Score! Top End Aluminum PBG4

Nice, looks like a nice machine.. Even without the extra RAM it seems like it'd be a nice comp for travel.

Been using it in class for the last few hours, it's great so far.

Can't wait to see what more RAM does for it.

Trade you my 500MHz iBook for the PB

Oh awesome man! i really like those things.

No, you cannot go above 2GB RAM, but even so 2GB is nothing to scoff at.

i had to replace the motherboard in one of those things recently, was impressed at how complicated it was lol. it even has a subwoofer located just below the "C" key.

Trade you my 500MHz iBook for the PB

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No.

/sticks tongue out.

Oh awesome man! i really like those things.
No, you cannot go above 2GB RAM, but even so 2GB is nothing to scoff at.

i had to replace the motherboard in one of those things recently, was impressed at how complicated it was lol. it even has a subwoofer located just below the "C" key.

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I never thought i'd be happy with 'just' 512MB of RAM. However I am quite impressed with how Leopard is handling it all. I can't wait to pick up some RAM for this guy.

/rubs hands anxiously

My 1.25 GHz 15" AlBook runs very smoothly on Leopard. I've only got 512MB RAM, but still, it's no slower than Tiger was (and Tiger was pretty fast, too.)

I'm getting at least 1GB more soon (upcoming birthday). We'll see how much more enjoyable it is.

is it the 15" screen?

Yes.

What happened to the TiBook? That was Cory's, right?

I have been looking in to getting a 1ghz big al G4, and get a USB 2.0 Pc card, and I would be set for life. This little 500mhz iBook is not really cutting it anymore.

-digital

This little 500mhz iBook is not really cutting it anymore.
-digital

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Same here, I only got mine to hold me over for when I get job to pay for a fast mac.

What happened to the TiBook? That was Cory's, right?

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Cory's Ti was the unfortunate victim of an Iced Tea spill. I cleaned up the system and to this day it is functioning just fine. It was sold a while ago to a friend of mine. I had another Ti I was using. The Inverter cable shorted out inside the chassis taking the mobo and the inverter board with it. I will soon take pics and place what is left of the system either for sale here or on e-bay.

I must say that is awesome as the Ti series is, this Albook is pure muscle and is in every way I can think of; superior. Already it has proven it's speed to me in everything from every day tasks to my photoshop heavy lifting and whatnot. The faster wifi is a godsend as is the glorious backlit keyboard and the high resolution (apple's term, not mine) LCD is superior to the 1280x960 LCD in the Ti. I also feel much more confident about the single LCD hinge on the Albook, as opposed to the dual LCD hinges on the Ti.

The addition of USB 2.0, FW800 and a 128MB GPU are just icing on the proverbial cake. Oh and the finish on the Albook is even smoother than that of the Ti, which I did not think was possible.

(the Ti's have an 1152x768 or 1280x854 display).

that is one thing which disappointed me about the new intels, all laptops across the board got reduced vertical resolutions. the last-gen PBG4's were 1440x960, so you lost 60 rows of pixels which...seems like quite a lot.

oh, and just to clarify is your 1.67 model the very last gen which uses PC2-4200 ram or the model just before it which uses PC-2700?

PC2700.

Oops.

I stand corrected on the RAM.

It is PC4200 (DDR2).

This makes me much happier.

Following this Google search you'll see that this thread is (currently) the 3rd link.

Neat.

Oops.
I stand corrected on the RAM.

It is PC4200 (DDR2).

This makes me much happier.

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oh WOW...that is a rare beast indeed. Even bigger congratulations! ;D

The funny thing is G4s can't take advantage of DDR...

I've got the same kind of ram in my G5 as your G4, just in desktop size.

The funny thing is G4s can't take advantage of DDR...

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really?

Apple would go through all the trouble of putting DDR and finally DDR2 capabilities into their G4 systems for...shits'n giggles?

dunno about that...

I remember reading the spec on the G4 - doesn't support DDR memory, so it was just for a faster memory bus, and would bottleneck at the bridge. I'm not sure about the last revision though.

I'll try and dig up what I read...

I think the only reason Apple went to using DDR SDRAM was because it was cheap and available and facilitated use of much higher bus speeds. It also allowed the use of standard components that were numerous and in stock with laptop makers at the time. On top of all that i mad the laptops look relatively up-to-date.

Get the RAM slots checked and verified working before the warranty runs out. They are known for breaking on AlBooks. Obviously at least one works atm, but make sure they both do.

They both work just fine.

I picked up a 1GB PC5300 DDRII SODIMM at Fry's today for $27.99 w/ $10 mail in rebate. It's a Crucial stick, which is a brand I trust.

This now brings the machine upto 1.5GB total. Schweet.

I am so glad it's a DDR2 machine. A 1GB DDR stick is over $80 depending on brand. DDR2 is by far cheaper. The extra speed is nice.

This machine is even faster. Next in the list is a 7200RPM hard disk.

What is the largest 7200RPM PATA 2.5" Notebook HD in existence?

I love this machine so much. Sitting here in my comfy chair with they keyboard slightly backlit. It's just so elegant looking. It evokes feelings of high tech and style. Form meets function. What a wonderful piece of technology.

I'll post benches later.

What benchmarks do you want to see? I'll need links.

According to Lowend Mac, my Aluminum PB G4 is the biggest, baddest 15" G4 laptop produced. Specs from Everymac.com seem to back this up.

I am so happy. The upgrade from 512MB of RAM to 1.5GB has made a very noticeable increase in overall system performance. Photoshop and ImageReady are much happier now.

yeah man, you have the fastest powerpc apple laptop ever made lol

That makes me feel better.

I really like the PPC Platform.

I wouldn't mind an Intel Mac, but only to run some of my Windows games for which there are no good Mac versions available. Examples include Master of Orion 2, Deus Ex, Star War Galaxies. Which are pretty much the 3 games I play except for Big Bang Backgammon, Civ 4 and EV Nova.

Deus Ex and Master of Orion 2 have Mac versions available but run like crap on my G4'd 8500 with 1GB of RAM and 64MB Radeon. Weird.

There is no Star Wars Galaxies port that I am aware of.

At night when I am sitting outside having a beer and a smoke, they keyboard lights up nicely. I mention this because the machine looks extremely elegant and evokes warm feelings from me. From the speed, to the style and attention to detail, this machine rocks.

My friend just got the same machine about a week ago, for $675 (lucky bastard)

Wish I had one

He got a better price than I did.

Still, it's an awesome machine that I will cherish for years.

Just a quick update.

I upped the RAM to a full 2GB. I haven't noticed much difference in system response. What I have noticed is that according to "top", I now 1.7GB of free RAM wheres when I had 1.5GB of total ram, only 578 of that was free. Interesting.

Oh, photoshop (the whore that it is) does use a lot more RAM. Which is ok since it runs faster.

Pics to come soon.