Improving Powerbook Titanium

marcel37 · December 11, 2007 4:00AM

Hi-

I just bought a Powerbook Titanium 15" DVI with 1Ghz PowerPC Processor. I love this classic and want to make it my main computer (mostly for internet, email, and writing). I noticed that the hard drive makes some noise as it writes and retrieves. Also, the battery does not hold as much power as it originally did.

Since the laptop about 5 years old now, I would like to replace both the battery and the hard drive. Can anyone recommend any good models of HD/batteries to get for a good price?

Also, what is the word on the Leopard upgrade? I will be staying with Tiger since I heard mixed things with Leopard on older (and even new) machines.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks,

M

nvidia2008 · December 11, 2007 10:23AM

My favourite laptop ever. Favourite Mac ever, possibly. Try macsales.com (OWC) to get all the upgrades you need. I haven't tried personally, but they seem quite reputable.

Get 1GB and definitely go Leopard. Fresh install please.

My parents' iBook G4 with 933mhz and 640mb RAM is quite alright with Leopard. Fresh install.

houseley · December 11, 2007 1:06PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcel37

Also, what is the word on the Leopard upgrade? I will be staying with Tiger since I heard mixed things with Leopard on older (and even new) machines.

I have Leopard on that same machine. Works very well. Don't think it's any faster than Tiger, but no slower and it is more stable in my view. I wouldn't hesitate to upgrade to Leopard if I were you.

bageljoey · December 11, 2007 2:02PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by houseley

I have Leopard on that same machine. Works very well. Don't think it's any faster than Tiger, but no slower and it is more stable in my view. I wouldn't hesitate to upgrade to Leopard if I were you.

I have Leopard on the same machine too. Overall I like it. And it is nice to have the same OS on my home and work/traveling computer.

However, I have noticed 2 things:

--Slow animations of Keynote presentations (older version)

--Hacked up DVD playback

Keynote is a big problem for me, because I use it at least once a week. Where I always got "WOW!"s before, yesterday I got "Computer a little slow today?" Ouch. That hurts.

DVD playback has been unusable, though I haven't yet tried to fiddle--I just went to a seperate DVD player.

I am assuming that there may be some improvement with updates, but I am afraid to install Keynote 08 on that system as I don't want it to grind even slower--I think Keynote's system requirements were rather high too...

bageljoey · December 11, 2007 2:17PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcel37

Since the laptop about 5 years old now, I would like to replace both the battery and the hard drive. Can anyone recommend any good models of HD/batteries to get for a good price?

OH, the other question--HDDs are easy to come by. They are sold by a lot of vendors, but there are only a few manufactures. Buy new from a respected manufacturer and you should be fine. Installing it is not so easy if you don't like digging around in the computer, though. It is not accessable like RAM and such.

I bought an off brand battery and saved $30 or so and only got one good year out of it. I am getting down to adapter use only again. Find someone to recommend a good brand or buy Apple, I say.

1337_5l4xx0r · December 11, 2007 10:09PM

I had an 867mhz TiBook; loved it! I gave it to my sister (who opted for it instead of a brand new PC laptop because the TiBook was faster...) when I got my MBP C2D. They are great laptops, and the only bug-free of the TiBooks, as they are the last rev. No flaking paint, overheating, etc etc.

Definitely Max the Ram to 1GB, and if you can afford it, get a 7200RPM Hitachi drive. Any one; they are all fast

Steer clear of Toshibas, they under-perform regardless of RPM or capacity in my experience.

ATA hard drives:

http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Sea...ice%7c0&N=6403

ram:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memor...s/G4-Titanium/

edit: FYI they are much quieter than stock drive

marcel37 · December 13, 2007 3:48AM

Thanks to all my Tibook brethren for the good advice.

Addressing the feedback, I only have two questions:

1. What about temperatures of the HD? (I would like it to stay cool and quiet, and will mostly do writing on it. I don't think I need to go beyond 5400 RPM.)

2. Leopard is still a young OS (and has spotty reviews on older machines - - the DVD player and keynote, for example). What other problems or benefits have you noticed on older machines?

Thanks again for the feedback. I figured this machine would have fans. I was going to buy a MB or MBP, but jumped on this computer when a friend sold it to me. I couldnt be happier for the price and want to make it work for me for a few years.

Best,

M

nvidia2008 · December 13, 2007 7:07AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcel37

1. What about temperatures of the HD? (I would like it to stay cool and quiet, and will mostly do writing on it. I don't think I need to go beyond 5400 RPM.)...

AFAIK 7200rpm notebook drives have improved a lot in terms of heat, noise, power consumption, etc. It's the frontier for notebook hard disks today.

marcel37 · December 14, 2007 10:56PM

Hi Everyone,

After a few days research:

512 MB RAM upgrade.

160 GB Hard Drive Hitachi 5400 RPM

OWC New Battery.

Thanks for your advice. Soon will clean install to Leopard.

Thanks, again for the help.

M

1337_5l4xx0r · December 16, 2007 6:10AM

Excellent choices. Hitachi are the leaders with portable drives... whisper quiet, reliable and fast.

If Leopard gives you any troubles, you can always fall back on 10.4. I've never had any troubles with 10.4 on that TiBook.

Improving Powerbook Titanium

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