Powerbook users?

[Edward]

I am seriously considering a Powerbook for a mobile rig and am just curious about real world benchmarks for a Powerbook running audio apps...specifially how many plugins, instruments etc you can load...If you can relate to using Spectrasonics Atmosphere, Trilogy, Stylus RMX and any NI products since that is what I primarily own I would appreciate it. I haven't decided on a host yet...I was using Cubase SX on my PC but am considering switching to Logic. I can't find a good comparison either between PC based laptops and Powerbooks, so any insight there would be great too!

Thanks,

[midphase]

One of the biggest issues with the current crop of powerbooks is that you can only put so much RAM into them. I believe 1.5 gigs is max right now, which is not very adequate anymore.

[Edward]

Actually, it is only the 12" Powerbook models that support only 1.5 GB the 15" & 17" allow 2 GB.

[Nick Batzdorf]

The processing speed isn't as fast as today's P4s, and I'm certainly not trying to start any Mac/PC fights since I use both (work on Mac, use PCs mostly as slaves), but 2GB is equivalent to a standard PC these days. So yes, memory is a problem, but it's not what you could call sub-par.

The main issue is that the internal hard drive on a PowerBook is going to be pretty slow, so you'll definitely want an external 7200 RPM Firewire hard drive for samples.

[aplanchard]

The processing speed isn't as fast as today's P4s, and I'm certainly not trying to start any Mac/PC fights since I use both (work on Mac, use PCs mostly as slaves), but 2GB is equivalent to a standard PC these days. So yes, memory is a problem, but it's not what you could call sub-par.

The main issue is that the internal hard drive on a PowerBook is going to be pretty slow, so you'll definitely want an external 7200 RPM Firewire hard drive for samples.

Well the new Powerbooks have a 7200 rpm internal drive option. That said, with his line up of VIs, a Powerbook will be pushed for sure.

[Edward]

Thanks for the replies guys...I am already familar with the specs however, I would really like some input on processing performance running audio apps, practical specs like how many instances of Atmosphere or Absynth can I run considering I have 2 GB of ram or how many audio tracks with effects from an external drive...I'm not looking for a desktop replacement only a decently powerful mobile rig. To give you an idea of where I am coming from currently I have a custom PC with an Athlon XP 2500 (1.8 GHz) 2 GB ram, and several 7200 RPM HDD. Within Cubase I can run about a dozen VI's and quite a few audio tracks (haven't maxed out yet) I want the Powerbook because I also edit in Final Cut and I tend to edit on location so having my sound design/composition tools with me would be a huge benifit.

[fastlane]

They make a tote bag for the Imac G5. :D

Or you could wait for the release of Intel based PowerBooks. You'll see Steve Jobs showing how much faster they are than the G4 PowerBooks were. Then they will again deserve their name.

[midphase]

in short, don't expect too much out of them. You'll be able to run a couple of Stylus instances, maybe one reverb, another couple of Absynth thingies and several instances of a soft sampler, but anything beyond that is probably unreasonable. It's not a G5, it doesn't have 4 gigs and SATA drives or even a faster bus.

[Edward]

Thanks that helps...I will wait for the newer Intel based systems.

[Jaimo]

I put together a mobile rig about a year ago, consisting of a 15", 1.33 Mz Powerbook. with 1.5 Gig of RAM, using Logic 7.

I'm afraid, since I primarily used it for overdubbing vocals, and had prepared stem mixes to do that each time, I really didn't put it through the paces much with Audio Instruments like Stylus, Atmosphere, etc...

I think for audio only, or a handful of Instruments, you'd be fine. And since most DAW's have freeze functions, you can get a lot of extra milage that way.

All that to say, if you can wait for the next generation of Powerbooks, you'll undoubtedly be able to do what you're wanting to. I believe you'd hit the wall sooner than expected if you got a Powerbook now.