[Parrot]

I'm considering upgrading my iBook 900/60G/640MB/12'/airport, to a iBook G4/800/60G/640MB/airport extreme/Bluetooth.

I'm hoping there will be a significant speed improvement (i.e. G4 vs G3, 133 vs 100MHz bus, DDR RAM). The new keyboard seems better and the bluetooth option is attractive.

Any thoughts from those who have made the upgrade????

I was considering the 12" powerbook but it costs lots more with the only benefit being 200MHz more clock speed, and an audio in jack. I actually prefer the iBook case to the powerbook. The other benefit of the powerbook is the option of a superdrive and BTO 80GHD, both of which aren't available on the iBook. Th extra RAM capaicty on the powerbook is another advantage, however going beyond 640MB is extremely expensive at the moment. All in all the iBook seems much better value for money, with little sacrifice in terms of speed. Any thoughts?

[d4nth3m4n]

whats wrong with your 900? that should be a good solid comp for at least a year or 2 still...

[NYCFarmboy]

I really don't understand why you would want to "upgrade" so soon, but hey...if you have a friend/family member who needs your ibook go for it!

Someone will chime in with what the speed improvements will be going from 900 mhz G3 to 800 mhz G4. (caugh)

Honestly I just don't get why on earth you would upgrade for so little difference in laptops....Maybe this is a joke?

If you are going to upgrade at all, get the 12" Powerbook with a DVD burner.

[anaphora68]

There is a speed bump when going from a G3 processor to a G4. I've used a 900 MHZ G3 and a new iBook 800 and and the G4 800 is definitely faster.

You're talking about two completely different chips, different architectures, so many factors. The iBook 800 uses faster RAM.

That's my two cents.

[Parrot]

Thanks for the replies!

Another question. Does anyone know why an extra 512MB of DDR266 RAM costs $150US for the G4iBook and $300US for the 12" powerbook? I thought they both used the same RAM.

[jokell82]

I couldn't imagine the speed difference being anything noticeable... Hell, the G4 800's I've used don't seem much faster than my 700 G3.

[snowdropper]

Originally posted by Parrot:
Thanks for the replies!

Another question. Does anyone know why an extra 512MB of DDR266 RAM costs $150US for the G4iBook and $300US for the 12" powerbook? I thought they both used the same RAM.

as far as i know they use the same RAM, 266. you sure you arent looking at the 15" RAM? that is 333 which would explain the price difference.

are these prices from the same source?

[Parrot]

Hi snowdropper,

I was comparing the RAM prices directly from the online apple store (www.apple.com). And I was comparing the DDR266 memory used in the 12" powerbook, not the DDR333 memory used on the bigger powerbooks. Not sure why there's a price difference between RAM for the G4 iBook and the 12" powerbook? Is there a difference?

[sniffer]

Why not put some money to the side, and wait until the next revision of the iBook? Then the difference might be a little easier to justify.

[si_lance]

all this power talk... are people maxing out their G3s? Or are you upgrading for bragging rights?

btw, this is my 2nd Mac, my first was a Quadra660AV with a 68040 chip running at 25Mhz so this G4/800 is a HUGE difference. (I've been using a laptop from the darkside in between Macs).

[Parrot]

Well I did it. I've just got my new G4 iBook/800/12"/60G/640MB/Airport/Bluetooth.


Compared to my old iBook 900...

1. Speed improvement: Quite noticable on applications like Office, Safari, Preview and VPC

2. Keyboard: Much improved. Doesn't flex.

3. Screen: Seems brighter with better detail, despite being the same resolution

4. Slot loading CD. Nice improvement over the tray one

5. Blue tooth: nice feature

6. Airport range: similar

7. Battery life: An improvement

8. Sound quality: There is definitely an improvement here. For some reason the G4 iBooks speakers sound better than those on my iBook 900. Not sure why.

I'll be selling my old iBook 900 on ebay.

In summary, a significant improvement. Worth upgrading.

[Cowz]

Much thanks to Parrot. I am going to upgrading in the near future (Powerbook "Lombard" 333Mhz G3) to an iBook 12" and these types of comments are truely useful.

[ginoledesma]

For what its worth, I think the improvement will only be felt when using Mac OS X and applications that take advantage of Altivec. I'm guessint you'll find iLife apps going to be sligthly snappier on the iBook G4 12"/800. But generally, I think the speed improvement, if any, would be marginal.

The iBook G3/900 will probably be faster on Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X apps not using Altivec. A move to the iBook G4/933 would probably be much better overall, if you don't mind the added size (and price).

[OreoCookie]

That ain't no upgrade.

[khufuu]

Thanks Parrot:

I'm thinking of doing the same thing and was wondering about any speed differences. I'm moving from a 700 MHz machine however so I'd imagine that I'd see a noticeable difference.

[natan]

Originally posted by Parrot:
8. Sound quality: There is definitely an improvement here. For some reason the G4 iBooks speakers sound better than those on my iBook 900. Not sure why.

Do you mean using the iBook's minijack out or the internal speakers?

[djohnson]

What about compile times in Project Builder on an 800G4 iBook vs. a beige G3 @ 466mhz? More than 2 times as fast?

I think I will wait until the next revision comes out though. I only have 22.7% of the amount saved up so far...