Worthwhile buying older TiBook?

[ozone]

I need to pick up an Apple PowerBook for one of my students to use. He'd be using it for mostly word processing, spreadsheet, and presentations. Possibly some light-to-moderate photo work, and a reasonable chance that he would have to use VirtualPC for one or two Windows dedicated programs.

I was thinking about a new iBook (14"), but I've noticed on EBay that there are a lot of used 15" TiBooks running at 500 MHz to 667 MHz, and the occasional 800 MHz, for sale. I like the fact that they have a 1MB cache and the wider screen would be more appropriate.

I'd rather get a 867 MHz or 1 GHz TiBook, but not many come up on EBay, and if I end up paying too much, I'd just rather go with a brand new PB for a few hundred more.

How do the TiBooks at 667 MHz stand up these days? Still worthwhile? Or are they already too far past their prime? Ideally, I'd like this laptop to last him for the next 3 to 4 years if possible.

What about the just discontinued 12" 867 MHz PBs?

 

[thehuncamunca]

go with a brand new one especially since you need it to last 3 4 odd years
the used Ti books are in my opinion overpriced for what you get, the current ibooks come with a warranty and are faster in all areas than old powerbooks

I need to pick up an Apple PowerBook for one of my students to use. He'd be using it for mostly word processing, spreadsheet, and presentations. Possibly some light-to-moderate photo work, and a reasonable chance that he would have to use VirtualPC for one or two Windows dedicated programs.

I was thinking about a new iBook (14"), but I've noticed on EBay that there are a lot of used 15" TiBooks running at 500 MHz to 667 MHz, and the occasional 800 MHz, for sale. I like the fact that they have a 1MB cache and the wider screen would be more appropriate.

I'd rather get a 867 MHz or 1 GHz TiBook, but not many come up on EBay, and if I end up paying too much, I'd just rather go with a brand new PB for a few hundred more.

How do the TiBooks at 667 MHz stand up these days? Still worthwhile? Or are they already too far past their prime? Ideally, I'd like this laptop to last him for the next 3 to 4 years if possible.

What about the just discontinued 12" 867 MHz PBs?

 

[jsw]

Lucky student.

Anyway, I agree that the new iBook is a better bet - it can always be hooked up to an external monitor via hacks like this if more screen real estate is needed.

And the older PBs are overpriced for what you get.

That said, I still get reasonably effective use out of my 1999 400MHz G3 "Lombard" PowerBook, so they do tend to last (as will the iBook) and take some time to truly be outdated.

 

[JFreak]

titanium powerbooks still shine because of the L3 cache - in fact, a 667MHz tibook performs equally to a 867MHz powerbook, so comparing to current line of G4 laptops, you can easily add 25% to titanium clock speeds to better compare those beasts.

now the cpu and cache isn't everything. newer laptops have better graphics and have likely faster and bigger hard drive installed. newer laptops have better wireless options and likely faster connections overall. newer is always better when it comes to laptops.

but the L3 only helps when you really stress the system hard - over about 60% constantly. when you use the laptop on light cpu loads, the faster cpu clock speed will win. when it's a matter of throughput, the G4 tends to be limited by slow bus and then the L3 virtually speeds up that bottleneck. and very effectively so. but the gain is there only when the bus begins to limit throughput.

was i clear enough? my recommendation? don't buy a pre-DVI model if you cannot get it dirt cheap. all DVI tibooks (667/800 and 867/1000) are still good performers. and, titanium powerbooks have far superior battery life than the current albooks.

 

[thehuncamunca]

i'm pretty sure tibooks only had 256KB L2, as opposed to 512KB for aluminum powerbooks and for the newest ibooks
taking this into consideration, the L3 is offset by a lower L2 cache

titanium powerbooks still shine because of the L3 cache - in fact, a 667MHz tibook performs equally to a 867MHz powerbook, so comparing to current line of G4 laptops, you can easily add 25% to titanium clock speeds to better compare those beasts.

now the cpu and cache isn't everything. newer laptops have better graphics and have likely faster and bigger hard drive installed. newer laptops have better wireless options and likely faster connections overall. newer is always better when it comes to laptops.

but the L3 only helps when you really stress the system hard - over about 60% constantly. when you use the laptop on light cpu loads, the faster cpu clock speed will win. when it's a matter of throughput, the G4 tends to be limited by slow bus and then the L3 virtually speeds up that bottleneck. and very effectively so. but the gain is there only when the bus begins to limit throughput.

was i clear enough? my recommendation? don't buy a pre-DVI model if you cannot get it dirt cheap. all DVI tibooks (667/800 and 867/1000) are still good performers. and, titanium powerbooks have far superior battery life than the current albooks.

 

[JFreak]

i have tested a 667MHz dvi tibook and revA 12" many times side by side running protools, and they are performing pretty much equally. at low cpu levels the 12" seems snappier but at higher loads the tibook keeps on performing. it is the 12" which is first to hit red on the cpu meter - at cpu loads of 60% and above the L3 seems to show its magic.

i think that is as real-world as it gets, but measures high throughput work. and as i said, at lower cpu levels the 12" feels snappier.

 

[wordmunger]

It just doesn't seem worth it to me to get a Ti667 for nearly $1K when you can get a new a Ghz 12-inch iBook (educational pricing) for the same price. Remember, the new computer comes with a warranty, which is definitely something to think about. If you need more screen real estate, you can buy an external monitor for ~ $100 and use the hack to enable spanning.

Sure, the Ti667 will do what you need -- I'm doing all that on a Ti400, but I don't expect it to last me much more than another year or so.

 

[vwguy]

I would suggest that you get the newest powerbook as far your budget allows you to do so. By buying new or newer powerbook, you would be gettting factory warranty and a chance to extend the warranty thru Applecare...

Plus (I may be wrong here), the latest software or hardware developement may cater more to the newer pb than the TiBook....

Just my $0.02...