The really important difference is the graphics card. The rev.a Ti's had an 8 MB Rage Mobility, the rev.b Ti's have a 16 MB Radeon Mobility. This is a serious increase (I know first hand, I had a Ti 500, now I have a Ti 667).
The other differences aren't so stark (bigger HDDs, more RAM as standard, faster bus on the 667, *minor* cosmetic improvements, slightly larger capacity batteries, etc.).
Oh, one other fairly significant difference is the L2 cache. The rev.a books had a 1 MB cache running at half processor speed. The rev.b books have a 512 kb cache running at full processor speed. Many benchmarks put the rev.a 500 faster than the rev.b 550 (but the 667 wins over all).
The rev A PBG4's have on-chip cache (256kB?) as well as the 1MB @ 1/2clock off-chip cache.
The rev B just has the on-chip (512kB) cache.
As previously mentioned, the rev A has a much wimpier graphics card.
The rev B comes with CD-RW/DVD combo drive while rev A only has CD-ROM/DVD drive. According to Apple, the rev A's don't have enough space for the new burner combo drive.
The rev A 500 & rev B 550 have the same size HD stock (20GB), but this is upgradeable.
The rev B comes with a more powerful battery (55W/hrs vs. 50W/hrs) don't know how much of a difference that is, but the new batteries do work on the rev A PB's.
Internals are different in structure. The rev B PB's have a different heat sink setup that's supposedly better.
I can't think of anything else at the moment. Hope this helps!
Comments
The other differences aren't so stark (bigger HDDs, more RAM as standard, faster bus on the 667, *minor* cosmetic improvements, slightly larger capacity batteries, etc.).
Oh, one other fairly significant difference is the L2 cache. The rev.a books had a 1 MB cache running at half processor speed. The rev.b books have a 512 kb cache running at full processor speed. Many benchmarks put the rev.a 500 faster than the rev.b 550 (but the 667 wins over all).
Both the 500 and the 667 are great machines.
-Ender
thats what i was looking for, any pluses or minuses for graphics, web development and video editing?
If i dont get a 500 im looking at the 550 due to $$$
The rev B just has the on-chip (512kB) cache.
As previously mentioned, the rev A has a much wimpier graphics card.
The rev B comes with CD-RW/DVD combo drive while rev A only has CD-ROM/DVD drive. According to Apple, the rev A's don't have enough space for the new burner combo drive.
The rev A 500 & rev B 550 have the same size HD stock (20GB), but this is upgradeable.
The rev B comes with a more powerful battery (55W/hrs vs. 50W/hrs) don't know how much of a difference that is, but the new batteries do work on the rev A PB's.
Internals are different in structure. The rev B PB's have a different heat sink setup that's supposedly better.
I can't think of anything else at the moment. Hope this helps!
If so I've got something for your mom, hehehe...
Thanks very help full!!
Man this decision isnt getting any easier the price for the Ti 500 i found was great. (500, 1gig ram, 30hd) for $2000.
But the other improvements are very tempting!
Do you know if a Ti 500 battery is compatable with the 550?
My wife has one(Ti500) and were going abroad and if i get a 550 we will be taking it over hers and an extra battery would be nice.
See Rev. A's
<a href="http://www.barefeats.com/fire20.html"; target="_blank">http://www.barefeats.com/fire20.html</a>;
Compared to Rev B's (and an articles comparing the two)
<a href="http://www.barefeats.com/pb06.html"; target="_blank">http://www.barefeats.com/pb06.html</a>;