Feb
No Intel Mac needed here
There has been a lot of hub-bub about the new Intel based MacBook and MacBook Pro laptop computers and I have to admit, I have been lured into the trap of wanting to make an upgrade purchase just so I can say, as a Mac fan-boy, that I own a brand spanking new MacBook Pro. I love my current PowerBook G4, but what’s not to like about the MacBooks? Faster dual processors pounding on my data is very appealing and some folks even say it’s pretty cool to run Windows using Parallels. However, the pocket book reality sinks in and I am forced to reevaluate my purchasing decision based on financial reasons. Do I really need to replace my 15″ PowerBook G4 Aluminum with a MacBook Pro costing over $2000? Let’s work through my rational for why I say “no Intel Mac needed here.”
What got me first thinking about an upgrade was the age of my current Mac laptop. My PowerBook G4 is approximately 22 months old. I know this because I have Coconut Battery loaded as a widget. Without this, I would never remember the age of my PowerBook without first having to locate my receipt. See, my PowerBook was my first personally purchased Mac. I had used Macs at work for the past three years and even sold them in the 80s while a grad student, although at the time I was a big Amiga fan. It was a great way to pay the bills. However my field of study, Industrial Technology, took me away from Macs and into the world of DOS and Windows machines where I stayed for better part of 20 years. During those many years it seemed like I purchased a new computer at home and at work every two years so, so that I could run AutoCAD faster and more efficiently. AutoCAD wants every bit of processing power you can provide. I needed a new computer frequently to stay productive in the older days. That’s the question I have to pose to myself now, “how productive am I using my, almost two-years old, PowerBook?” Do I really need an Intel based MacBook Pro to get my work done?
When I purchased my PowerBook, I did the right thing and purchased as much computer as I could afford at the time. My PowerBook has the following specifications:
- 1.67 GHz PowerPC G4
- 1 GB DDR SDRAM
- 80 GB Hard Drive
- 15″ Screen with 1280 x 854 resolution and 32-bit color depth
- ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 w/128 MB VRAM
- 8x Superdrive
- 167 MHz Bus Speed
- Motion sensor enabled
- Audio optical out
- DVI out
- S-video out
- AirPort Extreme
- Built-in 56 Kbps modem
- Firewire 400 and 800
- USB 2.0
- Full-Size PCMCIA slot
If you take a look at those specs, the only apparent draw back would be the 1.67 GHz PowerPC G4. I mean look at this monster. Two-years old and it has some forward thinking features such as Firewire 800, DVI and optical audio out. It even has three features that are not available on current MacBooks; S-video out, built-in modem and a full-size PCMCIA slot. Sure these are considered older technologies, but the truth of matter is, when you need them, it sure is nice to have them. The majority of my world is still not on the cutting edge. Hardware specifications aside, the original question is, “how productive am I using my, almost two-years old, PowerBook?” Let’s look at the main tasks that I regularly perform and my satisfaction with each using my current PowerBook.
Word-processing
This is one of those tasks that really doesn’t require a modern computer. I’ll let you in on a little secret. I love plain text files. I regularly use duplicate text in various applications and I simply find that exporting and importing using plain text causes less frustration. I use Smultron for my text editing needs. Mainly because it’s free and fast. It also works well with my favorite free FTP client Cyberduck. When I need to modify a PHP or CSS file for one of my web sites, I double-click on the file after connecting via FTP in Cyberduck, the file opens in Smultron, I make the edits, save and Cyberduck uploads the changes. It’s like working live on the server. Smultron also has built-in spell-checking, thanks to Mac OS X, which is a necessity as I constantly misspell words and have typos. Smultron is small, light weight and efficient. For heavy duty word-processing that requires formatting I fire up Microsoft Word. I have used Word on both PowerPC and Intel platforms. And because Word runs under Rosetta emulation on the Intel, it doesn’t seem quicker than a PowerPC platform. In some cases, my PowerBook seems quicker and works with far fewer hiccups. So as you can see, no Intel Mac needed here.
Blog creation and maintenance
I use the free Performancing Firefox extension as the tool to load my content into WordPress. To make cosmetic or feature changes to my WordPress site, I use the techniques discussed above. These tasks are still basically word-processing and don’t require any real computing horsepower. No Intel Mac needed here.
Image creation and manipulation
As I have stated in another post, I can’t see shelling out big bucks for Photoshop for my image manipulation needs. I simply download the GIMP. It’s fast enough and free enough. Are you starting to notice a trend? I’m cheap. My imaging needs are basically cropping, re-coloring, touchup and some original logo and image creation. My Powerbook mows through these chores with ease. No Intel Mac needed here.
Video creation and editing
Yep, I do some video editing, the type most hobbyist/bloggers do. I use iMovie, Final Cut Express HD, iShowU, and various other tools for creating and converting video. The only time I really wish for a faster processor is during the encoding process, or taking a video and formatting it for a specific purpose. When I have to sit and watch a progress bar, my impatience wears thin and I start thinking…hmmm…maybe I do need a dual core Intel processor, or a quad core for that matter. A while back though I had a epiphany, which is a rare occurrence for me. I realized that I do have another CPU sitting idle. I have an old 550Mhz eMac, that I purchased used, that sits on our family planning desk most of the day doing absolutely nothing. So when I have encoding needs, I simply move the files to that machine using DropCopy, use Chicken of the VNC to control the eMac and have it perform the encoding while I go back to work. Yes, it’s slower, but when I can get back to work the time goes by quicker and most of my encoding needs are not what one would call “urgent.” With a little ingenuity, some wonderful free software and and old computer laying around the house, no Intel Mac needed here.
Computer-aided design and modeling
Ok, this is a sore point for me. AutoCAD left the Mac years ago and has never even hinted at returning to this platform. Plain and simple, I can’t run AutoCAD so I can’t prepare lectures for my students using my personal PowerBook. However, at work, I have a MacBook Pro with Parallels and I can prepare for classes. But it is a real inconvenience not to be able to prepare with my personal laptop. I want to do everything I need to do on my PowerBook and this is the one Windows only software I must use. I teach our Engineering students how to use SketchUp. No problem here as there are both Mac and Windows versions available. My modeling in SketchUp is moderately complex and my PowerBook has never seemed slowed with any of the models I have created, even when applying textures and using the photo matching features. Because of my need for AutoCAD an Intel Mac is needed, however it’s not necessary as I’ll explain later. Oh and by the way, Lego Digital Designer works wonderfully on my PowerBook as well.
Those are my primary tasks. It is pretty apparent from that list that I don’t need a new MacBook Pro. For grins and giggles, let look at it from a purely cost justification standpoint. A new MacBook Pro comparable to my PowerBook will cost around $2000. My original PowerBook costs around $2400. So the questions are, have I gotten my $2400 worth yet and do I need to shell about another $2000? My PowerBook battery recently died. I understand there were some issues with these batteries, so that needs to be replaced. That’s around $120. I don’t need any other upgrades. So for about $120, I have taken care of the only need I have save for the need for AutoCAD. Do I really need to spend $2400 just to run AutoCAD on the go and away from my office? Heck no. I can find an old Windows computer for a couple of hundred bucks and I actually have a couple of them at house that are perfectly find for AutoCAD. The alternative is that I can just try and arrange my schedule where I always work on my lectures at the office. I think both of these options work for me.
What other issues did I consider when thinking about upgrading my PowerBook? Well, there is that small and insignificant issue of vanity that creeps in occasionally. I’m kind of known as the guy at the college who has all the latest and greatest gadgets. So I have a reputation to maintain; however, most folks can’t tell the difference between a PowerBook and a MacBook Pro. They are very similar in appearance. A student who saw me working in our commons area recently came up to me and said, “that’s a great looking new MacBook Pro.” I said, “yep, it is pretty sweet but it’s just a PowerBook.” It was that comment that finally made my vanity realize, no Intel Mac needed here.
So is there anything that would make me upgrade tomorrow? Probably not. I have given this a lot of thought and the one thing that could force me to upgrade would be major changes in the Operating System that require the Intel hardware. From what I am reading, I don’t see that as a requirement for Leopard. Apple would shoot themselves in the foot if they required the new hardware this early in the CPU conversion process. In my mind, they still need a few more years to make the final transition. Sure I won’t be able to use BootCamp (and as Scott Bourne says frequently on his various podcasts “who wants to see the blue screen of death on their Mac?”), access terabytes of memory or take advantage of 64-bit software. But again, I don’t need these features for the tasks I perform and I would venture to guess that most Mac users don’t.
I know this will be an unpopular comment with the Apple folks, but my recommendation to everyone using a Mac with a G5 or G4 processor running at 1 GHz or greater is to stay put. Resist the urge. Wait…patiently. Ask yourself, do I REALLY need a faster machine. If you wait, the rewards will be even greater. Your current computer will have increased its value over time and the machine you buy two years from now will be infinitely more powerful than your current computer. I want to see a huge bump in my productivity for another $2000, not a smaller incremental bump as would be the case if I purchased a new Mac now. As the saying goes, Patience is a virtue.
What are your thoughts? Did I miss something in my analysis? Leave your comments and let me know. And someone at Apple wants to send me a bright shiny new PowerBook to try and change my mind, have at it!
