Pismo G4 upgrade?

Comments

• Reply 1 of 6

  donny Posts: 231member

  July 1, 2002 7:48PM

  Your thinking is similar to mine. However, I would like some user observed feedback, also, before making such a plunge and sending my machine away for a week to two weeks. I agree with most everything you said in your post, and unfortunately, I have no more information to add. Although, I have read that NuPower (whatever the name...no time to look it up and my memory is shot right now) offers a 2 week turn-around time while the other, older vendor offers the same thing within only a week.
  
  
  
  [ 07-01-2002: Message edited by: Donny ]</p>
• Reply 2 of 6

  sdw2001 Posts: 18,016member

  July 2, 2002 8:56AM

  First, I don't think there are any shipping Pismo G4 upgrades as of yet, though I believe Newer Tech is going to announce one.
  
  
  
  Assuming there was one available at 500MHZ, I wouldn't even consider it. If we went to 800MHZ , I would consider it, but probably reject it.
  
  
  
  My Pismo is a 500 MHZ, so it's a bit different. But, if I were you, I'd sell the Pismo on Ebay for $800-950 and put it towards a PB G4.
• Reply 3 of 6

  pikachu invasion Posts: 19member

  July 6, 2002 7:05PM

  I am looking into the possibility of upgrading my pismo as well, but I have pretty much decided to wait until it hits closer to 600 MHz.
  
  
  
  The 500MHz G4 is only a 25% increase in processor speed for non-AltiVec enhanced functions.
  
  
  
  It all depends on how much you need AltiVec. When it comes down to it, $300 for a G4 system is a good deal.
• Reply 4 of 6

  sdw2001 Posts: 18,016member

  July 7, 2002 8:46AM

  I don't think you are going to get one for that kind of money. Try $500. And, you still have an aged machine, a non-upgradable video card, and a screen which is not as good as more recent ones (mine is fine, but not as bright as the newer iBooks....I also here the new Ti's screenis far better).
• Reply 5 of 6

  spart Posts: 2,060member

  July 7, 2002 12:16PM

  Turnaround time? If you install it yourself it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, pop off the keyboard, maybe a heat sink and swap the processor cards and you're in business. It's as easy as installing RAM in the lower slot. I've done that for my iMac, and it as much harder to take apart than a portable. Take off back panel, undo some screws, pop off monitor/speaker connectors and stuff, slide out guts, remove RF shield, then remove heat sink compared to just removing the keyboard. <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
• Reply 6 of 6

  jmp Posts: 31member

  July 7, 2002 12:57PM

  Hi, seems like a few people in this thread might not be aware that G4 upgrades for Pismo PowerBooks were released two weeks ago-hence all of the argument about price, turnaround time, etc. Both Powerlogix and the resurrected Newer Technology (through OWC) charge $299 for a 500MHz G4 and turnaround time is around one week. As I understand it, you send your complete Pismo in, then they remove the old G3 processor and solder on a new G4 processor. It's not a completely new processor card as with all of the older upgrades for Wallstreet and Lombard. I read this is because Apple moved some of their proprietary chips onto the processor module in Pismo's, and the upgrade makers can't buy them, so the only option is to solder a G4 onto the existing board.
  
  
  
  Although this makes the upgrades less expensive, it seems like a less ideal solution to me-with the older swap-the-processor-card upgrades, you could always put your old processor back in if you had a problem or incompatibility. With these Pismo upgrades, you're stuck with the upgrade for better or worse.
  
  
  
  Links are below:
  
  
  
  <a href="http://www.powerlogix.com/products/pismo.html"; target="_blank">http://www.powerlogix.com/products/pismo.html</a>;
  
  <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Item.cfm?ID=4728&Item=NWTNPG4P500"; target="_blank">http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Item.cfm?ID=4728&Item=NWTNPG4P500</a>;