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12″ PowerBook G4
My 7-month old dual G5 2.5ghz PowerMac died a few days ago and is now at the local authorized Apple repair facility (at least I have the extended Applecare). I’ve got a funny feeling I’m not going to see this machine again for about a month and am looking for a back-up machine to fill the void.
I was looking at the PowerBooks prior to the PowerMac breakdown and now I’m curious if the 12″ PowerBook would be adequate as a back-up machine while the dual G5 is in the shop. I foresee using this PowerBook to mark in & out points on FCP projects while I’m on the road and working in Photoshop while connected to a 20″ monitor. I like the 12″ PowerBook mainly because of it’s small form factor. Will the top of the line 12″ PowerBook be adequate, or is the G4 processor too old?
Although I have the complete Final Cut Production Suite (not Studio) I don’t anticipate using Motion on this machine or DVD Studio Pro.
I have read that the PowerBooks run hot…just how hot do these things get? Will the PowerBook be uncomfortable on my lap while wearing jeans? Thanks in advance for any advice.
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1 Reply
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I do a ton of pro stuff on my 15″ PB (1.5GHz, 1GB RAM). It works with FW800 drives and AJA IoLA, so I’m pretty happy with the results. The main thing the G5s do better is higher resolutions (though I do uncompressed 8-bit on my machine where flauless PB isn’t a real necessity) and much faster render times. I opted for the 15″ because I thought the 12″ was just too small for other real work – Photoshop, Word, Excel, etc. The 17″ is great, but a bit too big to be a workhorse laptop for normal use. Great desktop alternative or road-editing machine, though. BTW, I also run Motion on this PB. Nothing heavy duty. I mainly installed it to get the Motion items added to the FCP export menu (FCP 4.5).
Sincerely,
OliverOliver Peters
Post-Production & Interactive Media
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com
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