Powerbook 12" for Musical Production

Hi, I'm going to school in september and I'm going in a computer music program and we will use musical software like Digital Performer and Ounk (musical programation software) And I wanted to get the new macbook pro refresh, but since it's suposed to be out in mid/late september, I think I'm gonna buy a used mac computer and when the new refresh is out, I will buy it.

So I did some research and I like the style and the portability of the powerbook 12" and it's not that high priced, but I'm not sure about is power and how it can handle musical application. Also, I'll probably use Reason, Sibelius and Garage Band (to exchange projects with friends).

I thought about the 12" because when I'll have the macbook pro 15.4" I will use it for the on-the-go or maybe for live application like plugging a keyboard in it to use virtual instruments.

So do you think the powerbook 12" will suit my need ? (I would get the maxed out powerbook 12": 1.5 Ghz, 1.25 ram)

Thank you

 

How much are you looking at for the 12" powerbook?

 

About 350 to 550 $. It depend on the condition, could have some aesthetics damage but need to be in working condition.

 

Gui, I'm not a user of musical apps, but my youngest son is. In the recent past he has used two different PowerBooks to run various musical apps, one of which is ProTools. The notebooks, a 12" with the nearly the same specs as the machine you listed (ours has a 1.33 Gig processor), and a 15" with 2Gigs RAM and a 1.67 Gig processor (which I'm using right now). Both handled ProTools and whatever other programs he used - I don't know what they were - very well. ProTools, I believe, was probably the most demanding olf the apps he used.

 

powerbook 12" has a wide range of specs. you'll need to get the very fastest one, and it will need to be cheap, for this to make any sense at all.

 

Well, even if it's 1.67 Gig CPU, that's not Intel, right? That's no where near the processing power you'll need for DP, Reason and Sibelius.

You'd be way better off with saving some more money and getting a Macbook...

 

Nope, the Powerbooks don't use Intel processors. I agree with saving up some more money and purchasing the MacBook.

 

Thank you for your help, but I only really need the laptop for 1 month so I don't want to spend that much, it's just for troubleshooting. So I think the macbook would be too much to spend.

Does the powerbook 1.5 GHz is really not worth it, I won't be able to use the basical functions of those software ? How would you compare the PowerPC G4 1.5 GHz to an intel processor. I mean is it about equal to a pentium 4, a pentium M or a celeron (of which frequency) ?