powerbook g4 question

kind of ot, but since i am mostly concerned with using reaktor plus logic and/or cubase and there are plenty of people doing that here, i figured it would make sense to ask.

i am a longtime pc user thinking of getting a powerbook g4 with these specs:

$1,599.00

12.1-inch TFT Display
1024x768 resolution
867MHz PowerPC G4

256MB DDR266 SDRAM
40GB Ultra ATA/100
Combo Drive
NVIDIA GeForce4 420 Go
32MB DDR video memory
10/100BASE-T Ethernet
FireWire 400

AirPort Extreme Ready
Bluetooth built-in
VGA & S-Video out

do you imagine this will be sufficient to get reasonably good performance?

since i read this forum fairly regularly, i know there are people who have mac + reaktor issues. is there anything really critical that i should be aware of before i get into macs for audio?

one of the things that is driving me to macs is the relatively high percentage of productive musicians who use macs. i imagine there is something to the intangibles of macs, and if you have an opinion on this, i'd be glad to hear it. i have been using wintel machines for audio for a number of years, and though i experience periods of stability, inevitably - probably in great part because i use my box for many different things - i have weird problems that i either never solve, or that take a lot of time to figure out. if you have any experience on the differences in reliability and stability of both platforms, i'd be happy to hear that too.

i am considering spending more for a better powerbook, if that would make a huge difference in performance, but if i come to the conclusion that i have a reasonably good chance of being happy with the relatively inexpensive one, that is what i will get.

thanks

- brandon

 

Don't worry about the mac people who have trouble with Reaktor.. they're a minority. A .. freaking loud vocal minority. I see just as many PC users having problems with Sonar and everything too. The PC people just like to give it to the mac users whenever they can. It's stupid.

That mac will be sufficient for most things Reaktor, although it needs 512 RAM. 256 isn't enough for OS X really.

I myself was getting pageouts with 512, and had to go to 1024. Don't get a mac with less than 512.

 

I use a 12" Powerbook. I run Reaktor along with Logic 5.5.1 and EXS24. I use this setup not because it is powerful, but because it is very, very portable. However it is powerful enough. (I have a G4 500 at home which served me well for many years and was plenty powerful enough for what I was doing). I can run Logic with many instances of EXS24, many other audio instruments and plugins and basically create complete tunes whereever I happen to be. If I run out of CPU I bounce (if I had 6.1 I'd use the track freeze function).

Using Reaktor puts a heavy drain on the Powerbook, but doesn't kill it. I've not downloaded an ensemble from the user library that won't run through lack of power but some of them are pretty dicy. As an example running Acoustring at 44.1K and 8 voices uses 32% CPU. 16 voices on the same ensemble takes 45%, 32 voice 74%.

I've been using Macs for about 8 years since I moved from Cubase on Atari. They're not perfect but in terms of usability and reliability they make PCs look like the sad joke they are (I know I'm going to get flamed for that one). I use PCs a work all day and I'm forever shouting at the damn things. I never shout at my Macs because they never do stupid things.

In short I'm more than happy with my little Powerbook.

Just my opinion.


Ab

 

I forgot to add I've got 640Meg of ram in it. Reaktor was a bit flakey before I did that.

 

me too.

I have the aforementioned setup - G4 12" Powerbook.

Just be careful of the heat from the harddrive. it can get pretty hot!

Other than the heat issues - I would say that it would be a great investment.

 

If you can afford it, go for the 17 inch. It also has a much larger cache memory, which make a big difference in resonsivity. I have a 17 inch with 1 meg memory and 60 gig harddrive, i also have a lacie external firewire800 disk: blazing. The large screen on the 17 makes it a dream to work with.

 

i´m a mac user with a g4 876 and a gig of ram.
getting more ram really is the best thing you can do for a mac in general. but there is a thread in here somewhere concerning perormance of reaktor, i think the thread was called "benchmarks" or something. in this thread PC laptop users had significently higher performance when using a centrino based laptop, but then again maybe you don´t need the ultimate in performance for the music you do.
the 12" does not have a PCMCIA slot, so if you´re looking at using an RME hammerfall DSP with Multiface (which i think is the best combo of reliability and sound quality) the 12" won´t do the job.
someone said that the 17" has a larger cache, if so that might have a considerable impact on performance. before i got my (then top of the line) G4 867 quicksilver i initially settled for the medium 733 machine, but it didn´t really rock due to its smaller cache and i exchanged it.

just some thoughts

 

I'm using a PB 15" 867mhz 512Ram for live gig and it's just perfect...
Running about 8 exp24(logic Sampler), 6 audio tracks(Reaktor tracks Bounced..Hum...) +waldorf micro Q and Korg Er-1 all controled by a Novation Remote control...Never Crashed (touch Wood)!

 

if i were you (and if you want a mac) i would wait for a g5 powerbook. i think there should be some available by the beginning of next year.

sowari

 

g5 powerbooks are farther off than that, most people agree.

Also the freeze tracks function doesn't work very well with Reaktor.

And don't listen to johnnovack: I'm a very vocal Mac user and I have a lot of trouble with the program functioning properly that have not been addressed. If you buy a Mac to use reaktor you may find yourself very frustrated. His config doesn't represent all mac users and he seems unable to comprehend that.

That being said you should def. buy a Mac, OSX is great.

 

Sowari usually gives very useful advice on all subjects Reaktor, however, when it comes to Apple Macs, his mind goes into the meltdown, shuttling between that of the Mac automatom to the bunny in the headlights/scared Apple employee brought forth toward emporer Job's throne and asked to account.

Do not wait for G5 unless you want to take a bite out the big Apple **** sandwich and re-mortgage your dwelling.

 

thanks all

the most important thing i took away from the discussion is that i should put 640mb of ram into the the pb if i get it. and thanks especially ab and swpspce for letting me know that basically the exact setup i would want to use is useable. i have been going back and forth, thinking about the fact that a 1ghz emac would be a lot cheaper than a powerbook, trying to imagine living with one or the other. but i went to the apple store today and saw and touched a 12" powerbook g4. it's a really beautiful piece of engineering. the emac is pretty hot too, though not imo as stunning as the tiny laptop. i just hope everything runs smoothly once i talk myself into it.

as for the 17" pb or waiting for the g5 pb - i theoretically could afford it, but that is bit more than i am willing to spend at this point. the 12" as i want it is already $2k.

polygen - the lack of a pcmcia slot did make me pause, but even though i have and am happy with an older hammerfall card, realistically i won't be getting a hammerfall dsp mobile setup. i have an emi 2|6, and i'm hoping that will work reasonably well.

thank you all for your comments.

- brandon

 

stay with pc...
apple laptops are slow and the systemchaos on mac gives even more trouble over the years than pc had.
I am on Mac since 94 and stay for this reason...