Upgrading Pismo

[joscobo]

I have a 500mhz Pismo. I like the computer but it is a bit sluggish in OSX. I want to upgrade but purchasing a new Powerbook is out of my budget. There are basically 2 choices a 500mhz G4 and 900 G3. Which one is going to give the biggest performance boost overall? Any input will help in my final decision. Thanks

 

[ejacob]

For what is worth. I went the g4/500 way and have been very happy with results. I was able to set my backside cache to 250mhz and runs fantastic! osx10.2.5 The video card is still crap and I added a 20gig HD plus 768mb Ram. I think this a better unit then any other current G4 powerbooks. more ports and swappable drive bay. I think the only advantage to the 900 G3 is battery life.

Powerlogix did a great job.

 

[hugemullens]

depends on what you do. for the most part the 900mhz g3 would be faster except in altivec apps. Photoshop, final cut, and other pro apps would be faster on the g4. internet, email, office and most everything else faster on the g3.

 

[jbomber]

random queston: Will the RAM play differently depending on the upgrade card? Like, would 256MB of ram work better where the G3 was concerned as opposed to the G4?

 

[MacUser1]

g4 500

i upgraded my pismo to a 500 MHz G4 when powerlogix first offered the upgrade (maybe a year ago?) and I have been very pleased with the performance boost. Although my pismo did have some problems, it had nothing to do with the G4 upgrade. That said, i'm actually in the market to purchase a new powerbook, when the new ones are available.

 

[joscobo]

Thanks for all of your responses. According to the Powerlogix the extra mhz of the G3 900 actually makes it faster than the G4 500 with AltiVec. But I wonder if that is just marketing hype. I use Photoshop from time to time and do some video editing. So I wonder if very many people have purchased the 900 mhz. Its hard to make up ones mind. I am leaning toward the G4 but of course want the quickest.