[RCOVJR1]

I have a possible deal on a 12" Powerbook but its only 867mhz. I will use it for the web, publishing, and dvds. Is this enough speed? It has Mac OS 10.2.3.

[Lieutenent_Mac]

It should be sufficient for DVD watching, and web surfing.
I also believe that it is sufficient for publishing. If you plan on running apps that do a lot of real time rendering a PowerMac would be better.
--

[mdawson]

In terms of Web surfing and watching DVDs any contemporary Mac will be good enough. Neither of those tasks is particularly processor intensive. On the other hand, if you are serious about doing desktop publishing, then as LieutenentMac stated, you should be looking into a Power Mac or at the very least an iMac G5, preferably the 20-inch model as publishing workflows require sufficient screen real estate.

If the iMac G5 20-inch and Power Mac are beyond your budget, then keep an eye out on Apples refurbished computer site at their on-line store. You can get some pretty decent deals there and the plus is that refurbished equipment is factory tested. As much as we all like brand new itemsbrand new anything is usually not tested, as it is not economically feasible to do soa refurbished Mac is guaranteed to work properly with probability near 1. I recently converted a friend to Mac and the refurbished iBook she purchased was less than what she would have paid for a new model with the educational discount. She is still blissfully happy with her new iBook, by the way, and very disenchanted with the numerous people in her department that attempted to talk her out of getting it after I suggested she go Mac. (They used the same FUD and BS Mac users have been hearing for years from non-Mac users.)
Currently on the refurbished site there is a dual processor 2.3GHz Power Mac for $1999 and a 2GHz iMac G5 20-inch for $1299. These items tend to move quickly, so you will need to think about what you want quickly.

[macnuke]

heh
6 yeas ago, people were still using PPC 604's.. not even G3's to do video, audio and many other projects.
TIME
that's what the faster machines do for you.
if you have time to spare and are not paid by the job, then your G4 will certainly do the job.
even make a video.
people forget what S L O W is.. pull out the old PPC 603' and 4's and look at a 200Mhz processor and 128M of RAM if you had it loaded.
geeze, frontside bus speeds are 3X of what we used to have for processor speeds.
I love my little 12" powerbook.
I have full size powermacs and iMacs here around the house, but it's a dream for portability.
your 12" PB will DO whatever you want it to. just not as fast is all.
if the price is what you can afford, get it.
but if you can afford faster, that would be the better route to go.
:/ steps off soapbox:
/forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif thank you, thank you very much

[pdrayton]

In reply to:

---

your 12" PB will DO whatever you want it to.

---

Amen!
I do have some concerns about the 867Mhz 12" PowerBook, however.
1) That was the first of the 12" PowerBooks and it operated very hot.
2) That specific make of the 12" PowerBook has USB1.1, not 2.0. You won't be able to use the newer iPods with it.
3) It doesn't have DVI display connectivity.
None of those are deal breakers... I just wanted you to be aware that with the 2nd Revision 12" PowerBooks (and later revisions, of course) offer some noteworthy additional features.
The 12" is a great Mac... and will definitely do whatever you want it to do!

[RCOVJR1]

Thanks for all of your help. I think I'm going to wait to get the best that I can afford. My intial hesitation was to not invest to much on a product I wasn't completely knowlegdable about.