powerbook, tiger panther? upgrades?

[Uelogy]

hey everyone, im getting a 002r in about a week, so im full of questions and enquiry.
i have a 1.5ghz powerbook 15'', 1gb ram,
i was wondering if i should make the upgrade to tiger so that i have the latest version of protools le, with the most frequent update.
would the powerbook be able to handle tiger and PT LE? i read heaps of conflicting reviews, so im just after a good yes or no answer.
preferrably i would like to stick with panther, as its stable, running 10.3.8, its just i would like to get the most out of protools Le, like beat detective etc, so i would like to get the perfect blend of up-to-date-ness, plus efficiency (my spellin is bad, soz).

also i will have to get an external harddrive, i was thinking would it be right to partition the record drive, to keep things organised and civil, hehehe.

i know i must sound like an annoying newbie, but i am, and i just want to do things right.,,