powerbook?

[Mr. Personality]

I apologize if this is in the wrong spot, but I'm wondering if any of you digital painters out there are working exclusively on a Mac Powerbook.

I'm thinking about the 17" beastie but would like to hear from artists using one.

Thanks!

[I.was.ink]

I dont have one. But I know of some artists that do. And from what Ive seen it works just perfectly:)

[N D Hill]

Viva la Mac!

[Gunbu]

I think more digital artists use Mac than PCs. Especially in production and graphic design. At least, that's what I've been lead to believe.

[Android]

im using one right now, its has revolutionized the way in wich i create digital art.
i think the freedom it offers, is worth the price.

[blankslatejoe]

Originally posted by Gunbu
I think more digital artists use Mac than PCs. Especially in production and graphic design. At least, that's what I've been lead to believe.

I've worked in a couple of design depts, and have seen them based in mac and pc. Generally, the pc based ones are geared more for corporate compliancy; They're bigger places with their own in-house print shop, programmers and 3d dept. Designers in those places usually preffered PCs actually, because they could customize their machines and tinker with the specifics much easier, and dive into new mediums/skillsets in their spare time. These places were particular about web, video, animation, 3d, and application design, but not too too too particular about print accuracy.

On the other hand, the place I worked with Macs only tended to be VERY particular about print. Color management and printing proofs were insanely monitored. Generally speaking these guys didn't know as much about the machines as they did about the trade, which they knew back and forth. They didn't do any animation or 3d or video, but that wasn't really their thing. The macs hardly gave us any problems, and were (usually) a snap to fix if they did. The downside is that they were pricey, it was a small dept, and upgrades were only every other version. Also, they were very narrow minded, and tended to hate pcs with a passion.

I personally I feel you should learn to use whatever your boss wants you too.

[jemstone]

Originally posted by Mr. Personality
I apologize if this is in the wrong spot, but I'm wondering if any of you digital painters out there are working exclusively on a Mac Powerbook.

I'm thinking about the 17" beastie but would like to hear from artists using one.

Thanks!

I use my 17" supersonic jet thruster surfboard (that thing's massive) for everything from word processing, page layout and design, digital coloring, game playing, Unix system administration, and just about anything else I need to do. OS X has revolutionized my use of my powerbook(s).

They're pricey (good lord are they pricey) but worth it. You could maybe also get away with a 12" mini-beast and an external monitor, and save yourself some cash. :)

-JEM

[Beatnik]

I've been using the 17" pb as a primary machine for the last 5 months or so. It's been great so far and I've really enjoyed the portability. If that is the main thing you're after then I would go for it. Just keep in mind that the new dual g5 is the same price... naturally it came out about a month after I bought the pb. I can honestly say I have no regrets because I am constantly travelling and it has been very useful. At home I plug it into a 21" monitor and at the office I use a 17". On the road (or the couch) you really do notice that little bit of extra space, especially in painter and ps.

Good luck with whatever you decide. To answer the question, I love the thing.

[Mr. Personality]

Well, I think I've made the decision to get the new 17" powerbook. I know the G5s are the same price, but then I'd crave a 20 or 23" screen and I couldn't carry it around.

I'm thinking about buying it with 512MB or RAM and then ordering another 512MB from Crucial.com. Any other suggestions? What are you guys running?

Have any of you upgraded to the 5400RPM hard drive? Is the performance increase worth it?

Thanks.

Alex.

[jemstone]

Originally posted by Mr. Personality
Well, I think I've made the decision to get the new 17" powerbook. I know the G5s are the same price, but then I'd crave a 20 or 23" screen and I couldn't carry it around.

I'm thinking about buying it with 512MB or RAM and then ordering another 512MB from Crucial.com. Any other suggestions? What are you guys running?

Have any of you upgraded to the 5400RPM hard drive? Is the performance increase worth it?

Thanks.

Alex.

I'm running with a gig of RAM and the standard hard drive that came with the 1Ghz 17" PB. I am also running on Panther, and while I can't honestly say that I've noticed any sort of "slowness" to my HD for it's not being the 5400 rpm model, I have noticed a MARKED increase in application responsiveness and overall OS handling since installing Panther.

Your mileage may vary, but I loves me some Panther. ;)

-JEM

[captnblack]

does anyone have any sort of clue when the g5 powerbooks are going to hit? i heard something about first quarter of next year.

[Mr. Personality]

There's some discussion/rumor stuff on macrumors.com about G5 powerbooks.

There's also a thing about dual processor G4 PBs prior to any G5 PBs. It's a heat thing. That G5 cranks out lots of heat apparently. It's also a huge processor. I'm not sure they can fit that thing in the current notebooks.

I've read rumors about liquid cooling in the future notebooks. Seems like overkill to me, but who am I to say?

[jemstone]

I have some *cough* friends who work at Apple, and none of them have said "I couldn't possibly tell you about that project" when I've asked them about those concepts, Mr. Personality, so I'm reluctant to put stock into those rumors.

Not saying none of those are valid, but none of the people I know at Apple have taken the plausible deniability stance on them.

-JEM

[Dan Milligan]

When I'm in my studio i like using my g4 with 21 inch display- but at home I use my 17inch t-book, love it. Its a portable sketch book. Just went wireless at home and added an I-sight to my book- its a blast.

DAn

[Mr. Personality]

Well, it's airborne. I got my shipping notification from Apple this morning. I bought it stock and will prob'ly add 512MB of RAM from Crucial.

Now all I have to do is actually paint/color something worth showing.

Thanks for all the input!

[Beatnik]

Congrats man. You will enjoy it. One thing I would recommend is getting one of these... actually for anyone with a laptop. I got one a week ago and it really makes a difference when I type. I mainly wanted it to raise my monitor but I found that it comes in handy when showing a client a job. It swivels around so you can face the monitor towards the person.

http://www.roadtools.com/podium.html

Enjoy the machine!

[Mr. Personality]

It showed up this morning. This thing kicks butt. It recognized my wireless network (windows driven) with no problem. I'm in the midst of ripping my CD collection into iTunes. 7 down, 500+ to go. It'll be a while.

Beatnik: Thanks for the podium pad recommendation. I'll have to get one! I think they carry the Targus version at CompUSA.

Now I have to generate some decent artwork to share. Still need to pick up a tablet, however.

So far, I'm a happy switcher.

[Dan Milligan]

Congrats!

Welcome brother.

Dan

[kimchee]

Originally posted by Android
im using one right now, its has revolutionized the way in wich i create digital art.
i think the freedom it offers, is worth the price.

I think Apple should start using Andrew as a promotional tool.

"Andrew Jones paints on a Mac, 'nuff said, bitches."