To buy a powerbook or not to buy a powerbook, that’s the question.

m.jo

m.jo

Registered
Hi.
I’m thinking of buying a 12” powerbook and I was just wondering what others think of it?
My half brother bought a 12” ibook for some time ago, and it seems to run fine. I’m just a bit worried about how well it handles movies and programs like photoshop.. The main thing I will use it for is photo and movie editing..

And does anyone here have any experience with an i/powerbook using the sound editor ProTools?

//m.jo

P.S. Sorry for my bad English, it’s not my native tongue. :eek:
 
If you're mostly using PhotoShop and Pro Tools, I'd go for the PowerBook if you can, having a G4 will help.
 
Yup, for movie editing, people who know will suggest a G4 processor. Maybe the 12" powerbook might not be the answer, because it's better than the iBook, but remember it's also the low-end powerbook. For one thing, the 15" and 17" powerbooks have a level 3 cache while the PB12" does not. This is often mentioned as a reason why the PB12" cannot be expected to live up to its name... powerbook. But if you can't afford a more powerful PB, the 12" PB will do.

Now the question is... buy now, or buy later? It's been four months since the PB12" was unveiled... patterns indicate there should be a new PB out in the next 2-4 months.
 
ok.. The thing is that I need a small (and I really mean small!) laptop to take with me. And I can’t find any other Mac’s for this purpose. There is of course the ibook to, but what I can understand the PB12” is far better than IB12”.. I’m not the best guy at computers either so if you don’t mind explaining the level 2/3 cache thingie, I would be grateful..

I don’t think that I will have the money to buy a new laptop for a while and maybe that’s a good thing if your suspicions of a new PB coming are true..
 
I have a 12" PB and I love it. I use it as my primary machine, but I don't do much video/audio editing. I do work with photographs a bit, but I don't use Photoshop...I use GraphicConverter and iPhoto as they have met my needs so far and they came with it. :) I do have quite a bit of experience with Photoshop, but on win32 platforms so I can't give an accurate guess of how it will perform on the little PB. For a/v editing the 15" might fit better. It's actually a wee bit thinner than the 12" and it has the L3 cache which will help a bit with higher-end apps. Also, the added screen size will be much appreciated.

- G!mpy
 
Yes, I would definitely go with the Powerbook.

I have heard with the iBook there is a little lag with Photoshop. (Note - the RAM was maxed out to 640MB SDRAM)

However, if your going to do movie editing the Powerbook or Powermac is a must. :)

~Wolverine
 
If you really need a small computer with a large punch, the PB 12" will suit you just fine. It's not as powerful as its larger siblings, and the screen is obviously smaller, but it is definitely better than the iBook for photo and video editing.

Your computer's cache works as a temporary storage for files to be processed. From Tekram: "Cache -- A temporary, fast storage area that holds data from a slower storage device for quick access. Cache storage is normally transparent to the accessing device." Level 3 cache is larger and faster than Level 2, and it noticeably improves performance, so many people base their buying decisions on it.
 
I bought a PBG4/1ghz back in mid-Dec, thinking "They've just been updated, I should be set for at least 6 months". Well, 2 weeks later the 12" and 17" debuted. The 12" would have been more my speed, so I was kind of bummed. But I absolutely love my 15" TiBook 1ghz. It rocks.

The only downside to the 12" is the lame GPU and the 640MB ceiling on RAM. If 3D acceleration and working with big files in Photoshop is a concern, this isn't the Powerbook for you...

Personally, I would wait right now before buying ANY Powerbook. The entire line is almost 6 months old (the 15" is over 6 months old), and it's due for a refresh.
 
ok, thanks guys.. :)

Btw, if you were to compare a g4 with an ordinary Intel or AMD processor (for a pc), witch would you choose? What I’m trying to say is how big of a punch do the PB12” pack??
 
640MB ceiling on RAM
Click to expand...

The ceiling is due to the fact that the 12" PB has only two RAM slots, only one of which is accessible to the user, since the other has already a 128 MB module soldered onto the mobo.
However, the limit is only due to the fact that the largest single RAM module available as of today packs 512 MB. When 1 GB RAM modules become available for normal prices, you will be able to use them in your 12" PB.

The 12" PB is agreat machine. Just when I was doubting between a fully maxed out iBook or a 15" Titanium PB these wonderful little babies came out :) The perfect computer for me, ideal sweet spot between price, performance and portability.

For comparisons between different processors, check out http://www.barefeats.com
 
compare a g4 with an ordinary Intel or AMD processor (for a pc)
Click to expand...
The original article seems to be unreachable, but here's the macslash article about dell and apple portables.
http://www.macslash.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/22/1128227&mode=thread

I'll try not to sound like a mac-whinny b****, but in any purchase you'd want to look at the whole package. AMD has some nice chips, but when you can't get them in a small computer why bother? Sony has a small laptop but it (the ones I've seen) doesn't have a cd drive without its docking station.

After all that, I don't have a substantial answer to "how much power does a g4 pack" but unless you're doing complicated calculations, the speed of the chip only affects snappyness of the GUI. A well thought out gui or ram can help with a lot of that percieved sluggishness.
 
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