What to buy?

[Jonathan]

Hey guys, I am a (student)webdesigner and I am looking to buy a Apple machine. I was looking at purchasing a Mac Book Pro, however I am frightened to go buy one because of all the problems people are having.

I run: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash and Cinema 4D

Now my uncle has this PowerBook G4, he will sell me it for $1200 tax in, these are the specs.

PowerBook G4
PowerPC G4 CPU 1.5 GHz
1.25 GB DDR SDRAM
12.1" active matrix TFT
nVidia GeForce FX5200 AGP (64 MB)
USB 2.0 + FireWire 400
Modem + 10/100 Ethernet
Airport Extreme + Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
Combo Drive (CDRW/DVD)
60 GB Hard Drive
Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger"

Would the PowerBook G4 run everything smoothly for me? And should I go for the G4, then wait until the Intel based Macs are stable and all the software is converted for them.

Thanks,

A Mac loving noob


EDIT ---------------

This machine is a IBM Pentium 4 2.26GHz, 512RAM, ATi Radeon 9000 EVIL COMMANDO -- how will the Mac compare to running those apps to this machine, any better?

 

[D3v1L80Y]

That PowerBook will run just fine for you. Adobe apps are not Universal yet, so you are better off with a PPC machine anyway in my opinion.

 

[Jonathan]

And it will be able to run the new versions of those programs efficiently or will I need older ones?

 

[PunkRockTuba]

That sounds like a pretty good machine, you should be able to run everything you want just fine. When the new, universal apps come out you should be able to run those just fine too.

 

[deus_ex_machina]

And it will be able to run the new versions of those programs efficiently or will I need older ones?

CS will run fine - CS2 isn't that big of a jump. Most of the apps in it are RAM intensive but with 1.25GB you'll be fine having even three open at once.

 

[ldjalal]

I had a PowerBook G4 17" 1.5Ghz with 2GB of ram. I sold it and now I am waiting for the renewed MBP's. I used exactly the same software as yourself and didnt have any problems. However, It depends on your work flow and for how long you are going to plan to use the mac for. For example as a webdesigner I like everything fast and have a lot of windows open and switch between them alot, taking screenshots and capturing files from all over the place. And I couldnt really get that performance with my G4. So I am waiting for the unversal software to come out, and by the time it does im sure re-newed MBP's will be available. If you are more patient and like to work slowly then the PB will be perfectly fine. Though I still suggest to hold the money and wait for renewed MBP's and universal adobe software...

 

[Blue Genes]

I have little hands on time with the Powerbooks, but I just bought a 2.16 MB Pro.

I upgraded it to 2GB ram and it runs Office and other emulated programs like butter. I can't even noticed they are emulated. I do NOT have photoshop, so I don't know how that runs, but the MBP handles them fine.

As far as the other issues, I am having no problems what so ever with my computer. There are problems with some people's machines, but you need to remember that they are not the majority. People come to forums for support so you will see more problems here.

Of course, I spent $2,900 and you are going to spend less than half that.