[dosequis]

I have been reading many posts wbout how the ibooks are great for internet and word preocessing but if someone wants to use photoshop they should get the powerbook. Well I was given the ibook G4 as a present and so that is what I have. I do however have 768mb of Ram and and external 60GB HD. Is the ibook still going to be too slow for photoshop?

PS. Sorry if this doesn't belong in this forum.

[jamil5454]

It depends on how intense your Photoshop usage is. It is easily fast enough for Photoshop, but not as fast as a Dual G5. The PowerBook will probably be around 20-30% faster if it really matters to you. The worst part about the iBook is not the speed, it's the permanent 1024x768 resolution. But on the other hand, there are ways to get around this and hook up a second monitor into spanning mode.

[TimothyJay]

I actually have an iBook (1.2ghz) with a 768 mb ram as well, and I have to say, it is fast enough to run Photoshop. I often use Photoshop along with InDesign and Illustrator, and it has not failed me yet. I also use Photoshop on my desktop, which is a 2.8ghz P4 w/ 1gb ram, and the only difference I see between the 2 is the boot-up of Photoshop, but that may be due to the harddrive speed (7200rpm for desktop, and 4200rpm for iBooks).

[Gamoe]

As has been stated in some form, it depends on what use you give it, and also on the requirements of the app. I use Photoshop on my 1Ghz. eMac, why shouldn't it run on a faster iBook? I used to run 3-D modeling (Bryce) software on my PowerBook 1400c/166.

Generally, desktops will always be faster than the notebooks of the same (computer) epoch, but notebooks will be faster than the desktops of previous epochs. And you can still do the same things you did with the desktops, just a few years ago as well or even better. So, unless its very cutting edge, you should have no problems running just about an Mac compatible apps available today and during the next few years on your iBook.

Full enough of an explanation? ;-)

[Mojo]

I run PS on a 1GHZ G4 iBook and it works just fine. If you are a photo pro doing complex PS work using multiple layers, etc. then the time saved by upgrading to a G5 might be worth the extra $$$. But the relatively small speed difference between an iBook and PowerBook won't make a difference to folks like you and me.

Just keep in mind that it wasn't so long ago that a G4 CPU was the fastest thing around and PS users could not wait to get their hands on one. The G4 is still plenty fast for all but the most demanding digital processing, so relax and enjoy your new iBook.

[TimothyJay]

Originally Posted by Mojo

If you are a photo pro doing complex PS work using multiple layers, etc. then the time saved by upgrading to a G5 might be worth the extra $$$.

Well, I work with a lot of layers for my projects for school, and honestly, it still runs well. As long as you have enough ram, you're good to go. But I do agree, if you can afford an upgrade to maybe a Powerbook (if you want something portable), I'd go for it. I mean, who wouldn't want something faster? But since G5's arent available for the iBooks or Powerbooks yet, it's just a matter of how patient you are about waiting til they come out.

I'm not a very patient guy when it comes to speed with working with Photoshop, InDesign or Illustrator, but with the speed of my 1.2 ghz/768mb iBook, I can't complain.

[Mojo]

I have 1.2GB of RAM. I do very little image manipulation in PS because I'm one of those old fashion guys who aim for doing it all in the camera. I'm mainly fixing the artifacts created by going from film to digital. It's nice to hear that there is some processing headroom in my G4.

One thing that seems important when running Photoshop is a separate sratch volume, either on an internal or external drive. I've run into severe fragmentation that I attributed to using the affected volume as my PS scratch disk. I switched to an external Firewire drive with a scratch partition and no more fragmentation. I understand that PS may also run faster on the 7200 RPM external drive, but someone else will have to confirm it because I may be wrong about that.

[TimothyJay]

Originally Posted by Mojo

It's nice to hear that there is some processing headroom in my G4.

Definitely. I was hesitant about getting an iBook because of my experience using G5's at our campus. I was uncertain of the change in speed going from a G5 to a G4 in iBooks. But it surprised the heck out of me when running PS alongside other programs. I think people give little credit to what the iBooks can do.

[nredman]

i use photoshop on my 12inch iBook (800mhz 640mb) - i used to use photoshop when i only had 256mb of memory - it was slow but worked. works great with 640mb now. the only issue i have with using my iBook with photoshop is the small screen size.

[Wiskedjak]

seconded on screen size. 1024x768 is simply not enough for photoshop

[Mojo]

Yes, the screen size is a limitation. If it weren't for Expose I probably could not use the 12" iBook. But an iBook has been my Main Mac for 3+ years now and a 12" screen seems just fine for everday use.

When I go to a computer store the 30" Apple Cinema Display (and even the 20" iMac screen) are real mind blowers. And the $200 price drop on the 20" ACD makes it a more attractive option. If I was editing lots of images/movies or needing a multiple-page display capability then I would be on one of those like a dog on a bone.

[ccsccs7]

Wow! MacNN has changed quite a bit since I've been around.

I was just at an Apple store yesterday and it just amazes me seeing that little Mac Mini driving that huge display. Using Photoshop is kinda tough on this small screen (or ImageReady which I'm using more often these days). It's a good thing with iBooks newer than mine that you can use an additonal display with a small hack.

Working with too little RAM and too many images or layers can be quite slow (but doable!). Mac OS X is just so much more stable. I ran out of disk room for virtual memory, programs stopped responding, etc, but I was able to keep going. This was with 640MB of memory and maybe 50 4MP images open.

For simple design work, my 600MHz G3 can handle all the basic stuff. It's so much faster than a 60MHz (that's right, 60) PowerPC 601. GoLive is kinda slow though.