What is right?

[iHungry]

Hi, our son will be attending Philipps Academy, a boarding school. He say's that it would be great to have a computer in his dorm. Currently he owns an iBook G4 12 inch. Both my wife and I have PowerBook G4s, and the all around family use's the iMac G4 in the living room. My son is very well rounded with computers, he has the Adobe Creative Suite, Quark, Final Cut Pro, Office Pro, and once in a while he uses X11. He has a very extensive iTunes library, about 1200 songs. He loves Macs, so for his birthday next month we will definately surprise him with a new mac. What do you guys think is right for him? Take in count that he will be coming home on the weekends, so I think an iBook or PowerBook would be pretty descent for his travels accross state. Budget is not a problem with us at all, it's just that he has never really given a straight forward answer about which Mac he prefers. My wife and I where also considering maybe a G5 and a PowerBook or an iMac and an iBook. What tech specs do you believe would be necasarry for what he uses the Mac for (it will be customizable since we're going to purchase the products from the Apple Store Online) Thanks for any feedback in advance.

[CaptainHaddock]

My own suggestion, since his iBook is still a pretty good machine, would be to get your son one of those smoking dual-G5 desktops. It would be the best possible choice for his multimedia applications. Also consider giving his iBook a RAM upgrade while you're at it.

[daxdagr8t]

my mom just boughtme a 12in pb yesterday and i thought i was lucky, i am lucky and grateful.anyhow if he's going to run some cpu xtensive apps then no doubt the powermac and pb is the only choice.a powermac for the dorm and 12inob for the road, does computing life gets any better than that?of course add a 30 in display and he will be in computing heaven! :D

[raynegus]

If you really love the kid, get him a maxed dual 2.5 and a maxed 17" PB for the road.

[PeterD42]

Geez, my son was happy with a football.
It does windows really well :)

[netytan]

Well, my vote has to be for the 1.5GHz 15" PowerBook. As Mac portables go you're not gonna find a better mix of portability and cutting edge featurs - and with the beautiful 15" screen, its still a highly portable, much more so than the 17" model in my oppinion, but could easily be used his desktop replacment! Not to mention the way this PowerBook looks; it has much better preportions that the others if you ask me :D.

Lucky kid you have there,

Mark.

[iHungry]

Hello, thank you for your advice, my sons Birthday will go great. My mother-in-law decided she wanted to buy him a PowerBook 17 inch with maxed-out specs (bless her soul) I decided to buy him the BMW Z4 Roadster. In addition I bought him a 40 GB iPod. My parents bought him a PowerMac G4 with maxed-out specs. (To tell you the truth I'm glad they didn't buy him the G5, he is spoiled enough as it is) He's going to have a pretty darn good sweet 16 if you ask me. Thank you all for your advice.

[sorryiwasdreami]

Can you adopt me as your new son? :) Please?

[BrianKonarsMac]

you do realize all those gifts are quite likely to get your son beaten and robbed at school right? you may want to invest in martial arts classes, or with your cashflow, a personal bodyguard.

also, i'd ditch the G4 tower and get him a G5. he's so spoiled, the G4 tower might actually ruin his birthday.

[upperblue79]

also, i'd ditch the G4 tower and get him a G5. he's so spoiled, the G4 tower might actually ruin his birthday.

And the G5 would have a longer life, as more applications come out supporting the 64 bit he would appreciate it, I know you don't want to spoil him anymore but getting the latest technology would mean it would last longer, just a thought.

[flyfish29]

you do realize all those gifts are quite likely to get your son beaten and robbed at school right? you may want to invest in martial arts classes, or with your cashflow, a personal bodyguard.

also, i'd ditch the G4 tower and get him a G5. he's so spoiled, the G4 tower might actually ruin his birthday.

Your son will be fine. Which Phillips is it...Exeter or Andover. I don't ask so I can rob him, but I live in NH and worked at Lawrence Academy in Groton MA a few years ago. (I will understand if you don't want to say as there will be probably hundreds of MacRumors members waiting at his doorstop this fall to catch a glimpse of his Mac loot! - me being one of them.) :D

good choices by the way. One might say the 17" would be too heavy for carrying around, but on campus he will love its size and expecially when he brings it home on weekends...hey...if you care to donate a G4 iBook to an extremely poor graduate student in school to become a school principal I am always available. :D

[Dr. Dastardly]

Forget the power mac and buy him a cluster of 100 xserves. :eek: :D

[iHungry]

Yes, he'll be attending Phillips Academy in Andover MA.Haha, I bet alot of people will be spying in his dorm...a new group of "Mac Espionage Spies" if you ask me. Oh, and for some of the people that think my family and I are completey loaded, your wrong...Both my wife and I have very good, well-paying jobs. My wife is a lawyer, and I am an orthodontist. Sorry to mislead some of you.

[flyfish29]

Forget the power mac and buy him a cluster of 100 xserves. :eek: :D

forget that...buy him Apple Computer Inc.

[Bhennies]

forget that...buy him Apple Computer Inc.nice thought, but no one in their right mind except us mac people would buy apple stock as an investment. Look at the g5 dissapointment, xserve delays, imac delay, ipod mini delay, monitor delays (I'm pulling my hair out for my 23" HD). Apple makes great products and their stock reflects that in the short term, but their business and marketing practices are not the best. The stock is rated "neutral", which as anyone knows is not a stock that that investors are clamoring over.

[Bhennies]

I decided to buy him the BMW Z4 RoadsterHonestly, don't let him drive it for at least a couple months. It sounds like money is not an issue, so i would buy an older early 90's honda civic or something for him to learn on- the first two months are the most accident prone of all, and I'm sure you don't want him wrecking that Z4 (even though I'll bet it would look better- I hate the z4 styling).

[applemacdude]

Can i be your son? ill be good...lol

[FelixDerKater]

I'm seriously hoping that this thread is a joke... Can anyone say rich and spoiled?

[FuzzyBallz]

I'm up for adoption. I don't ask much, really, $5K a month for child support will be good enough.

[FuzzyBallz]

Honestly, don't let him drive it for at least a couple months. It sounds like money is not an issue, so i would buy an older early 90's honda civic or something for him to learn on- the first two months are the most accident prone of all, and I'm sure you don't want him wrecking that Z4 (even though I'll bet it would look better- I hate the z4 styling).
Did you even read what the guy wrote in his 1nd post?

Budget is not a problem with us at all

Which translates to us poor people as "I'm filthy rich. I'll buy anything my son wants. And please, I don't buy JPN cars. What do you think I am, poor?"

[nyprospect]

These posts make me grip my bottle of vodka a bit tighter.Drops his head and weeps...

[mikeyfern]

Any chance this is all a put-on? The new BMW part makes it too much to believe. It should also read "We are getting him a $1,000 prostitute as well. It is of the greatest importance that my son's 16th birthday be perfect! Two years ago he shot the butler when the pony we gave him was Roan colored and not Rabicano Roan like he had asked."

[SwitchingSoon]

it has to be joke.......

[nyprospect]

well if he and his wife a professionals, i suppose it could be true.I think the poster is messing around about the butler and the prostitute or maybe not.By the way you may adopt me as well.

[pdpfilms]

holy. crap. this. kid. has. it. all. ooh-ooh, i have an idea!!! Buy him a slip n slide! Every kid wants one of those... right?

[PeterD42]

If this works, you can see that my son was happy with his football :)
If it doesn't, somebody needs to explain attachments to me :confused:

[nyprospect]

sure looks like a happy camper to me

[FuzzyBallz]

Your kid needs to grow some giant paws to grip that football.

[intrepkid21]

hahaha this is rediculous lol I can barely afford the 12 inch ibook...time to get rich i suppose lol

[Bruce Lee, PhD]

Haha, this has to be a joke, after the recent posts from kids whose parents were or weren't buying them toys. I think no one got it after the first post, so the second one about the z4, ipod, et al was added. :-)

[Guntis]

It looks like almost everyoney here is just making fun about financial possibilities of iHungry...
Back to his question:
If your son is really using graphics software, he would certainly benefit from good Power Mac G5. I would suggest 2GHz or 2.5GHz, with 250GB hard drive, 1 to 2GB RAM, good graphics card and 20-23" Cinema monitor. And for travelling -- top of the range 15" PB (add extra $100 for 128MB graphics card and faster hard drive), and add 1GB RAM. That will do the job. 17" is just too big for travelling. Folks who suggest it to you probably haven't held it in their hands...

[FuzzyBallz]

17" is just too big for travelling. Folks who suggest it to you probably haven't held it in their hands...
Little people?

[Guntis]

17" PB is desktop replacement, which you can put in your backpack, if you really have to move somewhere else... It's portable, but really not *portable*. And it's HEAVY.

[xgsrpg]

17" PB is desktop replacement, which you can put in your backpack, if you really have to move somewhere else... It's portable, but really not *portable*. And it's HEAVY.

If you think that's heavy, have you ever seen the 10-pound, 1.8"-thick, 17" HP zd7000 (http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_store/computer_series_detail.do?series_name=zd7000_series&series_index=0&catLevel=2)? Now that's a real desktop replacement. Nobody will be missing their towers on the road with that thing. They won't see the tower, but they'll sure feel it :)

[vwguy]

Hello, thank you for your advice, my sons Birthday will go great. My mother-in-law decided she wanted to buy him a PowerBook 17 inch with maxed-out specs (bless her soul) I decided to buy him the BMW Z4 Roadster. In addition I bought him a 40 GB iPod. My parents bought him a PowerMac G4 with maxed-out specs. (To tell you the truth I'm glad they didn't buy him the G5, he is spoiled enough as it is) He's going to have a pretty darn good sweet 16 if you ask me. Thank you all for your advice.

Whao... I wondered what he will get for his 18th or 21st birthday..... A very very very lucky kid indeed.....

[DickArmAndHarT]

These posts make me grip my bottle of vodka a bit tighter.Drops his head and weeps...

20 points to nyprospect- Im only 14 and ive had to work and purchase everything i have. 15in pb then gl2 production sweet. man.. im going to be looking to retire when im 20. i think then ill have put in enough years.

Man your loaded. When i was 13 i was designing web pages for a few people along with mowing lawns to pay for the production sweet and save up for the gl2.

That kid is a lucky ...............

[JasonL]

This has to be a joke. The post with the Z4 and the 17" PB but how he is only getting a PM G4 as to not spoil him made it pretty obvious to me.

[Koree]

His son is leaving for boarding school. It's not uncommon for people to give a lot of presents before they leave their home at an early age like this. I myself am a student living away from my dad and grandma (took care of me like a mother) who are in Korea.
I am living at a friends house. (luckily, i wasn't moving far, just to my friends. Dad and grandma moved back to Korea. Only i didn't get a new computer cuz Korean apartments cost A LOT. So i just got an iPod. (stolen)

Though this year, my mom bought me my G5 :D

[Littleodie914]

Holy geez... A Z4 Roadster on his 16th birthday? How long has this kid been driving? No offense, but how foolish can parents be to give their son a car as expensive and as fast as that when he surely hasn't been driving for more than a year and a half? And also hasn't been driving at ALL on his own, considering he just turned 16! Blows my mind... Think that kid's gonna obey the speed limit? Make sure he buckles his 17" powerbook in... It's going for a ride. :rolleyes:

[andym172]

Does nobody else think this smells a little fishy?! :confused:

[DickArmAndHarT]

Maby iHungry can buy me pony. Ive always wanted a pony.... :rolleyes:

[yippy]

On a seriouse note, I would say to get him a G5 tower, low end with an LCD. It will have the most bang for the buck and last the longest. Not only that you can let him keep the iBook for when he wants something portable. Best of both worlds.

[efoto]

Holy geez... A Z4 Roadster on his 16th birthday? How long has this kid been driving? No offense, but how foolish can parents be to give their son a car as expensive and as fast as that when he surely hasn't been driving for more than a year and a half? And also hasn't been driving at ALL on his own, considering he just turned 16! Blows my mind... Think that kid's gonna obey the speed limit? Make sure he buckles his 17" powerbook in... It's going for a ride. :rolleyes:

That is about as bad as my friends younger brother, 16th birthday and he gets a 95' M3!!!

Granted is not the fastest anymore, but its still above 260hp (slightly modified, stock was 240) and rear-wheel drive. Best part is we live in Michigan, and its the only car he has...so come winter, god be with him and ask for snow shoes...cause that puppy is going to run all over the place!