apple powerbook discussion

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  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    DavidTO wrote:
    Once again, Apple rocks hard.

    Andy, just to put this in perspective, just over 2 years ago, I bought my 1ghz, 60gbdrive 15" Titanium Powerbook. Cost me $3000.
    Just have to wave my bad attitude in front of the magic apple reality distortion field. I know it will have no effect, but there you are.

    How fast do modern powerbooks transfer images from a flashcard over the fastest thing (usb 2, firewire, pcmcia?) Getting the images and previewing/editing them is my number 1 notebook task and at this task my 1GHz pb is about 5x slower than my linux 2GHz pentium-M nootbook -- enough to be hard to use. The G5's are plenty fast at this, though.
    If not now, when?
  • DoctorItDoctorIt Administrators Posts: 11,951 moderator
    edited January 31, 2005
    patch29 wrote:
    Andy, tell us how well this works.

    Ready to Scroll


    Scrolling through web pages or large documents on a trackpad can challenge even the most nimble fingers. That’s why every PowerBook G4 features a new trackpad with scrolling capability. Just drag two fingers over the trackpad to scroll vertically and horizontally or pan around any active window. Change this feature to suit your needs: Customize your trackpad settings or turn off scrolling completely via System Preferences.
    I downloaded some shareware that does this for my current powerbook. It's awesome, major time saver, also gives me right click and just about any other custom function you can think up. Lets you configure size of the "hot spot" and so on. Definitely worth $15.

    It's called sidetrack (found it on versiontracker)


    Funny that this was included on my old Toshiba laptop... not quite as configurable, but the scrolling was there for sure.
    Erik
    moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]


  • DoctorItDoctorIt Administrators Posts: 11,951 moderator
    edited January 31, 2005
    rutt wrote:
    Just have to wave my bad attitude in front of the magic apple reality distortion field. I know it will have no effect, but there you are.

    How fast do modern powerbooks transfer images from a flashcard over the fastest thing (usb 2, firewire, pcmcia?) Getting the images and previewing/editing them is my number 1 notebook task and at this task my 1GHz pb is about 5x slower than my linux 2GHz pentium-M nootbook -- enough to be hard to use. The G5's are plenty fast at this, though.
    Sadly, this is true. I haven't done a quantitative test, but yes, my G4 PB is much slower than my Toshiba was. It's not a deal breaker for me. Even a full 1GB card transfer (not a fast card either) is only enough time to go to the kitchen and grab a cookie or refill a drink :D
    Erik
    moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]


  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    don't know what i'm gonna do, actually
    i went down to the apple store in soho. the new units are not in stock, expecting a boatload before the week is out. they did give me $300 more credit off of my purchase of the 12" g4 i bought on friday... bringing the total cost of that box down to $1000 + tax. that's a helluva deal.

    i'm deciding right now on if i want to order the new model.. can do for $100 restocking fee (usually i'm against these but in this case, hell, the i'm typing on the pb right now!, so it's used for crying out loud :D) anyhow, i like the faster disk, and the faster processor.

    ... calling apple right now i think.

    andy
  • photocatphotocat Registered Users Posts: 1,334 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    iMac G5
    mercphoto wrote:
    Anyone have any thoughts about a 20" G5 iMac? I'm wondering mostly about the quality of the display. I would imagine its better than my 12" PowerBook in terms of viewing angle and color accuracy. I'm lusting after that machine.

    I have one and I love it. I came from the small ibook 12 inch (given to me by my husband as engagement gift in 2001). The iMac g5 is wonderful...
    Nice screen, good colors, fast... (Just watch what voltage it has, I burned mine by plugging it into the wrong voltage mains, it needed a new powersupply)
    I would recommend it to anybody working with pics.
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    on wednesday or thursday...
    patch29 wrote:
    Andy, tell us how well this works.

    i will tell you.

    just ordered the newer model.

    the old one will be returned upon receipt of the new one. i must say, apple makes is really easy.

    so, i went for the newer mod b/c of the following: better resale value, faster proc, faster disks.
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    rutt wrote:
    Just have to wave my bad attitude in front of the magic apple reality distortion field. I know it will have no effect, but there you are.

    How fast do modern powerbooks transfer images from a flashcard over the fastest thing (usb 2, firewire, pcmcia?) Getting the images and previewing/editing them is my number 1 notebook task and at this task my 1GHz pb is about 5x slower than my linux 2GHz pentium-M nootbook -- enough to be hard to use. The G5's are plenty fast at this, though.
    How are you doing it on the pbook? USB, you prolly have USB 1? Are you using PCMCIA? If not, you should, IMO.

    We need details, Rutt. Just ask Fish, details are very important.
    Moderator Emeritus
    Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,707 moderator
    edited January 31, 2005
    As usual, I am late to the party, but I did read about the upgrades here

    http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=77&e=3&u=/mc/20050131/tc_mc/applebumpspowerbooksto167ghzlowersprice

    I think this sounds much more interesting now. 15" PB sounds like the ticket for Yosemite to me 1drink.gif
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    DavidTO wrote:
    How are you doing it on the pbook? USB, you prolly have USB 1? Are you using PCMCIA? If not, you should, IMO.

    We need details, Rutt. Just ask Fish, details are very important.
    I have tried everything there is. I started with PCMCIA, but not only was that slow, it also interred with other things I was doing at the same time. Then I tried firewire, which was better. The USB 2 Crucial Memory flashcard worked the best, but the very same thing is about 4x faster on my intel notebook and also on my g5.

    You cannot compare the bus speeds for the current crop of processors with a generation ago. Right on the apple spec page, it says these processors have a system bus speed of 167MHz. That's about 1/2 the memory speed, so they can't even take advantage o the 333MHz memory, let alone firewire or usb 2 which are both significantly faster. Compare this to the bus speeds of the G5 models: 600 MHz for the 1.8GHz model and 1.25GHz/processor for the 2.5GHz model. Now that could keep up with your usb 2 card or whatever. Pentium-M notebooks have bus speeds of either 400 or 533MHz depending on whether you get the super deluxe model or not.

    The truth will set you free.
    If not now, when?
  • fishfish Registered Users Posts: 2,950 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    hey rutt, how's 132mb/s via cardbus?
    "Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston
    "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    fish wrote:
    hey rutt, how's 132mb/s via cardbus?
    Just look at the spec. It sounds like cardbus is a lot slower than usb 2 or firewire and the slow pbook system bus should just be able to handle it. But nothing else at the same time, which matches my experience. Also cardbus is really ide and requires more processor interention than firewire or usb 2. Which explains why cardbus transfers interfer with other parallel tasks.
    If not now, when?
  • fishfish Registered Users Posts: 2,950 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    rutt wrote:
    Just look at the spec. It sounds like cardbus is a lot slower than usb 2 or firewire and the slow pbook system bus should just be able to handle it. But nothing else at the same time, which matches my experience. Also cardbus is really ide and requires more processor interention than firewire or usb 2. Which explains why cardbus transfers interfer with other parallel tasks.

    Specs don't necessarily reflect real world. In real world, with my G4 powerbook, the Delkin cardbus adapter is probably 40-50% faster than my lexar FW reader, which is several times faster than my USB 2.0 reader.

    You could read this...
    http://www.dpreview.com/news/0310/03102103delkincardbustest.asp

    or you could do what I did and buy one of each and test them yourself. 11doh.gif
    "Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston
    "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    fish wrote:
    Specs don't necessarily reflect real world. In real world, with my G4 powerbook, the Delkin cardbus adapter is probably 40-50% faster than my lexar FW reader, which is several times faster than my USB 2.0 reader.

    You could read this...
    http://www.dpreview.com/news/0310/03102103delkincardbustest.asp

    or you could do what I did and buy one of each and test them yourself. 11doh.gif
    Looks like it's worth a try for my windows notebook, but the specs show that the pbs are limited by their buses. There may be other bottlenecks, but they can never make full use of anything faster than 133MHz. Even in the real world, impossible things can't happen.
    If not now, when?
  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    rutt wrote:
    Looks like it's worth a try for my windows notebook, but the specs show that the pbs are limited by their buses. There may be other bottlenecks, but they can never make full use of anything faster than 133MHz. Even in the real world, impossible things can't happen.

    133MHz on an 8-bit-wide bus is a gigabits per second. The bus is wider than 8-bits. Therefore, it should easily keep pace with Firewire 800, gigabit ethernet, etc. But in general you are correct that the bus is the common bottleneck in the computer.
    Bill Jurasz - Mercury Photography - Cedar Park, TX
    A former sports shooter
    Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
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  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    please make it simple..
    what sort of reader should i get for my powerbook. what'll be fastest reader that attaches by usb or firewire? and is portable.
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    andy wrote:
    what sort of reader should i get for my powerbook. what'll be fastest reader that attaches by usb or firewire? and is portable.
    Andy, all these things are so cheap compared to what you've already spent. Go out and buy one of each. If you don't to keep them all, return the ones you don't lile (but that won't really be worth it.) In your total computer/camera budget for the last 6 months it's less than a rounding error.
    If not now, when?
  • patch29patch29 Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 2,928 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    andy wrote:
    what sort of reader should i get for my powerbook. what'll be fastest reader that attaches by usb or firewire? and is portable.

    I place my vote for Firewire. thumb.gif
  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    USB 2.0 Sucks
    andy wrote:
    what sort of reader should i get for my powerbook. what'll be fastest reader that attaches by usb or firewire? and is portable.

    Firewire. For all the hype of USB 2.0 and its supposed faster data rates, it is not as fast as Firewire 400. Same if you buy an external hard disk, get FireWire. I just wish the Epson P2000 had FW instead of USB2.
    Bill Jurasz - Mercury Photography - Cedar Park, TX
    A former sports shooter
    Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
    My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    installation of 1gb ram from crucial.com
    so i buy my ram not from apple, it's a heckuva lot cheaper from crucial (newegg, kensington, others too..)

    anyhow, the 1gm sodimm snaps into the powerbook in about 8 seconds. piece o' cake.

    i giggle at the apple rep on the phone, when they say that "applecare won't cover that" but then, why are there instructions on how to do it in the apple manual?

    hehehee

    anyhow, fwiw, it's a cinch and nobody with a 00 phillips screwdriver should be afraid of it.

    and remember, kids: "lefty-loosy, righty-tighty"

    lol3.gif
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    rutt wrote:
    Andy, all these things are so cheap compared to what you've already spent. Go out and buy one of each. If you don't to keep them all, return the ones you don't lile (but that won't really be worth it.) In your total computer/camera budget for the last 6 months it's less than a rounding error.

    it's not the money. it's that i hate going back into best buy for returns :D
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    andy wrote:

    and remember, kids: "lefty-loosy, righty-tighty"

    I thought it was tighty-whitey? Am I missing something here?
    Moderator Emeritus
    Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2005
    photoshop perf test from fredmiranda

    www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/145693

    on the pbook, 12" 1.33ghz, 4800 speed disk, 1.25 gb ram, the test ran in 75 seconds. still faster than my old sony desktop 2.3ghz system, 2gb ram, and faster onboard disks.. that ran in 119seconds.

    i'll run the test again with the new pb on thurs or fri when i get it.

    for info:

    www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/145693
  • patch29patch29 Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 2,928 Major grins
    edited February 1, 2005
    Rob Galbraith has some CF card to computer tests here. He determined the Lexar FW reader to be the fastest and Mac OS 10.3 to be much quicker at downloading cards than Mac OS 10.2. There is only a paragraph of his reader conclusions, but it might give some insight.
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited February 1, 2005
    andy wrote:
    photoshop perf test from fredmiranda

    www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/145693

    on the pbook, 12" 1.33ghz, 4800 speed disk, 1.25 gb ram, the test ran in 75 seconds. still faster than my old sony desktop 2.3ghz system, 2gb ram, and faster onboard disks.. that ran in 119seconds.

    i'll run the test again with the new pb on thurs or fri when i get it.

    for info:

    www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/145693

    I don't know, but wouldn't it make sense then that the Mac Mini running at 1.25 or 1.42ghz is faster than your Sony 2.3 ghz? Also, for that test, disk speed's not really an issue, is it? Unless you're running virtual memory, whicih would slow you way down in any case.
    Moderator Emeritus
    Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited February 1, 2005
    DavidTO wrote:
    I don't know, but wouldn't it make sense then that the Mac Mini running at 1.25 or 1.42ghz is faster than your Sony 2.3 ghz? Also, for that test, disk speed's not really an issue, is it? Unless you're running virtual memory, whicih would slow you way down in any case.

    apple does the right thing - again -

    i was told that the new laptop would arrive tomorrow, turns out it's arriving on thrusday. no biggie really, but apple emailed me and said that they were eliminating the shipping fees and crediting me back $75 :D

    clap.gif
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited February 4, 2005
    thanks rutt ...
    rutt wrote:
    Andy, all these things are so cheap compared to what you've already spent. Go out and buy one of each. If you don't to keep them all, return the ones you don't lile (but that won't really be worth it.) In your total computer/camera budget for the last 6 months it's less than a rounding error.

    i got the one from crucial.com $10, no shipping. it's small, light, and i can stick it in my bag easy. and, it works.
  • DoctorItDoctorIt Administrators Posts: 11,951 moderator
    edited February 4, 2005
    andy wrote:
    i got the one from crucial.com $10, no shipping. it's small, light, and i can stick it in my bag easy. and, it works.
    a firewire card reader? i'm on my way to get one too... cool
    Erik
    moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]


  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited February 4, 2005
    DoctorIt wrote:
    a firewire card reader? i'm on my way to get one too... cool

    actually, it's usb 2.0
  • DoctorItDoctorIt Administrators Posts: 11,951 moderator
    edited February 4, 2005
    andy wrote:
    actually, it's usb 2.0
    yeah, just found it. i was surprised, cause I've never seen a firewire card reader.
    Erik
    moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]


  • fishfish Registered Users Posts: 2,950 Major grins
    edited February 4, 2005
    DoctorIt wrote:
    yeah, just found it. i was surprised, cause I've never seen a firewire card reader.
    http://www.lexarmedia.com/readers/firewire.html
    "Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston
    "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
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