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mrweirdo · Mar 31, 2004, 01:27 PM

Hello again I posted something similar to this in the ibook section about a G3. I have since decided to go with a PB with a G4 instead. For what I'm looking to spend it would seem i can get a PB G4 500mhz with OS X lapy or something like an IBM Thinkpad P3 1ghz with gentoo linux or other distro. Apple is nice but it scares me a bit since i have never used them before cept for at school. Anyways what do you think offers beter performance between the two?

Lateralus · Mar 31, 2004, 01:31 PM

Eh... The P3 will probably have the edge. But it depends on how you will be using the machine. Care to give us an example of what you'll be using the notebook for?

mrweirdo · Mar 31, 2004, 01:34 PM

sure it will be used for ocassional school work such as office documents or browsing the web. It will also be used for multimedia such as watching DVDs, and listening to music(mp3,etc).

I will also mention that it bugs me when apps that I open take awhile so I could say I am somewhat impatiant when it comes to waiting on a computer

Lateralus · Mar 31, 2004, 01:49 PM

Well, with any lower-end Mac and OS X, you're going to need to develop patience if you want to enjoy the machine. OS X is a modern, next-generation operating system, unlike Windows XP. OS X still pushes most of the hardware that is out there pretty hard.

But for everything you mentioned, basic use, the PowerBook will be a fine machine and a great introduction to OS X. If you are not satisfied with the speed of the machine, sell it and pick up a Power Mac G4 or another higher-end machine.

One thing that will help the speed of the PowerBook is RAM. RAM, RAM, RAM. OS X eats RAM. Which can be a good thing since the system does get faster as you add more RAM, unlike Windows XP which stops caring about how much RAM you have beyond 256MBs.

In addition, you'd be better off going with an iBook G4 than a lower end PowerBook. Reason being that the iBooks have Radeon video cards, that the lower-end PowerBooks do not have. You need to have a Radeon or a GeForce to run QuartzExtreme, which is basically a function in OS X by which the 'demand' of generating the user interface and special effects like minimizing are put on the video card rather than on the processor. Putting all that weight on the video card and taking it off of the processor speeds up the system by a good 20-30%, easily.

You'll be hard pressed to find anybody who recommends that you get a notebook that doesn't support QuartzExtreme.

mrweirdo · Mar 31, 2004, 01:58 PM

The problem with the iBook G4 is they seem to be a bit hard to find expecialy on ebay. I am looking to go used so I dont have to pay the extra upfront cost and I dont mind if there are a few minor scratches because I can safely say I am likely to add my own to it. Would you have any ideas on other places to look for used apple notebooks? I know apple does have a few refurbs on their site but they are somewhat more then I need and are expensive.

Lateralus · Mar 31, 2004, 02:06 PM

Originally posted by mrweirdo:
The problem with the iBook G4 is they seem to be a bit hard to find expecialy on ebay. I am looking to go used so I dont have to pay the extra upfront cost and I dont mind if there are a few minor scratches because I can safely say I am likely to add my own to it. Would you have any ideas on other places to look for used apple notebooks? I know apple does have a few refurbs on their site but they are somewhat more then I need and are expensive.

You're not going to find anything on eBay cheaper than what it goes for refurbished. 90% of the time, the refusbished deals are better than anything you will find on eBay, or from anywhere else.

Though, you may or may not have luck posting a Wanting-To-Buy thread in the Marketplace forum here. Reason I say you may not is because most people will see little reason to let their notebook sell for less here than it would for on eBay. But you may get lucky, I have a few times. Just make the point that you want a Mac badly but you're strapped for cash, you might get a sympathy sale. It has happened before.

But in the end, you might want to save a little longer so that you can get an iBook G4 if you cant find a really good deal on a used one. QuartzExtreme machines provide a totally different feel in OS X, much more fluid and speedy. Much more useable. They are worth the extra money, easily.

z|gzag · Apr 1, 2004, 08:54 AM

It would be more than perfect for what you want to do with it. Panther would run very fast on it.

pat++ · Apr 1, 2004, 04:45 PM

Get a PowerBook 667 (DVI) instead of the 500mhz... It's definitely worth it because it will support Quartz Extreme. Be careful, The first PowerBook 667 (gigabit ethernet) did not support Quartz Extreme (it only had ATI Rage Mobility instead of ATI Radeon 7500 for the 667 DVI). Also, starting with DVI models, the screen resolution is better (1280x854 instead of 1152x768 for previous models). Definitely worth it.

Lateralus · Apr 1, 2004, 05:28 PM

Originally posted by pat++:
Get a PowerBook 667 (DVI) instead of the 500mhz... It's definitely worth it because it will support Quartz Extreme. Be careful, The first PowerBook 667 (gigabit ethernet) did not support Quartz Extreme (it only had ATI Rage Mobility instead of ATI Radeon 7500 for the 667 DVI). Also, starting with DVI models, the screen resolution is better (1280x854 instead of 1152x768 for previous models). Definitely worth it.

The only two PowerBook G4s that did not support QuartzExtreme were the 400 and 500. Every other one did. The 667 Gigabit had a Rage M6, another name for Radeon.