What to buy...

[cloud 9]

hi there,

i'm new here, this is my first post. And i have some questions, wich i thought are appropiate to be asked here...

I don't have a mac but i do plan to buy one... i have bought a pc, 2 years ago, it's one of those compaq desktops, not to know what i actually bought from who, with an amd athlon xp 2100+, 256ddr, and 60 gb, and so on...it's still a relatively fast machine...but now it's time for something better...aware of what lives on the market and 'what i want', i want to buy an apple...

but i don't know wich one...i want a mac for photoshopping, quarkx, music, movies, work,(i am a student psychology & graphic design), internet, ...and it has to go smoothly and fast...because now, when i run msn, send files, surfin' on the internet while downloading songs, run itunes and do some photoshop this pc gets on my nerves....

so i tought a powerbook, 1.5 ghz, but actually mine amd is 1.73, now i read about the mhz myth, but is this powerbook significantly faster? or do i better save my money until i can buy a powermac g5 dual 2.0 ghz? how good is a powerbook, can i run msn, send files, while surfin' the net, downloading songs run itunes and still photoshop?

wich mac can i compare with my amd athlon 2100?

i don't want to stir things up as in 'pc vs mac', but i'm just a student, who is trying to buy something good with his well earned money...

thank you for your time

**

 

[seamuskrat]

What I can tell you is that the 1.33 powerbook will rip music, surf the net, run iTunes, do word and photoshop editing just fine.

Mhz myth aside, the speed in photoshop will become apparent with limited ram, manipulating LARGE images and high res files as well specialized filters.

All in all the powerbook in question will do just fine.

BUT, if you want raw speed, then the G5 tower IS the way to go. It does blow away the G4 in benchmarks, and has the ability for dual chips.

But it semes the powerbook is popular with students, and I think you will find it runs games decently, Word and Office great, photoshop well except with pauses wit huge raw files, and can multitask better than any PC.

hi there,

i'm new here, this is my first post. And i have some questions, wich i thought are appropiate to be asked here...

I don't have a mac but i do plan to buy one... i have bought a pc, 2 years ago, it's one of those compaq desktops, not to know what i actually bought from who, with an amd athlon xp 2100+, 256ddr, and 60 gb, and so on...it's still a relatively fast machine...but now it's time for something better...aware of what lives on the market and 'what i want', i want to buy an apple...

but i don't know wich one...i want a mac for photoshopping, quarkx, music, movies, work,(i am a student psychology & graphic design), internet, ...and it has to go smoothly and fast...because now, when i run msn, send files, surfin' on the internet while downloading songs, run itunes and do some photoshop this pc gets on my nerves....

so i tought a powerbook, 1.5 ghz, but actually mine amd is 1.73, now i read about the mhz myth, but is this powerbook significantly faster? or do i better save my money until i can buy a powermac g5 dual 2.0 ghz? how good is a powerbook, can i run msn, send files, while surfin' the net, downloading songs run itunes and still photoshop?

wich mac can i compare with my amd athlon 2100?

i don't want to stir things up as in 'pc vs mac', but i'm just a student, who is trying to buy something good with his well earned money...

thank you for your time

**

 

[CubaTBird]

yes

you can do everything you want on your mac, including msn. ms makes a version of msn for mac. I don't know how much money your willing to spend, but I like my iBook, and it should be good enough for your needs. However, if you want a powerbook (silver ones) id get the 15 inch 1.5 ghz.

 

[stevehaslip]

if you want to chat to your msn buddies then the best app to use (in my opinion) is Adium, it lets you chat to people using msn,aol,icq and yahoo. And a few others too. Plus it not made by Micro$oft and it recieves updates frequently.

As for which computer, I'd go for a 15" Powerbook because its the best compromise in terms of size, portability and speed. I wouldn't try doing any quark work on a 12" screen! But if thats all your budget can stretch to then you'll make do. I also read the other day on a thread that the Mhz myth can be explained by multiplying mac processor speeds by 1.7, I'm not totally convinced but it seems about right.

I have a 1.8Ghz G5 and a 1Ghz Powerbook and there really is no comparisson between the two. If you have work to do the G5 thrashes virtually everything else I have tried. I don't know what a 1.5Ghz Powerbook would be like but the G5 has quite alot more punch to it in terms of specs alone.

Also don't even consider the 14" iBook because it runs at the same resolution as the 12" iBook and it has a much larger footprint with no other real benefits. If you want bigger than a 12" theres no other way to go other than a Powerbook. (also some people get snobby about iBooks if you are a designer, if i had a £ for everytime i heard someone call an iBook a toy I'd be a rich man! Silly as it sounds, iBooks give very very good bang for your buck)

 

[wide]

I would consider the PowerBook you want to buy equal in processing speed to your AMD machine. However, if you get 1GB+ RAM, your PowerBook will appear to be incredibly fast compared to your Athlon. The 80 GB 5400 RPM hard drive will certainly help you.

In case you haven't noticed, Macs tend to be much more reliable than PCs. I assure you that if you purchase the fastest PC laptop, you will find it difficult of impossible to install some applications. PCs just don't work.

 

[JzzTrump22]

If you have the money and want a desktop go with the dual G5 (any one). But if you want compact and portable but still gives you power, go for the 1.5 PowerBook. I would highly recommend the 15". But if you want a bigger screen the 17" is awsome. Definatly get it with 1 gig of ram and the 5400 rpm hard drive. I personally would upgrade the Vram as well. The powerbook in my sig was about $2100. That with a student discount.

 

[cloud 9]

hey,

well thank you for all the buying advice!!i've also talked to a friend of mine, who suggested i go for a g5 2.0ghz, because of tiger and the 64 bit thing and all next year... and i think it will last langer...

i still wonder what my amd athlon 2100+ is worth...

 

[Abstract]

Actually, have you thought about installing more RAM onto your PC? Sure, you can buy a 15" PB 1.5GHz laptop right now, but you would basically NEED to upgrade it to 768MB to 1GB of RAM anyway. A 15" PB with lots of RAM will be faster than your Compaq with 256MB of RAM, but wouldn't it just be easier to get another 512MB of RAM into your Compaq?

It doesn't sound like your computer is slow. It sounds like you didn't equip it with the stuff it needs to work at full potential. Maybe get a better video card as well. For $80 or so, I'm sure you could get a much better video card than one from 2 years ago. So RAM + video card = $200, and then you can buy the 15" Powerbook with a G5 12+ months or so from now.

Oh, and the MHz myth, in today's world, is probably a myth. Would a new Intel or AMD 64-bit chip scaled down to 2.5GHz be faster than a dual 2.5GHz PowerMac? Maybe. Probably not. But it would beat the pants off a single 2.5GHz G5 cpu, and if you're comparing CPU efficiency, well....... PCs are faster, and their laptops are faster as well for the same price, but get a Mac. It'll give you the best computing experience you can get, which is THE main reason to consider when buying a computer. Do you know how long it takes to use AdAware on a PC with an 80GB harddrive? If you want a speed-demon, don't go for a Mac yet. It doesn't sound like you are that type, so just go for the 15" or do what I suggested earlier.

 

[cloud 9]

yes, i've thought about upgrading this pc, but i don't want to, i'm sick of windows... , so the more money i save the more i can spend on a mac

i know i'm going to love the mac os x, the only fear i got, is that i have to pay with speed, if i buy a mac, i want a significantly increase of speed, i'm not a speed demon, nor a gamer, i don't even have a game on this pc, but photoshopping with large files, can get annoyingly slow on this one...
and i love the powerbooks, the way they look, and i think they are about the same in perfomance...

so i think i'm going to save my money until i can buy a decent powermac g5.

 

[Chaszmyr]

The G5 is an incredible machine. I'd recomend to anyone who doesn't need a comp right now to hold out for a G5 of some sort(a PowerMac is great, but by the time you save the money to buy one you might be able to get a lower-end G5)

 

[cloud 9]

well, i've got a stupid question...

on the apple store website, i can only buy these new aluminum screen displays...wich will definitely cost me an organ donation....

is that because it's the online apple store belgium? can i buy cheaper in the apple store? what are the prizes for the other displays?

 

[crazzyeddie]

Apple only sells their own displays (except for education). Those are very very nice displays though, worth the price (they are as good as "PC" monitors of the same type/size/price). However, if you have a monitor on your PC that you want to use, or want to buy another monitor, go right ahead. You don't need to buy a "Mac compatible" monitor, they are standard.

 

[seamuskrat]

If the Apple branded displays are too rich for you, check out any electronics website and pick up a nice monitor of your choice. Although you will miss out on the ADC simplicity, you can use the DVI is provided on your card, or get an ADC to DVI adaptor.

Apple monitors are very nice, but as you said very costly. They do not have a budget line.

The older generation of screens MAY be available at retailers like CompUSA, SmallDog, MacMall, etc. Give them a try.

But many less costly high quality alternatives do exist that allow you to keep all of your organs.

 

[cloud 9]

yes, they are gorgeous, and if money wasn't a problem...or organs for that matter...

and it's even more ridicilous to know they cost 1500€ in Belgium! even if they just took the same $ price they'd make more profits, because of the €/$ course....

oh, well...one day....