12" PB as main machine?

[crenz]

I'm getting into a dilemma here. I have followed the PowerBook rumors for a long time and waited many tuesdays for updates. Now, it seems that when they come, there won't be much difference to the old models anyway (at least for the 12"). But I didn't mind postponing since I didn't need a new machine right now. My guess is that the new PBs will be only introduced in Paris, and maybe even only a 15". Then, there'll be an additional delay of a couple weeks until they are delivered.

In the meantime, my situation has changed. Exams are soon over and I want to do some work. For that, I need a new main machine. I'm caught between getting a Single 1.25 GHz in mid-September (my reseller has a long waiting list for them), or getting a 12" PowerBook now, with an additional €100 discount my reseller offered me. I lean towards getting the PB now and maybe sell it off in a year or so to get a nice Desktop (G5).

OK, enough rambling, I guess the point is: How do people feel about a 12" PB as main working machine? I am somewhat discouraged by the lack of L3 cache and the fact that it runs at 867 MHz. I mostly need it for music (Logic, Reaktor) and programming (Developer Studio and maybe MS Visual Studio on VirtualPC).

Thanks for some hints and tips...

 

[Kwyjibo]

I use a 12" PB as my main machine. I do some light dreamweaver and photoshop elements and they work pretty well.

 

[ima_pseudonym]

I've never used logic of reaktor, but I suspect they are pretty processor intensive, and would be quite sluggish on the 12". I have both a tibook 867 and a 12" and there is a noticeable speed difference between the two.

Also, if you do a lot with music, do you need a pc card slot for better audio in/out or is that stuff all usb/firewire now?

 

[Decembering]

I have almost sold myself on the idea of getting a 12" Powerbook and using it as my main machine (I'd most likely use it for writing, Internet, email, some light web-work and Apple's i-apps).

If I go for it I guess I'll be a double Switcher: ditching a desktop in favor of a portable and shifting from a PC to a Mac...

 

[panphage]

Originally posted by Decembering
I have almost sold myself on the idea of getting a 12" Powerbook and using it as my main machine (I'd most likely use it for writing, Internet, email, some light web-work and Apple's i-apps).

If I go for it I guess I'll be a double Switcher: ditching a desktop in favor of a portable and shifting from a PC to a Mac...

That's exactly what I was going to do when the 12" came out...then I found out you can't run a Cinema display off the little bugger. I don't mind 12" on the road, but at home I need something a bit bigger to satisfy me.

Ahem.

So I compromised and bought a cube and I couldn't be happier. I do heavy Fireworks and it's fine, even at 450mhz.

 

[el greenerino]

Wow Decembering you might as well save a few hundred and buy an ibook if the i-apps are the most intense things you use

 

[12thgear]

12" and display

Glad you're enjoying the cube, but you did realize you could hook just about any VGA monitor to the 12" PowerBook, right? I'm using a Nokia 21" CRT, but there are also some great VGA LCD panels out there if desk space is tight.

 

[Decembering]

Originally posted by panphage
That's exactly what I was going to do when the 12" came out...then I found out you can't run a Cinema display off the little bugger. I don't mind 12" on the road, but at home I need something a bit bigger to satisfy me.

Ahem.

So I compromised and bought a cube and I couldn't be happier. I do heavy Fireworks and it's fine, even at 450mhz.

Though I hate to even type the words...I'm kind of hoping for an update to the 12" Powerbook (one of these days) that might (among other things) let you run a Cinema display off of it.

And I've always thought that the cube was an utterly beautiful machine. It's is one of the reasons I started looking back at Apple, after years of PC-dom. (In the good old days, I had an Apple IIc with a 9" monochrome monitor -- and loved it.)

 

[Decembering]

Originally posted by el greenerino
Wow Decembering you might as well save a few hundred and buy an ibook if the i-apps are the most intense things you use

Well, if it is going to be my main machine, I'd like to leave room to grow.

 

[crenz]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll get a USB-based interface for the music stuff, that'll be fine for me. Logic should run fine (a friend used it on a G4 400 Desktop just fine), but yes, I'm a bit concerned about Reaktor, especially because of the lacking L3 cache. However, I can't afford the 15", and I don't want to wait for an update for the 12" anymore.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

Originally posted by el greenerino
Wow Decembering you might as well save a few hundred and buy an ibook if the i-apps are the most intense things you use

Absolutly. If its only the iApps the iBook is great. Save the money and add an iPod or some cool apps

 

[mymemory]

Re: 12" PB as main machine?

Originally posted by crenz
OK, enough rambling, I guess the point is: How do people feel about a 12" PB as main working machine? I am somewhat discouraged by the lack of L3 cache and the fact that it runs at 867 MHz. I mostly need it for music (Logic, Reaktor) and programming (Developer Studio and maybe MS Visual Studio on VirtualPC).

Man I use:
Final Cut Pro
After Effects
Digital Performer
Reason
Photoshop
and some other softwares.

In a Powerbook G3 500 with 256MB of Ram and I work fine, of course a 12" will do the job better. I want to buy 2 of them from eBay and replace my 2 pismos. Of course I have 14" display but I would get for sure a non apple LCD display for one of the 12" to work at the studio.

Remember, machines are as smart as their users.