VirtualPC on PB 17" w/512k L2 Cache?

T

t_habrock

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I am a Mac & PC user - I have a Mac at home (see my specs below) but must have a Windows PC for work. My 3 year old Sony Vaio Laptop is about to bite the dust due to non-stop daily use (abuse) and I REALLY, REALLY want to replace it with a 17" 1.33 GHz PowerBook.

How well would Windows run on the PB using VPC 6 compared to my current 750MHz Pentium 3 Windows PC with only 256MB of RAM.

Also, the PB no longer has the Level 3 cache, only Level 2 @ 512k, and I have heard that VPC runs best with a large L3 cache, but not so good with L2. I am afraid that this means the VPC will be extremely slow without the Level 3 cache - which would mean the whole computer would be useless for me.

I have a licensed pre-MS copy of VPC 6 and a licensed copy of Windows 2000. On my Mac at home, which does have a Level 3 cache with 2 MB DDR SRAM per processor, VPC runs pretty good - occasionally lag-gy, but not bad.

Any thoughts, tips or recommendations would be much appreciated - since I need to make a decision on my purchase soon.

Thanks,
Tim

WORK: Sony Vaio 750MHz Pentium 3; Windows XP Pro; 15GB HD; 256MB RAM
HOME: (See below)
 
It is a proprietary application built specifically for the company I work with. It is used for the QC-ing of video masters. It is based on two sets of VisualBasic scripts.

I QC video masters (which means I watch for errors and glitches) for a major studio in Hollywood (I probably shouldn't say which). All the video masters have what is called Timecode - which is a permanent time marker. The computer connects to a Timecode reader via an RS-232 serial port (or using a USB-to-RS-232 adapter) and allows you to mark T/C locations (which are usually written as thus 01:02:12:02) by hitting a single button and then writing comments (such as "jump cut", etc...), it then takes that info and automatically exports it into a pre-formatted Excel file.

I have tested this program on my home computer using VPC and it works fine, but wonder if the lack of L3 cache wold affect this.

I don't know if any of that helps...?

Thanks,
Tim
 
I wouldn't know exactly about the Level 3 Cache and VPC, but if you really need it for _work_ I'd take the software and some demo file(s) to an Apple dealer. Make sure he gets that you _really want_ to buy the PowerBook and he just might let you try it out yourself. Imagine people on here saying it runs okay, you buy the hardware and are disappointed... No go for me. It really depends on the software you're using on Windows (and which version of Windows, I prefer Win2K, it seems to run best on VPC). Nothing like a hands-on test.
 
I don't think you'll get the same performance as a 750 Mhz P3. On my Powerbook, Virtual PC seems to emulate a 433 Mhz processor. I've no idea how it decides what clock speed to run at, but that's what CPU-Z reported.

Performance isn't really stellar. I use VirtualPC with Windows 98 SE to run Matlab simulations. Its fast enough because my equations aren't that complex, but for video...I'm not sure what to expect. It emulates an S3 Trio64+, and that card isn't much to write home about.

But hey, you've got a 17", things could be much smoother for you :)
 
Thanks for the responses, one thing to clarify, the video does not actually play on the computer - the video plays from a HIDEF tape and plays back on a pro monitor in my QC room, the only thing that the computer does is reads and captures the T/C (Timecode) from the tape and then converts and formats it in Excel (behind the scenes).

I, too, prefer Win2k on VPC...it's the best balance between speed and power
 
Do what fryke said and take the software to an Apple dealer to test it out. Better safe than sorry.
 
My VPC 6.0.2 experience with video on a dual processor G4/1.25 MDD has not been all that good. I don't know whether it is the lack of video acceleration or what, but it just aint that good. Since you say you already have a copy of VPC, and I presume some version of Windows, you could certainly give it a try but I wouldn't hold my breath.
 
As you describe the software, t_habrock, I'd say it'll run okay. It won't be the fastest thing possible, but VPC generally emulates those things acceptably. As VPC doesn't really have to handle the video, I mean.
 
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