14" iBook 1.42 OUTPERFORMS 12" 1.5GHz powerbook!!!

[Moxiemike]

GOD! I just hate it, hate it, hate it, and hate it some more! when people say the 14" god damn iBook is ugly!!!!!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR... I've gotten REALLY sick of that, litterally. Oh, so you get a bigger screen w/ 1024x768 resolution, ANY 15" laptop i've seen (not widescreen ) has had 1024x768, in fact i have to Toshibas in front of me that do. The image on the screen is NOT blurry, i mean wtf? HOW THE HELL IS IT BLURRY?

I just hate it when people say the 14" iBook is ugly when I just worked my fricken ass ALL SUMMER LONG, ALL DAY, AND....., and you say it's ugly?

wow
sorry if i'm like... going balistic over nothing, it's just people who have the 12" iBook or PowerBook (ITASOR, haha) COMPLETLY criticize the 14".

What the hell do you expect?? It's targeted for educational purposes! Educators/students don't always need top of the line Resolutions!

sorry.. just had to say that

I don't think anyone knocks the screen size, but after you've felt a Pismo/Lombard series laptop, you'll look at that 14" likes it's a fat, overweight american as opposed to the sleek, svelt europeans that are the powerbook and ibook 12"er's.

The pismo still is the definitive powerbook design overall, and is way high and far above the ibook 14 in terms of design. The poster who said the ibook looks like an Eames design is...well...i don't agree.

hehe.

That said, i've been tempted by the 14"er if only because the 15" AL's are pretty shoody in terms of Q.C. and the 12" PB/iB's are maybe a smidge too small (when used in comparison with the 23" cinema on my desk).

 

[Chrispy]

That said, i've been tempted by the 14"er if only because the 15" AL's are pretty shoody in terms of Q.C. and the 12" PB/iB's are maybe a smidge too small (when used in comparison with the 23" cinema on my desk).

That is the exactly how I ended up with my 14" iBook haha. I had two bad 15" powerbooks in a row (within a week of each other) and I just decided not to deal with it anymore.

 

[Chrispy]

Have you guys checked if the video settings in WoW are exactly the same, for your tests? Video resolution, rendering depth, etc...

I mean, doesn't WoW automagically set the values depending on the CPU/RAM/GPU/VRAM the first time you run it?

Good point and I almost forgot to do this. The computer set the powerbook's settings lower than the iBooks from what I remember so I turned the iBooks environmental detail down to be sure they matched exaclty. Both machines were running from airport extreme.

 

[TheSisko]

Some of you guys seem to know very little about graphics cards, and just make statements without basis in facts.

1. The technology in the R9550 (R300 based) is just as old (in fact, a few months older) than the FX5200 (NV30 based).
2. The FX5200 has a huge advantage because of it's 128-bit memory bus.
3. Benchmarks in Quake3, a 99% GPU dependent game, shows the R9550 is only 20% faster than a R9200.
4. Your benchmarks of WoW (both GPU and CPU dependent game) show the iBook as more than 50%(!!!) faster than a PB, which would indicate that even the old iBook with R9200 should be 25% faster than a PB (which it obviously isn't).

Conclusion: Either there is something fishy with your benchmarks, or WoW has a problem with FX5200. I guarantee you that other games run faster on the PB's FX5200. Try Quake3.

 

[Abstract]

Wow. This is quite a revelation! I was about to purchase a Powerbook 12" based off of the benchmarks given on macworld.com, but this post has me second-guessing myself.

 

[Abstract]

However, the point of this thread is to get the results of my little test on as many different GPUs in apple laptops as possible. I just find it interesting how much the performance fluctuates between different GPUs. Also, I'm just pointing out how crazy it is that the GeForce 5200 is still in commission in the powerbook line if the GPU in their iBooks beats it out.

Do us a favour.

Go into System Prefs>Energy saver, and in the OPTIONS tab, turn the processor settings on both computers to HIGHEST.

Restart both computers, and then play WoW. Make sure all settings are identical. Something is wrong with this "test," not that it's conclusive in any way.

 

[tekmoe]

Some of you guys seem to know very little about graphics cards, and just make statements without basis in facts.

1. The technology in the R9550 (R300 based) is just as old (in fact, a few months older) than the FX5200 (NV30 based).
2. The FX5200 has a huge advantage because of it's 128-bit memory bus.
3. Benchmarks in Quake3, a 99% GPU dependent game, shows the R9550 is only 20% faster than a R9200.
4. Your benchmarks of WoW (both GPU and CPU dependent game) show the iBook as more than 50%(!!!) faster than a PB, which would indicate that even the old iBook with R9200 should be 25% faster than a PB (which it obviously isn't).

Conclusion: Either there is something fishy with your benchmarks, or WoW has a problem with FX5200. I guarantee you that other games run faster on the PB's FX5200. Try Quake3.

badass. somebody who knows what they are actually talking about!

chrispy, you just got pwned! sucka! hahaha

 

[persianpunisher]

badass. somebody who knows what they are actually talking about!

chrispy, you just got pwned! sucka! hahaha

^ go die in a fire

 

[Chrispy]

badass. somebody who knows what they are actually talking about!

chrispy, you just got pwned! sucka! hahaha

You don't want to talk tech to me becuase I will own most people in this forum. I am well aware of the technology differences but that doesn't mean crap if real world performance shows the iBook is faster than the powerbook in given areas. I, as well as many others I'm sure, could care less about quake 3 and are more concered with WoW. For us, the speed of that particular game is what is most important. I tested both machines with CPU set to highest and the facts show the iBook is faster for WoW... period.

 

[PaRaGoNViCtiM]

You tell em' Chris, I'd take your word anyday!

 

[Xeem]

Some of you guys seem to know very little about graphics cards, and just make statements without basis in facts.

1. The technology in the R9550 (R300 based) is just as old (in fact, a few months older) than the FX5200 (NV30 based).
2. The FX5200 has a huge advantage because of it's 128-bit memory bus.

Sorry to post so late here, but I thought I'd chime in with something TheSisko may have missed: the Radeon 9550 also has a 128 bit memory bus, hence the "huge advantage" of the 5200 not being evident in the tests. Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, the 9550 is actually based on the Radeon 9600 series (RV350 core), not the 9500 series. It is an underpowered 9600, not an overpowered 9500.

 

[AP_piano295]

GOD! I just hate it, hate it, hate it, and hate it some more! when people say the 14" god damn iBook is ugly!!!!!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR... I've gotten REALLY sick of that, litterally. Oh, so you get a bigger screen w/ 1024x768 resolution, ANY 15" laptop i've seen (not widescreen ) has had 1024x768, in fact i have to Toshibas in front of me that do. The image on the screen is NOT blurry, i mean wtf? HOW THE HELL IS IT BLURRY?

I just hate it when people say the 14" iBook is ugly when I just worked my fricken ass ALL SUMMER LONG, ALL DAY, AND....., and you say it's ugly?

wow
sorry if i'm like... going balistic over nothing, it's just people who have the 12" iBook or PowerBook (ITASOR, haha) COMPLETLY criticize the 14".

What the hell do you expect?? It's targeted for educational purposes! Educators/students don't always need top of the line Resolutions!

sorry.. just had to say that

I like the 14inch ibook and the 12... theyre shinny

 

[AP_piano295]

ps. You would be crazy to buy a powerbook right now Id say they dont deserve the name pro laptop apple has given them a significant preformance boot in idk 1 to 2 years. The only thing pro about the pbook lineup these days is the price.

 

[Bern]

You read that right. I was able to get my hands on a 12" powerbook latest revision today and I decided to run a little test. I setup my 14" iBook and the 12" powerbook right next to each other. First thing I noticed was how much brighter and more colorful the sceen was on the 14" ibook. Then I fired up WoW and ran my character to a set location and stood still. I waited a good 30 serconds and recorded the highest and lowest FPS reading I got. Here are the results...

For starters get an Xbox if you want to play games, or a pc
and as for the resolution of the iBook screen being better than the Powerbook I find that truly hard to believe. It's more than likely neither one are calibrated correctly in any case. I have both here, and both are accurately calibrated, and the powerbook screen is noticeably better than the ibook. It's not just the screen that makes it appear more brilliant.

I really don't understand this whole comparison thing going on between the two Macs. Powerbooks are better than iBooks...

 

[Stereo 99]

sigh. so did i make a mistake buying my 15 in Powerbook with a combo drive? my only reason for getting that over the 14 in ibook is because of the screen resolution and because it has a little more power. im a tv/film student im not a big editor but would i have really been able to run fcp or at least fc express and possibly motion (not sure if im gonna use it yet) on an ibook.

also since ive only had my powerbook for two days now and i can still return it is there any application or anything that could make the screen resolution of the 14 ibook larger? also is there an alternative for the missing audio in if i were to exchange my pb for the 14 in ibook?

 

[AP_piano295]

For starters get an Xbox if you want to play games, or a pc
and as for the resolution of the iBook screen being better than the Powerbook I find that truly hard to believe. It's more than likely neither one are calibrated correctly in any case. I have both here, and both are accurately calibrated, and the powerbook screen is noticeably better than the ibook. It's not just the screen that makes it appear more brilliant.

I really don't understand this whole comparison thing going on between the two Macs. Powerbooks are better than iBooks...

Powerbooks cost about three times as much as ibooks weeeeeeeeee.

 

[Chrispy]

sigh. so did i make a mistake buying my 15 in Powerbook with a combo drive? my only reason for getting that over the 14 in ibook is because of the screen resolution and because it has a little more power. im a tv/film student im not a big editor but would i have really been able to run fcp or at least fc express and possibly motion (not sure if im gonna use it yet) on an ibook.

also since ive only had my powerbook for two days now and i can still return it is there any application or anything that could make the screen resolution of the 14 ibook larger? also is there an alternative for the missing audio in if i were to exchange my pb for the 14 in ibook?

You did not make a mistake with your 15" powerbook at all. The 15" outperforms the 12" by leaps and bounds (ran some tests on a 15" a few weeks after starting this thread). There are also advantages to the powerbook such as monitor spanning and faster hard drives.

However, the fact of the matter is, in games the 14" (and I'm sure the 12") iBook outperforms the most recent 12" powerbooks. I was able to run Unreal Tournament 2004 at 800x600 with absolutely no slowdowns and at 1024x768 with very very little slowdown. The 15" and 17" powerbooks outperform the 12" PB and 12" and 14" iBooks due to the faster series graphics card. Apple is clearly going to scrap the 12" powerbook in favor of something new (maybe a 13" widescreen) because it has been left in the dust lately. Apple has made no real efforts to make it measure up to the speed of the 15" and 17" models.

I have noticed many 12" powerbook owners getting very defensive of their computers in this thread and it is not necessary. The 12" powerbook is a fantastic computer and has many great features you can't find on an iBook. Just becuase the 12" and 14" iBooks have a faster graphics card does not mean the powerbooks suck. If you are going to be using pro level apps such as FCP or the like you would be much better off going with a powerbook in the long run.

 

[Abstract]

You don't want to talk tech to me becuase I will own most people in this forum.

Apparently not.

also since ive only had my powerbook for two days now and i can still return it is there any application or anything that could make the screen resolution of the 14 ibook larger?

No, sorry bud. I say keep the 15" if you're going to work with FCP because you need a large desktop space to work with FCP well. It'll be really annoying and cramped if you got the 14" iBook. It's a good computer and all, but not for FCP.

also is there an alternative for the missing audio in if i were to exchange my pb for the 14 in ibook?

You can get an external add-on if you want that. I guess if you want true portability, you'd rather have it built-in, but most people don't need an audio-in port wherever they go, say to the library, or on the bus.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

I like the 14inch ibook and the 12... theyre shinny

 

[eric67]

if one can buy a refurbished 12" PB instead of a brand new iBook 12" for the same price, one should go for the PB12".

 

[California]

The pismo still is the definitive powerbook design overall, and is way high and far above the ibook 14 in terms of design. The poster who said the ibook looks like an Eames design is...well...i don't agree.

hehe.


Hey, I was the one who said my 14" looks like an "Eames" design. Actually I meant, (i didn't reread it) that it looks like an "Eames-era design" like Italian Kartel plastics or something out of Panton. Or much like the sixties "Swinger" white plastic Polaroid camera. Imagine how mod and swinging sixties our iBooks would be with a carrying handle out of plastic.

I still love pbs. However I love Tibooks. Not Albooks. Weird because I am totally into Russel Wright's 1930's anodized aluminum designs, as well as McArthurs. Have two of his torchieres, all anodized aluminum. Mix/matching with all the 30's Bauhaus inspired chrome in my place.

So it's weird that I don't take more to the Albooks but I think it has to do with the fact I'm hooked on the Tibook/Ibook keyboards which are identical, and work all day at the computer.