Macintosh junkies needed!

[NapaBavarian]

I'm thinking that it is time to get myself a nice little powerbook, something that can run photoshop fairly quickly, but still cost me well under $1000, so I'm looking used but not sure just what to look for since I havn't spent my life burried in macs in a few years

[Electrophil]

I heard Apple is in the process of dropping Motorola, and is revamping with Intel CPU's. Supposedly, these systems are to hit the retailers by 3rd quarter of this year??

It might be advantageous to wait a few months, and get an even better deal on a used system.

[intelisevil]

Adobe has announced they won't be updating their programs for the new Intel CPU's until sometime in 2007. Until then, Photoshop will run faster on the 'old' Motorola based Macs.

Good luck, scour the web for non-biased reviews before you buy!

Dan

[Noir]

Originally Posted by NapaBavarian

I'm thinking that it is time to get myself a nice little powerbook, something that can run photoshop fairly quickly, but still cost me well under $1000, so I'm looking used but not sure just what to look for since I havn't spent my life burried in macs in a few years

email chicaboon. i'm sure he could help ya out.

[$ gest24 $]

You can also look at the iBook G4. It has the same processor as a G$ power book, just a tad slower. My GFs dad is a computer teacher and he has both an iBook and Powerbook. The only reason he went with the powerbook was for the dual layer DVD Burner. But if you look into an iBook a 15" should run you around 1400 or even less if you or someone you know is in College or the Military and they'll let you use your discount (I paid around 1200 for my iBook and Airport Wireless router).

I've had my iBook G4 for about a year now, and it's been the best computer I've ever used.

[mbtoloczko]

$1000 will only get you the economy line of Apple laptops... the iBook. These are not particularly speedy machines, and the screen resolution is not very high. They will run Photoshop tolerably fast, but not very fast.

To complicate things, Apple is about half way through its transition to Intel cpu-based macs. The high end Powerbooks (now called MacBook Pro) now have Intel CPUs. The lower price Apple laptops have not yet made the Intel transition, but its expected that they will make the transition in the next couple months. The high end powerbooks are out of your price range. With the transition to Intel cpus, Apple has embedded an on-the-fly compiler into its OS that it allows Intel macs to run software written for PPC macs. Even with the more powerful Intel cpus, PPC software generally runs more slowly on the Intel macs than on PPC macs.

I'd say that if you want a $1000 mac that will run Photoshop at a decent pace now, buy an iBook G4 now while they are still available. If you want something that will work better down the road, wait a few months and get an Intel-based iBook.

[Electrophil]

I'm looking forward to this transaction for two main reasons. The first being I was an early adoptor, meaning I started on Apple Systems in the early 80's, and the second being that I'm under the presumption that OSX is a superior Operating system. I really want one of the new systems as soon as I can afford one.

[NapaBavarian]

Thanks

I really am looking used...I have nothing againts Intel, in fact my neighbor, Andy Grove, started it percs of living in CA, but I want to pick up something a couple years old that still does a bang up job on photoshop, I might have a tower for home and a laptop for "other" but right now I'm looking for a used powerbook

[michael]

I have a titanium powerbook G4 it's about 3 years old. No complaints really, asside from a broken super drive. It's still rather fast even with a full hard drive. Used ones are pretty cheap, you might even consider buying one with a broken screen and one with a bum disk drive and combining.

[mbtoloczko]

Originally Posted by NapaBavarian

Thanks

I really am looking used...I have nothing againts Intel, in fact my neighbor, Andy Grove, started it percs of living in CA, but I want to pick up something a couple years old that still does a bang up job on photoshop, I might have a tower for home and a laptop for "other" but right now I'm looking for a used powerbook

If you are looking for used, just keep an eye out for a used Powerbook G4 on eBay, Craig's list, etc. The last ones before the transition to Intel cpus had 1.7 GHz G4 processors (I think). Mine at work is about a year old, and it has a 1.5 GHz G4 processor. For Photoshop work, I'd think that you'd want one with a 15" screen or 17" screen (they also made one with a 12" screen). Compared to the new Apple and WinTel desktop machines, the Powerbook G4s are a bit slow, but they are fine if you aren't used to something faster. I use one as my daily driver at work, and its fine.

[NapaBavarian]

I have an old (8 years?) supermach 21" display that still kicks arse, after looking at the prices for the high end powerbook I might do better with a tower and a midrange used 15-17" laptop, how does the speed of a 1ghz laptop compare with a 1ghz tower? It seems that it is easier to find a used tower with photoshop than a laptop, and my current photoshop is anchient, almost oozing crude oil...

[mbtoloczko]

A 1 GHz powerbook will be slower than a 1 GHz tower. Maybe 60-80% the speed of a tower. At least that's what if feels like.