[HazelGirl]

I am afraid to consider a 933 iBook for use whiel I am in Europe (it will be my MAIN computer) because I fear it may be too slow....

I do like to have many apps open at the same time, though not real heavy ones...mainly Word, Internet, a Music player, IM/Chat clients (AIM, MSN, Yahoo!). Nothing really serious. Though I do plan on doing a projec to document my year abroad and that will likely include pictures, some video, etc, etc that I want ot put together and edit and stuff. This would be my first such project.

Anyway, IF I switched, the 933 would be more economical...but I fear that it may be really slow.

I also MAY get VPC...though that is not etched in stone.

Is there any real difference in speed between the 1Ghz and the 933Mhz? Is it more so a matter of maxin gout the RAM? I would likely get RAM from crucial....

How's the reception of the iBook for wireless internet?

Do Mac specific programs tkae up a whole lot of space ont eh hard drive? What about the OS? Does that take up a significant amount of space on the hd? Is 60GB enough?

Thanks..

Edit: I'm sorry...I forgot to mention tha tI will not really be doing much gaming on it. MAYBE a cheap internet game, but non of tha thi-tech fancy stuff...I only play stuff like Checkers and Solitaire....lol

[Ω]

As for the processor speeds the difference will be hardly detectable - not being an iBook expert I assume they are both G4??

Get RAM. This will give your machine a boost. OSX loves RAM. 256MB is minimum, 512MB acceptable, more preferable.

As for wireless no idea, but should be fine as long as you can find access points. "Wardriving" seems to all the rage these days!

Install VPC if you really need it, but you should be able to find an app to do almost everything if you look hard enough. I use VPC for an accounting package only. The moment I get a mac equiv VPC is in the bin.

I have a 60GB HD. Do far I have used about 30GB with about 20GB of this being music. You should no real issues unless you are wanting to put movies or lots of photo's on it. If this is the case then look at other means of storage.

As for games, never played them on my PB. On most accounts they work, but the level you seem to be looking at is low level graphics so you should be fine.

Have fun on your trip...

[wataru]

I have an 800MHz G4 iBook. I would say that I use mine more heavily than what you describe, and I find it to be more than enough for my needs.

As always, I highly recommend upgrading to 640MB (or more, if you want to shell out for a 1GB stick) of RAM.

[Lateralus]

The best deal is to take an iBook 933 and BTO it with a 60GB HD for $50 more. That way, you save $150 over the 1GHz iBook and only loose 66MHz, which would make zero difference during average daily use. With the money you would save, I recommend you snag up a 512MB DIMM from somebody like Crucial. The importance of RAM in OS X cannot be stressed enough, even 384MBs is not enough.

You may find the G4 933 quite slow in comparison to something you would find in a PC notebook in the same price range, such as a Pentium 4 2.4GHz or something similar. But you won't find it anywhere near as slow as the actual clock speed would make you think.

Traditionally, the performance of the G4 in comparison to most PC processors has been vastly over exaggerated. Do not expect aa G4 933 to run like and feel like a 1.8 or 1.9GHz Athlon or Pentium 4. You will find that for the most part, it will handle like a 1.2-1.3GHz Athlon/1.5GHz Pentium 4. Which actually isn't all that bad. But the one thing where the G4 truly does shine, and it is something that I have noticed myself after switching from the PC and still going back and forth between one and my Mac: Multitasking. The G4/AltiVec combined with OS X makes for some great multitasking. Simply put, you can run more applications at once on a G4 before the system starts to feel bogged down than you can on any PC processor.

If you go into this not expecting the iBook to do everything including wipe your a$$ for you, I think you will be very happy with the machine. And whatever short comings you may or may not end up seeing will be more than made up for by the fact that the machine runs OS X, which is something you will love more as you use it more.

[brother337]

Like Wataru, I also use my 12" g4 more heavily than you plan on using your future 933 iBook. The 933 should be more than adequate for all the activities you describe. The only thing the iBook does not excel at is gaming, and you've already said you're not going to be doing much of that.

From what I've seen all over the macNN and Apple boards, the consensus seems to be that the while the 1GHz iBook is nice, the 933 MHz is the best value. Everyone says it, but: max out your RAM.

I have no issues with my wireless reception, but I have heard rumblings that the g4 ibooks might have slightly worse airport reception than their g3 counterparts. Like I said, tho, I'm very happy with my wireless performance. And it's easy to set up too! You ever try to set up a Windows laptop on a wireless network? (sheesh. don't ever want to do that again.)

As far as 60 gigs of space. figure that 15-20 gigs will be taken up by system files and applications. That leaves you a conservative 40 gigs free. What's really going to take up your hard drive space are video files. Each gig of HD space will hold about 4 1/2 minutes of DV.

[discotronic]

Originally posted by HazelGirl:

How's the reception of the iBook for wireless internet?

Do Mac specific programs tkae up a whole lot of space ont eh hard drive? What about the OS? Does that take up a significant amount of space on the hd? Is 60GB enough?

Wireless on my iBook is probably one of the best receptions of any laptop I've used.

Mac programs take up about the same amount of space as programs on a PC. You can install OSX to take up anywhere from 1GB to a little over 3GB.

I have my iMac loaded down with applications and about 5GB worth of MP3's. I am only using a little over 20GB on my HD.

If you plan on using VPC, the best advice I can give is max out your RAM. If you only have say 256MB, you will be hating the fact that you have to use the program. Another thing to consider is the OS. I have found that the only version of Windows that is worth using speed wise is Windows 98. 2000 and XP are a joke. Don't multi-task and give VPC the max amount of memory.

[iREZ]

You don't really mention any program in your post which can't be run without VPC, seems like Office X and iLife could handle all that and then some. The speed difference is almost non existent. Get the 933 and load up the book with 640MB, 60g HD and you should be fine. Wireless range on the iBook is way better then my Powerbook (due to the plastice case), not to mention the longer battery life. Get as much RAM as possible, Crucial seems to be the best place to get it. I remember when I was pro PC (god what an idiot I was) good thing my cousin showed me the light when he did, now you cant get me away from my PB, you'll love your iBook, trust me.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Having read the topic of this post I thought I would weigh in with my experience. I bought a 933 MHz iBook G4 back in November. Just got the 256 MB of RAM but TODAY ordered a 512 MB stick from Crucial for $104 including FREE 2 day shipping. I can't wait! This is the best laptop I have ever used. My previous was a 500 MHz Pismo with 640 MB RAM. I thought it was the greatest thing until I received this iBook. You WILL NOT be disappointed. I will post back with comparisons once I get the extra RAM. Wireless connectivity is AWESOME. My wireless router is in the basement and I get 4 solid bars upstairs and even can get reception out to my mailbox outside. One other thing: get the Bluetooth option. You may not need it now but you CANNOT add it later except with an unsightly USB dongle. Hope this helps. BTW, I have had no serious speed issues with only 256 MB RAM. I even use VPC with XP and can use UltimateBet for poker with no problems. Can't wait to see what kind of difference the extra 512 makes.

[James L]

Hey,

I thought I would give you a brief review of what I am currently doing on my iBook G3 600MHZ machine... i.e., one generation older and 333mhz slower than the one you are thinking of.

Working on a website for a client, I have Safari, IE, NN7, and NN4 in classic running for browsers. I am coding html and php in BBEdit, and have Photoshop 7 open in the background (was working on an image a few minutes ago). I also am listening music off of iTunes, and I am chatting with my best friend on iChat. Mail is also open in the background, but not doing anything.

So, that is 9 applications running at this time, and I have NO problems with these ones.

I too take a lot of digital photos which I use iPhoto for, and I edit some movies in iMovie. I notice speed hits in iMovie, but remember that my G3 chip has no altivec, which your G4 one will.

If you want to get into HARDCORE video editing, using Final Cut Pro, then I would recommend a faster machine. If you are into HARDCORE gaming, then I would recommend a machine with a better video card.

If you are happy doing what I described above, don't mind waiting a little bit longer to encode video once it is edited, and have no aspirations to play hardcore 3D video games for the next 2 years, then you will LOVE your iBook.

...hope that helps!

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally posted by James L:
Hey,

I thought I would give you a brief review of what I am currently doing on my iBook G3 600MHZ machine... i.e., one generation older and 333mhz slower than the one you are thinking of.

Working on a website for a client, I have Safari, IE, NN7, and NN4 in classic running for browsers. I am coding html and php in BBEdit, and have Photoshop 7 open in the background (was working on an image a few minutes ago). I also am listening music off of iTunes, and I am chatting with my best friend on iChat. Mail is also open in the background, but not doing anything.

So, that is 9 applications running at this time, and I have NO problems with these ones.

I too take a lot of digital photos which I use iPhoto for, and I edit some movies in iMovie. I notice speed hits in iMovie, but remember that my G3 chip has no altivec, which your G4 one will.

If you want to get into HARDCORE video editing, using Final Cut Pro, then I would recommend a faster machine. If you are into HARDCORE gaming, then I would recommend a machine with a better video card.

If you are happy doing what I described above, don't mind waiting a little bit longer to encode video once it is edited, and have no aspirations to play hardcore 3D video games for the next 2 years, then you will LOVE your iBook.

...hope that helps!

If you are into hardcore gaming I would get an Xbox. Read in the Games forums - even G5 Macs aren't that great with the newest games. Macs aren't built for gaming. Even with a great processor (G5) and video card it's not a good experience (IMO).

[James L]

Macs are actually built GREAT for gaming, but the software companies write very poor ports for the Macintosh platform.

That is not too say they can't be played. On my buds Powerbook (1GHZ 17") I have played many great games, including Halo, MOH, Max Payne, etx.

I would much rather play games, however, on my playstation 2 hooked up to my BIG tv!

[brother337]

Originally posted by James L:
Macs are actually built GREAT for gaming, but the software companies write very poor ports for the Macintosh platform.

That is not too say they can't be played. On my buds Powerbook (1GHZ 17") I have played many great games, including Halo, MOH, Max Payne, etx.

I would much rather play games, however, on my playstation 2 hooked up to my BIG tv!

Actually, years ago, John Carmack who is actually a bit of a mac fan. tried to show that macs were viable gaming machines, but he said that as much as he optimized his code, he was never able to get better gaming performance over a PC. This was a combination of G4 clock speed, available video cards and drivers, and Os X performance.

I'd seriously doubt that since then macs have managed to surpass PCs in gaming (which is, IMHO, the only applications where PCS excel over Macs), but I wonder what he'd say about the new G5 machines.

[James L]

I agree with that statement, but then again we don't need better gaming performance, we just need decent performance.

I too would wonder what changes in the future with the G5 and better video cards.

[TheZee]

Does anyone know if it set in stone that I can only get 512MG RAM to upgrade my iBook G3, 800mhz 256RAM 30G HD? I would like to pump it up even more but everywhere is saying that 512MG is the max I can put in. Anyone know different? I hope so. Any and all advise/guidance will be grately appreciated. Thanks.
Peace,

[Randman]

Zee, you should be able too handle a 1GB stick, giving you 1.12GB of ram.

[TheZee]

Randmann,
Thanks for your encouraging advice. That would be awesome of I could score that much RAM. Just to be on the safe side, I guess I should contact AppleCare and see what they have to say. Don't you agree? Would you happen to know where a good location/site is to purchase such thing? I've looked into MacMall, Mac Connection, places like that. If you come across a difinitive answer as to if there is a 1Gig stick that will fit my iBook G3 please let me know. I was looking into the 512MG upgrade but now I will look into the 1Gig upgrade. Thanks for any and all guidance my bruthahh.
Peace,

[yodacai]

Originally posted by Randman:
Zee, you should be able too handle a 1GB stick, giving you 1.12GB of ram.

I believe only the new iBooks G4s can handle the 1 Gig sticks. I think the older G3s were limited to 640MBs... but I could be wrong.

[discotronic]

I did a search and came up with nothing as far as a 1GB PC133 or 100 SO-DIMM. I am not sure if anyone has made one that size. If anyone knows of a place please share.

[davidflas]

Originally posted by discotronic:
I did a search and came up with nothing as far as a 1GB PC133 or 100 SO-DIMM. I am not sure if anyone has made one that size. If anyone knows of a place please share.

If you're looking for ram that works in an iBook G4 933, here is what you're looking for:

http://www.datamem.com/viewcat.asp?C=1132

[radarbob]

not expect a G4 933 to run like and feel like a 1.8 or 1.9GHz Athlon or Pentium 4.

like just about anything we say about computers... it depends.

I recently got a new PC at work - 2.5GHz Pent.4 w/ XP pro. I can't tell you how surprised I was to see that it was SLOWER in many respects to the 800MHz pentium2 running windoze98 that it replaced. Things like drop down menus, open file dialog boxes. The Find dialog is especially a royal piece of crap. Adding insult to injury was getting MS Office XP. I guess about the only thing Microsoft can think of to "improve" Windoze and Office it to make it very helpful. Tooo helpful. Anoying as hell, and ironically, getting slower despite a "faster" computer.

Just let me tell you from umpteen years of computer experience. A macintosh, ANY macintosh is better than having to deal with windoze.

[discotronic]

Originally posted by davidflas:
If you're looking for ram that works in an iBook G4 933, here is what you're looking for:

http://www.datamem.com/viewcat.asp?C=1132

Sorry. I should have been more specific. I was wondering about the G3 iBook. All I have ever found is 512MB module for the G3. Thnaks for the link though.

[davidflas]

Originally posted by discotronic:
Sorry. I should have been more specific. I was wondering about the G3 iBook. All I have ever found is 512MB module for the G3. Thnaks for the link though.

Ok, I see.. In that case, 512MB is the largest module made. The 1GB modules are only availible in DDR, not PC 100 or PC 133.

[TheZee]

Damn,
I can only install 512MG RAM into my Ivory iBook G3? I was so hoping that I would be able to install more. Like 1Gig. Ahh well, I trust that 512MG will be sufficient to run my system faster. Thanks y'all for your knowledge.
PS: Oh yeah, does anyone know of a good place to purchase said 512MG RAM SODIMM for my iBook? Thanks.
Peace,

[discotronic]

Originally posted by TheZee:
Damn,
I can only install 512MG RAM into my Ivory iBook G3? I was so hoping that I would be able to install more. Like 1Gig. Ahh well, I trust that 512MG will be sufficient to run my system faster. Thanks y'all for your knowledge.
PS: Oh yeah, does anyone know of a good place to purchase said 512MG RAM SODIMM for my iBook? Thanks.
Peace,

Different people will tell you about different places. Here is the place that I have used multiple times. The quality of the memory is great and their service is tops in my book (or iBook). You may find RAM a couple bucks cheaper but the service after the sale is where is counts.

http://www.ramdirect.com/vcom/index.php?cPath=2_40_45

[TheZee]

I want to thank you for sharing your expertise with me. That Ramjet site that you turned me on to is fantastic. They have exactly what I need and their prices are competitve with the other companies I had checked into. I am so looking forwar to upgrading my RAM. My iBook has been so sluggish as of late. Lots of hang time before apps open or processes happen. When I do a diagnostics of the amount of memory I have available after deducting system processes and main user processes I have about 76 Megs. No wonder it's sluggish. I should notice a significant speed increase after upgrading right? Sweeeeeeeeet. Thanks again for all you help. I am buying and installing 512MG RAM this week. Hey, can I pick your brain if I need assistance with the actual installation? You theeee Man !!!
Peace,

[TheZee]

Question: Are there any additional methods to use to increase performance? I mean, can the processor be tweeked or upgraded? Does increasing the Hard Drive do anything to increase performance? Are there any haxies or apps that will increase performance? Thanks for any and all info.
Peace,

[davidflas]

Originally posted by TheZee:
Question: Are there any additional methods to use to increase performance? I mean, can the processor be tweeked or upgraded? Does increasing the Hard Drive do anything to increase performance? Are there any haxies or apps that will increase performance? Thanks for any and all info.
Peace,

Other than adding more RAM, one of the best ways to boost performance is a faster hard drive. The only downside is that you may see slightly shorter battery life. Plus laptop drives are more expensive than desktop drives. Something like this drive would be a good choice for increased performance: http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_It...tem=HIT08K0939

[SplijinX]

Originally posted by radarbob:
like just about anything we say about computers... it depends.

I recently got a new PC at work - 2.5GHz Pent.4 w/ XP pro. I can't tell you how surprised I was to see that it was SLOWER in many respects to the 800MHz pentium2 running windoze98 that it replaced. Things like drop down menus, open file dialog boxes. The Find dialog is especially a royal piece of crap. Adding insult to injury was getting MS Office XP. I guess about the only thing Microsoft can think of to "improve" Windoze and Office it to make it very helpful. Tooo helpful. Anoying as hell, and ironically, getting slower despite a "faster" computer.

Just let me tell you from umpteen years of computer experience. A macintosh, ANY macintosh is better than having to deal with windoze.

WinXP has lots of eye candy stuff that slows down the system if you do not have alot of ram, try reverting to classic view (Right click on desktop -> Prefs -> Themes -> Win Classic). Brings back Win98/2000 feel and speeds things up.

That Office XP Help asssistant can drive you up the wall, kill it ASAP Good luck.

[TheZee]

Who's talking about Windows on a a Mac Forum? And a veteran member no less. Please say it isn't so.
Peace,

[discotronic]

Originally posted by TheZee:
Question: Are there any additional methods to use to increase performance? I mean, can the processor be tweeked or upgraded? Does increasing the Hard Drive do anything to increase performance? Are there any haxies or apps that will increase performance? Thanks for any and all info.
Peace,

You could try this:

http://www.swieskowski.net/icook/

It is a program called iCook. You can overclock the processor on your iBook. It isn't something that is permanent. When you restart the system it goes back to normal. I haven't had a chance to try it myself. There is another thread on the forum that talks about it but it isn't of much use.

[TheZee]

DiscoTronic,
Thanks for the heads up on that app iCook. I checked it out and it sounded really cool, if it really works. The app is only geared for OSX.3 I am running OSX.2.8 at the moment. I am planning on definitely purchasing 512MG RAM SO-DIMM which will bump me up to 640MG RAM. Do you think that will do the job and super charge my iBook's performance? I trust that it will, at least to some extent. Do you kow anything about partitioning the HD? One of our fellow colleagues has sugested that when the HD begins to get filled up, one of the ways to keep up performance levels is to partition the HD. What do you think? Is that something I should do as well? Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and expertise.
Peace,

[qwerty2]

I haven't read this whole thread, but I skimmed it and saw no reference to this performance comparison of the 933 MHz iBook to the 1GHz iBook:

http://macreviewzone.com/html/review...33-12-1g.shtml