Web browsing showdown: old Toshiba versus not as old Apple

If you read gadget and tech blogs you'd think that you can't even open Google's home page without a brand new quad core laptop with 4 gigs of RAM. Thing is, most people who use computers on a regular basis aren't using the latest equipment.

In preparation for the A+ exam, I've switched to using my old Toshiba laptop as my primary computer instead of my iBook. When it comes to browsing the Web I've noticed that there's almost no performance difference using this Toshiba Satellite (1.8 GHz Celeron, 256 MB RAM, Windows XP Home SP3, Chrome) versus my iBook G4 (1.42GHz PowerPC, 1 GB RAM, Mac OS X 10.4, Safari). It surprises me that a 7+ years old Windows laptop plays just as nicely with the Web as a 3 years old Apple. Using Chrome helps a lot. Also, I'm not running anything other than Chrome. Whenever I'm using the iBook I almost always have iTunes open and running and maybe Adium.

For browsing the Web and checking email, an old PC works as well as a not-so-old Apple. When it comes to start-up and waking up the computers, the iBook smokes the Toshiba. When it comes to opening up applications, the iBook is faster. If I'm viewing an animation laden web page, the old PC starts to bog down and the iBook is markedly superior. But as a general Web machine, both computers operate at pretty much the same speed and have the same functionality.