[habibman]

Hello everyone. I have noticed people posing the 12" vs 15" powerbook dillemma before, so I am sorry if this is repetative, but I have been beating myself up for a while, and frankly I just need help deciding.

For starters, I am buying a powerbook primarily for using final cut pro 4.5 HD. I may upgrade to FCP 5 later (perhaps this affects decision-making?) I will also be using the powerbook for audio production- I like the simplicity of garage band, but will probably be using soundtrack often. Either way, running final cut pro is the main thing I need to do; I don't play games nor do I plan on doing graphics work. Additionally, I am a college student who will be moving the computer around a bit and who travels frequently, so wireless connectivity and portabality are also a concern (but as for the latter I can deal with both sizes).

So here are my questions:

1. Graphically, should I care about having ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (15") over NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 (12")?

2. As for video, does it matter whether I have 64 MB DDR (max 12") instead of 128 MB DDR (max 15") if I do not plan to use Apple's 30" video display panel?

3. Is Gigabit Eternet that much better than 10/100BASE-T Ethernet ?

4. Will the extra Firwire 800 port really be necessary?

5. What is the difference between the Mini-DVI out (12") and the DVI out (15")? Are there advantages/disadvatages to either?

6. What are my options, if any, of connecting to a TV with the 12" since it doesn't come with the S-Video out, Are there any other uses for the S-Video out that may be crucial?

7. Will the 1.5 GHz processor of the 12" with 1.25 MB RAM be comparable in terms of speed to the 1.67 GHz 15" with 1GB RAM? Would this much RAM be sufficient for running FCP and a few other applications smoothly?

Finally, I have used my friend's 12" G4 with a 1.33 GHz processor, and 512MB RAM and it ran FCP pretty darn well, but every now and then that colorful cirlce forcing you to wait came up. I really don't want to have to wait for anything at all on FCP and if going one way or the other on powerbook models would really make a difference, I'd really like to know. About the size of the diplay, I am not terribly concerned about having the bigger size, I don't mind squinting

One more thing (if anyone even makes it this far), I am not in a complete rush, but I would like to have one by September- when is the time for me to purchase? Should I bother waiting until the next school year (Fall 2006- I will really need one then) for something better?

Alright, well thank you all so much and sorry for the really long post. Partial responses would be just as great as complete ones- I'll take whatever I can get!

Thanks again, I appreciate all the help!!!!

[nuggetman]

I use FCP 4 on my 12" Powerbook no problem

I haven't used it on a 128meg machine so I can't answer in that respect.

MiniDVI is just smaller and requires an adapter for everything... DVI requires an adapter for everything except... well... DVI. The 12" does have SVIDEO out, you just have to buy a $19 adapter for the miniDVI port. The 15" has it built in. This means the 12" can have a monitor or an SVIDEO device connected, but not both.

Unless you have a gigabit network you'll have no use for gigabit ethernet.

Unless you have a Firewire 800 camera or video device Firewire 400 will be fine

My 1.33ghz with 768mb runs just fine for any tasks I need to do

If you want to buy, buy now. Odds are we won't be seeing anything majorly new besides speed bumps on the Powerbook line until the Intel changeover. No, you dont' have to worry aobut that, PPC will be supported for a long time after.

[zerostar]

Originally Posted by habibman

So here are my questions:

1. Graphically, should I care about having ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (15") over NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 (12")?

Graphically, not really, but if you will be running motion you will want the fastest possible.

2. As for video, does it matter whether I have 64 MB DDR (max 12") instead of 128 MB DDR (max 15") if I do not plan to use Apple's 30" video display panel?

Same answer above, for FCP probably not a concern, if you want to run motion though get the 128MB

3. Is Gigabit Eternet that much better than 10/100BASE-T Ethernet ?

Yes it is a lot faster. if you are connecting to a Gig-E enable server, etc. if you are using a 100Base network or just a cable modem or something it is Useless.

4. Will the extra Firwire 800 port really be necessary?

Only if you need a FW800 device? You never said what you will be editing, but I will assume DV, for editing DV Most (if not all) cameras just use the FW400 and this is more than enough bandwith. As far as a external drive I would go with a FW400 one as well.

5. What is the difference between the Mini-DVI out (12") and the DVI out (15")? Are there advantages/disadvatages to either?

No Idea, I don't use either.

6. What are my options, if any, of connecting to a TV with the 12" since it doesn't come with the S-Video out, Are there any other uses for the S-Video out that may be crucial?

The 12" Should stil have Video Out of some sort, or you can get a DVI to S-VIdeo adapter, I have one sitting here so they do exist

7. Will the 1.5 GHz processor of the 12" with 1.25 MB RAM be comparable in terms of speed to the 1.67 GHz 15" with 1GB RAM? Would this much RAM be sufficient for running FCP and a few other applications smoothly?

I would get the machine with 512MB Ram and then add your own 1GB chip (For around $150) for a total of 1.5GB This is the amount I would recommend to use FCP/photoshop, etc.

I got the 15" PowerBook G4 1.5GHz and I am running Final Cut Studio and it all works really, really well (I am editin DV) Motion is not SCREAMING but very useable and I have got so much work done with this machine it is incredible! The Built-in bluetooth, airport, etc. are all reall really nice to have, you never know when you will need it and you don't have some lame card hanging out the side.

[hickey]

I've had no problems running FCP and DVD studio simaltaneously on my 15" Pbook. Id like to max out my RAM and have a full 2 Gigs though, but one does fine for me. Make sure you get an external hard drive though, FW 800 is not needed for that but it is nice to be able to copy data that fast. No matter what system you get I'm sure you'll be pleased with it, take care of it and it'll take care of you. And I rarely ever get the spinning beachball of death when running FCP on mine.

[asodamiac]

15!

by the way, i get the beach ball often (even if im just running basic apps like safari, adium, and itunes. maybe something is wrong with my pb.

[Randman]

I'd say a 17 but I like the extra screen size. If not, I'd say the 15 since you can add more ram. FCP likes ram.

[habibman]

Thanks for all the responses. I will be editing mostly DV and for some projects I will have to dub film to video and would like to be able to edit those on the powerbook. Basically, last semester I got tired of having limitted acces to my school's G5's and so now I am doing something about it. I got some more questions now though:

Zerostar mentioned needing better graphics for "running motion." Excuse my ignorance, but could someoneplease explain what this means?

Also, is 2Gig of Ram really gonna be that much better than 1.5 or 1.25 if all applications are closed aside from FCP?


Also, is the FW400 gonna be "old technology" anytime soon? As in, in the near future, are more and more things gonna require FW800?

To asoamiac- That is really strange that you get that ball running on those basic apps- on slower pb's I have never gotten that thing on safari or itunes....

Thanks again to all.

[Randman]

I think he meant running Motion, the application.

[Goldfinger]

15". The 12" screen is too small for Final Cut.

[nuggetman]

i run final cut just fine on my 12", it's not too small

[U n i o n 0015]

I agree with Goldfinger. The 12" screen is way too small for FCP editing. It's annoying to have to preview and scrub your clips in two 2" x 2" windows.

Solution is, output the preview to a studio monitor or some other display. But the 12" screen makes it tough to navigate a long timeline and see your clips at a large size.

If you're a professional, I wouldn't spend the money on a 12" and expect it to work great for you. I'd invest in a nice Power Mac setup with dual monitors. If you must have a laptop, get the 15" just for the screen real estate alone. Processing power between both the 12" and 15" are fine for FCP, it's just the screen size that's the issue.