB today or tomorrow), and the G5 smokes the PB. of course I can't take the G5 with me all over the place and use the free wireless internet spots I've found. but creating movies and DVDs would relatively be such a pain if I only had my PowerBook and not my G5.

because it'll be your first Mac, you really can't go wrong. if you plan to do more high-end and intense work (and games), the G5 is the way to go.

 

[alexf]

Go with the G5

If you're looking for something to use at home, I would go with the G5 1.6 GHz, especially since you can get good deals on them now in the Apple Store Specials section.

I have a G5 1.6 GHz and an 800 MHz TiBook and the speed difference between them is incredible. Of course the new Powerbooks are faster than mine, but even then I am sure there is a huge speed difference between the G5 and G4 processor (plus laptops are always a bit slower for other reasons).

My only complaint is that the G5 is huge; but if you have space in your office, this doesn't really matter.