Powerbook G4 1.5Ghz

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Childs

Originally posted by: Yossairian
*nod*

Whatever you get, upgrade the RAM.. 512 is ok, 1G if you can afford it.

Get the 1GB from newegg or ewiz. I got the 1GB PC3200 Samsung sodimms for $150 from ewiz, and it works great. Better than the $500 Apple will charge you.

What do you think about throwing this in a powerbook?

http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4389075?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

To the OP: did you decide to go w/ the 12 or the 15?

 

[Childs]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: Childs

Originally posted by: Yossairian
*nod*

Whatever you get, upgrade the RAM.. 512 is ok, 1G if you can afford it.

Get the 1GB from newegg or ewiz. I got the 1GB PC3200 Samsung sodimms for $150 from ewiz, and it works great. Better than the $500 Apple will charge you.

What do you think about throwing this in a powerbook?

http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4389075?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

To the OP: did you decide to go w/ the 12 or the 15?

Yeah, those should work as well. I can't remember forum I was on, but lots of Powerbook guys were buying up those Kingston dimms. I actually didn't know about it when I bought mine.

 

[nitromullet]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply.

I just picked up a new pb 12" combo last weekend to replace a G3 800 14" iBook I bought used that sorta died on me, and I really like it. It came with 512MB standard, and according to top, I could use a bit more RAM...

PhysMem: 73.2M wired, 210M active, 155M inactive, 439M used, 72.5M free

...and I'm not really doing anything...

I'm pretty new to the mac pb scene, and I have noticed the really high price premiums for pb memory. Kingston does make a 1GB SODIMM specifically for the pb, and the one I linked to is not that SODIMM, were the people on that forum referring to that RAM and not the mac specific RAM? Anybody know if there is something "special" about powerbook specific RAM other than the price?

 

[Childs]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
Wow, thanks for the quick reply.

I just picked up a new pb 12" combo last weekend to replace a G3 800 14" iBook I bought used that sorta died on me, and I really like it. It came with 512MB standard, and according to top, I could use a bit more RAM...

PhysMem: 73.2M wired, 210M active, 155M inactive, 439M used, 72.5M free

...and I'm not really doing anything...

I'm pretty new to the mac pb scene, and I have noticed the really high price premiums for pb memory. Kingston does make a 1GB SODIMM specifically for the pb, and the one I linked to is not that SODIMM, were the people on that forum referring to that RAM and not the mac specific RAM? Anybody know if there is something "special" about powerbook specific RAM other than the price?

There is nothing specific about Mac ram, its the same ram PCs/notebooks use. Almost any PC2700/3200 sodimms will work, as the Kingston ram you linked apparently works fine, as did my Samsung ram. As with any RAM, certain brands will have compatibility issues, but it usually because its poor ram.


EDIT: And yeah, they were referring to the Kingston ram on sale at Outpost/Frys.

 

[kitkit201]

defiantely get at least 1gb if you are thinking of doing any graphics or multimedia stuff.. I have 1.25gb of ram in mine, and even though the CPU is a bit slower than what's out there right now, the ram really does make a difference, especially in the OS X world.

Regarding the 12" vs. 15" debate, I originally had a 12" but with the photos I take and the inconvience of a PC card slot for my CF reader, and the difference of widescreen.. i'll never go back to the 12".. which I sold and immediate purchased a 15". Never was more happier since... Best $1500 I put down.

BTW: TIGER ROCKS!!

 

[nitromullet]

Thanks again for the quick reply. I think I might have to make a trip up to Fry's this week. ~$110 (AMIR) isn't bad at all for 1GB of RAM.

As far as 12" vs 15" goes, I guess it's really up to the individual. I think the 15" is probably superior overall in terms of the actual computer to the 12" - primarily because of the larger screen, better graphics card, and larger RAM upgrade capacity (2GB vs 1.25GB) in addition to a few other things people have already mentioned. But... It is considerably more expensive than the 12" and is also really quite a bit larger (the 12" is tiny). In my situation, the 12" is ideal because most of the time I have it hooked up to my Dell 2005FPW, or I'm in my living room (like right now) with the lappy on the couch, or I'm taking it with me to work. Unless something drastically changes and the game developer community swtiches over to OpenGL, I will continue to use my Windows machine with the 6800GT for gaming, so the video card is a non issue - the 9700 is just extra cost. Personally, I also think the superdrive is a rip off unless you really need to burn DVD's on the go. I am planning in picking up an external USB2/Firewire LaCia D2 DVD burner that I can use with both my Windows box and the PowerBook, although I do wish that the 80GB HD had been available with the 12" combo model at the Apple store.

ok, well that turned into a rather lengthy post...

Thanks again for the info about the RAM. I'll post a follow up if I pick it up this week.

 

[XBoxLPU]

Originally posted by: NiKeFiDO
imacs are not good, go for either their lappys or their full size towers...


or their ipods...

The new Imacs are freaking sweet

 

[helpme]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

I just picked up a new pb 12" combo last weekend to replace a G3 800 14" iBook I bought used that sorta died on me, and I really like it. It came with 512MB standard, and according to top, I could use a bit more RAM...

PhysMem: 73.2M wired, 210M active, 155M inactive, 439M used, 72.5M free

Note that the 'inactive' memory will be released if needed. The only memory which is in use is the wired and active categories. Mac OS X will hold on to all reciently used stuff, so if you need it again, it will be ready. It will use ALL available ram to cache stuff as opposed to just letting it sit idle. If you need it, it will be released for processes to use.

 

[nitromullet]

Note that the 'inactive' memory will be released if needed. The only memory which is in use is the wired and active categories. Mac OS X will hold on to all reciently used stuff, so if you need it again, it will be ready. It will use ALL available ram to cache stuff as opposed to just letting it sit idle. If you need it, it will be released for processes to use.

That makes sense in theory, but it was definitely using the swapfile even when there was a sizeable chunk in 'inactive'. Either way, I picked up the Kingston 1GB SODIMM from my local Fry's. It was quite a bit more expensive than on outpost.com ($199 before $30 rebate), but my curiousity and impatience got the better of my wallet. So far, no problems to report. I ran memtest with no errors and have been using the cmputer on and off for the last few hours with no problems. I will definitely say that upgrading a PowerBook running OSX 10.4 to 1.25GB yields a more noticable performance difference then makng the 1GB jump on either WinXP or Linux.

 

[Tbirdkid]

apple makes the best lappys, they just work. thats all you want in a lappy anyways... it to just work. my gaming happens on my xbox and on my pc

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: OCLeo
I am thinking of buying Powerbook G4 1.5Ghz 512MB ram etc... haven't made up my mind between a combo drive or superdrive yet. Until now I mainly used a PC but am ready to dive into the world of Mac. Before I go out and buy one, wanted your input. Is 12inch G4 a good buy compared to 15inch etc..

If you're OK with the combo drive, then think about the 12" iBook too. It works just fine in Tiger. The main problem with the iBook is the lack of a Core Image compatible GPU. Core Image works best on a Shader 2.0 GPU, which means it needs at least a GeForce FX 5200 or a Radeon 9600. The iBook has a Radeon 9200.

Mind you, the PowerBook was recently updated, and it may be a safer purchase especially since it already has a CI GPU.

OTOH, the iBook is due for an update soon. If you can wait, considering waiting to see what's released (if anything) at WWDC on June 6.

Originally posted by: XBoxLPU

Originally posted by: NiKeFiDO
imacs are not good, go for either their lappys or their full size towers...

or their ipods...

The new Imacs are freaking sweet

Yeah, I just ordered a 20" 2.0 GHz iMac with 400 GB HD.

 

[kitkat22]

I was looking over a friends G4 12" and the screen real estate just seemed small. I, personally, would take the 15" just for that alone. Especially if you want to travel and watch DVD's or something. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: cscpianoman
I was looking over a friends G4 12" and the screen real estate just seemed small. I, personally, would take the 15" just for that alone. Especially if you want to travel and watch DVD's or something. Just my 2 cents.

I have owned a 12" iBook and a 15" PowerBook.

I'm gonna sell my PowerBook this year to get a smaller laptop, either a 12" iBook or the 12" PowerBook.

On the plane, a 12" is much nicer by the way. The 15" is kinda too big for economy class.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Eug

Originally posted by: cscpianoman
I was looking over a friends G4 12" and the screen real estate just seemed small. I, personally, would take the 15" just for that alone. Especially if you want to travel and watch DVD's or something. Just my 2 cents.

I have owned a 12" iBook and a 15" PowerBook.

I'm gonna sell my PowerBook this year to get a smaller laptop, either a 12" iBook or the 12" PowerBook.

On the plane, a 12" is much nicer by the way. The 15" is kinda too big for economy class.

Yeah, a friend of mine swears by the 12". He uses it on the plane to compose music when he is on tour with his band.

I think that the 15" is probably the superior computer overall, but the 12" is certainly more portable, and while not carrying them around you can hook up either to a larger monitor. I would still do this if I owned a 15", since it doesn't exactly have an enormous amount of screen real estate either. The main thing I like about the 15" over the 12" is the widescreen aspect ratio and the Radeon 9700 over the GeForce 5200Go, but the 12" suits me for what I use it for and it is considerably cheaper than the 15".