[Ham-Mac] Choice among current PowerBooks

[Richard Rucker]

On May 1, 2005, at 9:58 AM, Stan Horzepa wrote:

>  I just upgraded from a Mac Powerbook 500-MHz
> Pismo to a new 17-inch 1.67-GHz Powerbook. What a difference a Gig 
> makes!

I'm using a Pismo upgraded by Daystar Tech to a 550 MHz G4, 1 GB RAM, 
along with a 7200 rpm 60G Travelstar drive (faster than what comes with 
the latest PBs),  plus an Airport card.  I've been happy with it except 
for one thing.  See PS below.

Now that Tiger is out, however, I understand that a lot of the graphic 
effects that come, say with Widgets, that depend on having a more 
advanced video processor than that found in my Pismo.  Comments?

Though I don't think I'm ready to spring for a new PB just yet, I am 
starting to think about what I might be missing.  Some questions, just 
thinking out loud:

(1)  Do you think that the better performance you've seen is primarily 
due to the G4 Altivec) processor or due to the 3x clock speed?   (I 
have the G4, but not the clock speed.)

(2)  Why did you pick the 17" over the 15" model?  Some, including 
MacWorld, say the that 17" is too big and heavy to cart around much.

(3)  I'm still using a 4200 rpm HD in an external FW case with my 
Pismo's 400 Mbps FW ports and it seems fast enough for what I'm using 
it for, so I don't think I have a need yet for 800 Mbps ports.  Any 
counter-arguments?

Dick Rucker, KM4ML

PS:  i've never been able to drive a TV display via my Pismo's S-video 
out connector; I don't know if it is operator trouble or something 
else.  I've tried two different cables, one S-to-S and the other 
S-to-Composite, and two different TV sets, so I don't think the cable 
or the TV set is the problem.   Reading the instructions, it seems like 
this should just be plug in, turn on, and see the image on the screen, 
but it hasn't worked that way for me.  Ideas?