[Mercuttio]

Alrighty folks, here's the scoop.

I've had a Powerbook for a few years now... the first in the current "look" of Powerbooks. It's a 1ghz model with a gig o ram and a Radeon 9600 64mb graphics processor. She's 15 inches, works fine.

However. I'm heading to grad school this fall, and kind of wishing that I had something a little smaller to tote around with me. Apple no longer makes the 12" powerbooks (which would have been the perfect size) and they're quite scarce online (I don't really trust Amazon with something that pricey).

I'm a computer graphics major; I use Lightwave, 3ds Max and Maya. My current powerbook does the job OK, but I'd love to be able to use it as a dual boot machine and have something much smaller / less fragile in my bag. My experience with other people's iBooks and 12" Powerbooks is that they're a bit sturdier.

The new Macbook came out yesterday, and it looks splendid. Except for that damned integrated graphics chip! Just how much of a knockdown is that chip going to be to me, compared to my Radeon 9600? Granted, my chip's several years old, but I haven't heard anything good about integrated graphics. Will I have to call my graphics program companies to find out if they even support this thing?

Anybody a little more Mac savvy than me know?

 

[Kixyll]

The integrated GPU will probably be lacking for what you want to do, a Macbook Pro would probably fit the bill a bit better.

On the subject of Macbooks, I picked up a Macbook Pro through my company and have been both impressed and disgusted with it so far. On the plus side it's a solid machine, being able to boot OSX & XP is great, and price wise it's really not bad compared to a similar windows machine.

On the minus side, I have to wonder what the hell Apple's QA department was doing with this machine. The machine runs unnacceptably hot, I'm talking hotter than the blazes of hell. I have had it in for complete logic board replacement twice since buying it because the logic board melted near the power adapter. After seeing the thermal grease debacle going around the internet I took mine apart and found the same thing....huge globs of grease around the cpu/gpu. My temps have gone down a bit since cleaning it up, but they are still incredibly high.

Honestly, I would recommend waiting on buying any Apple laptop right now, at least until they get some of the issues worked out.

 

[Kixyll]

Double post for some reason, ignore.

 

[Mercuttio]

Fair enough! I've heard bad things about the new Macbook Pros. They sound pretty horribly rushed. My Powerbook certainly gets hot during graphics intensive stuff, but never so hot that it caused any sort of problem. I should probably hang on to it for a while longer; it's just tough to do so. The resale value of a Mac holds better than any other computer, but at this point mine is going to start dipping severely.

If only they still made G4 12" powerbooks!

 

[roastpuff]

I say wait until before you start grad school to buy, to give them time to sort out the bugs. My intelMac is luckily bug-free, and very stable, but I took a risk by adopting it the day it came out. Not really recommended for laptops, I'd say. And do get the Applecare, just as a safety net, if you do get the Macbook.

I love my 12" G4. Wicked little machines for portable computing, and sturdy.

I don't think the GPU has much (if any) impact on the programs you are describing. I would think that it will depend more on the processor, and RAM capacity, to help run stuff like that, though I might be wrong. The GMA950 is going to suck hind leg for gaming though. No on-the-go WoW for me if I do choose one of those.

Ah well. We can always hope for a Rev. B with an X1400 chipset.

 

[Mercuttio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roastpuff I say wait until before you start grad school to buy, to give them time to sort out the bugs. My intelMac is luckily bug-free, and very stable, but I took a risk by adopting it the day it came out. Not really recommended for laptops, I'd say. And do get the Applecare, just as a safety net, if you do get the Macbook. I love my 12" G4. Wicked little machines for portable computing, and sturdy. I don't think the GPU has much (if any) impact on the programs you are describing. I would think that it will depend more on the processor, and RAM capacity, to help run stuff like that, though I might be wrong. The GMA950 is going to suck hind leg for gaming though. No on-the-go WoW for me if I do choose one of those. Ah well. We can always hope for a Rev. B with an X1400 chipset.

My 1ghz Powerbook runs WoW pretty terribly, unless everything is cranked ALL the way down. That's the only game I'd ever be playing on it, it's a work machine otherwise plain and simple. You sure that 3D applications such as Lightwave and Maya won't set fire to that lntel Graphics thingy?

 

[Kixyll]

My MB Pro plays WoW like a dream, especially if I'm in XP

I hope I didn't come off as unnecessarily harsh in my previous post, I really do love the laptop despite the issues. I just wish Apple had dealt with some of the more obvious ones before rushing them out.

 

[Mercuttio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kixyll My MB Pro plays WoW like a dream, especially if I'm in XP I hope I didn't come off as unnecessarily harsh in my previous post, I really do love the laptop despite the issues. I just wish Apple had dealt with some of the more obvious ones before rushing them out.

Oh, not at all. It's very frustrating to pay so much for a unit and find so many glaring flaws. WoW plays great on my PC with my apple cinema display, but when I go on vacations I really like to have a "mini" (even if crippled) version of warcraft with me.

 

[TheSloth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercuttio Alrighty folks, here's the scoop. I've had a Powerbook for a few years now... the first in the current "look" of Powerbooks. It's a 1ghz model with a gig o ram and a Radeon 9600 64mb graphics processor. She's 15 inches, works fine. However. I'm heading to grad school this fall, and kind of wishing that I had something a little smaller to tote around with me. Apple no longer makes the 12" powerbooks (which would have been the perfect size) and they're quite scarce online (I don't really trust Amazon with something that pricey). I'm a computer graphics major; I use Lightwave, 3ds Max and Maya. My current powerbook does the job OK, but I'd love to be able to use it as a dual boot machine and have something much smaller / less fragile in my bag. My experience with other people's iBooks and 12" Powerbooks is that they're a bit sturdier. The new Macbook came out yesterday, and it looks splendid. Except for that damned integrated graphics chip! Just how much of a knockdown is that chip going to be to me, compared to my Radeon 9600? Granted, my chip's several years old, but I haven't heard anything good about integrated graphics. Will I have to call my graphics program companies to find out if they even support this thing? Anybody a little more Mac savvy than me know?

No, you really need a MB Pro. The Intel GPU actually isn't that bad, but you are talking about some pretty GPU intensive stuff and for that you won't get the kind of speed improvements you are looking for.

In the mean time, while you wait, go get AticelleratorII and clock that GPU back up to the level it was supposed to be at before Apple went on their usual GPU underclocking spree. On my old Alu. 1.25Ghz, I could overclock the core by 50% and memory by 30% without any issues. UI/Quartz was a little snappier, and it gets a few more FPS in games too (though those are mainly processor limited on that system).

 

[Mercuttio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSloth No, you really need a MB Pro. The Intel GPU actually isn't that bad, but you are talking about some pretty GPU intensive stuff and for that you won't get the kind of speed improvements you are looking for. In the mean time, while you wait, go get AticelleratorII and clock that GPU back up to the level it was supposed to be at before Apple went on their usual GPU underclocking spree. On my old Alu. 1.25Ghz, I could overclock the core by 50% and memory by 30% without any issues. UI/Quartz was a little snappier, and it gets a few more FPS in games too (though those are mainly processor limited on that system).

I dunno man, my Powerbook gets MIGHTY hot when theres graphics things 'adoin on its screen. Won't the overclocking make this worse?

 

[kugino]

i just ordered a MB but i don't play games and i don't use heavy 3D apps...

for your use, i would opt for the MB Pro...but, i'd wait til the fall, too, or as long as you can hold out. many seem to think that the MB Pro line will get an upgrade in processors to the merom chips sometime this fall, which will run cooler. i honestly don't know if it will be incorporated this fall or after macworld 2007 in january, but if the heat worries you, i would wait.

 

[Mercuttio]

Well, also to keep in mind is that the Powerbook now is only for light graphics usage. Honestly I probably spend more time in photoshop fine-tuning textures than I do using it for outright 3D... my PC at home handles the heavy lifting. It sounds like the little graphics chip in the Macbook may not even be able to handle much of that though.

 

[lan]

If you really want to do heavy 3d grahpics, you need a real video card in a desktop machine not on any of these laptops. For photoshop and general computing, integrated graphics is fine enough.

I'd also wait to get a new mac until later. Get it when you need it. You might also get an educational discount when you go back to school.

 

[Mercuttio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan If you really want to do heavy 3d grahpics, you need a real video card in a desktop machine not on any of these laptops. For photoshop and general computing, integrated graphics is fine enough. I'd also wait to get a new mac until later. Get it when you need it. You might also get an educational discount when you go back to school.

Well sure, I've got that machine taken care of. It's just nice to be able to fine tune projects on the road... a spare render machine (even a slow one) can still churn out frames. And yep, I do get an educational discount. All you need is a student ID, they never even check your background at any Apple Store.

 

[TheSloth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercuttio I dunno man, my Powerbook gets MIGHTY hot when theres graphics things 'adoin on its screen. Won't the overclocking make this worse?

That GPU overclock had no effect on fan activity or battery life (the read out isn't accurate enough to know exactly, but if it did make a difference it was in the region of single digit minues). I tested it a lot because I found it somewhat confusing as to why they underclocked it in that case.

And my 1.25 never really got that hot, so I'm surprised about your comments? What surface do you have it on? Maybe you are just using it in a hot, low air movement room. Heck even my MBP that is supposed to promote infertility doesn't get that hot.

Though, I always run my powerbooks on a podium pad which elevates them off the table a bit for better air flow under the case, which does make a significant difference.

Regarding the comment about integrated graphics being fine for a laptop, that is fair except that it does limit the use of the machine somewhat - you cannot for example run Final Cut Studio with the integrated graphics - it just won't let you. Also, the X1600 is really no slouch, and in combination with the core duo will run the programmes that you areinterested in very well.