Questions About Pcs, Macs And Modding

[Lunja]

Right, I'm in a bit of a kerfuffle... (Check the time of the post...)

As I've said in various posts (sorry if anyone is getting annoyed!), I want to get a laptop for design and editing work. Here the problems start...

I've been told to get a Powerbook, since these are meant to be more reliable for intensive work. BUT, after much searching, it may be worth waiting until OSX Tiger comes out, along with the PowerBook G5. I don't know when these will both be available, so that's question 1.

Second, are Macs really that reliable compared to a Sony Vaio? I've seen some on eBay with 3.2ghz,100gb, 1gb RAM, TV tuners, etc that are LESS than the 1.5ghz G4, 80gb 512mb 15"G4's... Should I just go for a cheaper, higher-spec Vaio?

Third, would it be worth looking into modding a barebones laptop from eBuyer? There was a thread recently about Shuttle barebones systems and it got me thinking... Could I even mod a barebones system to run OSX?

Lastly, how much do you think my current setup is worth -

eMachines 2400- Celeron 2.4mhz, 40gb, 256mb, Keyboard, mouse, 15" TFT monitor, with Photoshop 6.0 installed? Was wondering how much I'd get for it, since I could use my laptop as my main system... If I could get a TV tuner, I'd sell my TV as well to raise funds...

Sorry if there are loads of spelling mistakes (trying to type quietely you see :blink: ) but I'll sort them in the morning. Basically, it boils down to whether Macs really are superior for intensive work, or whether I'd be better off getting a Windows-based, Intel monster. And if so, whether it'd be better to try and custom build one.

Cheers all!

Essay done... :("

[br3n]

if you want to do graphics/video work go for a mac....

they take a little bit of getting used to but theyre better in the long run.. hence industry standard.

if you want a proper pc go to boxx - www.boxxtech.com

[JonMack]

Right, I'm in a bit of a kerfuffle... (Check the time of the post...)

As I've said in various posts (sorry if anyone is getting annoyed!), I want to get a laptop for design and editing work. Here the problems start...

I've been told to get a Powerbook, since these are meant to be more reliable for intensive work. BUT, after much searching, it may be worth waiting until OSX Tiger comes out, along with the PowerBook G5. I don't know when these will both be available, so that's question 1.

Second, are Macs really that reliable compared to a Sony Vaio? I've seen some on eBay with 3.2ghz,100gb, 1gb RAM, TV tuners, etc that are LESS than the 1.5ghz G4, 80gb 512mb 15"G4's... Should I just go for a cheaper, higher-spec Vaio?

←

Might be worth registering on http://www.spymac.com the PowerBook range has been due a speed bump for a long time now, and G5 PowerBooks are estimated around the second quarter of this year, so it depends how soon you want a Mac

Yes they are really that reliable. With a laptop you pay a lot for portability, take for example my iMac G5, 1.8ghz processor, 20" screen, 160GB HDD 1GB RAM cost about £1500, You cant even get a PowerBook of the same spec to that, and 15" PowerBooks start at £1,350, and still that spec is no-where near as good as my iMacs. When I bought this iMac I was going to get a new 15" PowerBook, but in the end I sacrificed portability for power.

I would say ask on SpyMac and then see what they say.

[delusional]

Second, are Macs really that reliable compared to a Sony Vaio? I've seen some on eBay with 3.2ghz,100gb, 1gb RAM, TV tuners, etc that are LESS than the 1.5ghz G4, 80gb 512mb 15"G4's... Should I just go for a cheaper, higher-spec Vaio?

I wouldn't have said that vaio is particularly better specced than the power book... you'd probably find the mac would run at least as quick, if not quicker than the vaio. Remember that clock speeds mean very little to real speed, even less when you're talking about two completely different architectures and most of that gig of RAM will be used up as soon as you boot WinXP on the vaio. Plus you're comparing vaio eBay prices to brand new mac prices, not really a fair comparison!

The only x86 laptop I'd place as comparable to a power book is the IBM Thinkpad, which is probably comparably priced to a mac. If you're going to get a x86 laptop get one of those. However, for the kind of thing you're interested in doing you'd be much better off with a mac.

Third, would it be worth looking into modding a barebones laptop from eBuyer? There was a thread recently about Shuttle barebones systems and it got me thinking... Could I even mod a barebones system to run OSX?

←

OSX currently only runs on mac hardware. Generally laptops, unlike desktop systems are best purchased as a complete unit. You can always add more RAM or a bigger HDD at a later date if you need it.

[DJ Phaze]

You can't really *mod* Laptops - as there is very little you can do to them. To build one yourself would be *much* harder than you think..... so that rules that one out.

If you are going for graphic/video design, then I would get a Mac. Although they have a lower clockspeed, as delusional said, they work in different ways to x86 machines.

And considering they are virtually the industry standard, I would say this was a good reason to choose one - it must be good if so many people have one?

OSX is based on FreeBSD, so the memory management is superb. FreeBSD was designed for servers, so it is a very efficient and stable OS. XP will suck up your resources like there's no tomorrow.....

The IBM thinkpad is a good example of a notebook designed for portability - I love the little docking station you can buy, to expand the ports (on the older models anyway, don't know about modern ones). They are quite rugged - and just do the job.

Would you rather a slower x86 which was rugged or a fancy fast one which would break at the first sign of abuse?

:: Phaze ::