[roders]

Okay to start with I'm going to comment on the speed of the UI, and general system performance, I should have some more stressfull app's installed tommorrow (FCP 3 Flash/Dreamweaver MX) and Lightwave and Logic Audio in the near future hopefully, and will report on these then.
When the 12" was announced I was really excited it was just what I wanted a (or at least) G4 iBook, this is my first Mac in about a year (after going exclusively over to the darkside with a powerfull home built PC) and my first brand new Mac in about 3.
I've owned a Rev C iMac, iBook SE, G4 Cube, and a Quicksilver DP 800, and a Ti667 so I've experinec quite a breadth of machines.
My 12" is the base model, combo drive with 40 gig HD and 256 Ram (shortly to be maxed).
I was worried about running the powerbook with this little ram under X, as I thought my first impressions would not be favourable, especially after evey one has been moaning about the lack of Level 3 Cache (only really available on Servers in the Winetl world).
Well I needn't orf worried; the UI is as or nearly as snappy as any mac I've tried under OSX, including my old DP 800 and the DP 1gigs I use at Uni, sure, I have not stress tested my lil ALu book yet, but the UI speed is GOOD, eveything resizes quickly i.e snappily for OSX, even window resizing app's like iTunes and iPhoto (although not blazingly fast) seems as fast as any mac I've used so far.
Multitasking seems really nice to, I can watch a DVD, open and play some music in iTunes (with visualiser if I want) connect and surf the internet & scroll through the dock and none of the app's miss a beat, no slowdown or stuttering at all.
This is a really nice computer, I get 60FPS in iTunes visualiser, in windowed OR fullscreen mode and this is with only 256 MB Ram; can't wait to get more!
I'll report back on it's maximum performnce potential with Pro app's in a future post.
The keyboards not quite as amazing as eveyones making out, although it's subjectivley better that the Ti books, it's like a little more solid iBook keyboard with longer travel for the keys, in feel.
Th system is QUITE; I said Q .U. I. T .E!!!
It's ridiculous, it's basicaly TOTALY silent apart from when it's spins up a DVD or CD/CDR; again though this is with light use, not streesing the machine to the max.
I does get a little warm (is ther ANY laptop that doesn't?), but no where near as warm as the Ti 667 I had for a couple of months.
Overall theis computer/ sorry, MAC; is just, well, it's just; RIGHT!
I luv it, and am thinking about taking it for a romantic meal to propose to it!
Any questions feel free to ask.
Sorry I've got no games at the moment (all stored away back home) but I'll try and download some demos.

[dialo]

Originally posted by roders:

Th system is QUITE, I said Q U I T E!!!

Quite what? Quite Quiet?

[MikeD]

Originally posted by dialo:
Quite what? Quite Quiet?

Hey take it easy, he's from the UK... JK!!!! congrats on getting your PB! Wish I could say the same! I too (when I get... ever) will be loaded with FCP 3, (No WAY will I even try to put after effects in there), PS 7, Dreamweaver MX. I can't wait!!! And I'm glad it'll be quite quiet too! That'll help in meetings and stuff. I hate that high pitched buzzing and whining(sp?) of the wintel notebooks..

[BigCanoe]

How does it feel compared to your 667 Ti?

[gaianchild]

Thanks for your nice little review!

I�m a "Switcher" and still desperately waiting for my 12"PB and I�m still wondering...

1) ... what the refresh rate on an external CRT is. Can you choose it? What�s the max Hz at 1280x1024 for example?

2) ... if the picture on an external CRT is sharp and crisp (since most nvidia-based graphics cards are known to make a quite blurry picture...)

3) ...how FCP3 is performing (once you installed it)

4) ... how VirtualPC 6.0 is performing (if you got it)

It�d be really nice if you could help me on some of these questions!

Thank you!

[atomium]

Originally posted by gaianchild:
... what the refresh rate on an external CRT is. Can you choose it? What�s the max Hz at 1280x1024 for example?

I'm hooked up to a 17" Viewsonic GS790 in spanning mode, and have the following max refresh rates:

800x600 @ 120 Hz
1024x768 @ 100 Hz
1280x1024 @ 85 Hz
1600x1200 @ 75 Hz

That 1600 was a real choker, display freaked out for about 5 secs, then system froze up for about 15 secs. But once it settled down, it felt just fine.

-atomium

[roders]

Okay a quickie update, this Powerbook DOES get hot, especially under the left palmrest (as noted in other posts) this was only after fully draining and charging the battery.
Also I forgot to mention, I didn't think the screen was all 'that" when I started using it, but I used a different display profile (sRGB instead of LCD) and colours look much more vivid and less washed out, the overall colour tone is much mre even deeper and richer, to my taste anyhow.
I've been thinking of getting VPC 6, but probably won't bother until I sell my PC.
No iLife, in fact the software bundle is VERY basic.
But still really like this computer (she's nearly small enough to fit a diamond ring over, if shell except my offer...
P.S I'll try external monitor refresh rates (my sony only does 60Hz @ 1280 1024) and the different monitor spanning options, and I'll of tested the Pro app's by tommorrow, P.S Crucial say they don't stock 12" ALuPB Ram on there UK site, but ring umm direct and they've got it, theyve also got an offer of 256MB ddr sticks for 41 incl Vat.
P.P.SLikin me Mac more and more.
Ow and to the humourous and ever so slightly perceptive second poster in this thread, I got a 2/1 Hons Degree last year; just go's to show how down hill our education systems going! (hopefully not entreley because of me)

[pcalver]

Given your spelling, that's scary.

[torifile]

sRGB instead of LCD? I just switched to sRGB on your suggestion and it seems too blue for me. Maybe I just need to get used to it. Maybe someone could whip up a custom profile that's accurate and post it here? I've never been able to calibrate a monitor properly because I don't understand what I'm doing.

[gaianchild]

for your help!

@roders: I�m looking forward to your next tests...
@atomium: verrii veriii str����nge display thing are happening *boo*

hope to hear from you guys :o)

[RMXO]

Originally posted by torifile:
sRGB instead of LCD? I just switched to sRGB on your suggestion and it seems too blue for me. Maybe I just need to get used to it. Maybe someone could whip up a custom profile that's accurate and post it here? I've never been able to calibrate a monitor properly because I don't understand what I'm doing.

trying doing a search for a file called ivory - 1.8. i got it from the boards somewhere. cant seem to find it again. im using viory & antimonity - 1.8 on my 800 DVI. i think the author made one for the iBooks & PB DVI's...

here yah go if you want to try it out:

PBG4_DVI_CS

[gaianchild]

@roders: tried any of the more stressfull apps yet?

greetings,
gaianchild

[roders]

Sorry for the delay Stress test coming up tomorrow! (when I'm more sober, and less likely to dribble on my wonder machine)

[gaianchild]

same here. guess i�ll be drooling on my bed tonight. no more caipirinhas next week!

[macgeekjay]

Really anxious to hear how Dreamweaver does compared to you other machines!!!

THANKS!

[gaianchild]

sober yet?

gaianchild

[CyberPet]

I find the pre-set settings on the PowerBook being washed out too (not using the 12" now, but the 15"SD) so I downloaded SuperCal from versiontracker and made my own monitor profile. It looks great now and more to my liking (grey is grey and the colors more vivid using gamma 2.0 instead of 1.8).

[gaianchild]

Originally posted by roders:
Sorry for the delay Stress test coming up tomorrow! (when I'm more sober, and less likely to dribble on my wonder machine)

Welllllll, that�d be today :o) You got about 20 Minutes left

No seriously, we�re all anxiously waiting for your test. At least I am, since my 12"PB shipping is delayed because of bad weather conditions

Go! Go! Go!

gaianchild

[sineqube]

logic test? bueller?

[gaianchild]

Originally posted by sineqube:
logic test? bueller?

bueller?!?

[g. olson]

Here's a neat little benchmark tool to test performance on your Powerbook. It was just mentioned on Macsurfer and I downloaded it and tried it. You can post your results to a website that gives comparisons. (I am not connected with the developer, use at your own risk and the usual disclaimers - worked fine for me.)

http://www.xbench.com/

[icruise]

Actually there are already a lot of threads here dealing with Xbench benchmarks (and their accuracy or lack thereof).

[g. olson]

Originally posted by Icruise:
Actually there are already a lot of threads here dealing with Xbench benchmarks (and their accuracy or lack thereof).

I haven't seen any, sorry. There is a newly upgraded version, however. The machine to machine comparisons are very interesting now that there are hundreds online.

[Darksider]

Flash and Dreamweaver are stressful apps?

[macgeekjay]

Originally posted by Darksider:
Flash and Dreamweaver are stressful apps?

GOD yes. Dreamweaver is a RAM hog. I think it's all built in XML, which is great and robust and extensible... but DAMN I wish Macromedia was more of a Macintosh platform. They always seem to favor Winblows.

Contribute? That is going to change my life forever!

RAMRAMRAM and MORE RAM

[roders]

Okay, I'm really sorry to everyone whose been waiting for my post, I've been really busy lately and wanted to do the testing when I had all the app's I wanted, AND 640MB ram. I still don't have all the app's I wanted to test, or 640MB ram (only 256 at present) but I hope to have all this stuff by the end of next week, but in the mean time I'll report on what I've tested so far.
Flash and Dreamweaver MX are usabley responsive, if not blazing fast, Photoshop 7 is deffinetly usable, Indesign 2.0 is Okay but not blazingly fast, Illustratot seems ok, the iApps, range form responsive to a "little" tardy, maybe/hopefully this will improve with more ram.
Final Cut Express is nice (speedy) as is Microsoft Office X, and Logic Audio 5.5, and Maya PLE 4.5 is useable.
I should hopefully have FCP3, Bryce5, Painter 7 Lightwave and maybe C4DXL to test soon, all with 640MB ram I hope.
If ayone has any more specific or in depth tests or actions they want me to try, in any of the app's I've mentioned in this post, feel free to post/suggest them, and I'll do my best to carry them out when I get my 512MB SODIMM ram stick.
For anyone whose interested, I got a little burn blister on one of my fingers on my left hand (from resting my hand on the left side of my powerbook, thiswasn't after extremly long use or anyhting, and has not happened before or since.
I find that if the PB is placed on a sold uniformly flat surface I find the little rubber feet on it's underside allow air to circulate under the PB and this keeps it substantialy cooler, in fact, set up like this the PB doen't seem to get more than warm. But if I place the 12" on my lap or on a carpet/rug the lack of airflow under the PB means it heats up very quickly and in certain places (left handrest) can get VERY hot, this is what happened when I got my blister
Again, soz for the delay.

[iChristopher]

That's the first report I have ever seen regarding a PowerBook burning somebody. If the PB really was responsible for your burn, I'd say that is a big hairy deal. No way it should get that hot unless you were doing something abusive and/or stupid like block the air vent or running it in a Sauna.

[roders]

This blister was literaly the size of a pinhead, it's possibl I slightly nicked myself (on the knuckle) and this wcould have contributed to the blister (although I do not remember doing this) this was during normal use while watching TV in my bedroom (i.e not in a sauna) although I am thinking of taking my PB to my local pool to see how water proof it is

[MrK]

My last full time use portable was a 800 MHZ Ti w/ 768 MB RAM. There was noticelable slowness with the new PB 12" with stock RAM. I had to use it for a full week with stock because the first 512 that came was a faulty chip. With the max 640 MB things are ALMOST as snappy as with the 800/768MB. Photoshop takes a second to get spinning on a filter. There is a noticeable 1 to 2 second delay before hardware intensive filters like Alien Skin's Image Doctor get moving on the 12" There is also an average of an additional second to perform the preview renderings. Other apps, like Dreamweaver have no noticeable difference. And the overall feel of the GUI, finder navigation, etc is faster than the 800/768 MB. The only thing I haven't tested yet is speed while using an external monitor. Overall an AMAZINGLY quick and portable machine, especially considering the specs.

[jindrich]

hi roders, congrats on your minibook.

can you post your findings with the 'book running logic audio? i n`know a bunch of paople interested in this (specially if the beast is silent), but fear about the lack of cach� (nightmare of the 550 and 667 Tis with logic- for those who didnt know: even the ti400 got way better results than the cache-less 667)

-can you tell how many stereo platinumverbs can you insert in a stereo track/s? (you know, the classical test playing a short loop..)
-how many exs24/es1/es2 simultaneously running with/out filter engaged?
-which audio interface do you use (if any)?
-any other comment with plugins/audio apps...?

thanx in advance.

[sineqube]

i plan to give a more thorough testing when i get a chance, but i was able to get 4 es1s and 4 exs24s with the cpu meter only registering 5 or 6 lines. more later.

[roders]

Okay this is a small external display update/infomertial while I'm waiting for my 512MB upgrade stick.
I've tested out Mulit/external/spanning monitor support and it works great, QE is enabled on both displays (as expected), Although the speed of the UI seems to suffer when to a degree when using an external display (PB closed) only when run at high resolutions (1280X1024 and above), but not when monitor spanning (not mirroring) is on, which I find odd.
Also DVD playback full screen @ 1280X1024 on my external Trintron monitor is super smooth and looks great, although DVD playback on the 12" PB's built in LCD is "slightly" choppy/stuterey on pan's and with slightly lower visual quality, strange.
Overall though I'm over the moon with my PB so far and can't wait to get more ram in her, tests coming soon.