Re: [microsound] Laptop questions

[Michal Seta <mis@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 21 Nov 2002 08:04:48 -0500
"statik _" <statik_tek@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I am trying to make a decision to stay PC or convert to MAC.

Depends on the OS you're planning to use.

I have some thoughts, though, because my Mac just commited a suicide and I was forced to convert to PC (because there is one).  Previously I did the opposite: I was on a PC and got into the Mac (those conversions have been going on for quite a while, I admit).

I work in Linux.  Both computers use(d) the same version (Debian/woody, 2.4.18) had +/- the same amount RAM.

The Mac - iMac G3 350Mhz - R.I.P.
The PC - Celeron 533Mhz

(yeah, I know, these are not laptops but the iMac was more portable :) )

The thoughts:

Some apps (I use mostly audio) run a little better (in terms of CPU usage) on the mac.  More efficient.  Some (specific) cases had a better go on a PC (PD - just a +/- 5%) but overall there was little difference (either way).  I haven't _extensively_ tuned any of the computers.  Some HD tunning was done.  The iMac showed *slightly* better (well, depends on how you look at them.  The iMac could maintain the system jitterless for longer but then the peaks are way higher than on the PC which in turn has quite a bit of constant jitter with a heavy load) results in latencytest (an app that puts a heavy pressure on the system and analyses CPU, HD, /proc, etc usage).  I'm sure that with the proper tuning on the PC I will go beyond that (I haven't yet gone through the low latency patches).  

The gfx card is better on the PC (NVidia, although that's not a very good choice for linux) and the Xserver runs a little better than it did on a mac (I couldn't get the acceleration working at all).  So, the gfx rendering to the screen (GUIs, pictures etc) is much better (faster, less CPU jitter etc) on the PC but that doesn't mean the iMac couldn't perform as well (had I got the ATI working).

Some apps load a little faster on the PC.

So, there's little difference (in my experience - having used the same apps on both) providing that the CPU clock on the PC is about 1.5 higher than on a Mac :)  I don't know how that changes with a G4 (AltiVec et al.).  And this is only on Linux.

I would (will) never run Windows (whatever the incarnation) for anything any more serious than typing a letter (I do that quite a bit) or surfing the net.  But then, I don't think I will ever go back to Mac OS 9.  Mac OS X is a possibility but I like my Linux.

../MiS
-- 
Michal Seta
CreaZone		http://www.creazone.com
No One Receiving	http://www.noonereceiving.32k.org

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