I am coming from an HP laptop with an AMD 64 4000+, 1gb of ram, 80gb 5400 HD, DVD burner, 128mb ATI graphics. I am wondering will I see a huge performance drop if I purchase an iBook.
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Will I be disappointed with the performance of an iBook?
- Thread starter paperinacup
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It depends on what you use your computer for. If its processor intensive, you will see some performance drop. If its email and internet mainly and some basic music and photos, you won't notice very much difference. The interface will not be as responsive as windows, but that has more to do with the design of the OS and not just the hardware performance. It just takes some getting used to, sometimes it annoys windows users at first but after ahilw you realize that's not where you get productivity benefits in a computer.
I'd say whatever you're doing you'll notice a drop in performance. Why? Because of the slow 4200rpm hard disks Apple cripples the iBook with. It's a shame, but there you go.
Once again, it depends on what you're using the machine for. A 4200 drive does not cripple Apple's laptops. Mine has a 4200 RPM drive and I get 80 Mbps avg. internal transfer speeds.
yes, you will DEFINATELY be dissapointed with the iBook performance. no question about it. sure, it's a pretty little computer, but the screen is probably **** compared to your HP's screen, as is everything else on the ibook.
if you are keeping both computers, then I think you should go ahead with the ibook (it's getting upgraded tomorrow btw -- still won't be able to beat your HP laptop though). but if you are selling/giving away your HP laptop, you will regret it later. otherwise...you'll have to wait until the Intel PowerBooks come out to get a faster machine than your HP.
if you are keeping both computers, then I think you should go ahead with the ibook (it's getting upgraded tomorrow btw -- still won't be able to beat your HP laptop though). but if you are selling/giving away your HP laptop, you will regret it later. otherwise...you'll have to wait until the Intel PowerBooks come out to get a faster machine than your HP.
im running matlab code on my ibook G4 1GHz 768MB ram and my dell desktop P4 3.2 GHz 2GB ram. The code i run is a double optimimization program ive developed for my research. I can get comparable calculation times out of the two actually. so for that type of performace, its comparable. now granted i wouldnt want my ibook to do the heavy calculations of the large variable problems that would take 24hrs at least.
thats just my experience, like everyone else has said it depends on what you need to do. i find mine does just what i need it to do, light matlab work, word stuff, presentations, excel, iphoto, email, and internet.
thats just my experience, like everyone else has said it depends on what you need to do. i find mine does just what i need it to do, light matlab work, word stuff, presentations, excel, iphoto, email, and internet.
I was actually considering returning the HP for an ibook. It looks like I'd be better off with a 15' Powerbook but a comparable one runs at about $1000 more than this HP plus it probably still won't be as fast. Hmm this is a hard decision. I REALLY want to see what the new ibooks will be like tomorrow. I need something that will last me about 2 years with minimal performance drops.
Negative things about the HP-
Does NOT support Dual Channel Memory but processor does
HP states that if you use Windows x64 then you void your warranty
It is BIG
Good things-
Its FAST
FAST
and I have 2 extra extended batteries (which I REALLY hate to give up)
Negative things about the HP-
Does NOT support Dual Channel Memory but processor does
HP states that if you use Windows x64 then you void your warranty
It is BIG
Good things-
Its FAST
FAST
and I have 2 extra extended batteries (which I REALLY hate to give up)
Heb1228 said:
OK, let's put it another way. 4200rpm drives are a bottleneck, irrespective of what you're doing as the HD is used so much with modern OS's like OS X. Upgrading your drive to a 5400 or 7200 would make a huge difference. I speak from experience - you can check out objective benchmarks anywhere that proves this.
Fact is he's asking about hardware differences, and like other's have pointed out his HP laptop creams the current iBooks on specs. If he was asking "should I switch from Windows to OS X" that'd be a different question with the obvious different answer!
the only thing that will disappoint you is the graphics hopefully the update, which should come tomorrow, will change that
Be Sure before you completely switch
In one word after the honey moon of couple days *** yes *** you will feel disappointed. I have been using Mac OS X over the past 3 years (for work too ... my advisor would not use any thing except a mac!) but did not find it as a replacement to Windows, i use both of them. If you are keeping both then you are fine ... otherwise the reasons include:
1. The Screen ... i recently bought a 9300 (17") and i hate to get back to my powerbook (12"). if you are used to a larger screen you will hate small screens. period
2. Athlon 4000+ is probably the fastest thing in notebooks. A 1.33 G4 with 133 FSB is horrible
3. Unless they have ATI 9600 -64 which i suspect they will playing games is out of question (even then on an attached monitor = 0).
4. You have batteries (which compensate for the low up time of your notebook )
Positives:
1. small and cute laptop.
2. will not feel like a pan (unless gaming)
3. Apple probably has the BEST sleep mode implimentations for laptops ...
4. if is just websurfing (i personally hate - but it is just me) , Email (very good), and have lot of mac friends yes ... Excellent power point + keynotes ... then you are good to go ... and you did not need that speed in the first place!!
paperinacup said:I was actually considering returning the HP for an ibook. It looks like I'd be better off with a 15' Powerbook but a comparable one runs at about $1000 more than this HP plus it probably still won't be as fast. Hmm this is a hard decision. I REALLY want to see what the new ibooks will be like tomorrow. I need something that will last me about 2 years with minimal performance drops.
Negative things about the HP-
Does NOT support Dual Channel Memory but processor does
HP states that if you use Windows x64 then you void your warranty
It is BIG
Good things-
Its FAST
FAST
and I have 2 extra extended batteries (which I REALLY hate to give up)
In one word after the honey moon of couple days *** yes *** you will feel disappointed. I have been using Mac OS X over the past 3 years (for work too ... my advisor would not use any thing except a mac!) but did not find it as a replacement to Windows, i use both of them. If you are keeping both then you are fine ... otherwise the reasons include:
1. The Screen ... i recently bought a 9300 (17") and i hate to get back to my powerbook (12"). if you are used to a larger screen you will hate small screens. period
2. Athlon 4000+ is probably the fastest thing in notebooks. A 1.33 G4 with 133 FSB is horrible
3. Unless they have ATI 9600 -64 which i suspect they will playing games is out of question (even then on an attached monitor = 0).
4. You have batteries (which compensate for the low up time of your notebook
)Positives:
1. small and cute laptop.
2. will not feel like a pan (unless gaming)
3. Apple probably has the BEST sleep mode implimentations for laptops ...
4. if is just websurfing (i personally hate - but it is just me) , Email (very good), and have lot of mac friends yes ... Excellent power point + keynotes ... then you are good to go ... and you did not need that speed in the first place!!
I've said several times that this whole question depends on what he uses his computer for. I'm not sure why the original poster won't specify. This whole post is basically useless without that info.
Heb1228 said:
Totally agree. paperinacup, what are you going to use the iBook for? You haven't specifiy at all.
When you're comparing an Athlon 64 4000+ to ANY G4, you're going to be disappointed. You'll notice a slowdown for practically everything (some might not be as noticeable as others) but if you want to sleep better at night without worrying about your computer getting infected by viruses/spyware, then the mac is the way to go.
Basically it's performance and price vs. peace of mind and great design
Basically it's performance and price vs. peace of mind and great design
I'll be using the computer for Photoshop CS2, Dreamweaver, Flash, iTunes, websurfing, and maybe some garageband. Also I would use some very light gaming.
The extended battery lasts surprisngly long for me with the screen brightness at full and wifi on. It lasts about 3 1/2 hours. The regular battery lasts about 2.
That sounds like a job for... *cue heroic music* PowerBook! If you look at the PB in my sig, I feel like it's sluggish running PS7. That's no where near as taxing as CS2. Seeing as the iBook's specs are just about the same or a little slower, I would recommend you get a new PB instead of an iBook.paperinacup said:
paperinacup said:
The iBook isn't going to have enough screen real estate to be your primary machine using PS, DW, and Flash. Even with Expose, you're going to need more. If you can't do the 15" PB at least then just keep what you have.
As a current ibook owner..................you will be disappointed. I love my ibook, because I love the OS. But I went from an HP laptop too about 3 years ago, and I noticed a huge difference. Bottom line though? I don't play games, don't do anything heavy, and my ibook is wonderful. As for your needs though? Either save up for a PB or keep the HP.