[mrgaskell]

Out of curiosity, what is the % speed gain in the Rev. C versus Rev. B 12" PowerBooks? I have the 12" Rev. B and was thinking of upgrading to the Rev. C this August and was wondering if it was really worth the 333mhz processor upgrade and 33mhz system upgrade (plus the +2x SD upgrade). I think I just answered my own question....

[biposto]

I would skip this revision if i were you.

[tekno_geek911]

The next revision should be around October,not a long wait and im sure it'll be worth it...I thought long and hard about upgrading but its not THAT much faster imo(I tried my friends) and my PB serves its purpose well.

[The Placid Casual]

I agree with biposto, I'd skip this round... the benefits are just not great enough.

[Simon]

I had the same question going around in my mind.

I have a rev B and was thinking about updating. The better SD an the faster bus are pretty nice. The GPU still sucks unfortunately.

Since Apple made remarks hinting that there would be no G5 PowerBook shipping in 2004, deciding has become much easier: I'll skip rev C and upgrade in fall 2004 when then rev D appears. That way I can update a year later to the rev B G5 PowerBook (I'm asuming the G5 PowerBook will be announced in spring 2005 at the latest) and won't have to guinea-pig the rev A G5 PowerBook.

Does that sound nuts?

[The Placid Casual]

Originally posted by Simon:
I had the same question going around in my mind.

I have a rev B and was thinking about updating. The better SD an the faster bus are pretty nice. The GPU still sucks unfortunately.

Since Apple made remarks hinting that there would be no G5 PowerBook shipping in 2004, deciding has become much easier: I will upgrade when then rev D appears in fall. That way I can update a year later to the rev B G5 PowerBook (I'm asuming the G5 PowerBook will be announce in spring 2005 at the latest) and won't have to guinea-pig the rev A G5 PowerBook.

Does that sound nuts?

Sounds like a perfectly sane plan to me!

[Simon]

Originally posted by The Placid Casual:
Sounds like a perfectly sane plan to me!

Thanks.

I kinda like that plan.

[tekno_geek911]

Originally posted by Simon:
I had the same question going around in my mind.

I have a rev B and was thinking about updating. The better SD an the faster bus are pretty nice. The GPU still sucks unfortunately.

Since Apple made remarks hinting that there would be no G5 PowerBook shipping in 2004, deciding has become much easier: I'll skip rev C and upgrade in fall 2004 when then rev D appears. That way I can update a year later to the rev B G5 PowerBook (I'm asuming the G5 PowerBook will be announced in spring 2005 at the latest) and won't have to guinea-pig the rev A G5 PowerBook.

Does that sound nuts?

Exactly what im doing! Hopefully by then it'll have an ATI graphics chip(with the option of 128MB DDR) and an 8x SD

[Simon]

Originally posted by tekno_geek911:
Hopefully by then it'll have an ATI graphics chip(with the option of 128MB DDR) and an 8x SD

If that's in there, I'll order two.

[Frumpy]

Not to be negative or anything, but I think Apple is going to make this a LONG product cycle. While it would make sense for them to make another refresh on the PB line before Macworld SF, they might just build up demand for the new G5 PB. While you all might say that it sounds crazy...look how long it's taken Apple to announce product refreshes in the past. WTF is going on with the iMac?! It's been since November! That's 7 months already! Apple has done a 9 month span with no refreshes to the PB line before. I'm thinking you're going to find the same thing here. Now, back to the main subject, the new Rev C PB's are great machines. I've had mine for almost a month and it's been amazing for video editing, Illustrator & PhotoShop, not to mention all of the iApps. Of course I was upgrading from a G4 iMac 800. If you already have a Rev B, DON'T buy a Rev C! I always wait until I can buy a new Mac that has almost double the system specs that I had before. Such a small increase between the one you have and the new ones wouldn't be worth it. And if Apple DOES come out with another revision before the G5's, don't buy that either! Are you kidding? If you know that the NEXT revision after that is going to be a G5 PB, why would you plunk down 2G's+ just to get a revision of a G4?! I'd say wait for the G5 PB. You've got a great machine in the meantime. Enjoy it.

[Simon]

Originally posted by Frumpy:
And if Apple DOES come out with another revision before the G5's, don't buy that either! Are you kidding? If you know that the NEXT revision after that is going to be a G5 PB, why would you plunk down 2G's+ just to get a revision of a G4?! I'd say wait for the G5 PB. You've got a great machine in the meantime. Enjoy it.

That's right, but some people don't like to buy rev A machines. Especially not when the architectural changes are as large as they will be when Apple goes from the G4 to the G5 on the PowerBook.

I remember the rev A AlBooks and I think I'll rather take a G4 rev D half a year earlier than a rev A G5 half a year later. I can still update to a rev B G5 later.

Of course it's all a matter of how much money you are willing to spend. If you're on a tight budget you will probably rather wait for the G5.

[iREZ]

I have a Rev B as well and after sitting down and thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that if you max out the RAM on the Rev B and install a 5400 or even 7200 HD the Rev C doesn't offer much, other then 64MB of VRAM and extra bus speed. Stick with the Rev B, it's a great little machine and still has some life in it.

[mrgaskell]

Yeah, I hear you. I'm in graduate school and 4 of my classmates have gone out and bought new PowerBooks because of mine, but now mine is the slowest! Just a bout of jealousy, I guess.

[tekno_geek911]

Yeah but you probably know more about your PowerBook so it evens out

[pgolf]

12" PowerBook 1.0Ghz v. 12" iBook 1.0Ghz v. 12" PowerBook 1.33ghz

[wily]

pgolf -

Thanks...according to your referred site, the 1.33 really IS faster.

[KraziKid]

Originally posted by mrgaskell:
Yeah, I hear you. I'm in graduate school and 4 of my classmates have gone out and bought new PowerBooks because of mine, but now mine is the slowest! Just a bout of jealousy, I guess.

Haha, I'm in the same boat, but I am in High School. I bought my PowerBook back in December, and have so far gotten 5 others to get them. When I got mine, 1.33 was the fastest and only available in the 17 inch. Now everyone else has gotten 1.5 Ghz 15 inchers. From the Xbench's however, it is definitely not enough for me to go to a 1.5 17 inch. I can still say mine is bigger than theres though .

[tekno_geek911]

I used my friends Rev C for a little over an hour today with the same amount of RAM I have in my Rev B and it doesnt seem THAT much faster at all,the screen is a little brighter and it isnt much cooler than my Rev B. Unreal 2004 still doesnt run very well so im not that jelous anymore . Im waiting for the Rev D,definately NOT worth upgrading from a Rev B imo.

[quadraphonic]

Really dumb question here, but how do you find out which Rev. version you're running?

[MilkmanDan]

Rev A is an 867 mhz, Rev B is a 1 ghz, Rev C is a 1.33.

[melman101]

Yeah, I still have a Rev A 12". I upgraded from a white iBook dual usb g3 500mHz. So I clearly saw an improvement. I don't think I'll be updating for a while, but the g5 laptop, rev b, might be my next choice. That is, if i can ever pay off this apple loan :-)

Mel

[jmatero]

honestly, I'm NOT looking forward to a G5 Powerbook.... I mean, they can't even ship a G5 Server without ditching an entire HD bay to allow for cooling.... and the new G5 needs LIQUID cooling...... how ANYONE expects a G5 POWERBOOK anytime soon.... is beyond me. I mean, it will surely have all the problems people with G4 laptops complain about on here:

1. Even WORSE battery life than the G4.
2. Cooling fans on ALL the time.
3. Burned laps and/or wrists from heat.

I think if they go G5, it will be a crippled form of G5 that is low power and produces less heat.... and that won't produce THAT much more performance than the current G4 laptops.

"Watch out what you wish for..... you might just get it"

[Voch]

Originally posted by jmatero:
"Watch out what you wish for..... you might just get it"

Ditto. I'm drooling over the current 15" 1.5Ghz G4 (I'll break down and upgrade someday ).

Voch

[sniffer]

There is nothing wrong with buying a rev. C now. It's just two months old and the revision cycle is around 171 days for the PBs. ( according to http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/ )
However upgrading from rev. B is a luxurious problem IMHO. I've just ordered the 12" rev C. and it's around twice as fast as my current machine in every aspects. (iBook G3 - late 2001)

If you already have a Rev B, DON'T buy a Rev C! I always wait until I can buy a new Mac that has almost double the system specs that I had before.

That's my philosophy as well.

[daiSho]

wth? according to the article linked to above, a 1GHz iBook is faster in most regards than my 1GHz rev.B Powerbook?! am i reading this right..?