[fourstarcltv]

well, it's come time for a friend of mine to upgrade from her 15" imac 700mhz and she has two machines in mind but can't split them, so i was hoping someone who has experience with either/both machines may be able to help her decide.

g4 powerbook
15" 1.5ghz 512meg ram
radeon mobility 9700 64meg
superdrive
airport express standard

or a

g5 imac
17" 1.8ghz 256meg ram
nvidia 5200 64meg
superdrive

both of these are in the AU$2500 - $3000 range (g4 powerbook used/ex-demo). here are a couple of arguments i've come up with;

- in terms of speed the g5 will take the title, if only by a small margin.
- the imac takes the prize in terms of screen real estate, but the powerbook can be connected to a cinema display etc.
- am i right in saying that the powerbook's graphics card is the better of the two, and can be upgraded? the imac is stuck with the infamous 5200 for life.
- the powerbook oozes class and is a 'pro' model, imac design (in my opinion) not quite as classy.
- powerbook is portable and through the wonders of airport express can be networked whilst outdoors.

any thoughts most appreciated.

[Randman]

I choose a PB17 over an iMacG5 and am quite happy with the choice, though I do think the iMac is a sweet machine (next week or so I'm getting an iMac for a week or so to do an extended usage review for my newspaper).
I prefer the portability of the PowerBook, first and foremost. I also like that the 17 is a very solid desktop replacement. So, if portability is the issue, go for the PowerBook. Also, the 17 does have a better video card and both can have the same amount of ram. Also, the PB is at rev c now while the iMac is rev a.
But since you said she's considering the 15, it gets a little muddled. My choices would be PB17, PB12 iMacG5 and then PB15.
Either way, she's going to get a great machine though.

[ivi]

If your friend just needs a computer, which takes a little space, she will be much happier with imac, if she needs to work elsewhere, then logically it would be an issue with iMac, as simple as that. And on your thoughts

-G5 is a significant improvement over G4, not by small margin
-You can of course connect to external display, they aren't free tho
-Graphics cards cannot be upgraded, and I don't know how apple clocks either card, but I would expect 5200 in iMac to perform better as battery life is not an issue
-Everyone is entitled to his opinion, I don't really like iMac myself
-Powerbook is a "Portable" computer, and saying you can take it outside to its advantage is like saying airplane is better than ship because it can fly.

Powerbook is sexy, portable, self-contained, all in one box

[danny_gasperini]

•The G5 in the iMac will be faster in most tasks, especially FPU, but not by the margin you may think. REAL world tests in CPU intensive applications (ie, www.barefeats.com) show an increase in speed roughly equal to the percentage increase in the clock speed, ie, 1.5GHz v's 1.6/1.8GHz (ie, 7% and 17% respectively)

•The Radeon 9700 Mobility in the PowerBook will blow away the nVidia FX5200 in the iMac. Period. For games, or applications which leverage the GPU like Motion, as well as upcoming technologies in Tiger this is a no brainer. Remember the GPU in the iMac (and PB) is not upgradeable, so the fact that it is not as powerful as the 9700 is a long term problem for the iMac.

•The PowerBook ships with Bluetooth, 802.11g wireless, DVI-out, FireWire 800, Gigabit ethernet, s-video out all standard. You also get complete portability with the PowerBook, not luggability!

Granted, the PowerBook is more espensive, but if you need equivalent/superior perfromance and demand portability, the extra money is worth it.

[fourstarcltv]

thanks for your thoughts guys, i've passed them on -- looks as though she's been swayed to the side of the powerbook.

now, where to find some dollars in order to get one myself

[Luca Rescigno]

Originally posted by ivi:
-G5 is a significant improvement over G4, not by small margin

Wrong, the G5 isn't that much faster than the G4 clock for clock, though the extra 300 MHz will help slightly. I think the 7200 RPM hard drive (vs. 4200 or 5400 RPM in the PowerBook) will make more of a difference than the G5 vs. G4.

-Graphics cards cannot be upgraded, and I don't know how apple clocks either card, but I would expect 5200 in iMac to perform better as battery life is not an issue

You're right that they can't be upgraded, but the rest is wrong. The Mobility 9700 is MUCH faster than the 5200, regardless of battery consumption. Yes, ATI has to use a lower clock speed for their video cards to keep the heat and power consumption down, but that doesn't change the fact that the 9700 uses a much faster and more efficient core and also has double the rendering pipelines of the 5200. Clock speed isn't everything - look at the GeForce 6800. It's twice as fast as the previous reigning champions of the graphics market despite having only a 375 MHz core clock speed (the Radeon 9800 Pro, for example, has a 380 MHz core).

-Powerbook is a "Portable" computer, and saying you can take it outside to its advantage is like saying airplane is better than ship because it can fly.

Uh... what? They both accomplish the same tasks with about the same effectiveness. The PowerBook can be moved around easily and the iMac can't. Maybe it would be more like comparing a regular car to an amphibious car.

Powerbook is sexy, portable, self-contained, all in one box

It sure is!

[Randman]

I just got a 20-inch iMac for review purposes and I must say that I am impressed with. I posted some of the xBench marks on it and my PB17 and other impressions on it in the "I got a free iMac" thread in the iMac section.
I still think I prefer my PB in the long run, but I was very impressed with the G5.
If I had to do it over, I think I'd also consider the iMac and a 12-inch PowerBook or iBook.