It is still a good option to buy a powerbook to work on AC9?

[Anonymous]

Hello

I need now a laptop to work with Archicad and Artlantis, in small projects (like houses and schools). I need mobility and stability. I had many problems with virus and Windows failures, even, Windows has not started when I have needed to show my projects!

I have been seeing three alternatives, (that they are to similar prices in my country):

1, Acer Ferrari 4005, with turion 64 ML-37. It is very fast and pretty, but it has a smaller screen to the others and uses Windows Xp.
2, Dell Inspiron 9300, with a pentium m of 2,00 Ghz and 17" screen. The Inspiron brings a Nvidia geforce 6800 of 256 Mb and 2 Ghz of ram, seemed to be most powerful, but too great and very heavy. In addition it is devaluated quickly.
3, Apple Powerbook g4 1.67 17" screen. It seemed to be between both, but it has a smaller yield. It is thin and light, but its processor is inferior to the previous ones.

I am being decided by powerbook, mainly by the stability of Mac osx, but I don´t know how AC9 running on it (walkthrough, rendering time, etc).

It is still a good option to buy powerbook to work with archicad 9?

[Djordje]

Claudio wrote:
2, Dell Inspiron 9300, with a pentium m of 2,00 Ghz and 17" screen. The Inspiron brings a Nvidia geforce 6800 of 256 Mb and 2 Ghz of ram, seemed to be most powerful, but too great and very heavy. In addition it is devaluated quickly.

I would go for this one. Although Macs do have better OS and are infinitely easier and better to use, they still lack horsepower.

[Eduardo Rolon]

I do wish that my Powerbook was faster (who doesn't?) and compared to a dual G5 it does seem slow but I have been using AC on it for the past two years and it works very well. Plus they are lighter, thinner, no virus or spyware, stable etc. I have a PB 17" but you can get by with a 15" and I have seen people running AC on iBooks which really are underpowered.
Also Apple is changing processors to intel for next summer and though most apps will not be optimized to run in "MacTels" the Windows guys will not be able to use the horsepower commentary anymore

[Anonymous]

3, Apple Powerbook g4 1.67 17" screen. It seemed to be between both, but it has a smaller yield. It is thin and light, but its processor is inferior to the previous ones.

Given that you wont be working overly large complex models, I would buy this one. I hear there may be powerbook upgrade in the offing so wait for a few days yet.

[Anonymous]

I am still happily using my 2+ year old PowerBook 17" 1GHz, 1GB...

I only use it for smaller projects. The 52 unit multi-family I recently worked on was definitely too much for the old boy. (My client's dual G5 was just fine though.) The two single family projects I am doing right now are no problem, except that the sketch renderer is a bit slow (but faster than drawing them by hand).

I have always found the Mac to be more productive (I have used both about equally) despite the performance advantages (mostly generating elevations) that I have seen on the PC. Windows has always required more maintenance and things just don't work as smoothly and easily in my experience.

The big Windows killer for me is the growth of spyware infections. Both my PCs recently got hit with PSguard, which is a particularly nasty piece of work. After a few hours work I have it under control, but have yet to eradicate it. I know that there are (lots) of ways to protect Windows from this sort of thing, but I don't appreciate having to spend my time (and money) doing it.

I also find the size and build quality of the PowerBook to be superior to most PCs. The Dell & HP 17" models seem beastly, heavy, and (IMHO) ugly. The Sony laptops are slicker looking, but in my limited experience they seem flimsy. I have always liked the IBM ThinkPads but they haven't had a decent CAD machine in a couple of years and now they are Lenovo ThinkPads (probably just as good but...).

I am looking forward to the future Intel PowerBooks which will relieve me of having to have two laptops (assuming that they will run Windows). The rumors are that there is to be an announcement about new PowerBooks (and PowerMacs) on Wednesday. Probably not anything earthshaking, but worth it to wait and see.

[Rakela Raul]

if all consultants are in windows and using autocad, and the network is windows...

any issues about using a mac in that enviroemnt??

[Aussie John]

dont buy a MAC till after 19th- there is a special announcmen t- probably upgrades to both latops and desktops. Laptop upgrade likely to be fairly minor whlst desktops will go to dual core chips. So the reliable rumour mongers say.