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krichmar · Sep 13, 2006, 02:21 AM

SO, I registered on these forums to ask you kind and knowledgeable people some things.

OK! Talking to my good friend tonight, we stumbled upon a possible trade off. I would give him my Dual 2gig G5 with 3.5gigs of ram, and an old school 23" HD Cinema Display, if he would buy me a new 2.16gig Mac Book Pro with 2gigs of ram in it. I have a 23" new school cinema display that sits here patiently awaiting a new computer.

I hope i haven't lost you yet.

So my question is - is this a reasonable trade (on both ends)?

My needs:

Portability. Im an artist, and nothing is better than doing my artwork anywhere. Laptop + Wacom = painting, gg.

Warcraft. Im an addict, and nothing is better than raiding 4 nights a week. Will this laptop deliver? Suprisingly, i dont get AMAZING framerates on my G5, go figure. So i ask you - will i get better WoW performance out of a MBP? In windows only? Or with Universal?

[FONT="Book Antiqua"]Which brings me to my next question - how does the laptop run with a 23" cinema display plugged in? Can i close the lid, or is it still screwy? If i play WoW on the laptop with the screen plugged in, and then disconnect the screen, will my UI go out of whack?[/FONT]

Performance. Will this laptop give me good results using Photoshop? Illustrator? Painter? I need to know if its on par with my old tower.

Keyboard. Would i need to remap warcraft keys for the lack of a numberpad? Do you suggest an external keyboard?

THANK YOU IF YOU HAVE GOTTEN THIS FAR! I'm sure someone here knows the answers to these questions, or has educated opinions concerning the matters at hand. I must know, time is of the essence!

krichmar · Sep 13, 2006, 09:53 AM

for great justice.

iREZ · Sep 13, 2006, 10:44 AM

if i were you, id wait for the next mbp bump...they HAVE to be updated pretty soon (possible case redesign as well).

it will run on a 23" acd with no problems, heck...it could even run the 30" beast if you want, closed screen (dedicate all the vram) or open (split the vram).

photoshop and illy will feel the same for about 80% of the apps...id say a 2.16 is on par with a 1.67G4 when it comes to running rosetta apps, but once the UB versions come out...it should be pretty fast if not faster than your current rig.

as for WoW...i have no idea how to answer seeing how i dont play it, but i hear lots claiming that its good on their mbp and imac. :shrug:

krichmar · Sep 13, 2006, 03:32 PM

thank you for the help! but i need more more more! (no offense) am i insane to make this trade? or are they equivalent?

iREZ · Sep 13, 2006, 03:44 PM

well...

A. youre an artist and dont need the latest greatest to make great work.

B. the mbp is as fast if not faster in UB apps than your current rig.

C. mbp is 32bit where your g5 is 64bit...im sure the next rev of the mbp will also be 64bit and apps that take advantage of this will fly on a 64bit comp than one thats not.

D. rosetta apps are going to be UB pretty soon.

E. i personally think you should ask for the money that you'd need to buy the mbp with 2gb of ram and hold off till the new mbp, im sure a few months is dooable without a computer...or get a mini with the cash to hold you over till the new mbp's are released.

F. stop freaking out and breath easy.

SierraDragon · 12:40 AM

Originally Posted by krichmar

So my question is - is this a reasonable trade (on both ends)?

Probably, but IMO you win.

Portability. Im an artist, and nothing is better than doing my artwork anywhere.

If you need portability, you need it. When you need it portability transcends lots of other limitations.

Warcraft. Im an addict, and nothing is better than raiding 4 nights a week. Will this laptop deliver? Suprisingly, i dont get AMAZING framerates on my G5, go figure. So i ask you - will i get better WoW performance out of a MBP? In windows only? Or with Universal?

If you have a stock graphics card on the G5 the MBP will be superior. For sure you want a 17" MBP. If your MBP has a GPU choice max it out.

[FONT="Book Antiqua"]Which brings me to my next question - how does the laptop run with a 23" cinema display plugged in? Can i close the lid, or is it still screwy? If i play WoW on the laptop with the screen plugged in, and then disconnect the screen, will my UI go out of whack?[/FONT]

No problem.

Performance. Will this laptop give me good results using Photoshop? Illustrator? Painter? I need to know if its on par with my old tower.

In general laptop graphics performance has _always_ been about 30% less good than similarly configured towers. And, you cannot (RAM, hard drives) configure any laptop similary to a maximum tower. Counter that with the fact that MacIntels are 1-2 years newer, more powerful. Apple's Aperture rocks on MacIntels - even the low end - compared to G5s, so for Aperture the MBP wins. Adobe apps will be non-UB until Aprill 2007, so for those apps the G5 is superior for the next 7 months only. After April 2007 Adobe apps will be UB and the MBP will be very strong, perhaps even kick the G5's butt.

Keyboard.Do you suggest an external keyboard?

Yes, based on your comments, but that is a matter of personal preference. Me, I way like the laptop keyboard and 2-finger scrolling. My bluetooth keyboard and mouse are still in the box.

Most important, wait a few weeks for the Merom MBPs, probably announcing this month.

-Allen Wicks

krichmar · Sep 14, 2006, 01:39 AM

zomfg! whats a merom? that codename for "better"? also - mail me your keyboard please. kkthxbai.

seriously though!

thank you for the breakdown, it was most informative!
another few questions - Running windows - is it "teh hot sawce"? would i get better performance from adobe programs using windows at the moment?

and...

are your sources leet? should i give up hope and cave for a current model if i dont hear anything by october?

much love! look forward to hearing from you

P.S. two paintings, one pretty much done, the other a WIP.

http://www.krichmar.com/sherrif.png
http://www.krichmar.com/ALCHEMY2.png

krichmar · Sep 14, 2006, 01:41 AM

DOH - i just searched and found...

whats merom?

Intel's codename for the next mobile processor. It is basically a faster Core Duo, 64-bit instruction set added, and same battery life as existing Intel mobile chips.

goMac · Sep 14, 2006, 02:09 AM

Originally Posted by iREZ

C. mbp is 32bit where your g5 is 64bit...im sure the next rev of the mbp will also be 64bit and apps that take advantage of this will fly on a 64bit comp than one thats not.

Apps won't be 64 bit until Leopard (on either PowerPC or Intel).

iREZ · Sep 14, 2006, 10:29 AM

wasnt it one of the tiger perks...that it supported 64bit? i really dont know seeing how i dont use a 64bit machine at home.