Next generation of Powerbooks?

[Angela]

I'm planning on buying a new Mac laptop, and want to set up the airport
system to make it wireless around the house. (Integrated with my
hardworking G3...which I one day want to replace with a G5, but first,
a new laptop to replace my dead 270)

I was looking at the IBooks, but decided to go for the G4, probably the
12 inch (though I'm wondering about the limited RAM expansion and lack
of L3 cache, and may step up to the 15 inch for those reasons)

Anyone here own the 12 inch, and have any thoughts on the lack of L3
cache? Is it noticable?

My other question is when is the next release of PBs expected? I'm
wondering if I should hold off and see what Apple brings out (or maybe
the ones I'm looking at will drop in price to make way for the new
ones).

Thanks for any thoughts...this is a big decision for me, because this
laptop will have to last for years. I think the RAM issue is my biggest
concern and may be the reason I go for the 15 inch.

Ang

[Elliott Roper]

In article <280720031355249729%hornedangeiREMOVETHIS@aol.com> , Angela
<hornedangeiREMOVETHIS@aol.com> wrote:

> I'm planning on buying a new Mac laptop, and want to set up the airport
> system to make it wireless around the house. (Integrated with my
> hardworking G3...which I one day want to replace with a G5, but first,
> a new laptop to replace my dead 270)
>
> I was looking at the IBooks, but decided to go for the G4, probably the
> 12 inch (though I'm wondering about the limited RAM expansion and lack
> of L3 cache, and may step up to the 15 inch for those reasons)
>
> Anyone here own the 12 inch, and have any thoughts on the lack of L3
> cache? Is it noticable?
>
> My other question is when is the next release of PBs expected? I'm
> wondering if I should hold off and see what Apple brings out (or maybe
> the ones I'm looking at will drop in price to make way for the new
> ones).
>
> Thanks for any thoughts...this is a big decision for me, because this
> laptop will have to last for years. I think the RAM issue is my biggest
> concern and may be the reason I go for the 15 inch.

I'm in the same boat. I recently had my 1Ghz TiBook lost/stolen. It had
1GB of memory. I am now timesharing on my missus' Pismo while I make up
my mind on whether to wait for the new Powerbooks that *must* be almost
on us.
The Pismo only has 512MB and 400 measly MHz. It is surprisingly OK for
most purposes. I now reckon I could live with a 12" Superdrive
Powerbook, as long as I had a spare big second display back at my desk.
A few things are *much* slower than the TiBook, like Word in page view,
and trying to really fly through finder Windows, and I haven't bothered
with putting Final Cut pro on it, since, regardless of speed, the disks
are perpetetually full.

I have decided to give the new Powerbooks a month. If they don't show
I'm buying a used 12" and putting the savings toward a G5 something
later.

The 15" was just a smidge too big to be really comfortable for lugging
about. I'd never consider a 17" for that reason.

Depending on what you do with your machine, you probably would not
notice the difference between 640MB and 1024 MB, nor the lack of L3
unless you were video editing or were a power Photoshop user.

All of the above is sheer personal bias. I too wish that somebody would
tell me how long we have to wait for the next swarm of Powerbook.

[Tee M.]

In article <280720031546242711%star@sky.net>, Davoud <star@sky.net>
wrote:

> > My other question is when is the next release of PBs expected?

>
> There's the (approximately) $3600.00 question to which many want the
> answer. Someone posted here recently that the optimistic view is "soon"
> -- to take advantage of back-to-school buying -- while the pessimistic
> view is MacWorld SF in January. In other words, if I knew, I would tell
> you. If you find out, tell me.

I've also been waiting for some news on the new 15inch.
The thing is, even if it was announced today, wouldn't there still be a
2 month delay until they were actually available?
That pretty much rules out having a new 15in out in time for the back
to school crowd...

[Angela]

I thank everyone for the excellent advice!

I have another question that I realize isn't on topic for this
newsgroup, but I'm gonna ask anyway. I was looking through one of the
Mac catalogs, looking at memory for the Powerbooks, and the processor
upgrades caught my eye. At first glance, it looked like an upgrade
(ZIFF) for about 600 bucks could turn my G3 desktop into a G4. Did I
read this wrong? I'd been thinking about upgrading the processor in my
desktop until I could save for a G5, but that would really help me out.
(And if that were true, I'd probably go for an IBook instead of the
Powerbook)

How hard is it to install a processor upgrade? I've installed hard
drives, RAM, various cards and stuff like that.

TIA,

Ang

[Tom Harrington]

In article <280720032110305920%hornedangeiREMOVETHIS@aol.com> ,
Angela <hornedangeiREMOVETHIS@aol.com> wrote:

> I thank everyone for the excellent advice!
>
> I have another question that I realize isn't on topic for this
> newsgroup, but I'm gonna ask anyway. I was looking through one of the
> Mac catalogs, looking at memory for the Powerbooks, and the processor
> upgrades caught my eye. At first glance, it looked like an upgrade
> (ZIFF) for about 600 bucks could turn my G3 desktop into a G4. Did I
> read this wrong? I'd been thinking about upgrading the processor in my
> desktop until I could save for a G5, but that would really help me out.
> (And if that were true, I'd probably go for an IBook instead of the
> Powerbook)

Did you read it wrong? Maybe you could go back and look again? :-)

That price is not surprising.

> How hard is it to install a processor upgrade? I've installed hard
> drives, RAM, various cards and stuff like that.

Given all that, you should have no trouble with the installation.

--
Tom "Tom" Harrington
Macaroni, Automated System Maintenance for Mac OS X.
Version 1.4: Best cleanup yet, gets files other tools miss.
See [url]http://www.atomicbird.com/[/url]

[Angela]

In article <tph-B98A22.20282428072003@localhost>, Tom Harrington
<tph@pcisys.no.spam.dammit.net> wrote:

> In article <280720032110305920%hornedangeiREMOVETHIS@aol.com> ,
> Angela <hornedangeiREMOVETHIS@aol.com> wrote:
>

> > I thank everyone for the excellent advice!
> >
> > I have another question that I realize isn't on topic for this
> > newsgroup, but I'm gonna ask anyway. I was looking through one of the
> > Mac catalogs, looking at memory for the Powerbooks, and the processor
> > upgrades caught my eye. At first glance, it looked like an upgrade
> > (ZIFF) for about 600 bucks could turn my G3 desktop into a G4. Did I
> > read this wrong? I'd been thinking about upgrading the processor in my
> > desktop until I could save for a G5, but that would really help me out.
> > (And if that were true, I'd probably go for an IBook instead of the
> > Powerbook)

>
> Did you read it wrong? Maybe you could go back and look again? :-)

LOL, I have now several times. I guess what's making me question my
reading skills is that I had no idea you could turn a G3 into a G4.
When I was originally tossing around the idea of upgrading my
processor, everything was G3 to G3.

This says: "Now shipping for Beige G3s" (I have a beige G3, but I would
call first to make sure it would work on MY beige G3) Says Power Mac G3
DT plus others. I have a DT.

And would be G4, 1.0 GHz, 1MB L3 cache, and 250 Mhz Cache, for $599.

If this is right, and would work on my computer, I'd rather do this and
have a G4 desktop with a lot more processor speed than I have. I need a
new laptop, and I need more speed on my G3 (do 3d, video, Photoshop,
etc.), but for the laptop I really just need to have basics for
traveling, and maybe if I feel like sitting in the lazyboy and doing
stuff. I also need a G4 for some compatability concerns.

I could do this, then get a low end IBook, and have exactly what I want
and need, until I can save for the G5.

I was really trying to have a G4 PLUS a new laptop in one. (Because I
MUST have a new laptop as mine is dead now and I travel a lot)

>
> That price is not surprising.
>

> > How hard is it to install a processor upgrade? I've installed hard
> > drives, RAM, various cards and stuff like that.

>
> Given all that, you should have no trouble with the installation.

Hmmmm, right now I'm feeling like a kid looking through the Sears
Christmas Catalog.

I've never worked on a computer with an upgraded processor...are they
reliable?

I guess I need to head over to MacWorld and read some reviews, don't I?
<g>

Gaaa, I really wanted an IBook to begin with, but then decided I had to
have G4. This would solve all my problems....I think.

Thanks for indulging my questions.

Ang

[Davoud]

Angela:

> I was really trying to have a G4 PLUS a new laptop in one. (Because I
> MUST have a new laptop as mine is dead now and I travel a lot)

*****

You *can* have both in one. Did you take a moment to look at my
(non-commercial, no cookies, no ads, G-rated) web page at
<http://www.davidillig.com/cinema.shtml>?

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

[Simon Slavin]

In article <280720032020228107%elliott@yrl.co.uk>,
Elliott Roper <elliott@yrl.co.uk> wrote:

>The Pismo only has 512MB and 400 measly MHz. It is surprisingly OK for
>most purposes. I now reckon I could live with a 12" Superdrive
>Powerbook

The 12" is, for all intents and purposes, a Pismo. The only
difference is that it's faster. Although it's martketed as
a PowerBook I think of it as a top-of-the-line iBook.

If you want better screen resolution or faster handling of
graphics then the 12" isn't going to do it for you.

[John Johnson]

In article <BB4E09669668839C35@0.0.0.0>,
[email]slavins@hearsay.demon.co.uk[/email]@localhost (Simon Slavin) wrote:

> In article <280720032020228107%elliott@yrl.co.uk>,
> Elliott Roper <elliott@yrl.co.uk> wrote:
>

> >The Pismo only has 512MB and 400 measly MHz. It is surprisingly OK for
> >most purposes. I now reckon I could live with a 12" Superdrive
> >Powerbook

>
> The 12" is, for all intents and purposes, a Pismo. The only
> difference is that it's faster. Although it's martketed as
> a PowerBook I think of it as a top-of-the-line iBook.
>

A Pismo with 133MHz bus instead of 100MHz, faster RAM, different
video-out, support for Quartz Extreme (huge advantage), no PC-card slot,
support for AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth, smaller screen, no expansion
bays, etc.

I do agree that the PB 12" is quite similar to the current high-end
iBooks, but it's pretty far different from the old Pismo (an example of
which is what I'm using just at the moment).

> If you want better screen resolution or faster handling of
> graphics then the 12" isn't going to do it for you.

QE support will help quite a bit with the handling of system graphics,
though not with most other video-intensive applications. If the OP wants
something that's snappier on the interface level, and doesn't engage in
high-end video/graphics applications, the 12" might very well be a good
choice. Of course, I don't know exactly what the OP wishes to do with it.

>
>

--
later.

johajohn AT indianahoosiers DOT edu

Remove the adjective to reply. Indiana is a noun.

[Simon Slavin]

In article <280720032110305920%hornedangeiREMOVETHIS@aol.com> ,
Angela <hornedangeiREMOVETHIS@aol.com> wrote:

>the processor
>upgrades caught my eye

Be aware that this only upgrades the processor. It may increase
the speed a little but it doesn't make your memory any faster,
or your motherboard, or your hard disk.