Upgrade 12'' PB or wait

[insanit]

Hey all,

Long time reader, first time poster so be gentle

I have a 1 GHz 12'' Powerbook G4 that is stock except for a total of 768 MB RAM. I adore my Powerbook but it's just on the slow side.

I'm wondering if I should upgrade my Powerbook to 1 GB RAM and a new 7200 RPM HD, which should come out to ~$300 after installation at a service center. Will I see a large enough performance increase?

The alternative is to wait until I have enough funds for a Macbook--which will most likely not be for a long time (6 mo?)

Which is the best plan? Spend $300 to upgrade a beautiful, sturdy Powerbook or wait half a year to see where I stand?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

 

[katie ta achoo]

I'd try just the RAM and see if that makes a difference. a faster hard drive won't make that big of a performance increase, unless your startup disk is almost full, IIRC (I could be wrong, though.. I read that in passing)

Just get the RAM, and you may see the speed increase you need.

 

[yoda13]

Nix the harddrive, and get the ram. It should help. But I would start saving for a Macbook, it will be amazingly more powerful, and Intel is the future. Just my two cents.

 

[Acehigh]

Hey all,

Long time reader, first time poster so be gentle

I have a 1 GHz 12'' Powerbook G4 that is stock except for a total of 768 MB RAM. I adore my Powerbook but it's just on the slow side.

I'm wondering if I should upgrade my Powerbook to 1 GB RAM and a new 7200 RPM HD, which should come out to ~$300 after installation at a service center. Will I see a large enough performance increase?

The alternative is to wait until I have enough funds for a Macbook--which will most likely not be for a long time (6 mo?)

Which is the best plan? Spend $300 to upgrade a beautiful, sturdy Powerbook or wait half a year to see where I stand?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Do not add the HD you will never get that money back. Unless you can get one cheap, and install it yourself.


What do you do with your computer? I will reinstalll OS X. Maybe a fresh install will help the speed. Might have to much stuff on it. See if that does anything for the speed.


Try not to add money to the machine, unless you plan to keep it.

 

[Demon Hunter]

Try not to add money to the machine, unless you plan to keep it.

This is my advice, too.

 

[insanit]

Thanks for the advice so far.

With respect to reinstalling OSX, I did that and my computer's running the essentials but it still seems rather slow. With respect to what I do on my machine, it's mostly school work, watching videos, quick photo manipulation, and web browsing. Nothing too demanding, in other words.

So far advice is against adding a HD. If I don't add the HD, I can upgrade the RAM myself. But if I upgrade from 768 MB to 1 GB, will there really be a palpable increase in performance?

 

[Demon Hunter]

So far advice is against adding a HD. If I don't add the HD, I can upgrade the RAM myself. But if I upgrade from 768 MB to 1 GB, will there really be a palpable increase in performance?

I don't think so. But if you have a lot of page-outs, the RAM should help.

 

[Acehigh]

Thanks for the advice so far.

With respect to reinstalling OSX, I did that and my computer's running the essentials but it still seems rather slow. With respect to what I do on my machine, it's mostly school work, watching videos, quick photo manipulation, and web browsing. Nothing too demanding, in other words.

So far advice is against adding a HD. If I don't add the HD, I can upgrade the RAM myself. But if I upgrade from 768 MB to 1 GB, will there really be a palpable increase in performance?

How much will that 256MB increase cost you? Do you plan to upgrade soon. Or are you waiting for something to come out.


Well If you are a student might think of buying a Macbook

1049, buy a nano free after rebate. and a printer free after rebate

Sell the printer and nano for $225...


probably can atleast $500-600 for you Powerbook


so will cost you about $300-400 +/- for the macbook upgrade.

 

[insanit]

How much will that 256MB increase cost you? Do you plan to upgrade soon. Or are you waiting for something to come out.


Well If you are a student might think of buying a Macbook

1049, buy a nano free after rebate. and a printer free after rebate

Sell the printer and nano for $225...


probably can atleast $500-600 for you Powerbook


so will cost you about $300-400 +/- for the macbook upgrade.

That's a very good point about selling the Powerbook. The only major problem is the upfront cost of $1050. It does seem like the best option right now though since in order to upgrade to 1 GB, I'd have to remove the existing 512 MB RAM module since Powerbooks only have one slot.

Excellent advice! Thanks again.

 

[lord patton]

That's a very good point about selling the Powerbook. The only major problem is the upfront cost of $1050. It does seem like the best option right now though since in order to upgrade to 1 GB, I'd have to remove the existing 512 MB RAM module since Powerbooks only have one slot.

Excellent advice! Thanks again.

So if you have a 768 of RAM, you'll be replacing a 512 stick with a gig stick. Right? That's an increase of 512, and that will certainly be noticable.

I've lately seen 1 Gig of RAM for under $100 (although ~$130 is more common). 100 bucks might prolong your PB's life for 6 mo. to a year. That would be worth it, IMO.

Edit: Open up activity monitor for a few days and watch your RAM and Page-outs. I bet RAM would do you well.