[mosespatrader]

I am in the market for a desktop mac, I am currently using a 12" Powerbook and the screen size is too small and the performance is not up to par.

I do Java development fulltime as a contractor on my mac and with my PowerBook I on a regular basis get the spinning wait ball. I was thinking of the new dual 1.8 but wondering if that is too much power for what I need? Should I instead look at a refurbished 1.6 or 1.8 single processor Mac?

Also how important is the speed of the front side bus? I see all the PowerMacs have differebt speeds.

thanks in advance.

scott.

[macaddict0001]

The powermacs have different frontside bus speeds because all of them have fsb's that are half of procceser speed.

[wulf]

Personally I would go for the dual. Even if one processor gets busy with an intensive task, the other is free for anything else you are running, and the GUI stays responsive. Also, the machine will have better longevity. If I was in the market for another desktop right now it would probably be a dual 1.8 refurb (rev. a).

[Randman]

What speed is your PB? And how much ram do you have? A spinning beach ball sounds to me like you need more ram, not more power.

Also, you could always add an external monitor.

[Eriamjh]

No computer can be too powerful.

[videian28]

agreed, there is no such thing as to much power, it just makes the life of the computer greater

[Randman]

Originally posted by videian28:
agreed, there is no such thing as to much power, it just makes the life of the computer greater

Agreed. But it is also true that one can have too little ram.

[MuttleyMac]

Your powerbook is fine depending on the speed.
Get the ram maxed and try it. You may save a lot of money.
Besides the portability!
The hard drive is much slower on the book.
Max the ram.

[MindFad]

Originally posted by Eriamjh:
No computer can be too powerful.

[Eriamjh]

Originally posted by Eriamjh:
No computer can be too powerful.

It's because in 12months, something else will be faster. So buy what you want.