Which Powerbook? Please Help!, ...with general CPU usage questions... Options

[Esharpest]

Hello all (from a virgin poster)...

It's time for me to upgrade from my old vintage 1998 Beige G3 minitower (running at a whopping 233 MHz). I've been saying for a while now that when I do get a new computer, I'll finally be able to get into digital audio. At the moment I'm not working professionally in music, but am hoping to get back into it, and have recently made some baby steps with some live (classical) recording work for others, and a few collaborations with local producers as a session player on keys.

I'm currently torn between the 12" 1GHz PowerBook and the 15" 1.25GHz PowerBook, along with a USB or FireWire interface of some sort (isn't it a shame that the new Lexicon and Mackie interfaces come with PC-only bundles?). I'm going to need to be able to record several live tracks, edit and master etc. with something like Logic or Cubase; but I'd also like to experiment with production of entire tracks using virtual instruments. So - will the 12" be enough for self-contained music production? Or will I find myself soon wishing that I'd bought the 15" for its extra 250MHz of speed, the faster video card, and the bigger screen? (I'll keep my old 17" monitor, so when I'm at home I can have dual displays running.)

Any other suggestions?

Thanks for your help....

[boze]

Hi Esharpest =)

When I talk to ppl about apple hw I'm always focusing on value. I think that the sweet spot for value in the mac notebooks right now is definitely the iBook. They have G4 processors now, and the 933mhz middle model is my personal choice for a mac notebook for a music person.

Reasons:

1) it's approximately the same specs as the 12" pbook for $300us less money

2) there's a hack for monitor spanning and a 1gig ram stick available for the iBook, so the 12" pbook has no real usability edge

3) 1024x768 is pretty lame screen rez for either one, but 14" is a usable density for that rez, so i think the 14" screen is a + over the pbook

4) you can up the hd size on the iBook 933 to 60gig for an extra $50us

5) the aluminum powerbooks have poorer airport reception than the plastic iBooks and the iBooks have always been the most durable mac laptop ever

6) (and this is a biggie) the G5 is the fast processor in the apple lineup- it's the onle one that's modern and it's not available in a laptop and won't be for a while yet (i'd guess at least 6 months more). so for now the entire mac laptop offerings range in power from 800mhz to 1.33ghz of G4. this is just not enough performance to merit a price range from $1099 to $2999. ---- seriously, for the price of the oversized 17" pbook you could get an 800mhz iBook _and a low end G5 and still have $200us left to get a monitor or some ram!

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All that being said- if you have a healthy budget then you might be better off getting the 15" pbook, but the 1ghz is $700 more than a 933... you see where i'm going with this right? the 1.25 pbook is a nice machine, but not for $2600. we're almost back to iBook+G5 == pbook pricing.