wow...need laptop by sunday. What do i do??

[puyo]

I'm leaving the country Sunday and NEED a laptop, and was going to buy a new iBook g4. but now what's the pointing in spending $1000 on a new machine???

i was going to pick the 12" 1.25 ibook with 768 ram, but now i'd settle for much less since it will be obsolete so soon. any ideas?? any big sales on older ibooks??

>_< gosh so confused

[Applespider]

Hang about - it's not about to become obsolete overnight. Tiger will continue to be supported until 10.6 comes out (that's the usual way of things) so you'll have 2-3 years of working on your iBook.

If you buy a Windows laptop, then you'd become obsolete around the same time - when Longhorn comes out anyhow.

[JzzTrump22]

Gor for the iBook. It's not like you won't be able to use it after a year. It will be good for a few years.

[Jaffa Cake]

Irrespective of the move to Intel, if you get the iBook now you will have a perfectly good machine for the next couple of years – by the time Apple's product line has gone fully Intel you'll have enjoyed a lot of use out of it, and even then it's not like it'll suddenly stop working overnight.

And as a bit of a bonus I imagine that a well-specced machine will also carry a good resale value for those who really can't stomach an Intel-based Mac. ;)

[azntigger0212]

I have a kinda similar question...
I'm going to buy a powerbook 12" superdrive tonight. Do I need to worry about apple updating the powerbook soon (for price match purposes)? Buying it tonight would give me till June 20th for a refund if the price is lowered. I know it's a monday and most apple stuff is updated on tuesdays, but is there even a chance that they'll update it considering they just switched to intel? I could wait till tomorrow...but I'm so frickin excited :p

[bluepaint]

Much like azntigger0212, I will tomorrow (or very soon after) be on my way to buy a nice new ibook. You guys think there is still chance of an update to them during WWDC? If not, how much longer, if they are having an update at all?

[x_Viper_x]

I have a kinda similar question...
I'm going to buy a powerbook 12" superdrive tonight. Do I need to worry about apple updating the powerbook soon (for price match purposes)? Buying it tonight would give me till June 20th for a refund if the price is lowered. I know it's a monday and most apple stuff is updated on tuesdays, but is there even a chance that they'll update it considering they just switched to intel? I could wait till tomorrow...but I'm so frickin excited :p

yah, i have that SAME problem.

i want to get a 17in powerbook, but i dont want them to get updated, and have an old model.

[cashmoney]

:confused: I hope they have a speed bump for the ibook Tomorrow, because Wednesday I plan on buying one,whether it's new or not. Does the apple store carry stock on an iBook 12'' with bigger hard drives? or is that only an online thing?

[katie ta achoo]

If you can wait one more day until tomorrow, I would.
Although I don't really see it happening, you could wait for the update in the horizon.

But if you get it now, just remember that there are Macs out there with the IBM chips that are still going strong 5, 10 years later.

If you want it-- get it!
The IBM chip won't just go *POOF* on some specified date in 2007.
:)

[katie ta achoo]

:confused: I hope they have a speed bump for the ibook Tomorrow, because Wednesday I plan on buying one,whether it's new or not. Does the apple store carry stock on an iBook 12'' with bigger hard drives? or is that only an online thing?


I'd call first, just to see.
And I hope you enjoy your new iBook!

[punkbass25]

if you need it by sunday you should buy whatever your thinking about buying now, because if a new ibook is launched tomorrow how long will it be until its in your hands? a week to 3 weeks most likely.

after all you can always get a rebate later or a whole new machine if they do update.

[doctor pangloss]

I just bought an off the shelf 14" Ibook G4 for my mom. It's just great! And about half the cost of my 12" PB G4. I still like the PB but the Ibook is great for the money.

Mr Goodbar say's do it today! :D

[WinterMute]

Go buy your iBooks and PowerBooks, your software will still run when you change them for the Intel powered versions in a couple of years, they are still the sexiest machines on the shelves and they still run the best OS on the planet.

This changes nothing beyond the final deathknell of the G5 PowerBook. :eek:

[sk8erboy]

Hang about - it's not about to become obsolete overnight. Tiger will continue to be supported until 10.6 comes out (that's the usual way of things) so you'll have 2-3 years of working on your iBook.

If you buy a Windows laptop, then you'd become obsolete around the same time - when Longhorn comes out anyhow.


what does this mean.. please explain.
what exactly is 10.6? Isnt that a tiger version?
Are you saying that once 10.6 comes out it will not be supported with this season's machines? srry for the noob questions.. just VERY nervous.

[quidire]

what does this mean.. please explain.
what exactly is 10.6? Isnt that a tiger version?
Are you saying that once 10.6 comes out it will not be supported with this season's machines? srry for the noob questions.. just VERY nervous.

10.x = Mac OS X
Tiger = Mac OS X 10.4
the next revision of the OS, due late 2006/early 2007 is
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

What the previous poster was saying is that until the version of OS X after that (prob early 2008 at the soonest) any Mac bought today will be supported. Additionally, just as not all software sold today requires Tiger, even after 1/1/2008, your computer will continue to be able to run most software for a while. Most developers prefer to support the current OS version and the one previous.

The point is, you'll get your due time out of that computer. You'd expect that in 3 years your computer would be getting on, and begin running into issues running the latest and greatest.

-RS

[GFLPraxis]

what does this mean.. please explain.
what exactly is 10.6? Isnt that a tiger version?
Are you saying that once 10.6 comes out it will not be supported with this season's machines? srry for the noob questions.. just VERY nervous.

10.4 is Tiger.


10.6 should show up in 3-5 years.

[itsbetteronamac]

OK... so I have a similar problem to all theese other guys. I am going to most likely buy a 15" powerbook by like sunday(ish). Now, my first question is... does anyone thing it might be updated tueday, because it has been done before. Also, if they don't update it; which do you think is more important (Keepin' PB for 3 years).... upgrading HD to 100gb or Upgrading Video Card to 128mb?

[iRachel]

Wow, was I glad to find this thread. I, too, need to buy a new laptop (can't wait until next spring), but was really feeling squeamish about it after this morning. I think I'll wait 'till tomorrow and see if any updates at all are made. Was thinking I was going to get a powerbook, but maybe I should get an iBook instead, because I might want to replace it faster now. Any thoughts?

[Manzana]

Wow, was I glad to find this thread. I, too, need to buy a new laptop (can't wait until next spring), but was really feeling squeamish about it after this morning. I think I'll wait 'till tomorrow and see if any updates at all are made. Was thinking I was going to get a powerbook, but maybe I should get an iBook instead, because I might want to replace it faster now. Any thoughts?

I see no good reason to buy a powerbook at this time. We now know that the next great PB will be intel. The reason I bought a PB over the iBook were the extra ports (audio in, fw800) and features (spanning, pc card). But if I were to purchase today there would be no way i would pay double for these features and would be happy with a 999 ibook to tie me over until rev b of the MacIntel PB (is this what we call it now?).

So unless you absolutely need the 15" of screen real estate, save your dough and look for a sub 1000 mac lappy. heck, you could even go for older hardware at this point (1-1.33 ghz pb's) as you know the max they'll go with the g4 will still be less than 2 ghz.

[ssh]

I see no good reason to buy a powerbook at this time. We now know that the next great PB will be intel. The reason I bought a PB over the iBook were the extra ports (audio in, fw800) and features (spanning, pc card). But if I were to purchase today there would be no way i would pay double for these features and would be happy with a 999 ibook to tie me over until rev b of the MacIntel PB (is this what we call it now?).

So unless you absolutely need the 15" of screen real estate, save your dough and look for a sub 1000 mac lappy. heck, you could even go for older hardware at this point (1-1.33 ghz pb's) as you know the max they'll go with the g4 will still be less than 2 ghz.The other consideration is the screen resolutions. This is my big quest. If I could get a PB HD, I'd be all over it. At this point, I'm trying to decide if/when to get the new notebook...

[Ugg]

I have a kinda similar question...
I'm going to buy a powerbook 12" superdrive tonight. Do I need to worry about apple updating the powerbook soon (for price match purposes)? Buying it tonight would give me till June 20th for a refund if the price is lowered. I know it's a monday and most apple stuff is updated on tuesdays, but is there even a chance that they'll update it considering they just switched to intel? I could wait till tomorrow...but I'm so frickin excited :p


The PBs were updated in February, that's when I got my 12". So, given that the typical update cycle is 6 months, I don't think it's likely. My bet is there will be a price drop or upgrade in August or September in time for back to school.

[iRachel]

Thanks Manzana - I absolutely don't need the bigger screen - in fact, the smaller the better, since I plan to tote this thing around quite alot. I just played with some config's of the iBook on apple.com, and your suggestion of the low-end iBook with some extra ram looks like it will work great (and it will save me some money, too!) :D

[Ugg]

Wow, was I glad to find this thread. I, too, need to buy a new laptop (can't wait until next spring), but was really feeling squeamish about it after this morning. I think I'll wait 'till tomorrow and see if any updates at all are made. Was thinking I was going to get a powerbook, but maybe I should get an iBook instead, because I might want to replace it faster now. Any thoughts?

iBooks are great value right now but the PBs are excellent as well. I think it's all a matter of what you plan on doing with it and how long you plan on keeping it. The extra $500 could buy some extras though, like a new case, more ram, mouse, etc. I would think the laptops wouldn't be first in line for the new Intel chips but then again, they now they won't even get a G5 so who knows......

[azntigger0212]

The PBs were updated in February, that's when I got my 12". So, given that the typical update cycle is 6 months, I don't think it's likely. My bet is there will be a price drop or upgrade in August or September in time for back to school.

thanks! that makes me feel alot better about the powerbook i just got an hour ago :) I could've saved some if I had went with the ibook, but the edu $100 rebate doesn't include the ibook 12" anyway, and I needed closed-cover external display. besides....it's a powerbook :D eh that, a printer, and applecare set me (..or my parents i guess) back $1800 but I FINALLY SWITCHED! now to change my sig...
oh btw is applecare worth $250? any regrets...people who did/didn't get it?

[crazydreaming]

Has there ever been updates in the past the day after a keynote? Especially when there was absolutely no information hinting towards it?

I don't understand why such a big event could bring no immediate changes... so let's keep our fingers crossed!

[Ugg]

thanks! that makes me feel alot better about the powerbook i just got an hour ago :) I could've saved some if I had went with the ibook, but the edu $100 rebate doesn't include the ibook 12" anyway, and I needed closed-cover external display. besides....it's a powerbook :D eh that, a printer, and applecare set me (..or my parents i guess) back $1800 but I FINALLY SWITCHED! now to change my sig...
oh btw is applecare worth $250? any regrets...people who did/didn't get it?


Hey, congratulations!

As far as Apple Care, I'm going to get it but not right now. The warranty is good for a year and Apple Care can be purchased up until the last day the warranty is valid. I think it is worth it especially with laptops.

There are a couple of threads somewhere where people talk about how much they wished they had/hadn't bought Apple Care. Remember, you have a year to decide so no hurry, just remember though if you wait a year and a day it will be too late..

[puyo]

ok! i ordered the 12" iBook from the apple store and 1 gig of ram from newegg.

i plan on using this computer for 2 more years in college, so this will be good.

i'm happy with my purchase and look forward to using it on my trip.

[JoeKarame]

ok! i ordered the 12" iBook from the apple store and 1 gig of ram from newegg.

i plan on using this computer for 2 more years in college, so this will be good.

i'm happy with my purchase and look forward to using it on my trip.

Well, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

My 12" iBook's been my pride and joy for the last couple of years now. I'm starting to make the next move toward a PB though - probably with a 15" screen. As I use my iBook as both my day-to-day work computer and a home desktop, I'm starting to find it getting slightly hard on the old eyes!

But now I'm using Keynotes more and more, I think a move up to a slightly more powerful machine is going to be worthwhile (especially as the actual lsize of the PB isn't much bigger than the iBook!).

Luckily, all the stuff about the move to Intel doesn't bother me at all. I have all the good software I need, and certainly for the next couple of years, all the new software out will be compatible with both PPC and Intel, so no one should really put off buying a new model in the near future!

I'm fairly sure that I won't be getting rid of my iBook though - it's just lovely, and it'll make a great 3rd computer in the old homestead.

[Yebot]

When you need a computer, you need a computer. If you're buying an Apple product, you're buying the best. Be happy. Buy your new machine.

Hardware becomes obsolete. Waiting will not change this.

My 4th Gen iPod is less than a year old. I often see iPod Photos on sale for less than what I paid in '04 -- i.e. 60gigs + color display for less then I paid for 40gigs + monochrome display.

But alas, I will not fret.

Its Moore's Law - Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel.