comparing older mac speeds

On 1 Feb 2008, at 19:46, jeff carter wrote:

> I'm wondering if there is a site or document comparing current and
> older Mac computer speeds? I was thinking of getting an older
> laptop with wireless connection to use for connecting at
> coffeeshops, library, and was wondering how old I could go and
> still get a usable laptop? anyone?

Usable is as usable does. It's hard, or more likely impossible, for
anybody else to say what is usable for YOU. An old laptop will be
just as fast as it ever was, which no doubt at the time it was new
will have felt quite fast. So, if your needs are filled by whatever
OS is on the old laptop, and the applications which run on it run
fast enough for you, then go for it.

The borderline, in terms of convenience, is going to be Powerbooks
with built in Airport. While it's entirely possible to get older
Powerbooks, right back to the 1400, working with WiFi, it may be more
hassle than you want.

Another thing to be borne in mind is that the battery on an older
Powerbook will likely be shot. As your objective is to use this on
the move, you should factor in the cost of a new battery when you're
looking around.



__
Kindest regards,


Niall O Broin
MakaluMedia Group | http://makalumedia.com | +49 6151 8724600

MakaluMedia Internet & Engineering Services GmbH | Robert-Bosch
Strasse 7 | 64293 Darmstadt | Germany
Geschäftsführer: Matt Henderson | Sitz der Gesellschaft: Darmstadt |
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> I'm wondering if there is a site or document comparing current and older Mac computer speeds?

Lowendmac.com has a lot of profiles of computers and articles by
people who are trying to do the same thing.

That said, I don't think the 'speed' matters as much as the 'match'
between hardware, OS and software. So, if you were trying to use
Firefox, for example, you'll probably want something at least 500 MHz
and on MacOS X. If you are using Mac OS 9 on old hardware with old
software, it's surprising how fast things are.

That said, for 'modern' computing, I'd personally recommend something
fast enough to run 10.4. Personally, I'd look at the 'Snow' iBooks
that start at G3 500 MHz and end up at G4 1.33 GHz.

Lowendmac also routine checks for deals on old computers. Some of
these are better than what you might get off E-bay

http://lowendmac.com/deals/best-ibook-g4-prices.html

--
Jonathan Ploudre
If this message seems brief:
http://five.sentenc.es/

>I'm wondering if there is a site or document comparing current and
>older Mac computer speeds?

http://www.apple-history.com

This site lists a complete history of Apple hardware complete with specs.

--chuck goolsbee

On Feb 1, 2008, at 12:46 PM, jeff carter wrote:

> I'm wondering if there is a site or document comparing current and
> older Mac computer speeds? I was thinking of getting an older laptop
> with wireless connection to use for connecting at coffeeshops,
> library, and was wondering how old I could go and still get a usable
> laptop? anyone?

OK, this is strictly anecdotal and not based on any rigorous testing
or benchmarking but I own an old TiBook that I occasionally use for
web browsing and word processing. It has a 500 MHz G4 processor and a
802.11b WiFi card. I can't bear to part with it since it is the
favorite laptop I've ever owned (notwithstanding is cosmetic
problems). I've never noticed any real difference between it and my
MacBook Pro for casual web surfing or light duty non-cpu intensive
use. I wouldn't want to download a movie or run Photoshop with it but
for the purposes your indicated an interest in it works well.

At 11:46 AM -0800 02/01/2008, jeff carter wrote:
>I'm wondering if there is a site or document comparing current and
>older Mac computer speeds? I was thinking of getting an older laptop
>with wireless connection to use for connecting at coffeeshops,
>library, and was wondering how old I could go and still get a usable
>laptop? anyone?

Grab a copy of Mactracker <http://www.mactracker.ca/>.
--

tom coradeschi
tcoraskylands.ibmwr.org

Check out the low end mac, everymac, XLR8 your Mac, Bare Feats. My old lombard (bronze keyboard G3, no firewire) had a cheap airport card and it would do all this stuff, but slowly. In fact, we even hooked it up with iStopmotion and took some 24 hour slow time lapse photography. All on OSX. (I also have an old Powerbook 180 running MacCallerID). However, it died. Kernal panic on every bootup etc. I've done everything. Laptops are not like desktops. They break. You can't count on buying a used laptop of any substantial age. That is why used laptops are so pricey on eBay. A titanium G4 powerbook would work fine but if you got a cheaper G4 iBook or late white G3 iBook they would have much better wi-fi reception. There is a significant improvement running OSX on G4 processors-but they use more power. A New battery will cost $100.

On 1/2/08 19:46, jeff carter wrote:
> I'm wondering if there is a site or document comparing current and older Mac computer speeds? I was thinking of getting an older laptop with wireless connection to use for connecting at coffeeshops, library, and was wondering how old I could go and still get a usable laptop? anyone?

I may be reading into your post something that wasn't there, but *if* you only
wanted something to do web and email on, you might want to look instead at an
Asus eee. Much smaller and lighter - and quite possibly both cheaper and
better battery life too - than an old laptop, and no loss of speed. But
obviously it's not a Mac (though some hackers have installed OS X on it).

- Ben (who agrees with Charlie - I much prefer my old AlBook to my MBP - but
would find it hard to give up Parallels).

>I'm wondering if there is a site or document comparing current and
>older Mac computer speeds? I was thinking of getting an older laptop
>with wireless connection to use for connecting at coffeeshops,
>library, and was wondering how old I could go and still get a usable
>laptop? anyone?

Bare Feats regularly does comparisons, though I can't tell if they
have information that would help you since it appears that their site
is offline at the moment.

http://www.barefeats.com/

cheers... -Adam

On 4-Feb-2008, at 07:52, Tom Coradeschi wrote:

> At 11:46 AM -0800 02/01/2008, jeff carter wrote:
>> I'm wondering if there is a site or document comparing current and
>> older Mac computer speeds? I was thinking of getting an older laptop
>> with wireless connection to use for connecting at coffeeshops,
>> library, and was wondering how old I could go and still get a usable
>> laptop? anyone?
>
> Grab a copy of Mactracker <http://www.mactracker.ca/>.

Mactracker is aces, and it includes benchmark scores for newer
machines. So, for example, my G4 iLamp that died was more than three
as fast as the imac DV I have currently for the kids to use. Or that
my Mac Pro scores 3900 and my friend's<1> G5 scores 1500.

Doesn't have scores for the original iMac, the IIci or the Quadra
660av that soooo sweet when I got it. Probably because it can't
benchmark that low :/

<1> I do SO!

--
If it wasn't for the pirates, I bet Star Wars: Ep III would have made
$50 million its first DAY!

This site compares speeds of macs, old and new, relative to one another:

http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2007/08/mac-performance-august-2007/

One of my nephews was given an old G4 Ibook for Christmas. Basically, he wanted what you want. Not that I'm an expert, but I put Panther (10.4.2?) on it, got 512 meg memory installed plus an Airport card bought off Ebay for 80 bucks, and gave it a thorough test. When browsing etc, didn't seem much slower than my Macbook. And he has a DVD player, Itunes, Garage Band etc ... But the old G3 Imac I use as the home machine IS slow, so I'd try for a G4 if I was you. It'll run most software. Never had a problem with Ibooks.

Assuming that you'll get an older Mac, you'll want to carefully
consider OS version. 10.4 is faster on the same hardware than 10.3
than 10.2. 10.5 breaks some of that trend -- I suspect it is due to
higher memory requirements.

http://www.geekpatrol.ca/2004/07/jaguar-panther-and-tiger-benchmarks/

I have an iMac 350MHz that I unsupportedly installed 10.4. Without a
lot of context switching, it was OK for web browsing. That said, if I
was buying a laptop with their high purchase cost (5 year-old $1000
Mac still selling for $400 now is ridiculous -- unless you are the
seller!)

I'd second the idea of getting an Asus EEE PC. Smaller screen
resolution but a slick package at a great price.

--
Jonathan Ploudre
If this message seems brief:
http://five.sentenc.es/