Of iTunes, Large Libraries and Powerbooks

[Marneus]

Hello All,

I'm about to switch from my current PC setup to a 15" PB 1.67ghz with 512mb of RAM and there is one last very specific issue I want to get cleared up before I go ahead and buy, it might sound petty, but no doubt there are others out there with or had the same concerns.

How does a computer of that power handle very large libraries (5000ish songs, 4min average), as in will I notice a noticeable lag when scrolling or searching for songs?

I only ask because on my current set up (700mhz PIII with 512mb of RAM), it is very noticeable, and I am not suprised at all given the speed, but will the aforementioned PB be able to handle it smoothly?

Thanking you all.

 

[mad jew]

iTunes runs much much much better on a Mac. My 800MHz iBook runs through my 9000 song collection much better than my 3.0GHz PC ever will. The program was written for Mac and obviously begrudgingly ported to PC.

Congratulations on the switch, you wont regret it.

 

[gost8go]

I have a 1.5 gHz PB with 3500 songs and there is virtually no scrolling lag. Enjoy!

 

[mcgarry]

1.33 GHz G4. 3300 songs (13+ GB). No speed issues. My old 350 MHz G3 even did ok. I too have heard that iTunes runs slower on PCs. I don't think you'll have a problem. More RAM might help your system in general, but iTunes' needs should not necessitate an upgrade.

 

[munkle]

My humble 12" 1Ghz PB scrolls through my 3863 songs (18.73GB) without any noticeable lag at all. I don't think you have to worry. Go ahead and get that PB, you'll be glad you did

 

[killmoms]

I have 7000+ songs in my iTunes Library (PB specs below) and I only lag when encountering Japanese text for the first time. Once that's done (once per session) I'm sitting pretty, no lag here.

 

[mkrishnan]

I have 7000+ songs in my iTunes Library (PB specs below) and I only lag when encountering Japanese text for the first time. Once that's done (once per session) I'm sitting pretty, no lag here.

Ditto, 800 MHz iBook G4, 3931 songs. For me, even with Japanese text, there seems to be more of a system wide issue that it takes a second to allow me to start inputting via the IMA or whatever, after I hit Apple-Space to change over to Japanese.

And then, of course, I come back to this window and accidentally type "ditto" in Hiragana.

 

[matthewr]

No problems...

I have a 1.33 GHz 15 inch PB, and 7000 songs (33 GB worth) and don't notice any lag (for instance, if I type "White Stripes" into the search window, the search is done by the time I am done typing (since it begins the search as soon as you start typing, and then refines the search as you add more letters)).

Oh, and it's not that I'm a slow typer, either, it's just that there is no lag!

 

[zelmo]

Echoing what everyone else has said here, my PB (1.33GHz G4) scrolls through/searches my 16GB iTunes collection very srply. For that matter, the family iMac G4 800MHz does a stellar job with my daughter's 15GB collection as well.

 

[LeeTom]

4000+ songs, 1.25GHz Powerbook with 4200rpm drive...
Slowness never crossed my mind before I read this thread.

 

[evilernie]

Me too

12,000 + songs. Over 50 gigs. No speed issues.

Even iPhoto with almost 5,000 pics scrolls quickly.

I do have 2GB of ram though...

 

[NATO]

Powerbook 15" 1.67Ghz, no speed issues with iTunes whatsoever (5966 Songs, 30GB)

 

[brap]

Just over 15k songs. It gets a little jerky, but I only have 512MB RAM. Revision c. 12".

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I've got about 3,500 songs in my iTunes Library on my Mac (see sig). I've never had scrolling lag, even when my library exceeded 5,000 songs in the past, with all versions of iTunes.

My library is stored on an external FireWire HD because it's so big (it's a mixture of MP3 and Apple Lossless).