Powerbook Powermac help ASAP

[the_insider]

Hi, I recently learned from my father, becasue i passed my finals with honors that he will pay the extra money i need to get an apple computer. I currently have around 1400, and he is going to pitch in another 1000 dollars or so. So here is my problem. I cannot decide if i should get a powerbook 17 inch, or a powermac for $2400 and get a screen later, and deal with my ****** 15 screen. I was leaniing towards powermac g5 because i could keep it for a long time, and i wont be outdated, itl work with whatever i feed it for the next 4-5 years easily. I was lalso attracted by the portablility of the powerbook 17, and the closelid feature. Also, i live in Zurich, and prices here are outrageous! my brother is visiting me on thursday, and i was thinking i could ask him to bring me my computer, and customs with a powermac is sketchy. Ok so my main problems technical wise are:

1) (powerbook)Not that its slow, but that its a 32 bit processor. My problem is that im going to be keeping this laptop 3-4 years. And i dont eventually want to face a problem because i run on a 32bit processor.

2)( Powerbook )Can it last 3-4 years? I am a junor in high school, and i plan on using it my senior year, a gap year and spain, and through as much college as possible.

3)Can you notice, that it is slow ( powerbook )? I surf the net, listen to mustic, burn dvd's rip dvd's, some ocaisional photoshop.

4) How does the powerbook handle close lid, with bluetoothed keyboard and mouse, hooked up to a 20 inch screen?

Finnaly, what do you think... powermac, or powerbook?

 

[Pistol Pete]

1. overall do you really need to take it with you? i say go with the powermac.

2. yes it can last. maybe not a windows laptop but definitly a apple will last longer.

3. not all at once, but yes. i would add as much third party ram as possible.

4. dont have any personal experience....i would say same as with it open....

 

[the_insider]

Come on! after 12 hours this is all i get!?!? I searched, i need help..

 

[Symtex]

If you need a good deal on a PowerMac. Look at my signature.

 

[Piarco]

Come on! after 12 hours this is all i get!?!? I searched, i need help..

a) Steady.....

b) If you are going to be here and there over the next 3-4 years, it pretty much rules out the PowerMac as it ani't portable....

c) On all of those tasks you mentions the Powerbook isn't slow AT ALL. Add extra RAM (3rd party as mentioned) to 1GB and you won't regret it. If you work with excessively large photoshop files you may want to whack in some more in the future. I'm considering selling off my 2x512MB and getting 2x1GB chips at the end of the month - just because I can

d) If you are going to be travelling, consider the 15". You will save some money which you could immediately put towards a decent LCD (not enough to get you the 20" Apple, but the majority of the Dell 20" which does use the same screen...) so you have a decent base station when you are working from home. Operation with the lid closed, on a bigger screen and with BT mouse and keyboard is as smooth as normal operation...

e) Will it last 3-4 years? More than likely. I'd say only by that point will Apple begin to focus solely on their Intel chips....

 

[sacear]

Hi, I recently learned from my father, becasue i passed my finals with honors that he will pay the extra money i need to get an apple computer. I currently have around 1400, and he is going to pitch in another 1000 dollars or so. So here is my problem. I cannot decide if i should get a powerbook 17 inch, or a powermac for $2400 and get a screen later, and deal with my ****** 15 screen. I was leaniing towards powermac g5 because i could keep it for a long time, and i wont be outdated, itl work with whatever i feed it for the next 4-5 years easily. I was lalso attracted by the portablility of the powerbook 17, and the closelid feature. Also, i live in Zurich, and prices here are outrageous! my brother is visiting me on thursday, and i was thinking i could ask him to bring me my computer, and customs with a powermac is sketchy. Ok so my main problems technical wise are:

1) (powerbook)Not that its slow, but that its a 32 bit processor. My problem is that im going to be keeping this laptop 3-4 years. And i dont eventually want to face a problem because i run on a 32bit processor.

2)( Powerbook )Can it last 3-4 years? I am a junor in high school, and i plan on using it my senior year, a gap year and spain, and through as much college as possible.

3)Can you notice, that it is slow ( powerbook )? I surf the net, listen to mustic, burn dvd's rip dvd's, some ocaisional photoshop.

4) How does the powerbook handle close lid, with bluetoothed keyboard and mouse, hooked up to a 20 inch screen?

Finnaly, what do you think... powermac, or powerbook?

Okay, well, first a Power Mac has DVI video output connector; what connector does your current 15" display have? If not DVI, can you get the proper adaptors and how much will that cost you? Second, if you search Google, then you will find some information that will help answer your questions. That is what I did just now. I just read six different reports of people using 17" PowerBooks with 30" Apple ACD HD Displays. Wow. They were all happy with that set-up.

To answer your specific numbered queries...

1) How many software programs are there that take advantage of 64-bit processing? Very few. And those few seem to be specific for heavy-duty science applications. You state that you "surf the net, listen to mustic, burn dvd's rip dvd's, some ocaisional photoshop," all those use current 32-bit software and will for the next ten years. You won't need more than 32-bit processing for those tasks. 32-bit processors will be the standard for another five years at least, maybe ten years.

2) A PowerBook will last at least five years. I am using a PowerBook G3 2000 (Pismo) right now. I am running OS X 10.3.8 (Panther) with no problems at all. When I bought this PowerBook, OS X had not even been released yet, OS 9 had just come out. So PowerBooks last if you take good care of them.

3) Is a PowerBook noticeably slow? Well, compared to what? Side-by-side next to a Power Mac, a PowerBook will probably be slower. However, compared to other portable notebook computers, the PowerBook will seem fast. That all depends on how you use it. Again, I am working plenty fast on this five year old PowerBook. For the uses you mentioned earlier, a PowerBook will be plenty fast.

4) As I said earlier, I used Google to get this answer, because I've never used my PowerBook that way. All the reports I read, the people were very happy with bluetoothed keyboard and mouse, hooked up to a external display. Some of them were even using Apple's 30" display! Using the external video output from the PowerBook. That is awesome. So I think you will have no problems.

Hope that helps.

 

[wordmunger]

A 15-inch monitor on a powermac? That's like a Harley with training wheels. My university once put a powermac in the computer room with an old 15-inch monitor and it was practically unbearable to use. Hardly enough room for the dock and a reasonable amount of window-space to work with. The 17-incher will not only give you plenty of screen real estate, it will work fine for all the tasks you mention.

 

[drbrog]

Using bluetooth keyboard/mouse with a powerbook

I asked Apple tech support that exact question last week. Their reply:

Hello from Apple!

Steve at Apple Service & Support thought that you might find this article useful. We hope that it helps resolve your technical issue.

Link: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n300562


How to use your PowerBook G4 with the display closed and a Bluetooth keyboard or mouse..


My 15 inch powerbook is due to arrive tomorrow..

Good luck!

 

[hammackj]

My 15 inch powerbook is due to arrive tomorrow..

How long was it in Shanghai? Mine has been for what seems like 3 days =\ suppose to be 5 day shipping too...