15" TiBook vs. 17" AlBook?

jellyboyjellyboy
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Howdy-



I'm looking to replace my G4/733 tower with a Powerbook, and I'm wondering what the actual performance differences are between the current 15" Titanium Powerbook and the 17" Powerbook. I'm a print designer, and foremost in my mind is how fast Photoshop runs. According to the specs, the only differences (that seem to be relevant in this context- I plan to use a 2nd LCD in either case, and by the time Firewire 800 becomes a factor for me I'll be ready to upgrade) between the 1 GHz 15" and the 1GHz 17" are the RAM (DDR333 SDRAM vs. the older SDRAM) and the hard disk (Ultra ATA/100 vs. Ultra ATA/66). Do the DDR333 and the ATA/100 add up to enough of a speed boost to justify spending the extra $700?



I realize that the 15" revisions could be just around the corner, but "around the corner" speculations seem to run anywhere from next Tuesday to MWSF 04; the prices on the TiBooks look pretty darn good right now & I really can't wait too much longer...



(BTW, this is my first post & I wasn't sure if this post should be here in general discussions or in the current hardware section- since it is ultimately a buying advice issue, I thought I'd try it here first)

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Purchasing advice does belong in General Discussion, so good call. Welcome aboard.



    I don't think there's a substantial difference between either laptop in terms of Photoshop performance. The faster RAM will allow I/O devices to communicate with RAM without starving the CPU, and it'll give Quartz Extreme a boost for the same reason, but for pixel-pushing the effect would be subtle, almost a "feel" issue.



    If you're not interested in the 17"'s goodies (AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth, greatly improved wireless reception, backlit keyboard, larger screen) you might as well get the 15". It's a mature design and a good performer.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    sushiismsushiism Posts: 131member
    15 inch is much sexier looking, the 17 is really quite ugly and lacks some of the design features i loved about the 15. Only thing I like about the 17 is the backlit keyboard, the bigger display does nothing for me
  • Reply 3 of 15
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,562member
    Looking at posted xbench scores the 17 inch Al PB is roughly 10% faster than the 15 inch Ti Book.



    15 inch 1GHz Ti scores roughly low 80s

    17 inch Al book scores roughly in low 90s
  • Reply 4 of 15
    malokatamalokata Posts: 197member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sushiism

    15 inch is much sexier looking, the 17 is really quite ugly and lacks some of the design features i loved about the 15. Only thing I like about the 17 is the backlit keyboard, the bigger display does nothing for me





    Look what you did, you made it cry. I hate it when something as downright seductive as my 17" Powerbook cries.
  • Reply 5 of 15
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    According to the test i have seen in Mac world france of May, the powerbook 17 inch is much faster than the 15



    heres are the bench (PB 17/pb15)



    Speedmark 3,2 142 / 107

    photoshop 7 0,51/ 1,09

    i movie rendering 0,39 / 10,1

    i tunes : 0,41/1,10

    quake 3 : 81/54

    cinema 4D : 5,01/7,42

    after effects 5,5 : 10,15/14,05





    The 17 inch is much faster , in photoshop he is faster than a g4 933, and 35 % faster than the 15 inch. He produce less heat, have FW 800 : very interesting for high performance external HD.



    I will not buy the current 15 inch. A update is due, and some big store do not sell it anymore. If you are interested in the 15 inch, wait for the next one. There is great chance to see him in the next coming months. September will be a good bet.
  • Reply 6 of 15
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Yeah, I'd wait for a bit longer. You'll get a faster G4 AND probably all of the goodness/features of the 17" aluminum model in a 15" body.



    Plus, I'd imagine the improved AirPort reception would be worth it. To me, anyway. Still no iBook, but a nice improvement over the Titanium's poor reception.



    Wait and you can have the best of both: 15" with 17" appearance/specs...for $700-1200 less than the 17" PowerBook!



  • Reply 7 of 15
    jellyboyjellyboy Posts: 14member
    sigh... I guess it's only a couple of weeks until MWNY. I don't know if I can handle another disappointment like WWDC, though (yes, the G5 announcement was tremendous, but I was really holding my breath for ANY 15" PB updates/news/hints/teasers/promises). My (former) employer is taking back my G4/733 next week (I used to telecommute, but now I'm a freelancer), which means I'll be left with my tangerine iMac until I make a purchase - and that's a heck of a downgrade to have to live with for too long.
  • Reply 8 of 15
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    I bet you won't have to wait too long, though. I really don't. The 12" and 17" models are coming up on 6 months old. That, combined with everyone's knowing that the 15" is LONG overdue for a refresh/tweak means that things shouldn't be TOO far off.



    I hope.



  • Reply 9 of 15
    oldcodger73oldcodger73 Posts: 707member
    Powerdoc, I think the speed figures you gave for the 15:" TiBook are wrong. Macworld US lists the following:



    AlBook 1GHz (17 inch) Speedmark 3.2: 142, Photoshop 7.0.1: :51, iTunes: :44



    TiBook 1 GHz (15 inch) Speedmark 3.2: 143, Photoshop 7.0.1: :53, iTunes: :43
  • Reply 10 of 15
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by OldCodger73

    Powerdoc, I think the speed figures you gave for the 15:" TiBook are wrong. Macworld US lists the following:



    AlBook 1GHz (17 inch) Speedmark 3.2: 142, Photoshop 7.0.1: :51, iTunes: :44



    TiBook 1 GHz (15 inch) Speedmark 3.2: 143, Photoshop 7.0.1: :53, iTunes: :43



    Yes it's strange, but the speeds figures i gave, where directly copied from the article, and the article emphathised the great difference in speed. However the benchmarks where realised by univers Macworld france and not by Macworld US.

    This is weird.
  • Reply 11 of 15
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,562member
    Such is the nature of benchmarks. If you look at the reported xbench results you will see a range of results reported for what seem to be identical computers.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    oldcodger73oldcodger73 Posts: 707member
    << the benchmarks where realised by univers Macworld france >>



    France, ah that explains it. Seriously, though, I went back and checked Macworld June 2003 page 32 and found that the figures I gave weren't quite correct either. Here are the right ones.



    AlBook 1GHz (17 inch) Speedmark 3.2: 142, Photoshop 7.0.1: :51, iTunes: :44



    TiBook 1 GHz (15 inch) Speedmark 3.2: 140, Photoshop 7.0.1: :53, iTunes: :42



    Essentially the differences are so small as not to matter.
  • Reply 13 of 15
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by OldCodger73

    << the benchmarks where realised by univers Macworld france >>



    France, ah that explains it. Seriously, though, I went back and checked Macworld June 2003 page 32 and found that the figures I gave weren't quite correct either. Here are the right ones.



    AlBook 1GHz (17 inch) Speedmark 3.2: 142, Photoshop 7.0.1: :51, iTunes: :44



    TiBook 1 GHz (15 inch) Speedmark 3.2: 140, Photoshop 7.0.1: :53, iTunes: :42



    Essentially the differences are so small as not to matter.



    Yes it's clearly demonstrate how we can be confident in benchmarks
  • Reply 14 of 15
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    Here are some more for those that want them:

    http://www.macspeedzone.com/html/har...all/index.html



    according to these, the 15 is slightly faster at quite a few things, but really none of it is enough to matter dramatically. I'd say they are basically equal.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    jellyboyjellyboy Posts: 14member
    Just to make myself ever more nutty, I went looking & found a 17" AlBook, refurbished, for $2899 (no, not from ebay); if I remember correctly, that's only $100 more than the original price of the top-end 15" TiBook... and I'm thinking, will prices for the revised 15" Albook be much less than that? It wouldn't surprise me if the price went back UP to where they started from, and I can't imagine the performance bump that the 15" is about to receive would put it that much beyond the current 17" specs (how much difference would 0.3 GHz make, anyway?)- and so it'd kinda be like buying the next 15" AlBook today & getting a larger screen, all for $100 more...



    'course, it IS refurbished... and I guess MWNY is only 2 weeks away...
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