Is
The "Revision B" Titanium PowerBook G4 Really
Improved? (PAGE FOUR) First
posted October 29, 2001; AND
YOU THINK YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE DECIDING? I
ran out and bought the 550MHz TiBook as soon as I
could get one, as I told you in when this report
was first published. The Radeon graphics chip alone
made me feel I had to have one. The price was nice.
But then, after one week, I returned it. Noisy
drive. Noisy fan. Not happy. Hmmm.
The 600 MHz iBook 2001 "rev B" gave the TiBook "rev
B" a run for the money. I decided to bring one
home. I played with it for two weeks. It's a sweet
setup. Quiet. Compact. Capable. But I couldn't get
the Titanium out of my mind. That Radeon chip was
calling to me again, even though I don't play Quake
3 that often. It sure would be nice to have that
bigger screen. And I do use Photoshop on the laptop
on occasion. Final Cut Pro, too... This
sounds crazy, but five hours before the deadline to
return the iBook, I ran out and bought the Titanium
667. I wanted to see, hear, and feel it running
next to the iBook 600 in the quiet of my home. It
still was noisier than the iBook but not as bad as
the 550. I decided to run an old Photoshop test. I
launch a 27 MB document (with Photoshop App Size
set to 220 MB). Rotate it 30 degrees. Gaussian Blur
30 pixels. Zoom in 400%. Scroll from top to bottom.
Then add up the total time in seconds: Whoa.
That was an eye opener. Then I did a quickie Final
Cut Pro test: a title, two clips, two transitions,
Gaussian blur. Render All: An
hour before the deadline, I was convinced. I was
ready to pack up the iBook 600 and return it but I
didn't. I told me wife, "Are you sure you don't
want this 600 MHz iBook? It's faster than your 500
MHz model and has DVD." She says, "Sure. Sell my
old one." I
don't really NEED a Titanium. But now I have one...
again. I'm not taking this one back. It is truly an
amazing feat of engineering. It's the Porsche of
laptops. Yes, it's noisier than the iBook but the
911
Turbo
is noisier than the Boxster.
Vrooooom! My
wife's saying it again. "Got your Titanium. Don't
need me." IS
THE TITANIUM 667 REALLY WORTH THOUSANDS MORE THAN
AN IBOOK 600? Base
Price $1499 $2999 512
MB of SDRAM (18004memory)
$155 $0 AirPort
card $99 $0 30 GB
Travelstar drive $150 $0 TOTAL $1903 $2999 Screen
Size (diagonal) * Screen
Width * Screen
Height * Graphics
Chip Video
Memory Dual
Display Support S-video
Out CPU
type System
Bus Speed Maximum
RAM Combo CD
drive Standard
Hard Drive Optional
Hard Drive Ethernet
Max Speed PCMCIA
slot Infrared
Communication Case
Material Case
Width *
Although the Titanium has only 13% more pixels
displayed, in terms of square inches, the screen
is 54% bigger. In other words, objects on screen
appear bigger on the Titanium, a blessing to
"old" baby boomer eyes. Similarly
equipped, the difference is only $1096. For that
extra grand, you get a 54% larger screen, G4,
Radeon graphics, faster system bus, faster
Ethernet, and a Titanium case. When viewed that
way, the extra grand is justified. IS
THE RADEON MOBILITY CHIP IN THE POWERBOOK REVISION
B THE FAST 7500 VERSION? Unfortunately not. But
don't be surprised if it shows up in the Revision C
TiBook. FYI,
here's a chart detailing the difference between the
Radeon Mobility chip used in the Revision B G4
PowerBooks and the Radeon Mobility
7500: Core
Clock Memory
Clock Polygons/Sec Memory
Supported Memory
Interface Memory
Type
SELL
YOUR WALLSTREET, SELL YOUR IBOOK, SELL YOUR CAR.
GET A TITANIUM. The
Rev B Titanium is significantly improved over the
Rev A. It's like the Apple engineers actually read
my web site ravings and followed my advice. If only
that were true. Whatever made them do it doesn't
matter. The second time they got it
right. HOT
FLASH: As of 12/17/01, Apple is offering a slot
load "Combo" drive (CD-RW/DVD-R) in the PowerBook
G4. Owners of Rev B TiBooks can upgrade
for $299. What
about the great closeout prices on the Rev A
Titanium G4 PowerBook? After all, the 500 MHz Rev A
was slightly faster than the 550MHz Rev B in 5 out
of 6 CPU related tests. Maybe it's due to the
smaller L2 cache in the 550. If you don't need 3D
graphics speed and fast FireWire speed, the
closeout "Rev A" might be the best choice for you.
One reader bought a Rev A for his elderly parents
since it has a bigger screen than the iBook, not
because they are power users. It's
natural (if you are cost conscious) to wonder how
the 600 MHz iBook compares to the latest Rev B
TiBooks. That's why I added those numbers. Not bad
for a G3, especially running FileMaker,
Bryce, and Cinema
4D.
I grant you the smaller screen may put off some,
but if you you never use the iBook for Final Cut
Pro or Photoshop (lots of palettes, AltiVec code),
the small size can be a bonus. In other words, the
iBook is 2 inches narrower than a TiBook, thanks to
the smaller screen. If you want a great traveling
companion with the most bang for the buck (and bang
for the inch), the 600 MHz iBook deserves serious
consideration. I
was thinking to myself, I wonder if Apple would
consider making a "Tiny Titanium"? You know, small
like the iBook but fast like the TiBook? Zoom
zoom. EXCESSIVE
FAN NOISE IS NOT NORMAL The
PowerBook G4 has a two speed fan that comes on when
the temperature rises to a certain point. If your
fan comes on right away and runs in high speed all
the time, you may want to take your PowerBook in
for a service "look see." According to an Apple
engineer who helped design the cooling system, you
may have an assembly problem between the CPU and
the heat sink. Most likely the one or more of the
screws holding down the heat sink to the CPU are
not tight enough, resulting in an overheated CPU
which will cause the fan to spin up very quickly
after turn on and stay on High most of the time.
(This info came from Go2Mac.) RELATED
LINKS If
you landed on this page first, don't miss page
ONE
and TWO
or THREE. XLR8YourMac
posted a shootout
between a Toshiba laptop and Titanium PowerBook
G4/667 "rev B." MacSpeedZone
shows that the 600 MHz iBook is more than 20%
faster than the 500 MHz iBook. MacSpeedZone
compares the iBook 600MHz to the TiBook
550MHz. WHERE TO ORDER YOUR APPLE PRODUCTS Small
Dog Electronics offers new and refurbished Macs. For
info on recommended sleeves, backpacks, and wheeled
laptop luggage, read Betty Morgan's report called
"We
Be Stylin'." Afraid
of damage or theft? Check with SafeWare.com
for laptop insurance. If
you want to upgrade your PowerBook G4's hard drive,
here's two new hot ones to consider: The
same two drives are likely candidates for a
portable 2.5 inch external FireWire drive. For full
report on the latest options, read
my report. If
you are a Digital Video/Audio jockeys who is
serious about using Final Cut Pro on a Titanium,
you will want a really fast capture/playback drive.
I recommend the full size 3.5 inch Ultra ATA/100
drives in FireWire cases. Get them at... TEST
HARDWARE The
FireWire drives used in testing were: Return
to PAGE
ONE
of Titanium Rev B tests (Quake 3 and FireWire
speed) Return
to PAGE
TWO
of Titanium Rev B tests (AppleWorks, Photoshop,
iTunes) Return
to PAGE
THREE
for FileMaker Pro, Bryce 5, and Cinema 4D
results. © 1995-2007 Rob Art Morgan
Updated on October 30th FileMaker, Bryce and Cinema
4D graphs.
Updated on November 5th with 600 MHz iBook
numbers.
Updated November 13th with 667 MHz TiBook
numbers.
Updated November 24th with "one on one" Final Cut
Pro shootout between the fastest iBook and fastest
TiBook.
by rob
ART morgan,
Bare Feats Mad Scientist
Ultimately, choosing which Apple laptop is best
for you is a very personal decision, one I can't
make for you. I'm having a hard enough time
deciding which one I want.
After all, the performance is very similar for many
"common" applications. Is the screen size the only
difference? I created this chart to highlight the
key differences between the 600 MHz iBook and 667
MHz TiBook:
(600 MHz) DVD
(667 MHz) DVD
(in PowerBook G4)
(includes Quake 3 and Photoshop results)
When ordering products from Apple Store USA, please click THIS TEXT LINK or any Apple display ad as your "portal" to the online store. In so doing, you help to support Bare Feats.
The
TravelStar 40GN
40GB 4200rpm (available at GoogleGear.com
for $201)
The
TravelStar 60GH
60GB 5400rpm (at GoogleGear.com
for $429 )
Test machines included...
G3/500 iBook 2001,
G3/600 iBook 2001 "rev B",
G4/500 Titanium PowerBook (rev A),
G4/550 Titanium PowerBook (rev B),
G4/667 Titanium PowerBook (rev B)
All were running OS 9.1 or 9.2. Each had at least
256M of RAM. VM off, Atalk off.
TransIntl.com's
clear case 2.5 inch "911" FireWire enclosure with
IBM 48GB Travelstar.
Granite
Digital's
3.5 inch "911" FireWire enclosure with IBM 60gxp
60GB Deskstar.
"BARE facts on Macintosh speed FEATS"
Email
, the webmaster