Help me choose a Mac laptop

[nightsky]

Comparing Power Book G4 15" 1.67ghz to Mac book13" core2duo 2.0 and for the money, I think
the older G4 although slower will be able to run the software I have to work with well, but I need more experienced views.
With the new mac books and mac book pro out now, I think for what a power book g4 15", 1.67ghz should be affordable to me refurbished. Apple refurbishes their own laptops so they come w/1yr warranty. I want to run quark xpress, photo shop, adobe illustrator for graphic arts I do not see mac book built in graphics as good enough + display is only 13" which I would deal with if graphic quality were possible. Please correct me if I am wrong but the power book g4 1.67ghz is expandable? 1.5gb ram and up grade friendly graphics card and memeory for the money it will be sufficient. What do you think? Thanks

[Staren]

The main question is, do you have any of this software already? If you have older powerPC software, while it will run on the new macs, it will run a lot better on the most up to date version of the older platform.

Now if that isn't a consideration, I would say get one of the newer Macbooks because the processing power on the older system will not perform as well as newer intel macs. As for your graphics card question. From this page: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook_g4/faq/expansion.html

Is the video controller on the PowerBook G4 upgradable?

No. The video controller is soldered to the motherboard, and cannot be upgraded beyond the pre-installed amount of SDRAM.

You would only be able to do the standard hard drive and RAM upgrades If you have looked at a macbook in action and don't think the graphics are good enough (personally I don't see how unless you're doing some pretty major stuff), I don't think you'll be happy until you get a macbook pro.

[nightsky]

I do not have the software I mentioned for PC or Mac. $Wise I am trying to compare

1. PowerBook G4 15-inch 1.67GHz SuperDrive, 512MB DDR2 PC2-4200 SDRAM
80GB Hard Drive, ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (128MB DDR) $1123. Refurbished vs.

2 MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White Price: $1,099.00 . Refurbished

I am not familiar w/Macs at all, thing is I have to familiarize myself with it and the software I mentioned to do newspaper and magazine style graphic design and print production work.

Don't think the cross platform stuff is an issue at this time. In the Power Book G4 upgrading
graphic sdram is sufficient if at all needed. The PBG4 max ram is 1500.

MacWorld rates MacBooks 13" 2.0 C2D as faster but the graphics mediocre unless you goto the Mac Book Pro 15". Plus I don't know if working in a 13" screen is ok for the graphic design and print production?

I appreciate you help Stern, I need to buy some mac asap because of work situation and money is reallllllllllly tight for now, thank you.

[Staren]

Ok, of you need to get involved with real graphics work, get the g4. You do want a bigger screen for that, and widescreen displays do have a habit of altering what you see somewhat. Not a big deal in most cases, but you're in a situation where it might be.

You might also want to post this question at www.macnn.com and see what their opinion is. They know macs a lot better then the majority of the people here would.

[nightsky]

$300 difference Refurbished Apple Store vs. Amazon.com? Where did you buy your Refurbished Apple Power Book G4 1.67 GHz 15" ? Did post on mac forum but whoever responded did not read or understand my original post. LOL Thanks

[thefultonhow]

The only issue with buying a G4 is that it is a dead-end software-wise -- new software is no longer being produced for it. So when Photoshop CS3 comes out, you won't be able to run it.

On the other hand, you should check whether/when Quark is going to come out with a new Intel-Mac-compatible version of XPress. They are notoriously bad about releasing new versions.

[Mac Medic]

For photoshop and Quark why do you need the high end video? they're both 2d and the MacBook will scream with them. I'm using Photoshop CS 3 beta on my MacBook and it at least 4x faster than my old powerbook, granted it was a 1ghz powerbook. It is definitely 2x faster than my G5 with photoshop though as I tested that myself.