[mattpiper]

Hello folks. I was approved for $2000 at the Apple Store yesterday and qualify for the education discount. So I can get into a 1.5GHz G4 Powerbook for $1799, or an iMac 2.0GHz. I'd prefer the Powerbook, but have some reservations. Here's my situation.

I am presently working on creating a music tutor book for the bagpipe (yeah, I know...). I am using Adobe InDesign CS, Photoshop CS, and Finale 2004 for nearly everything I need (some word processing done in Word X). My current hardware is an iBook G3 600MHz with 384MB RAM. When I go to export the Finale files to .TIFF format, the iBook takes between 25 and 45 minutes to convert a page of Finale text into a 1200 DPI resolution .TIFF. The high resolution is needed as this is going to be sent to be professionally printed.

As each page of this book is going to have between 2 and 4 Finale conversions, it is clear that the iBook cannot handle the job. I simply don't have the time to wait on the machine! Will the 1.5GHz give me the power I need to get this job done? Does any have Finale 2004 who can test a .TIFF conversion for speed on a Powerbook 1.5GHz? If the difference is only going to be 2.5X as fast (600MHz vs. 1.5GHz), it still is not going to be fast enough for this project to be done feasibly (I need these images translated in a roughly a minute, not 5 or 15 minutes).

As a professional musician, I also travel frequently, so portability is needed--so much for a G5 tower

I could somewhat feasibly get an iMac G5 2.0GHz to work, but it's not all that portable, though it seems to have significantly more power for this kind of crunching. But lugging it with me on the road when I'm touring doesn't seems like a very good solution. But ultimately, I need to get my book finished.

Thoughts?

[pat++]

If you need portability go for the PowerBook. Photoshop should be much faster than x2.5 as it's optimized for the G4 and uses Altivec. (Could be x10 or even more).

As far as Finale is concerned, it looks like the performance of this program is bad whatever the hardware you are using according to MacWorld :

http://www.macworld.com/2004/06/revi...04sibelius3x1/

So, i'm not even sure a G5 would be that faster... maybe try to go to an Apple store/dealer and do the real test...

Maybe Sibelius would be an alternative?

My rough guess is that a PowerBook should be at least 4 times as fast as your iBook because of the higher frequency, larger L2 cache, and faster bus. Moreover if you are dealing with big documents, get MORE memory (>= 1gb) ; It will help A LOT!

[mattpiper]

It's the EPS export option I need and didn't even know it! I'm lookign to see if Finale 2005 has it or not and defintely looking into Sibelius (I think that's the right spelling).

Thank so so much for pointing me towards that review.

[d.fine]

Get the PowerBook, and get it with lots of RAM. The PB's are really nice, and portable so you can take it with you.

[Randman]

Don't know about Finale but the PB with enough ram is a capable machine, I have a 1.5Ghz 17 with 1.5GB of ram and it's my main Mac at home. I use it for PhotoShop, Quark, InDesign, Illustrator, basic daily stuff and some video in iMovie now and then.

BTW, the latest PowerBooks for the 15 and 17 models are 1.67Ghz.

[iREZ]

why not get a 17" iMac AND an iBook? you'll have the speed of a G5 at home, and the portability and battery life of the iBook on the road. i personally find a speedy home computer and any portable the optimum setup for anybody who uses computers on a daily basis...just an opinion.

[mattpiper]

I was about to place my order at the online Apple Store and decided to go into the not terribly nearby Apple Store and take a new Powerbook for a test drive.

First, I ran Xbench on my iBook to see what I got--a 43. I then went to the Apple Store yesterday and did some Xbenching of my own. The Powerbooks (1.67GHz w/ 1GB RAM) got 135. iMac G5 2GHz w/ 1GB RAM got a 161. Power Mac G5 Dual 2.3 w/ 3GB of RAM got 286. I can't believe the tower (and not even the fastest tower!) rates more than 2x higher than a Powerbook! And since I'd be getting a 1.5GHz (with 512MB RAM at least for a while), I know my scores would likely be in the 120s.

And quite honestly, I was not impressed by the speed of the Powerbooks. I wanted my socks knocked off. Instead, my socks were merely pulled down slightly. Yes, it was quicker than my iBook G3 600MHz, but it didn't feel that much quicker. I was not overly fast launching any application (Photo Elements took 20+ seconds. Heck, Photoshop 7.0.1 on my iBook only takes 25 seconds!). It did not like havng multiple applications launched at the same time. On one machine, I went and opened up every application in the Dock (yes, I'm aware I'll never do that at home) and actually Kernel Panicked the machine--at the Apple Store! ...

These Powerbooks couldn't even play the 80+MB "Fantastic Four" movie from its hard drive trailer without serious stuttering (both video and audio). I thought this was the year of HD video? Not on these bad boys. As much as I want/need a new Mac, perhaps now is not the time. I'm definitely not trying to troll the boards here, just disappointed at the current line of "pro" laptops offered by Apple.

I guess I'll continue limping for awhile--and if it means I have to wait for a MacTel Powerbook to actually get a high-end pro laptop, then I guess I'll wait the 12 to 24 months it's going to take.

I REALLY wanted/needed a new computer. I just cannot justify the expense vs. performance.

Thanks for the links/support/listening to my rant.

[d.fine]

An Apple Store test can be dissapointing, but who know what everyone does on those machines. I doubt the performance is optimal.
Of course you can't compare xbench scores between a 1.67GHz G4 and an Dual 2.3GHz PM, it's almost a GHz faster, plus it has double the processors...
When I got my 15" it was awesome (still is) but back then it performed like a champ. Since I got a Dual 2.0 the PB is slow in my eyes, of course I can't compare, but it still does it's job, and it does it well too.
Let's hope we see some nice Intel PB's soon.

[yudman]

Well, the 1.5 Ghz isn't bad for notebook standards. The powerbooks are not meant to be desktop replacements. They simply lack the speed and power for that. If you need something more powerful than the G4, than your only choice is a PC notebook. However, if you wait a year, I'm sure the powerbooks will have the newer intel processors to suit your needs...

[asodamiac]

after purchasing the 1.67, im starting to wonder if it was worth it. im new to the mac world, so im not sure how much faster my mac will run compared to a 1.5 ghz model.

on a side note, i just ran xbench on my mac. with dashboard (4 widgets opened), safari, and adium running (if any of that matters at all), i got a score of 140.67.

edit: just ran it again after repairing disk permissions and i got a score of 141.72.