[fr33daddy]

I'm a total speed freak when it comes to computers. I've been looking at buying an iBook for a long time, as i will be transferring to a 4 year college this fall and need something portable (i currently have an HP desktop with a space-hogging monitor). I plan to max out the RAM on my iBook, but i saw that the 12" iBooks only have 1.2 gHz processor speed. now i know that all processors are clocked differently, and that mac processors are faster on average than pentiums or athlons (moreso with the pentiums), so i was wondering if anyone knew the pentium equivalent for 1.2 gHz powerPC processor (i.e. what would the pentium equivalent clock at?).

thanks,
fr33daddy

[ghporter]

Apples can't be compared to oranges-or Pentiums. The way the PowerPC CPU works in a Mac is very different from the way a Pentium works in a PC.

As an example, my wife's 800MHz G4 iBook is at least as speedy as my son's 1.8GHz AthlonXP PC. Probably more so because she doesn't have all the junk my son accumulates on his machine, but you get the point.

It is not the clock speed that is important, but how the CPU uses that clock that is the issue, and Macs are more efficient than PCs at using clock speed. And the OS and applications, being radically different, do things in different ways that make it hard to say "a Mac clocked at 'X' would run as fast as a PC clocked at 'Y'."

For a really useful comparison, check into reviews PC Magazine has done on recent Macs. They are impressed by the 1.2 and 1.3GHz PowerPC based computers.

[Randman]

Most speed freaks obsess about numbers and not actual performance.

[fr33daddy]

Well, maybe i should have said practical speed freak. or even better, speed whore. all i know is that i run an ungodly amount of applications at the same time and have very little patience when it comes to loading times, lagging, etc. so i'm willing to do all i can to alleviate that.

[Randman]

Get as much ram as you can. In OSX, ram is at least as important as pure Ghz. I'd take 1.2Ghz with 1.2GB of ram over a 2Ghz machine running 256 or 512MB of ram.

[fr33daddy]

oh, i plan to get as much ram as i can, preferably from Crucial or NewEgg.

[ChasingApple]

Max that ram out! Right now for comparisons sake, Im running an older Clamshell 466Mhz G3, 320MB of Ram, and a 40GB HD. I am running OS 10.3 Panther and everything is zippy with tons of apps open. So a 1.2Ghz G4 (ALTIVEC ENHANCED) running with 1.25 GB of memory would completely be lightspeed

[hfaze]

i don't think that the ibook is all that fast, personally. i've got a 1.2 with 768mb ram and it's not slow, but it does feel slower than my amd 1.7ghz. i bought it for web surfing/email so it suits my need there perfectly.

i do a lot of flash/design work and the flash plugin for mac (safari/firefox) seems to be very slow. if it had better performance in this area, i think my whole perception would be better.

if you want speed get a pentium-m based laptop or a powerbook.

[fr33daddy]

sadly, i cant afford a PB, and i really dont want to deal with windows ever again.

[SkaGoat]

the PowerPC G4 is no match for a Pentium M, your run of the mill P4 sure, but not a Pentium M. Intel's Pentium M is a great CPU.

My 1.2 GHz 12" iBook is noticably slower than my Athlon XP 3000+ Barton. But that's to be expected, if I wanted a faster Apple I'd have spent the extra cash on a PowerBook.

[pat++]

The best thing to go is go to a store and try to use an iBook for a little while. It's not perfect to have an idea of the actual speed, but it's better than nothing... I have an iBook G4 1.2ghz, and I find it pretty fast for everyday use (web, mail, light programming, mp3...)

[cenutrio]

OK, a 1.2 ibook maxed with RAM and a very good hard drive (5,400+) is a very capable machine.

I still use a rev A TiPB 400 with 1 GB RAM and great HD running panther and it gets the job done very well.

[macaddict0001]

I would say that the ibook is approximately as fast as a 2.0 pentium 4.

[crazeinc]

I have no speed complaints with my 1.2ghz 786mb ram ibook. I previously had a Sony Vaio 2.8ghz p4 laptop so I've experienced both extremes. I'll take the ibook over the sony ANY time.

[iREZ]

why stick with a 5400RPM drive when 7200RPM drives are out and larger capacity 7200's are just around the corner? i have a 1GHz powerbook with the RAM maxed out and it's runnin like butter for me. i cant imagine the 1.2GHz iBook any different...let us know what you think when you end up buyin it.

[ChasingApple]

I have also noticed that Flash and Java are just slower on Macs, why is that?

[Abit667]

Getting a faster HD will help you more then anything. One of those nice 7200rpm discs with 8mb+ of cache will make a WORLD of difference. You'll find that the ibook isn't going to be super snappy under heavy multitasking and load, but it's bearable. Once again, upgrade the hd. That stock 4200 piece of crap slows the thing down so much.

[CaptainHaddock]

Originally Posted by ChasingApple

I have also noticed that Flash and Java are just slower on Macs, why is that?

Because they're closed-source, and Sun and Macromedia spend more time optimizing their code for Windows than for Macs.

[ghporter]

I'd second the idea of a faster hard drive. A "standard" laptop drive runs at 4200RPM, while a "standard" desktop drive goes at 5400RPM. That makes a huge difference in how fast the computer can get and store data. There are 7200 and 10,000RPM laptop drives out there, but the price premium can be pretty steep for them. Shop around and you MAY find a deal. And a larger drive is NEVER a bad thing ! A larger cache size is helpful also, but a big cache on a slow drive is like having a high performance suspension on your garden tractor-what's the point?

More RAM, and a fast drive will make ANY computer snappier.

[Seb G]

Originally Posted by ghporter

More RAM, and a fast drive will make ANY computer snappier.

Yes. Full stop. Installed a 60GB 7200rpm notebook drive and my old 12" Powerbook got fast - bootup, application startup, application switches once my RAM is exhausted, file access, browsing digital photographs etc. It doesn't help much for mp3 encoding or video or 3D gaming (can't do miracles), but for 'overall responsiveness' it's great, and I'm sure I'm better off than with a faster processor but the same slow drive.