Let's go through this again. Buy a powerbook? NO! Not untill it gets a healthy bump. While it is a decent performing system, it is also over-priced since they took the entry level back up to 2499. You'll also note, that the 667 and 800 barely meet the minimum requirement for some key pro audio and digital video apps. Any revision to these apps that adds new features is likely to demand more power, and these current powerbooks will get left behind in short order. Just look at the first 2 revs of Ti. Neither supports real-time FCP effects (except for the first 667.) and that's Apple's own baby. You really think a third party software house is going to optimize better? Uh-un. So the majority of PB's out there cannot even fully utilize Apple's own flagship video program and most are not even 2 years old. That's not a good sign for people who need pro apps. Shake? forget it, you need an 800, and within 1 update of it, you're going to need more than that. New pro audio apps require in the range of 700-800Mhz G4, so you're cutting it awfully close there too.
Better to wait for a solid Ghz, slight video system bump, and a better cache, or, gasp, DDR! You don't need it now, but you will in about 8 months.
If you're only using Office plus iApps, then you'll be fine, but you might want to consider a nice iBook, then. The powerbook is too expensive for that. If you're a photoshopper, then the Ti 's screen and DVI make for a nice (if pricey) photoshop machine. If you use photoshop and don't really NEED portability, might I suggest a nice iMacG4 17". That's a good size screen to work with, a decent video system, a superdrive and a nice big HDD for all your projects. No L3 cache and a slower bus, but for 500 less than a Ti677, the extra clocks, comparable video (the iMac's got a better GPU but it's stuck on a 2X AGP while Ti uses 4X), and better HDD, probably puts it close in a few benches too. Plus you get a superdrive and a much cheaper Applecare option with the iMac.
Really think about your need for portability cause you're looking at pretty big price and optical/storage/RAM/display difference.
iMac 800, $1999usd
Superdrive/80Gb/512MB/1440x900 17"TFT.
Applecare option: $149.
Powerbook 667, $2499usd
Combodrive/30Gb/256MB/1280x854 15"TFT (but with DVI-out and display spanning)
Comments
Better to wait for a solid Ghz, slight video system bump, and a better cache, or, gasp, DDR! You don't need it now, but you will in about 8 months.
If you're only using Office plus iApps, then you'll be fine, but you might want to consider a nice iBook, then. The powerbook is too expensive for that. If you're a photoshopper, then the Ti 's screen and DVI make for a nice (if pricey) photoshop machine. If you use photoshop and don't really NEED portability, might I suggest a nice iMacG4 17". That's a good size screen to work with, a decent video system, a superdrive and a nice big HDD for all your projects. No L3 cache and a slower bus, but for 500 less than a Ti677, the extra clocks, comparable video (the iMac's got a better GPU but it's stuck on a 2X AGP while Ti uses 4X), and better HDD, probably puts it close in a few benches too. Plus you get a superdrive and a much cheaper Applecare option with the iMac.
Really think about your need for portability cause you're looking at pretty big price and optical/storage/RAM/display difference.
iMac 800, $1999usd
Superdrive/80Gb/512MB/1440x900 17"TFT.
Applecare option: $149.
Powerbook 667, $2499usd
Combodrive/30Gb/256MB/1280x854 15"TFT (but with DVI-out and display spanning)
Applecare option: $349 ouch!
[ 07-28-2002: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>