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12" Powerbook G4 enough to run SSL for the forseeable future?
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12" Powerbook G4 enough to run SSL for the forseeable future?

famethrowa 1:57 PM - 29 September, 2008
Looooong story short, I sold my Macbook Pro and SSL in a pinch when I needed to pay bills, and went back to using all vinyl.

Now that my finances are upright, I'm deeply regretting unloading Serato, and am looking to do it all again with a TTM-57, and spend a bit less on the laptop. (sorry, a $2200 MBP for merely running SSL was a bit much to have people spilling drinks on)

I know the specs say it is, but is a 12" Powerbook G4 (1.33-1.5Ghz, 1.25 GB RAM) powerful enough for the foreseeable future as a serato-only laptop?

- I don't plan on ever using video.

- All my tracks are housed on a FW external, so basically this is just a terminal to run the software.

I've run SSL on a friend's G4 iBook in a pinch (not sure on the specs, but they weren't great), and had no issues, but I just want to make sure a G4 is not going to be totally useless in an update or two.
cheeba (the believer) 2:12 PM - 29 September, 2008
yup. the perfect laptop for a travelling ssl user if you're not planning to use vsl.

famethrowa 2:15 PM - 29 September, 2008
Quote:
yup. the perfect laptop for a travelling ssl user if you're not planning to use vsl.



Sweet. I had one waaaaaay back in the day before I used serato, and always thought it would be perfect because it has "teh tiny."
cheeba (the believer) 2:19 PM - 29 September, 2008
im using a MBP for VSL now and everytime i fire up the 12" powerbook it makes me laugh how tiny it is... its like a laptop for smurfs. More than powerful enough for ssl though
DJMark 8:51 PM - 29 September, 2008
Try to get the last revision of the 12" Powerbook (the 1.5gHz version). Those were the only version of that machine to have the two-finger scrolling capability on the trackpad. If you're used to having that (from using a MacBook Pro in the past) you might really miss not having it.

My other advice, for the most reliable running of SSL, would be to not run Leopard on a G4 Powerbook...Tiger consumes considerably less CPU on those machines.
Dj Daddy-O Aka Upsmike 11:43 PM - 29 September, 2008
Hi I see alot of post wit people that had/have a powerbook all everyone said it runs great wit ssl! But i have a Pb 15" 1.5ghz and it run sluggish! Am i doing something wrong? Can anyone help me?
BriChi 12:02 AM - 30 September, 2008
max the ram out
sixxx 12:06 AM - 30 September, 2008
I was running an iBook (still have it as back up) even with the latest version, no problems. So, a powebook should be good 2 go. Do max the RAM.
sixxx 12:13 AM - 30 September, 2008
I was running an iBook (still have it as back up) even with the latest version, no problems. So, a powebook should be good 2 go. Do max the RAM.
Dj Daddy-O Aka Upsmike 12:32 AM - 30 September, 2008
I have 2gb in it!!! Should i be running a older version of ssl??
freshtodeath 2:56 AM - 30 September, 2008
i used a maxed out 12" PB for a few years. it started getting slow once i used 1.8 and upgraded to leopard. it was still very realiable, but during my club sets it would have a slight lag when loading the decks.
Proto J 3:33 AM - 30 September, 2008
i'm running the 1.5ghz powerbook g4, 80gb harddrive, 1.25 of ram (has 2 finger scrolling) and it runs serato like a champ.

still using tiger, no plans to upgrade it to leopard. it acts sluggish if you have airport on and running a browser, ichat, and/or itunes, but it's perfectly fine.

i open limewire while running ssl on it and download tunes, check myspace, all kinds of stuff, and it's totally fine.

i recently bought a black macbook which i'm reorganizing all of my music on b4 i start using it for gigs, but even then i may just transfer the newly organized itunes library to the powerbook and ride it 'til the wheels fall off, so not to put any wear on the macbook until i have to. or i may just use the powerbook for minor top 40 gigs, and keep it as a back up computer, and start using the macbook for gigs i want to. don't know yet.
Dj.Mojo 8:31 AM - 30 September, 2008
Quote:

i open limewire while running ssl on it and download tunes.

What´s limewire?
DJMark 10:20 AM - 30 September, 2008
Quote:
Hi I see alot of post wit people that had/have a powerbook all everyone said it runs great wit ssl! But i have a Pb 15" 1.5ghz and it run sluggish! Am i doing something wrong? Can anyone help me?


What exactly is "sluggish"?

If you're referring to kind of choppy/slow graphics in Serato (but not other problems), that's to be expected.

If you mean something else, more details would help others to help you sort it out.
bartaug 1:25 PM - 30 September, 2008
Quote:
I was running an iBook (still have it as back up) even with the latest version, no problems. So, a powebook should be good 2 go. Do max the RAM.

I'm still using the 12" iBook, it's very compact and works well. Only the graphics lag sometimes, but that's not important for me.
BriChi 1:30 PM - 30 September, 2008
Quote:
i open limewire while running ssl on it and download tunes, check myspace, all kinds of stuff, and it's totally fine.


hahahah, that's great to admit on a public forum.
DJ Art Pumpin Payne 3:05 PM - 30 September, 2008
Quote:
Quote:
I was running an iBook (still have it as back up) even with the latest version, no problems. So, a powerbook should be good 2 go. Do max the RAM.

I'm still using the 12" iBook G4, it's very compact and works well. Only the graphics lag sometimes, but that's not important for me.


Same here, but my iBook is now my dedicated Serato computer while I use a Macbook for everything.

The iBook has shared Video Ram while the Powerbooks have dedicated Video Ram so it is a step above the iBook.

LOL @ the Limewire...,
sixxx 5:51 PM - 30 September, 2008
lol @ limewire.
Proto J 7:11 PM - 30 September, 2008
yeah, i mean, if it's something not available on itunes and i have no other options, i'll open limewire.

no shame in it.
Proto J 7:12 PM - 30 September, 2008
i should mention it's if i have a request for something i don't already have.
MSF 10:06 PM - 30 September, 2008
I had the same sluggish problem with my 12", 1.5ghz, 1.25Gb Ram ,g4 powerbook, OS 10.4.11, 250G internal Drive.

It only happenned with SSL 1.8.1. SSL 1.8.0 was solid.

I would load a track by dragging a song to the player, and my screen would lag for about 1-2 seconds. The audio seemed to play fine.

I dont know what the problem was.. i thought is was an application problem, but it seems not everyone is getting it...

using a macbook now with no probs.
n:deuce 12:50 AM - 1 October, 2008
i am still using a 1.3 12" powerbook with no problems...if it aint broke, dont fix it. thankfully ssl is a forgiving program for those using grandpa's komputar.
Hawk 1:51 AM - 1 October, 2008
I'm using a 15" Powerbook G4 with 1 GHz processor (yes, just 1 GHz) and 1 GB ram. It runs Serato with no problem but I think this particular machine has the advantage of not only L2 cache but also off-chip L3 cache, which keeps everything humming along smoothly. I don't think any Powerbooks or even MacBook pros that followed were equipped with L3 cache.
DJ Stuart (AR) 8:07 AM - 1 October, 2008
Works great. I have one.
freshtodeath 8:48 PM - 3 October, 2008
Quote:
I had the same sluggish problem with my 12", 1.5ghz, 1.25Gb Ram ,g4 powerbook, OS 10.4.11, 250G internal Drive.

It only happenned with SSL 1.8.1. SSL 1.8.0 was solid.

I would load a track by dragging a song to the player, and my screen would lag for about 1-2 seconds. The audio seemed to play fine.

I dont know what the problem was.. i thought is was an application problem, but it seems not everyone is getting it...

using a macbook now with no probs.



same exact problem here a reason why i upgraded to a macbook pro. as newer releases of SSL come out i highly doubt the PB specs will be able to keep up.
DJ ROWE 3:45 AM - 21 March, 2010
What up people ? What's the best serrato software for a Powerbook G4 OSX version 10.4.11 processor 1.67 GHz memory 2GB DDR SDRAM.
djchriscruz 4:19 AM - 21 March, 2010
I was running an Ibook G4 1.2ghz until last year. It still worked great with Serato and was my workhorse for 5 years.
BERTO 4:25 AM - 21 March, 2010
i used up to 1.9.2 on mine and tested out the betas powerbook 867mhz
djdragon 4:26 AM - 21 March, 2010
Quote:
I was running an Ibook G4 1.2ghz until last year. It still worked great with Serato and was my workhorse for 5 years.


Quote:
i used up to 1.9.2 on mine and tested out the betas powerbook 867mhz


+1 But now have 13" MBP. A much better workhorse
DJ ROWE 4:48 PM - 21 March, 2010
when I download the software is there a particular program or is it one software that works with the g4 and other macs.
DJ Art Pumpin Payne 5:29 PM - 21 March, 2010
Quote:
when I download the software is there a particular program or is it one software that works with the g4 and other macs.


??????

The Mac Os is similar to Windows. You may have Mac Os 10.4 installed on it (think XP) and u can upgrade the Os to 10.5 (think Vista that works). You still need to install Apps like Word, Serato, Firefox etc - just like in Windows (although Apple bundles some useful Apps with the Os - no bloatware)
BERTO 7:43 PM - 21 March, 2010
Quote:
Quote:
I was running an Ibook G4 1.2ghz until last year. It still worked great with Serato and was my workhorse for 5 years.


Quote:
i used up to 1.9.2 on mine and tested out the betas powerbook 867mhz


+1 But now have 13" MBP. A much better workhorse

+1 on the mb pro 13
Joee 9:11 PM - 21 March, 2010
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