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Xeem

macrumors 6502a
Feb 2, 2005
908
15
Minnesota
I recommend a 15" Powerbook. The Radeon 9700 far outclasses an fx 5200 and radeon 9200, and the PC card slot offers some future expansion.
 

madmaxmedia

macrumors 68030
Dec 17, 2003
2,932
42
Los Angeles, CA
I was at a store playing with iBook and PB (Rev C) side by side. They actually seem to perform almost identically, with the PB slightly faster. So my initial impressions seem to be wrong. It's not much of a test though, since I wasn't able to test loading web pages, etc. (which would be much better.)

I do notice that my 1 GHz eMac at home with a 7200 RPM HD is significantly snappier than my iBook. It must be the HD speed that accounts for this, since the eMac is actually slower than my 1.2 GHz iBook (launching apps, loading larger web pages, etc.) I would guess (since I can't think of any other factors) that if I installed a 7200 RPM HD, then they would feel equally responsive. At least the new PB's have 5400 RPM drives...

madmaxmedia said:
I know the specs of the 12" iBook and PB are almost the same, but I did notice playing with both at a store that the PB seems to launch apps faster and feels slightly snappier. Both models had stock RAM and I made sure to close all running apps when testing. Does anyone have an explanation? Maybe I was enchanted by the aluminum... ;)

The weird thing is that this was at Rev. C PB, which I believe has 4200 RPM hard drives. Could the slightly faster CPU, slightly faster RAM, and slightly faster bus speed add up to a perceived speed increase? (I'm not talking benchmarks, besides maybe how dock bounces to launch an app.)

It would be nice if the entire PB line had 7200 RPM drives, or at least as a BTO option. That should result in noticeably better performance than the 4200 RPM iBooks. I think Hitachi is the only one making a 7200 2.5" drive, maybe that has something to do with it.
 

ldburroughs

macrumors 6502
Feb 25, 2005
258
0
Virginia Beach, VA
XIII said:
Sorry mate, I want an Apple.

I have been thinking, and one of my questions: Any chance of an iBook speedbump and core image compatible card being released before/with Tiger?

You've hit on a topic that is not simply a distinction without a difference. The graphics card in the ibook will not support core imaging that is utilized by Tiger. Don't get me wrong, you can still run Tiger from an ibook but if you like the ripple effect on the widget screen you may want to consider the powerbook unless an updated ibook is released anytime soon. That shouldn't be the deciding factor but let's face it, it will affect the ibook more significantly in other areas in the near future.

As far as the materials each is made from, who really cares. We're generally talking a $500 difference between ibook/powerbook and it may be a monetary issue for most people. Some like the look of one over the other. Quite honestly, both have been around for a long time. Often imitated, never duplicated. The ibook does stand out more in a crowd because there are fewer white laptops than there are metal colored laptops. For most users it boils down to preference. I bought an ibook only because of the cost issue. I already have two other Windows based laptops and a custom built desktop so I didn't need what the powerbook had to offer. If this will be your first/only computer, why not pay a little more to get a little more. In this case, however, a little means a lot when it comes to cost.

Either machine is great for most users. The important thing is that your getting a mac!
 

ldburroughs

macrumors 6502
Feb 25, 2005
258
0
Virginia Beach, VA
madmaxmedia said:
At least the new PB's have 5400 RPM drives...

My ibook has an 80 GB at 5400 rpm. It was only a hundred dollars and well worth the money for the performance upgrade. Snappier and much more space that the stock 30 GB at 4200 rpm.
 

Mechcozmo

macrumors 603
Jul 17, 2004
5,215
2
PowerBooks have the optical in port, which IIRC is best if you do music.
iBooks have an analog in, IIRC.

I'm not sure on the above, but I do know that I have an optical something to do with music on my PowerBook 12" :)
 

mcgarry

macrumors 6502a
Oct 19, 2004
616
0
Mechcozmo said:
PowerBooks have the optical in port, which IIRC is best if you do music.
iBooks have an analog in, IIRC.

I'm not sure on the above, but I do know that I have an optical something to do with music on my PowerBook 12" :)

To clarify, here's what Apple says, for the 17":

The new 17-inch PowerBook also includes built-in optical digital audio input and output for connecting to devices such as decks, receivers, digital instruments and 5.1 surround sound systems. Because optical digital audio transmits data as impulses of light rather than electrical signals, it enables true, noise-free, pristine sound — eliminating troublesome ground loops and ensuring higher audio and signal quality.

The 12" and 15" each have audio line-in, but no, the iBooks don't have that either (you can buy a USB adapter). The 12" and 15" also offer a third speaker, unlike other Apple laptops.

I can't believe all of these old threads are coming back to life ... I'm not knocking ldburroughs for his thoughtful posts, not at all, it's just wow these are some older threads.
 

Bern

macrumors 68000
Nov 10, 2004
1,854
1
Australia
ldburroughs said:
The graphics card in the ibook will not support core imaging that is utilized by Tiger. Don't get me wrong, you can still run Tiger from an ibook but if you like the ripple effect on the widget screen you may want to consider the powerbook unless an updated ibook is released anytime soon.

I don't know if you have iLife '05 yet, but one of the transitions it has is infact the ripple effect and it works perfectly fine on my iBook. Core Imaging is yet to be taken up by software developers and is unlikely to be supported by the current line of iBooks, but the ripple effect in Tiger will certainly work.

As for the 12" PowerBook screen vs iBook 12", I have used them side by side and the PowerBook is with out a doubt more brilliant and clearer than the iBook 12" which seems to be "fainter" and not quite as sharp.

I've ordered myself a 12" PowerBook for it's portability and obvious stronger capability over the iBook.
 

deebster

macrumors 6502
Oct 21, 2004
276
0
Olde Englande
Apple's Tiger preview pages used to show a list of supported graphics cards for Core Image, but it was silently removed a couple of months ago.

True, the current iBook card was not listed, but could this mean that Tiger's minimum specs are being revised to include more cards?

Hardly matters much to me either way. With the 8MB in my iBook I don't even get Quartz Extreme :eek:
 

matticus008

macrumors 68040
Jan 16, 2005
3,330
1
Bay Area, CA
Mechcozmo said:
PowerBooks have the optical in port, which IIRC is best if you do music.
iBooks have an analog in, IIRC.

I'm not sure on the above, but I do know that I have an optical something to do with music on my PowerBook 12" :)

Only the latest revision 17" PowerBooks have an optical audio minijack. It is not available for the 12" or 15," and of course not on the iBook, either.
 

ldburroughs

macrumors 6502
Feb 25, 2005
258
0
Virginia Beach, VA
Bern said:
I don't know if you have iLife '05 yet, but one of the transitions it has is infact the ripple effect and it works perfectly fine on my iBook. Core Imaging is yet to be taken up by software developers and is unlikely to be supported by the current line of iBooks, but the ripple effect in Tiger will certainly work.
I apologize if I made a specific reference to the ripple effect and it works with the ibook. I've just been reading various discussion about Tiger and the ibook and some say the graphics card does not support some of the eye candy features others will enjoy. Tiger will certainly work but some of its features will not be available because of the graphics card.

I'm only a recent convert to mac after spending all of my life trapped in Windows. It's been equated to the Quartz Engine with Panther in some of the other forums. So, I am glad I was wrong about the ripple effect. I will be installing iLife '05 shortly and will take a look. I was just going on what some of the others were saying about the ibook's inadequate video card. Apparently the PowerBooks won't have this same problem because their card is already compatible.
 
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