Hey all

Has anyone used one of the new ones, the new 600/100 or 700/100.

Im mainly interested in the 2d performance of the 600/100 or 700/100 and the difference in performance between the two when they are compared head to head.

Anyone have an opinion as to which one i should get, i have about a month or so to decide.

I mainly use PS, and Illustrator,
Although Lightwave7 i use occasionally, so 3d stuff is kinda eschmeh.

Any opinions?

First of all the new Photoshop and Illustrator are speed hogs. Photoshop 7 actually runs slower that 6 in most areas.

I would get the most expensive you can afford.
I would take the 700 with combo drive over the 600 because of the combo drive because you can burn cd's. Otherwise you have to have an external burner or hook up to a network. If you already have a external burner (or don't need one) I would spend the little extra ($150us) to get the next model up (still 700) with the larger screen, more ram and more HD space.

Actual performance difference is probably in the single digits between 600Mhz and 700Mhz (with equal cache)

I would say ram is more important than processor speed, as long as you arent comparing a G3 to a G4. Ram is cheaper if you buy it from a store instead of Apple, Apple charges like $15-20 more than normal, and considering ram is really cheap, thats a lot.

But I would think screen size is really important. High resolution means more space to work with in Photoshop. I cant stand working in Photoshop with anything less than 1152 res.

Ah, ok. well all screens are locked at 1024 so screen size isnt so much of a biggie, ive grown used to my 12" screen on my current laptop so thats not too big a deal either.

As for combo drive etc, I have an external firewire burner and 40gb hdd. So the only reason i would buy the combo would be for the DVD.

Im currently considering the 12" 600/100 with extra ram, like all 640mb of it.

If you are working on that size of files that need 640mb ram then maybe you should be looking at the powerbook instead. I use a G4 800 with 750mb ram and it is not as fast as I would like on the large files in Photoshop (over 100mb). Photoshop will run a lot faster with the G4 processor and the 1mb level 3 cache over a G3. I know it cost twice as much but if you already have a laptop you could wait and save the money.
The screen on the powerbook would be better too as there is lots of room for pallets.

It seems that every generation of a program runs slower than the last so even if you are getting a faster machine than what you have and are upgrading software you may end up at the same "speed".

And don't get the ram from apple :)

ya dont get ram from apple, if you get the max amount they offer then you will probably be getting ripped off of around 100 bucks. Get the deal with the LEAST amount of ram that comes with it (apple likes to force you to buy more ram as you get a higher priced computer though). Get the ram at a store and save an arm and a leg.

The new iBooks have the Sahara G3 from IBM.
I'm sort of interested in the speed differences myself.

Yeah, i was costing it all up today and I dont think ill be able to afford one for a while now.

A car just became the highest precedent.

Bummer =(