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    ripping speed q

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by little a, Jan 19, 2006.

  1. little a

    little a Notebook Guru

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    hi all,

    interested in an ibook. what sorts of speeds can one expect when ripping music CDs (via itunes) using a G4 (1.42Ghz, 512MB, 60GB, etc.)? TIA

    a
     
    little a, Jan 19, 2006
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  2. xAMDvsIntelx

    xAMDvsIntelx Notebook Deity

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    Well, it depends upon the speed mainly of the disc drive, not the notebook's CPU/RAM and such. I'd probably say around 12x-20x rip speed. The drive usually takes some "warm-up" time before it actually gets going. For example, if I'm ripping 5 CDs onto my notebook, the first CD is probably going to be 8x-12x and would continue on climbing as you ripped more CDs.
     
    xAMDvsIntelx, Jan 19, 2006
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  3. little a

    little a Notebook Guru

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    thanks for the input. one clarification q, do you mean the speed of the CD drive or the hard drive RPM?

    a
     
    little a, Jan 19, 2006
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  4. xAMDvsIntelx

    xAMDvsIntelx Notebook Deity

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    The speed of the optical drive plays a bigger role than the HD usually. However, if you have a slow 4200 RPM HD, that could also hinder your performance, but not as much as a slow optical drive would. iBooks come with 4200 RPM drive unfortunately, but getting the SuperDrive may compensate for the loss of speed.
     
    xAMDvsIntelx, Jan 19, 2006
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  5. little a

    little a Notebook Guru

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    thanks again!



    your estimate notwithstanding, i'm still interested in actual speeds.

    a
     
    little a, Jan 19, 2006
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  6. xAMDvsIntelx

    xAMDvsIntelx Notebook Deity

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    I can't say the exact MBPS, but I can say the rip speeds will top out at around 19x-22x.
     
    xAMDvsIntelx, Jan 19, 2006
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  7. tullnd

    tullnd Notebook Evangelist

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    I'd guess no faster than around 12x or so.
     
    tullnd, Jan 19, 2006
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  8. xAMDvsIntelx

    xAMDvsIntelx Notebook Deity

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    No - the SuperDrive 8X should hit around what I've predicted when operating a top speed.

    Note: The "top speed" of a drive does decline. If you rip 20 CDs for example, after around 10 CDs or so, you'll notice a steep decline in speed as the drive becomes "tired".
     
    xAMDvsIntelx, Jan 19, 2006
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  9. little a

    little a Notebook Guru

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    i should clarify that the alternative is a dell (i know, i know) with a P4 (2.8GHz,800FSB), 256MB, 80 GB HD (7200RPM). i'm more interested in the mac because of the DVD burner but the dell is a bit less. i guess i'm still lacking a way of comparing these two very different creatures.

    a
     
    little a, Jan 25, 2006
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  10. xAMDvsIntelx

    xAMDvsIntelx Notebook Deity

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    I don't recommend getting any notebook with a P4 CPU unless you absolutely have to - horrid battery life and heat problems to go along. The 7200 RPM drive may help however, but it sounds like the Dell is an older notebook - it won't be as fast as an iBook outfitted with a SuperDrive. In addition, the 256MB RAM will really hurt system performance if you don't upgrade - 512MB comes standard on the iBook.
     
    xAMDvsIntelx, Jan 25, 2006
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  11. little a

    little a Notebook Guru

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    thanks for the heads up. i should have further clarified that this dell is a desktop and it is *much* cheaper

    a
     
    little a, Jan 25, 2006
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  12. xAMDvsIntelx

    xAMDvsIntelx Notebook Deity

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    Desktop, eh? Still, I'd upgrade the 256MB to at least 512MB or 1GB. If you get a premium DVD/CD burner in a desktop, they're as twice as fast as any notebook's Optical Drive (16X to 8X DVD burning speeds respectivly). However, if you aren't even getting a DVD burner in your desktop, then the iBook with the SuperDrive would still be a better option.
     
    xAMDvsIntelx, Jan 25, 2006
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