[juniortai]

OK, I've been doing some research about getting a new laptop... I've done comparisons and it just seems like a PB is the way to go... like I can get the 12 inch 1.5 G4 with 768 DDR, stocked everything else for less than $1500.

My question however... what is a 1.5Ghz G4 like in terms of a Pentium 4 speed? My friend said that a 1.5Ghz G4 seem at like 2.0Ghz P4. With 768 ram, some people will say it'll seem even faster than that.

Another question... obviously, you can find a lot of pirated software for PCs on the net. Is it just as available for MAC programs? Just wondering... I don't exactly have a great paying job haha.

Thanks for your input, definately appreciate all your feedback. Feel free to post any reasons TO or NOT TO switch to a PB.

note - i will be using it lightly for audio recording/editing/encoding programs. that should help a little with your response.

total pc user and mac newb,
-charlie

[johnpop]

Hello, I just switched over from a:
Dell (with plenty of upgrades)
P4 2.4ghz
1.5gb of PC3200
9800 Pro (256bit, 256mb)
XP Home

Anyway I was either going to get a killer DIY Athlon 64 system or something portable like a powerbook. I decided to get the Powerbook and I am really happy with it so far (but am still on the edge as far as being happy with $200 refund, or upset with missing revD) my powerbook setup should be in my sig

My XP system really had some problems that caused it to be pretty unstable, but I had no viruses or bullshti like that. I fixed everything last weekend and now my brother is happily playing CS:Source on it.


My thoughts so far:
In terms of speed for desktop use where nothing requieres high CPU usage like surfing, music listening, or word processing the computer has been terrific) I have had two hard lockups from times when I overloaded the computer, I think this would have happened on my PC too.

I have not had a chance to do any hard work on it yet such as music encoding (either to lossless, or from lossless to mp3/aac) or video encoding (such as mpeg2 to mpeg4 xvid) but I think it will be slower than my PC. Any hard tasks like this that would take hours on my PC are left to the PC. After reformating last weekend it is much more stable and it is always on so it is generally better for these tasks. I also leave bittorrent running on this computer, my laptop is not awake or connected to the internet enough to do this.

As far as borrowing software that costs way too fricking much, I have had luck with all big name programs, but smaller outfits like sidetrack I pay for. If you need any more info PM me

And so far I have had better luck with audio encoding and playback on my PC, I don't do any recording or editing though.

[PMDaly]

I'd say a 1.5ghz pb is actually more than 2.0ghz in p4. My roomate has a 2.8ghz p4 with 512 ram, high graphics... loaded right. I have a 1.5ghz pb (1 month before the upgrade urgh!), with 512 ram, superdrive, etc.... i'd say it's much faster. His pc 'studders' when he clicks on more than 2 programs at once... my pb opens them much faster and almost instantaneously, unless of course you're opening macromedia or photoshop programs, but those will take some time on any computer. I am very happy with my purchase. I am a first time mac user as well and I won't be switching back to pc's even if those crappy machines are half the price. I'm willing to pay much more for a mac. As far as doing anything sketchy such as dvd copying or d/ling programs it's the same as a pc. D/l the program using limewire and search for a serial. Although I don't reccomend doing this... if you are tight on money it's a possibility. The only thing is, if you want to customize your mac by using utilities like shapeshifter, launchbar, or konfabulator you need to purchase them, which is not a big deal at all. These programs are extremely cheap. They're all like 20bux. Oh, the very first program you should purchase is launchbar!! Once you get the trial version, you really can't live w/o it. Forget all these ppl that say quicksilver is the way to go. It's just a crappy rip off of launchbar. Msg me if you need help with any of this stuff. I uh, know a guy who does all this stuff haha.