[cgu]

I have been using my 867 Ti Powerbook for about a week now and am really enjoying, however; I do notice that it seems slower than my PC. I find that it takes longer to import pictures into iphoto than it does on my PC when I import them into my Canon software. It also seems to take a while to open applications such as word. I have heard that OSX uses a lot of RAM, is it likely that I would notice a significant speed difference if I add more RAM. Is there anything else I should be doing to help increase the speed. I also notice that when I am surfing the web, graphics seems to take a few additional seconds to load up (longer than it does on my PC). I wonder if this is because my PC is wired to my router and the Mac is using a wireless card.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks

[BkueKanoodle]

MAX out the RAM! That should do the trick nicely. As far as pages loading slower, its not your network connection, as the bottleneck there would be your net connection. Regardless of what the marketing folks tell you, Safari isn't always faster then IE on the PC. In fact in my own informal speed test, (comparing how long it takes to load a browser and load Macnn.com) my centrino 900mhz pc beats my 12 pb everytime.

Having said that, I think RAM will help this problem too. Honestly though, after a few days you won't notice the difference, and OS X other benefits will make you forget the diifference.

[Eug]

No question, the OS's thumbnail view (auto-creation of thumbnails from jpegs in the Finder/Explorer) is slower on my TiBook 1 GHz as compared to my Celeron 1.4. My TiBook has 768 MB, and my Celeron has 512 MB RAM.

Plus iPhoto and Office on the Mac aren't the fastest pieces of software (but are OK).

When the 15" PowerBook gets a new G4 with 1.5 GHz CPU and DDR support, or a new G5, I'm buying one immediately.

The G4 TiBook is a great computer as an overall package, and superior to many faster x86 laptops. However, the TiBook's forte is definitely not raw speed.

[alpha rays max]

I'd concur with the posts so far.

I too have a Ti 867. It came with 256 MB RAM and I added another 256 stick. 512 MB is enough for the things I use it for, more often than not, although certainly add as much RAM as you can afford. OS X certainly is RAM hungry.

IE on Windows does seem slightly faster than Safari on my PowerBook, but the difference really isn't that noticeable (to me, anyway) particularly once you start using your TiBook more.

When I first started using OS X back in 2001, as much as I enjoyed it, I was a little concerned about its overall responsiveness. Things have progressed by leaps and bounds in those two years and Panther is already slated to be a huge improvement in the "Snappiness(TM)" department.

I'll be happy as hell when they put a G5 in the PB, but until then, my TiBook is more than fast enough. I think you'll think so too after you use it more.

[skyman]

Originally posted by cgu:
I have been using my 867 Ti Powerbook for about a week now and am really enjoying, however; I do notice that it seems slower than my PC. I find that it takes longer to import pictures into iphoto than it does on my PC when I import them into my Canon software. It also seems to take a while to open applications such as word. I have heard that OSX uses a lot of RAM, is it likely that I would notice a significant speed difference if I add more RAM. Is there anything else I should be doing to help increase the speed. I also notice that when I am surfing the web, graphics seems to take a few additional seconds to load up (longer than it does on my PC). I wonder if this is because my PC is wired to my router and the Mac is using a wireless card.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks

It's not so much a problem with your PowerBook but a problem with OS X and certain applications.

iPhoto slows my 1GHz Ti PowerBook (768 MEG RAM) down whenever I have it open as does MS Word. This is more a problem with how the software interacts with the OS X.

Yes, adding more RAM will indeed help but it will not solve the problem completely.

I have been hearing good things about Panther in regards to speed and Panther should make a significant speed difference on most systems. But, we shall see.

[rjt1000]

Quote:

I also notice that when I am surfing the web, graphics seems to take a few additional seconds to load up (longer than it does on my PC). I wonder if this is because my PC is wired to my router and the Mac is using a wireless card.
========

Hi,

I've definitely noticed a difference in web browser performance between a wired vs wireless connection with my smc barricade router. wired is definitely snappier, and uploads especially are dramatically better vs wireless, even with strongest airport signal strength.

best wishes,

rich (pismo g3 500 / airport card)

[SEkker]

And OSX DOES make up for some of this lost time by its stability. I load up word maybe only 2-3 times a week, and yet use it everyday. It does seem to load slowly, tho, compared to the PC we have. But when it's in RAM, both are instant on. Moral: get as much RAM as you can afford.

iPhoto is a VERY slow program. This has nothing to do with OS X or the processor. I've used any number of similar programs that are MUCH faster. Not sure where the bottleneck is, tho. I'm working on the assumption that it's a harddrive intensive application and my slow PB HD is crippling iPhoto.

[jsnyder]

Originally posted by SEkker:
And OSX DOES make up for some of this lost time by its stability. I load up word maybe only 2-3 times a week, and yet use it everyday. It does seem to load slowly, tho, compared to the PC we have. But when it's in RAM, both are instant on. Moral: get as much RAM as you can afford.

iPhoto is a VERY slow program. This has nothing to do with OS X or the processor. I've used any number of similar programs that are MUCH faster. Not sure where the bottleneck is, tho. I'm working on the assumption that it's a harddrive intensive application and my slow PB HD is crippling iPhoto.

While iPhoto is simply somewhat slow by its nature, some of the slowdown, as you add more photos, is due to the way it stores metadata.

All of the iApps use flat XML files, which doesn't scale well to massive databases. Apple would be much better off simply using an existing open source database solution like mysql or postgresql or some sort of derivative.

If you think its slow by default, though, try it on an iBook iPhoto is much more usable on a 12" G4. Even zooming on photos was choppy on the iBook.

[cgu]

Thanks everyone for your replies and suggestions. I think I will max out the RAM in the next couple of months and see what difference that makes. A few of you suggested that Panther may make things snappier. Will Panther be a free download or will we have to purchases it? Also, with download will we have to delete everything already on our system and then start again or will it be like an upgrade to OSX?

Anyway, I am at the cottage with my family and friends and am loving my computer up here. I've been organizing photos instantly, putting together slide shows and listening to music on the ipod. In the next couple of days I hope to try out imovie from the video's we've been taking up here.

Thanks again to all of you for your help and quick replies.

[ae86_16v]

Panther should be out around September, the latest rumors are saying and by the way that the Builds are being distributed to the developers. Officially Steve Jobs said Panther will be ready by the end of the year. In terms of price, it'll probably be $129 and educational pricing will be $79. Like Jaguar, it could be that they might offer it for free to teachers and professors.

I notice that my SMC Barricade Wireless router sometimes hangs up too, it could be for a few seconds, sometimes I even lose the connection and have to reset the route.

[rjt1000]

Quote:

I notice that my SMC Barricade Wireless router sometimes hangs up too, it could be for a few seconds, sometimes I even lose the connection and have to reset the route.
==========

Hi ae86_16v

Yes ! I have that very same problem with the SMC7004AWBR

So annoying.

Interestingly the wired version of the same router (which I also have) has no such problem.

Wish there was a way to fix that. Is there a ROM upgrade perhaps? I was also thinking maybe it was an interaction between the router and my cable ISP provider?

Best wishes,

Rich (Pismo G3 500)

[E5o]

Ditto! Been having problems with hang-ups ever since I got the SMC BARRICADE 7004AWBR.

When it hangs up it almost always for at least an hour or often longer. It is really starting to grow on my to the point where I almost have to fork up for an AirPort.

The only solution that really works is resetting the router, although I some times get away with unplugging an plugging in the cable to the WAN port.

(just a sympathy posting

peace E5o

Originally posted by rjt1000:
Quote:

I notice that my SMC Barricade Wireless router sometimes hangs up too, it could be for a few seconds, sometimes I even lose the connection and have to reset the route.
==========

Hi ae86_16v

Yes ! I have that very same problem with the SMC7004AWBR

So annoying.

Interestingly the wired version of the same router (which I also have) has no such problem.

Wish there was a way to fix that. Is there a ROM upgrade perhaps? I was also thinking maybe it was an interaction between the router and my cable ISP provider?

Best wishes,

Rich (Pismo G3 500)

[ae86_16v]

Yeah, it sucks, next time, I am definitely going with NetGear or something like that.

SMC does have good tech support though, if you could understand them .