12 inch Powerbook vs. Dual 800 Tower

augustwestaugustwest
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Does anyone have any idea how the new 12 inch powerbook would test against the Dual 800 tower? I currently use the Dualie at home with an ibook when I go portable, but I'm tempted by the possibility of having everything centralized on one portable computer. I use the Dualie for photoshop, and some minor video/audio editing and the ibook for writing mainly.



Obviously, the new pbook would fall somewhere between the Dualie and the 800mhz ibook, but would it fall closer to the Dualie or to the ibook.



<img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    iBook.



    (2)800MHz G4's are alot faster then



    (1)800MHz G3

    (1)867MHz G4



    the G3 and G4 don't have much speed difference unless ur doing somethign with altivec...though you will like ur AluBook alot better then ur iBook i would assume
  • Reply 2 of 7
    supermactechsupermactech Posts: 8member
    I just ordered the 12" PowerBook to replace my PM G4 QuickSilver 800MHz! I ordered it in the following config:



    867MHz

    256MB DDR SDRAM

    60GB Hard Drive

    SuperDrive

    Airport Extreme Card



    I've read many threads from many websites about this particular model. Some have been good, some bad. I think this machine is great. So great in fact, that I'm replacing my PM Quicksilver G4 with it. It has faster RAM, same bus speed, comparable hard drive size, faster CPU and the same GPU. Plus, I can hook it up to and external VGA with maximum 1600x1200 resolution. This is basically a Quicksilver G4 tower in a 12" case. Plus, I get Bluetooth so that I can use my Sony Cell Phone with it and I get a faster Airport network. For the price, you can't beat this little machine.



    Obviously a dual processor will perform a lot better simply because of that extra processor and how OS X utilizes multiprocessing. The 12" PB should easily outperform the iBook because of the GPU and the CPU differences.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    augustwestaugustwest Posts: 157member
    Where exactly does the Dual Processor make a difference as compared to say, the new 12 inch pbook? My only real concern is that photoshop doesn't take a long time to load or render on basic photo editing tasks (not fancy effects), and that I can edit video on something powerful, like final cut pro.



    I can't decide whether I'd be able to get away with JUST the new 12 inch pbook...any ideas?

  • Reply 4 of 7
    multimediamultimedia Posts: 1,035member
    [quote]Originally posted by AugustWest:

    <strong>Where exactly does the Dual Processor make a difference as compared to say, the new 12 inch pbook? My only real concern is that photoshop doesn't take a long time to load or render on basic photo editing tasks (not fancy effects), and that I can edit video on something powerful, like final cut pro.



    I can't decide whether I'd be able to get away with JUST the new 12 inch pbook...any ideas?

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    I'd keep the dual 800 tower no matter what you do about the portable part of your arsenal. The 12" APB is pretty weak. Max RAM is only 640 MB. That's REALLY weak. No FireWire 800. No backlit keyboard. No DVI. Very low resoultion. It's really not much more than a glorified iBook. I say keep your 800 G3 iBook and wait for the 12" Summer refresh or the 15" refresh due in 60-90 days. Don't settle for less than 1 GHz and 1GB RAM before you pull the trigger. Use your power of restraint to drive the market.



    I want a 12" G4 too. But not one as weak as this first edition is.



    [ 01-15-2003: Message edited by: Multimedia ]</p>
  • Reply 5 of 7
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    640MB is hardly weak. Most PC laptops fall between 512 and 768 (maxx) RAM and ship with 256-512 (installed) 640 rests squarely in the middle of that range. For a 12" near sub note machine, 640 is pretty damned good. It's just annoying that the limit could easily be 1024MB if Apple would stop soldering that 128MB so-dimm in place. I suppose the limit will go up to 1152 once 1Gb so-dimms become available. And the external resolution is quite high actually (1600x1200) but it is VGA out, not a problem since there are plenty of great CRT's and dual input (VGA and DVI) LCD's out there.



    In OSX a DP machine will be faster any time you have more than one program going at the same time, even if they aren't MP aware OSX handles it for you and it should take a lot more to bog down the machine than it would with an SP config.



    The new PB 12" is more of a modern Duo, a machine that is designed to go anywhere and be very compact yet have enough chops to also be your desktop replacement. Yourself, already having a desktop, should probably look to get the cheapest laptop model you can get as you will use the desktop machine for any heavy duty work.



    [ 01-15-2003: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 7
    augustwestaugustwest Posts: 157member
    Matsu,



    I was actually considering selling the dualie tower and the ibook and just using the 12 inch pbook, but from what people are saying, it might not be the best move. Especially considering both my computers are so damn new!



    Thanks for your thoughts...
  • Reply 7 of 7
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    I think that's the right move considering that you have two machines that cover all of the bases that a PB12 would and then some. Unless your plan is to streamline down to one machine, it all depends on how much you could get for your two machines. I would expect that you could also pocket a little cash in selling those two machines to replace them with one PB12, but leaving well enough alone may be the best move for you, unless you're Murbot, whereupon there's never a good rationale for NOT changing yor system. hahaha... I think you're set for at least a few months, no?
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