[striker100]

Well not so much nervous as I'd like to know what kind of increase in performance I could expect going from a 1.33GHz 17" Powerbook with 512mb of ram & the 4200rpm HD to the new 1.5GHz version with the 5400rpm HD and 128mb video card.

My 17" PB has been perfect from day one with no problems and the display is gorgeous with no bad pixels.
If the performance increase is quite a bit I would sell my PB and take the chance that the new one might night have a perfect display. But if the increase in performance is not that much I'd happily stay with my current PB and add 512mb of ram.

If anyone knows first hand or can direct me to comparisons between the 1.33 & 1.5GHz 17" PB I'd love to hear it.

[365]

The difference in speed will be almost imperceptible. If you have a perfect PB at the moment and don't find yourself sat waiting for the machine to catch up to you, stick with what you have.

[toshigen]

Yeah, you're not going to see any huge jump in performance. Stick with what you have and upgrade the RAM.

You can see some speed comparisons here (although they still haven't tested the new machines with 128Mb of video ram):
http://www.barefeats.com/pb11.html

[urrl78]

Yah, wait for the G5's then perhaps you will have your socks knocked off. I have a 17" Rev. A and am waiting.

[heresiarh]

I personally think nobody should upgrade to the new power books if they have the older aluminiun ones. wait for the g5 pbooks to come out.

[Cadaver]

I agree with comments above - keep your current 17" PB. There's no compelling reason to buy a new machine now.
If you want something to upgrade, add RAM and a faster HD - a 5400 rpm with 8MB cache or, if you don't mind the battery drain, a 7200 rpm drive. Those upgrades will deliver far more real-world performance boost than an extra 170MHz.

[bcaslis]

I have to agree, I have a 1.5GHz 17" and tried a 1.33 for two weeks. The difference is very small. Also from my testing if you use automatic performance in the energy settings, the 1.33 will actually be faster. The new processors converse energy by throttling to half frequency rather than in steps like the old one. Unless you do games all the time and want the extra vram stay with what works, you won't regret it. Hey, save the money and buy more ram, it's the best thing to do for OS X!

[heresiarh]

RAM is oxygen for OSX.

[striker100]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I took your advice and ordered 512mb of ram from Crucial today for my 1.33GHz Powerbook. Of course your right, the difference wouldn't be that much and I'm better off waiting for the G5 Powerbook whenever it's announced.
I also picked up an iCurve and the Brenthaven Professional 17" case from the Apple Store.
My Powerbook is so beautiful I'd be a fool to take the chance for such a small increase in power.

[heresiarh]

congrats.