[chrismear]

Hi everyone, looking for some advice/experience here. Given my current usage patterns, and the type of performance problems I'm having, will a MacBook Pro be a substantial improvement?

I'm currently on a 1 GHz PowerBook G4 Titanium with 1 GB of RAM, and the performance these days is killing me. It often gets to the point where every click in, say, Flash takes 1-2 seconds to have any effect, and just switching between applications can stall the system for up to 10 seconds.

However, I've noticed that most of the time it's not my CPU that's maxed out; rather, it seems to be the hard drive that's going nuts. (Of course if I'm doing video encoding or something then it's the CPU that's the bottleneck, but that's not too common for me.)

I'm guessing this because I'm running quite a few apps, switching between them often, and so it's doing a lot of paging to disk, and laptop hard drives are relatively slow. Or am I way off the mark with this analysis?

I do web development so I tend to be working in a few apps at once (typically TextMate, Flash, Fireworks and Terminal, plus a MySQL server and a Rails Lighttpd server in the background). And I'll usually have Safari, Mail, NetNewsWire, Adium, Preview and iTunes running too. Flash in particular seems to be quite a hog.

Given that my performance problems don't seem to be particularly CPU-related, and given that things like Flash and Fireworks will be running under Rosetta for a while yet, will the MBP be a big improvement for my kind of work? Anyone else using their MBP for similar work?

[mduell]

Flash on OSX is a complete dog, but it sounds like you just need more RAM; sadly, your TiBook is maxed out. I'd go for the low-end MBP and add 2GB RAM from Crucial or another third party.

Actually, the MacBook's screen is only 54 pixels shorter than your TiBook, so if you don't need the additional screen area of the MBP (about 20% bigger), you could go with a MacBook and 2G RAM.

[fowler]

I hate working in dreamweaver on my mbp. After using it on the windows side, it's sooooo much snappier and the interace is a lot better (although that's an osx problem, not a universal/rosetta deal).

Thing is, it should be better within the next few months when they come out with the UB version, but until then.. ugh. Killing me.

[SierraDragon]

You are running pro apps doing real work, so you need a pro box. A MacBook Pro ("MBP") would show a huge improvement; even a (not recommended) 1.67 GB G4 AlBook is a big improvement over the TiBook (I have both). A MacBook with no graphics card, smaller screen and less pixels is definitely not it. IMO.

At this point as long as your current setup is still functional you should wait for the Merom MBPs due in the next month or so and then decide. You might still choose to save $$ with a lower end MBP, but at least you will have seen the new 64-bit choices before deciding.

The Merom MBPs will be stronger and may have new features particularly useful to your workflow. Selecting a Merom MBP with its overall improved performance will make almost any pro workflow "nicer" in addition to (typically) providing better life cycle cost by lasting longer before becoming technologically obsolete.
----------------------------

All that said about getting a new box, we probably first should have discussed your existing TiBook. Things to do to keep it as fast as possible include:

-Run it 24/7, or run Cocktail or similar utility routinely.

-Always Repair Permissions immediately before and after every installation of anything. Always. Note that it is not about Repairing Permissions routinely, it is immediately before and after every installation.

-Make sure your hard drive stays less than 85% full.

-Use OS 10.4.7.

[sdilley14]

For nativity purposes, I'd recommend either a 15" or 17" PB 1.67GHz with maxed out RAM.

You'll be running 670 MHz faster than you currently are, you'll have twice as much RAM (1GB MORE!), you'll have faster RAM, a larger, faster HD, a much brighter display with a higher resolution, and of course native support for applications. And they're cheaper than going the MacBook Pro route.

If you want to get a MacBook or MacBook Pro, I'd wait until the next revision just to get some of the current issues worked out and there's a good chance there will be a processor improvement and MAYBE a higher resolution display (but doubt it).

I know the Intel line is the wave of the future and everyone suggests it and the G4s are looked at as being inferioir by far, but for me, the PowerBook is perfect for what I do (web development also actually) and I see no reason to spend the extra money to get a MBP, and after having this form factor, I don't think I could stand the MB form factor.

I have a final revision 12" PowerBook with 1.5GHz G4, 768 MB RAM, and 80GB HD, and I don't think I'll ever give up this machine until I absolutely have to. I run DreamWeaver, Photoshop, FireWorks, Safari, Fire Fox, iTunes, Limewire, and MSN ALL the time (most of the time, all at once) and I've never had a complaint. It handles multi tasking all of these programs very well and perfectly satisfactory for me. I'm not going to spend the unnecessary money on a MBP when this machine handles everything great.

I'm sure I'll get a MBP when all programs are native and a few revisions have come out and all of the current heat and whine and other issues have been worked out (prolly a year from now, maybe longer). And I'll always keep my trusty PowerBook around. Others may frown down on it because it's "last generation technology", but it works and works VERY well for me being a web developer and also working in the financial field (I use remote desktop all the time too) and I'll keep this thing until it completely dies on me.

/ my $0.02

[iREZ]

get a macbook pro

install boot camp

run dreamweaver on the windows side until UB version is released for the mac if your worried about super speed. im not, but then again ive only recently started using dreamweaver and have no other experiences other than my dual 2.0g5 at work and i really dont notice a real big speed hit in rosetta. but like i said before, take what i say with a grain of salt as i am still a novice in dreamweaver.

[SierraDragon]

Originally Posted by sdilley14

For nativity purposes, I'd recommend either a 15" or 17" PB 1.67GHz with maxed out RAM.

Buying a last generation G4 box for pro usage for the next 3-5 years would be a very bad life cycle cost decision. Certainly PB G4s like yours and mine run many of today's apps on today's OS very well. However even today some apps (e.g. Aperture and Photoshop are marginal) already run poorly on PB G4s, and as time goes on and apps/OS evolve G4s will become increasingly less appropriate.

Wait a month to see Merom MBPs and then decide which MBP to buy.

-Allen Wicks

[chrismear]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! sdilley14 and SierraDragon, your experiences with the late G4 PowerBooks are encouraging. I think if I can find a super-cheap G4 secondhand I'll grab one just to hold me over until the apps I need are out in Universal versions, and then I'll splash out on a new MacBook Pro.

[SierraDragon]

Originally Posted by chrismear

...I think if I can find a super-cheap G4 secondhand I'll grab one just to hold me over until the apps I need are out in Universal versions, and then I'll splash out on a new MacBook Pro.

Good luck finding a super-cheap PB G4. The faster ones like my 1.67 GHz are really nice boxes and I don't see anyone unloading them cheap unless some serious flaw exists. E.g. I am on the old 800 MHz TiBook right now because my PB G4 has a blown motherboard...

Your chances on finding a less expensive used box may improve when the Merom MBPs are out.

-Allen Wicks

[sdilley14]

Keep an eye on the Marketplace board on this website. You can usually find some good deals on late gen. PowerBooks and they are well worth it. They are a significant increase over what you have now and will tide you over nicely until the apps you need are universal and you get a MB or MBP. Good choice and good luck!