Thinking about switching.. advanced questions

[BrandonSi]

I think I've pretty much decided on a 12" powerbook, but I've a few initial questions..

I do a decent amount of photoshop work, 7+ mp images in RAW format, post processing, upsampling, etc.. I'm sure a G5 would be best, but to give you an idea, i'm using an AMD 866 1GB ram for that now. I'd be using the dual-monitor capability with my 19" so screen size doesn't matter there. Is there a big difference between the GeForce card in the 12" vs the Radeon in the 15"+?

I would like to take my current XP PC and wipe it, throw on some linux distro and set up samba to make it a file server.

What's the best distro for a quick and dirty samba server?
Can I keep my current 20GB of iTunes music on the samba share and have iTunes on the powerbook point to that share and utilize it? Can I synch my ipod to the powerbook even if it is pulling the files across the network from the server?

I'm sure I will run into some issue where I will need to run PC based apps on the Powerbook. How is the XP emulation on the 1.5ghz under VirtualPC 7?

Finally, any bad experiences out there with refurb powerbooks? I'm pretty set on new, but refurb prices are good enough to warrant consideration.

Thanks

Brandon

 

[FFTT]

You would like the portability of the 12" just fine, but
for serious pro applications, you're probably better off
with the 1.67 GHz 15" and the 128 MB VRAM upgrade.

They just released the first PCI-e DDR 2 Apple product yesterday
so IF you can hold out a bit longer, you probably should
at least until you know what the new models are featuring.

Then you can decide on the reduced prices of the current models or go for the updates, what ever they may be.

We know Apple WILL update the PowerBooks soon, but really
it's not clear if it will be next week or next month.

 

[blodwyn]

I think I've pretty much decided on a 12" powerbook, but I've a few initial questions..

I do a decent amount of photoshop work, 7+ mp images in RAW format, post processing, upsampling, etc.. I'm sure a G5 would be best, but to give you an idea, i'm using an AMD 866 1GB ram for that now. I'd be using the dual-monitor capability with my 19" so screen size doesn't matter there. Is there a big difference between the GeForce card in the 12" vs the Radeon in the 15"+?

I would like to take my current XP PC and wipe it, throw on some linux distro and set up samba to make it a file server.

What's the best distro for a quick and dirty samba server?
Can I keep my current 20GB of iTunes music on the samba share and have iTunes on the powerbook point to that share and utilize it? Can I synch my ipod to the powerbook even if it is pulling the files across the network from the server?

I'm sure I will run into some issue where I will need to run PC based apps on the Powerbook. How is the XP emulation on the 1.5ghz under VirtualPC 7?

Finally, any bad experiences out there with refurb powerbooks? I'm pretty set on new, but refurb prices are good enough to warrant consideration.

Thanks

Brandon

For photoshop, the difference in graphics cards shouldn't matter. I doubt you'll notice any difference unless you intend to play 3D games. I have a 12" 1.33GHz PB and just finished playing Call of Duty on it, so I'm sure you'll have no problems with 2D graphics.

For Linux, I personally like Mepis but I've heard Ubuntu or Kubuntu (with KDE) are really good distros

I think you can add files to the iTunes library with or without copying the files into the library folder itself. This would enable you to keep the files on the Samba server and the iPod should sync just fine. I haven't actually done this though.

I tried XP under VPC and it's a snail. Windows 2000 is a bit better, but I ended up using an old PC for the odd time I need to use windows, which in my case was several months ago.

Manufacturer refurbs are usually excellent buys. They will have been individually and thoroughly tested, which is more than a new one will usually go through.

Good luck!

 

[SummerBreeze]

I use Photoshop on my 12" PB (using a 17" external monitor) and everything runs just fine. It actually runs much better than the top-of-the-line Windows XP computer I used for a couple months.

I agree with blodwyn, Mepis is a good Linux distro, although I've not set up a server on my Linux box.

Don't expect to do any real work on VirtualPC, it's slow as all hell.

 

[BrandonSi]

Thanks guys.. there's no hurry on the powerbook, i'm gonna wait a while and see what happens, probably till early December. Hopefully we'll get some new PB's!

Thanks again!

 

[freeorangeshoes]

ive got the 12" PB, rev D (the one you would most likely be getting unless they are updated soon). ive not had any problems running any of the apps in Adobe CS 2. you will definitely want to get a RAM upgrade, though. i can also play almost any game they have released for the mac pretty well.

all in all, its very stable and pretty quick considering the dated tech. hope that provided a little insight.