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VoRTeX-uk · Mar 7, 2005, 03:59 PM

Hi at the moment i am i lifelong PC user, i now want a change after getting really annoyed with Microsucks Windose! i currently use my computer for downloading (bit torrent, listening to music, ipodding, internet browsing, MSN messenger, Homework and coursework, there is also the possibility that i would be playing games.

would a 12" ibook be able to do this:

play games like halo,splinter cell, call of duty.

Use MSN messenger/IM

Downloading through Bit Torrent

Playing and burning music to ipod

Word Processing whilst downloading music/movies and also using MSN? (this is most important question) i will be upgrading RAM to 1gb.

Thanks in advance

from a hopeful mac owner

iREZ · Mar 7, 2005, 04:07 PM

With 1GB of RAM you'll be able to do all that and then some. The iBook seems like the best fit for you, although games run semi decent when getting rid of all the eye candy. I have a 12" PB that has the same specs as the iBook when it comes to GPU (32MB of VRAM) and I could play Halo just fine although it doesn't look half as good as my buddy's PC. Other then gaming, the iBook is a really workhorse and I really wished I had waited two months to jump on the 1GHz model...oh well, such is life.

sminch · Mar 7, 2005, 05:02 PM

i switched over to mac in january and yip, you can do what you're asking (though ibooks aren't exactly gaming powerhouses - but find me a reasonably priced laptop that is). they are awesome at multitasking, esp compared to the windows machines i use at work that get hell stuttery if i'm playing music and decide to, well, do anything else at all, really. i was a little concerned that the benefits of macs were all hype from mac fanboys but i'm stoked with my ibook. no regrets at all.

sminch

Wiskedjak · Mar 7, 2005, 05:13 PM

In the PowerBook's class, there are many Windows laptops that compare with it in both specs and price.

The iBook has no such competition in the Windows world. In performance and price there are many similar Windows machines, but once you factor in the size of the iBook, especially the 12" (most Windows laptop go up in price as their size goes down), the iBook really shines compared to it's Windows counter-parts.

The weakness of the iBook? It's build quality has been slowly declining. Todays iBooks do not share the same build and materials quality as the first white iBooks.

crevatis · Mar 11, 2005, 08:41 PM

I tried Call of Duty on a 1Ghz 12" Powerbook with 768MB of RAM and it was a bit sluggish. Enough to make it harder to play. I cannot imagine it to be any better on the iBook.

All the other stuff you mentioned should work great though.

bojangles · Mar 12, 2005, 04:33 AM

I�ve got an 800-MHz iBook G4, purchased less than a year ago. (Amazing that the low-end processor speed would increase by 50% in that short a time!) I love it, but my wife is really good at bogging it down. She signs up for everything, gets so much junk mail, and rarely deletes it (or even moves it to the Junk folder, if it doesn�t go there by default). I�ve seen her inbox have >10,000 unread messages and her junk box have >10,000 more. She�s also been known to have as many as a dozen Safari windows open concurrently, with 5-10 tabs in each�most of them containing pages from a particularly Java-intensive site.

Why do I mention this? Because it slows down our poor little iBook immensely. Occasionally, it gets so bogged down as to be almost unusable, at which point I tell her to restart (which always clears it up). I�ve also encouraged her to switch to Firefox (which handles Java better than Safari 1.x) and dump most of her Junk mail, which together made a huge difference.

Bottom line: it�s a great machine for most people, but if your habits are anything like hers, you might want to consider a PowerBook, instead.

iBook G4/800 MHz
640MB RAM
30GB HD
19" Monitor when tethered

Mykul · Mar 12, 2005, 04:55 AM

I too come from a pc world. I have switched our household over to macs over the past two months. Just to give you an idea of how slow...I cannot see what I am typing right now without a great delay. I am using an 800mhz iBook with the full 640mb of ram possible. I have only safari running with three tabs open and it is noticeably slow. I am getting used to it...but if you are coming from a pc and are used to instant computing your are in for a surprise. For me, I would ideally like to have itunes, entourage, safari with several tabs open and still have the power to bring up an excel spreadsheet. This is just not feasible on a mac. I admittedly run less than the top of the line...but I cannot see where just a few hundred mhz could fix this.

I love and am staying with the Mac...however I am learning patience.

Good luck on your quest.

<><
mykul

P.S. My wifes iMac g5 with 1.5gb of ram and 1.8 ghz processor does seem much snappier than my iBook.

bojangles · Mar 12, 2005, 05:14 AM

I cannot see what I am typing right now without a great delay�. My wifes iMac g5 with 1.5gb of ram and 1.8 ghz processor does seem much snappier than my iBook.

Yeah, that�s pretty much exactly what I�m saying. Quick question: have you restarted the iBook recently? Since you�ve got the same model as I, I can only imagine that that�s the problem. (Of course, there�s plenty of third-party haxies/enhancements that can bring your computer to a crawl, too. Whenever a new system comes out, I wipe out the hard drive and tell myself that this time, I�m going to avoid all the superfluous bells and whistles. I never do.)

As for the iMac being quicker, that doesn�t surprise me a bit. I�m on our main computer�a dual-2GHz G5�at the moment, and she almost never lags on anything.

Bottom line: iBook != power, but as has been mentioned, it�s a great machine for the price. (I�d definitely like to see what difference the 50% more processing power would make.)

sminch · Mar 12, 2005, 06:16 AM

i've got an ibook 1.2ghz with 768meg ram (the first mac i've ever owned) and it runs sweet as - no worries at all with having a bunch of safari windows open, itunes playing, a couple of documents open... i've got no idea really how this compares to an older ibook but it runs fine under a moderate load like this.

i think it's a bit harsh to say that ibooks are slow when you're talking about an older machine - sorta like saying that bmws are slow after driving my dad's clunker. esp if you're talking about one that you say is bogged down with loads of crud.

sminch

brother337 · Mar 12, 2005, 08:17 AM

Originally posted by Mykul:
I too come from a pc world. I have switched our household over to macs over the past two months. Just to give you an idea of how slow...I cannot see what I am typing right now without a great delay. I am using an 800mhz iBook with the full 640mb of ram possible. I have only safari running with three tabs open and it is noticeably slow. I am getting used to it...but if you are coming from a pc and are used to instant computing your are in for a surprise. For me, I would ideally like to have itunes, entourage, safari with several tabs open and still have the power to bring up an excel spreadsheet. This is just not feasible on a mac. I admittedly run less than the top of the line...but I cannot see where just a few hundred mhz could fix this.

I love and am staying with the Mac...however I am learning patience.

Good luck on your quest.

<><
mykul

P.S. My wifes iMac g5 with 1.5gb of ram and 1.8 ghz processor does seem much snappier than my iBook.

I am working off the same type of machine that you are working off of (iBook G4/800) though mine is now fairly upgraded. But my previous specs were similar to yours and I didn't have major speed problems.

I routinely keep/kept 5-6 applications open at once, and several tabs open on my web browser, but my ibook seemed to handle it alright. Sometimes typing is slow specifically on the macnn forums "reply" page, but I think that's more of a Safari issue combined with how Macnn's forum pages are coded (maybe also all the smiley animations that are loaded onto the page.)

I personally think that Os X is slightly laggier than windows, due to the rendering requirements of the interface, but it really does handle multi-tasking much better. So while my ibook intially seemed slow to me, now I'm starting to realize that it's faster and more efficient in some ways than even my desktop machine (AMD Athlon 2600+). I think that's more a testament to OsX than to the processor.

Much of this is subjective, but the amount of lag and slowdown you are describing for the tasks you are doing seems excessive to me. Have you done maintenance on your computer lately? Permissions repair? Daily/Weekly/Monthly optimizations?

omar96 · Mar 12, 2005, 09:20 AM

Hell, I'm using a 500 MHz ibook, and the only thing I can't do that you want to is play games.

Well, I can play games like Diablo II on down, and I've even installed Warcraft III, but you wouldn't want to play it.

Cless · Mar 12, 2005, 10:21 AM

I have that same nasty slowdown problem on lots of forum reply pages that show a bunch of smilies. It's happening right now, and I have a 1.25GHz PowerBook with 1.25GB of RAM! I think Safari just sucks lots at dealing with bunches of animated GIFs. That's a problem they really need to fix.

c_waddington · Mar 12, 2005, 10:29 AM

Originally posted by VoRTeX-uk:
would a 12" ibook be able to do this:

play games like halo,splinter cell, call of duty.

Use MSN messenger/IM

Downloading through Bit Torrent

Playing and burning music to ipod

Word Processing whilst downloading music/movies and also using MSN? (this is most important question) i will be upgrading RAM to 1gb.

Thanks in advance

from a hopeful mac owner [/B]

The 12" iBook will work well for general day-to-day functions, and OS X is a great multi-tasking operating system so running multiple applications should not be a problem if you install a decent amount of RAM in the machine.

However, don't expect stellar performance in first person shooter games. I can play Wolfenstein 3d, and Call Of Duty but like most laptops, the graphics card performance doesn't match what you can get from a desktop. I'm not knocking the iBook here - for what, $1000-$1200, you're getting a fantastic machine.

I can heartily recommend the 12" iBook G4 - it's one of the favorite computer that I've owned.

c_waddington · Mar 12, 2005, 10:32 AM

Originally posted by Cless:
I have that same nasty slowdown problem on lots of forum reply pages that show a bunch of smilies. It's happening right now, and I have a 1.25GHz PowerBook with 1.25GB of RAM! I think Safari just sucks lots at dealing with bunches of animated GIFs. That's a problem they really need to fix.

Yes I agree it's a Safari problem. Have you tried installing PithHelmet? - it removes lots of junk from web pages, including ads, flash banners etc. You take a small hit when the page first loads but you get speed increase because you end up with a smaller web page.

c_waddington · Mar 12, 2005, 10:35 AM

Originally posted by Mykul:
I too come from a pc world. I have switched our household over to macs over the past two months. Just to give you an idea of how slow...I cannot see what I am typing right now without a great delay. I am using an 800mhz iBook with the full 640mb of ram possible. I have only safari running with three tabs open and it is noticeably slow. I am getting used to it...but if you are coming from a pc and are used to instant computing your are in for a surprise. For me, I would ideally like to have itunes, entourage, safari with several tabs open and still have the power to bring up an excel spreadsheet. This is just not feasible on a mac. I admittedly run less than the top of the line...but I cannot see where just a few hundred mhz could fix this.

I love and am staying with the Mac...however I am learning patience.

Good luck on your quest.

<><
mykul

P.S. My wifes iMac g5 with 1.5gb of ram and 1.8 ghz processor does seem much snappier than my iBook.

Out of interest, which version of Excel are you running?

I notice that the latest version is much slower in all respects than Excel vX. There is discernable keyboard lag when typing - i'm guessing it's doing something in the background like spell checking. Anyhoo, it's definitely a slow-coach compared to vX.

sligett · Mar 12, 2005, 04:40 PM

New iBooks are often announced in April. I'm watching - I have a G3/700 14" iBook that's about three years old. I'll either get a new one or put a 100GB drive in this one.

David Joyce · Mar 12, 2005, 06:18 PM

As a long time Mac user and consultant, I found your experience to not be consistent with my experiences. As a test I fired up my trusty old 333MHz G3 laptop with 320 MB of Ram, running OS X 10.3.8. I launched Now Up-To-Date and Now Calendar, Safari with several windows open, including both Yahoo! news and my web-mail. I also am running iTunes, looping the library, iChat, as well as connecting to both my email server and a remote clients email server with the Admin software. I have my server mounted and am running Word and Entourage. At no time does this machine feel particularly slow, it is by no means as fast as my G5, but it is certainly serviceable.

I'd agree with other postings here, I think your iBook needs a bit of maintenance or you have a lot of Haxies running, taking up processor time. Whatever the case may be, you should be getting much better performance out of that machine then you reported.

Hope this helps you better use your Mac!

Originally posted by Mykul:
I too come from a pc world. I have switched our household over to macs over the past two months. Just to give you an idea of how slow...I cannot see what I am typing right now without a great delay. I am using an 800mhz iBook with the full 640mb of ram possible. I have only safari running with three tabs open and it is noticeably slow. I am getting used to it...but if you are coming from a pc and are used to instant computing your are in for a surprise. For me, I would ideally like to have itunes, entourage, safari with several tabs open and still have the power to bring up an excel spreadsheet. This is just not feasible on a mac. I admittedly run less than the top of the line...but I cannot see where just a few hundred mhz could fix this.

I love and am staying with the Mac...however I am learning patience.

Good luck on your quest.

<><
mykul

P.S. My wifes iMac g5 with 1.5gb of ram and 1.8 ghz processor does seem much snappier than my iBook.

bimmerphile · Mar 12, 2005, 08:35 PM

There is no way that you can play Halo well. I've played it (or attempted to) on a 1.2GHz 12" iBook G4 with 768MB of RAM...no dice. 32MB 9200 mobility just will not cut it.

brother337 · Mar 12, 2005, 08:43 PM

Originally posted by Mykul:
I too come from a pc world. I have switched our household over to macs over the past two months. Just to give you an idea of how slow...I cannot see what I am typing right now without a great delay. I am using an 800mhz iBook with the full 640mb of ram possible. I have only safari running with three tabs open and it is noticeably slow. I am getting used to it...but if you are coming from a pc and are used to instant computing your are in for a surprise. For me, I would ideally like to have itunes, entourage, safari with several tabs open and still have the power to bring up an excel spreadsheet. This is just not feasible on a mac. I admittedly run less than the top of the line...but I cannot see where just a few hundred mhz could fix this.

I love and am staying with the Mac...however I am learning patience.

Good luck on your quest.

<><
mykul

P.S. My wifes iMac g5 with 1.5gb of ram and 1.8 ghz processor does seem much snappier than my iBook.

Mykul,

Off of David Joyce's comments, I'd say, try keeping your Activity Monitor open, and when you notice your computer slowing down excessively, check you processes in the Activity Monitor and see if any one in particular is eating up your cycles.

JEB · Mar 13, 2005, 12:26 AM

*Subliminal Message*

A) Get lots of RAM
B) Order with biggest Hard Drive possible
---
and, if you have lots of CD's:
---
C) get an Airport Express for music to a stereo
D) and and iPod (w/ Firewire)

You'll find lots of other awesome stuff happens on an iBook . . . so even if your games play differently, you'll still be amazed.

brettcamp · Mar 13, 2005, 03:11 AM

Originally posted by Mykul:
I am using an 800mhz iBook with the full 640mb of ram possible. I have only safari running with three tabs open and it is noticeably slow.... I would ideally like to have itunes, entourage, safari with several tabs open and still have the power to bring up an excel spreadsheet. This is just not feasible on a mac.

Of course it's feasible on a Mac, even the one you're using. I had that exact model iBook with that amount of RAM, and and never experienced anything like the kinds of slowdowns you describe, even when I was running Safari with lots of tabs and windows open and several other apps simultaneously. In the words of Hank HIll, "That ain't right." Check previous threads in this forum that deal with fixing slowdowns, anything from repairing permissions to running Onyx or Cocktail to wiping the hard drive and reinstalling the OS as a last resort. You should be getting much better performance.

Mykul · Mar 13, 2005, 03:54 AM

I ran onyx and am now using menumeter to monitor what is causing the slowdowns. I still am having the slowdowns and the text is still way after I type it. I can see that the slowdown isn't the memory it is the processor. it is almost always at 100% when I am actively surfing the web. Especially when filling in forms. I just want to warn you...Macs are superior in my opinion...but are slower...noticibly slower and doing everyday tasks. Especially web surfing and sorting/searching entourage.

P.S. Love the Hank Hill quote. I am the biggest KOTH fan their is!!! nice to see another.

<><
mykul

brother337 · Mar 13, 2005, 05:12 AM

Originally posted by Mykul:
I ran onyx and am now using menumeter to monitor what is causing the slowdowns. I still am having the slowdowns and the text is still way after I type it. I can see that the slowdown isn't the memory it is the processor. it is almost always at 100% when I am actively surfing the web. Especially when filling in forms. I just want to warn you...Macs are superior in my opinion...but are slower...noticibly slower and doing everyday tasks. Especially web surfing and sorting/searching entourage.

P.S. Love the Hank Hill quote. I am the biggest KOTH fan their is!!! nice to see another.

<><
mykul

Well, like many of us said, the text on this particular forum reply page is filled with animated GIFs that eat up your processor, but that is more of a Safari issue than a processor issue. Hopefully future versions of Safari will correct this.

And, to reiterate everyone's points, your mac seems to be having an excessive amount of slowdown that should not be happening to a mac with your specs. Check to see which specific process is eating up your processor cycles. It sounds like your web browser (Safari) is eating your processor.

NYK Ace · Mar 13, 2005, 12:24 PM

Originally posted by Mykul:
I ran onyx and am now using menumeter to monitor what is causing the slowdowns. I still am having the slowdowns and the text is still way after I type it. I can see that the slowdown isn't the memory it is the processor. it is almost always at 100% when I am actively surfing the web. Especially when filling in forms. I just want to warn you...Macs are superior in my opinion...but are slower...noticibly slower and doing everyday tasks. Especially web surfing and sorting/searching entourage.

P.S. Love the Hank Hill quote. I am the biggest KOTH fan their is!!! nice to see another.

<><
mykul

exactly as everyone else is saying, i am also on an ibook g4 800 and am not getting any slowdowns with mail, safari, itunes, aim, and acquisition all open right now... that is, until i run into a page with animated GIFs (like the macnn reply pages) then safari slows down a great deal. this is an issue with safari and hopefully will be fixed in 2.0

my suggestion - dont scroll down to the point where the smiles are until after you are done typing and ready to hit reply. this way there will be no delay in typing

also just like to add my ibook loads websites as fast or faster as my PC with firefox

donniedarko · Mar 13, 2005, 01:37 PM

I agree there is something wrong with this webage that when I post a reply the typing is behind. I definitely think it has to do with the website and not the iBook.

MilkmanDan · Mar 13, 2005, 05:27 PM

An iBook can do anything you want it to, but its trying to convince it to actually do it for you thats the problem.

sminch · Mar 13, 2005, 06:00 PM

An iBook can do anything you want it to, but its trying to convince it to actually do it for you thats the problem.

er, what? i'm wondering if you have a point or are just trolling (in which case bigdaikon might be more your style)...

sminch

NYK Ace · Mar 13, 2005, 06:51 PM

ha i think hes saying sure an ibook CAN play doom III/motion/FCP (for example) if you want it to, but its going to be slow in doing it...

sminch · Mar 13, 2005, 06:55 PM

nyk ace - you might be right, but i'm dying for a decent flamefest...

sminch

brettcamp · Mar 14, 2005, 12:45 AM

Well, one thing you might try to test the Safari theory is using an alternative browser like Firefox, I tell you whut.

trusted_content · Mar 14, 2005, 01:06 AM

Check to see if you have HP printer drivers installed.

Just saying.

I've seen them render many a Mac nearly unusable.

trip · Mar 14, 2005, 01:17 AM

================================================== ================
.... Just to give you an idea of how slow...I cannot see what I am typing right now without a great delay. I am using an 800mhz iBook with the full 640mb of ram possible. I have only safari running with three tabs open and it is noticeably slow. ...
================================================== ================

Hmmm...I don't get it. I use a blueberry g3 (600 mhz with 384 ram). I use OSX with Firefox and commonly have 5-8 pages open. Intense pages too (like xbox.com ect) and I still have very litte lag. Beats my PC at work (ibm P3 800mhz with 1 gig Ram)... I hear safari is slow. Goto Firefox ?

PS I'm waiting til April or June to get an upgraded ibook.(this way I'll get tiger too)

NYK Ace · Mar 14, 2005, 09:48 AM

typing this in firefox right now on an ibook g4 800, i scrolled down intentionally so that i could see all the GIF simlies and there is NO delay in typing

this is definitly a safari problem

GhettoD · Mar 14, 2005, 03:31 PM

For all of you with Safari problems, why have you not switched to Firefox? I have been using Mozilla and later Firefox on my Windows desktop for years, and its one of the first things I installed on my Powerbook. You can get nightly optimized Firefox builds that run incredibly fast and are by far the best browser I've seen for OS X

Check them out here

http://homepage.mac.com/krmathis/

Mykul · Mar 14, 2005, 04:50 PM

I have tried firefox and love it. It does help with the slowdown. however pages are not as compatible. One thing that is almost unbelievable is that when I scroll this page up to hide the animated smilies it DOES SPEED UP TYPING. This is crazy but true.

I have to admit that I haven't used a PowerBook for day to day usage so the speed issue may only be relative to the iBooks. However I switched from a Toshiba 2Ghz Pentium 4m notebook to this iBook and will state unequivocally that the Toshiba blew this away. I would love to find a Mac Notebook that would come close to WinTel speed..any recommendations?

<><
mykul

P.S. Yup, Brettcamp, I caught the "I tell you whut"

sminch · Mar 14, 2005, 05:06 PM

mykul - if you're after a recommendation then, seriously, try a new ibook with extra ram and it will change your mind about ibooks being slow.

older ones might be slow (that seems to be the consensus, but i really don't know as i've never used one) but newer models are sweet as. my 1.2ghz 'book is fantastic - no slow down on websites like you're talking about, and that's using safari too. other posters here seem to agree that new ibooks are snappy.

like i said above, i think it's a bit harsh to say "ibooks are slow - a 2ghz tohsi blew mine away" when the ibook you're comparing it to isn't a current model.

sminch

Mykul · Mar 14, 2005, 05:17 PM

I appreciate your comments. I purchased the Toshiba notebook and the iBook at the same time. I purchased two similar notebooks, the Toshiba was the consumer Satellite (not Tecra)...the Apple was an iBook 800mhz (fastest at that time). My point isn't to bash the iBook. I love it. It is what I use daily. The point was to just point out the obvious to the original poster. I paid the same thing for each notebook...around $1200. The Toshiba is noticibly faster. The Apple is noticibly more enjoyable to use.

I am not trying to rile anyone up. Just pointing out that the iBook may not be what he is looking for. Maybe a powerbook would be better...or even a WinTel notebook. Don't know for sure...just want him to know a little about my experience before he makes his decision.

Good luck whatever decision you make.

<><
mykul

sminch · Mar 14, 2005, 06:52 PM

if the toshiba and apple were bought at the same time then that is a little scary, and i should perhaps shut up about comparing an older ibook with a new windows laptop - i'd assumed that the toshi was heaps newer. i might pull my head back in and stop drinking so much coffee...

sminch

brother337 · Mar 14, 2005, 08:43 PM

I don't think anyone is getting riled up. We just want to make sure your ibook is running as well as the rest of ours.

brettcamp · Mar 15, 2005, 02:48 AM

Hmph. Assuming you've run all the tests and tried the fixes suggested here, if nothing else solves the problem, I wouldn't put up with such lags; I'd back up and reformat the hard drive and reinstall. If it's still slow after that, I'm not sure what else to recommend. But I think your experience is an anomaly; it really shouldn't be anywhere near that slow, almost like the Arlen football field with overgrown grass.

Mykul · Mar 15, 2005, 04:44 PM

I will probably just live with it and try to purchase a new powerbook with Tiger on it in May. (If they are out).

I think the slowdown may be caused by an over fertilization of phosphorous and getting the nitrates all out of whack. Do you think that the new powerbooks will be much better than the current crop? Do you think that they will be "Branson Good?"

<><
mykul

brettcamp · Mar 16, 2005, 04:03 AM

I bet they'll run as hot as a propane barbecue grill.

pcd2k · Mar 16, 2005, 05:21 AM

On a recent model,an iBook will probably cope ok with imovie but would it cope with Final Cut Express ?

brother337 · Mar 16, 2005, 06:09 AM

Originally posted by pcd2k :
On a recent model,an iBook will probably cope ok with imovie but would it cope with Final Cut Express ?

I can edit just fine on Final Cut Pro on my G4/800, so I'd imagine that any newer model can just be better.

I'm just talking standard video, tho. The minimum requirement for HD video is 1ghz.

damosan · Mar 16, 2005, 08:33 AM

When working on some heavy duty school stuff I will routinely have Word, Excel, Safari (multiple windows with multiple tabs), iTunes, Mail, FireFox (cuz it works with the school site while Safari doesn't), Terminal, Emacs w/ Lispy goodness, etc. all open at the same time with no real performance hit.

Granted you do get the delay when alt-tabbing between apps but it's only for a second or so. Nothing painful and nothing distracting.

The *first* thing I did when I bought this computer a few years back was to max the ram out.

It's no screamer but I certainly don't have any issues getting work done on this little rig.

I can't imagine what all you G4 types are complaining about.

Mykul · Mar 16, 2005, 04:51 PM

They may run hot as a grill but the OS is still clean as propane. Yup, clean, efficient, and reliable.

<><
mykul

historylme · Mar 17, 2005, 06:07 PM

Originally posted by Mykul:
I too come from a pc world. I have switched our household over to macs over the past two months. Just to give you an idea of how slow...I cannot see what I am typing right now without a great delay. I am using an 800mhz iBook with the full 640mb of ram possible. I have only safari running with three tabs open and it is noticeably slow. I am getting used to it...but if you are coming from a pc and are used to instant computing your are in for a surprise. For me, I would ideally like to have itunes, entourage, safari with several tabs open and still have the power to bring up an excel spreadsheet. This is just not feasible on a mac. I admittedly run less than the top of the line...but I cannot see where just a few hundred mhz could fix this.

I had the Ibook 600 with 384 of ram, and it would run great. I would always have, Mail, Safari, text edit, Itunes and then two or three other apps running at the same time (usually Word). It never got so slow as you have described yours to be. Have you had it looked? Is the ram that you have working? You might also want to see if there are other apps running in the background that you're not aware off.

I really think you should have it checked. It should be able to multi task easy on those specs.

ryaxnb · Mar 18, 2005, 06:59 PM

play games like halo,splinter cell, call of duty.
Not really - it will play halo - but a little slow. For really good games, go for the 15" PowerBook. Or, I'd recommend a GameCube or XBox gaming system.

Use MSN messenger/IM
Use MSN? Sure, at VersionTracker there's a MSN Messenger version for Mac. However, MSN Messenger isn't perfect - many people dislike it.. Some prefer aMSN, a clone of MSN 6, available here, or one of the multi-messengers listed below.
For AIM, there is an official version here, but most like Apple's bundled AIM-compatible iChat software better, or possibly a multi-messenger, listed below.
ICQ support is built-in to AIM, or many multi-messengers, and there is also a dedicated version available. Yahoo! support is available using their own sucky client (yahoo.com) or a multi-messenger.
Multi-messengers: Adium works with AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, Jabber, and ICQ. Fire supports all but Yahoo!. What would I recommend? iChat for AIM and Adium or Fire for everything else.

Downloading through Bit Torrent
Yes, Bittorrent clients, including an official one, are availiable here. Poisoned is generally regarded as the best P2P client, BTW.

Playing and burning music to ipod
Yes, iTunes is included, it will do this fine.

Word Processing whilst downloading music/movies and also using MSN? (this is most important question) i will be upgrading RAM to 1gb.
Yes, Macs are great multi taskers.

Thanks in advance

Mykul · Mar 24, 2005, 12:21 AM

firefox does help. also might try turning off anti-virus software. AntiVirus software seems to lend itself to crippling my mac.

polendo · Mar 24, 2005, 02:04 PM

In my opinion, you can do everything you said except gaming. It's a major no-no with an iBook.

regards