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swapping my powerbook for an imac....good idea?

M

marknicholls

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Hey guys

I am now a fully converted mac user, and want to move from my laptop to a desktop machine. I currently have a Titanium Powerbook G4 550mhz/512mb/Airport/CDRW/DVD/40gig but am thinking of swapping it for this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5127105163&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

what do u guys think? when was this model made? is it to old, or a good buy?

Compliant Standards
IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3U, IEEE 802.11b - that means it has aiport.....right!?


Thanks Guys
 
Honestly, you won't get much of an upgrade if buy this iMac. The specs are very similar, so it would be a kinda pointless upgrade (or downgrade because you don't have mobility anymore).

an eMac would be much better upgrade if you want a desktop.
 
musicpyrite said:
Honestly, you won't get much of an upgrade if buy this iMac. The specs are very similar, so it would be a kinda pointless upgrade (or downgrade because you don't have mobility anymore).

an eMac would be much better upgrade if you want a desktop.
Click to expand...

imacs are cuter then emacs!! 😉
 
I don't know how much your PowerBook will sell for in the UK, but my recommendation would be to sell it and buy a 17" iMac G5. I'm betting you'll need to add some money, but if you can manage it, I'd say it is well worth it. Anyone from the UK care to offer an opinion on the resale value of the TiBook 550?
 
The iMac 700mhz dosn't have L3 cache which the Powerbook has.
The imac only has 1024x768 resolution the Powerbook has 1152x768 res.
The powerbook has widescreen display (both has 15")
The iMac has more vram than the powerbook (32 mb vs 16 mb)
Moblity radeon videocard is about par with the Geforce 2mx, but the powerbook supports two screens. (imac can have two screens with a hack)

I can't see that the iMac is better than the powerbook on any advantage over the powerbook. (except the vram..)

Do it if you get more cash from selling your powerbook and buyig the iMac and you need the cash. (the powerbook IS worth more than the iMac, it costed almost twice of the iMac when both were for sale..)
 
Elan0204 said:
I don't know how much your PowerBook will sell for in the UK, but my recommendation would be to sell it and buy a 17" iMac G5. I'm betting you'll need to add some money, but if you can manage it, I'd say it is well worth it. Anyone from the UK care to offer an opinion on the resale value of the TiBook 550?
Click to expand...

i would love a g5 but money is an issue
 
This auction is for a lovely Imac 700mhz. The machine is in good condition and is hugely powerful with a 800mhz cpu
Click to expand...

Ah, that is from the auction. Dosn't sound like that guy knows what he is talking about. Stick with the PowerBook...it is nicer than the iMac overall.
 
If you desperatly need a desktop i would suggest a g5 overall, but if thats not in your budget get a new emac. For $800 you can get a brand new mac with a warrenty. Also you might want to keep an eye on apples G4 towers on web site i am sure they will keep coming down in price.
 
cluthz said:
The iMac 700mhz dosn't have L3 cache which the Powerbook has.
Click to expand...

Actually, the 1MB of L3 cache wasn't introduced into the Titanium PowerBooks until the 800Mhz revision. The 550 did not have L3 cache.

You do raise intersting points though. I don't really see a reason to go through with the trade. It sounds like it is about equal, so why not just stick with the PowerBook and keep the portability.
 
Elan0204 said:
Actually, the 1MB of L3 cache wasn't introduced into the Titanium PowerBooks until the 800Mhz revision. The 550 did not have L3 cache.

You do raise intersting points though. I don't really see a reason to go through with the trade. It sounds like it is about equal, so why not just stick with the PowerBook and keep the portability.
Click to expand...

that's the way I see your situation too. I do think the imac would be a little faster... but it's hardly a big difference. I'd rather have the portability, if it's that small a change is power.
 
MacFan25863 said:
Why not just buy an external keyboard/mouse and maybe a laptop stand and use your laptop as a desktop?
Click to expand...


I second that, you could even hook it up to an external monitor and you basically have a desktop computer (with a really small case).
 
Yeah, I'd also suggest hanging onto that TiBook. You're not getting much of a performance boost, and you'd be losing portability.

I'd suggest saving your money and getting a faster pre-owned iMac running closer to 1 GHz.
 
Get an eMac

For only £4 more you can get a brand new eMac (1.25Ghz G4/40Gb drive/256MB Ram/ Combo drive) from Apple. This is a much better spec and its new so has a full year's warranty. The screen is much bigger and you get a better graphics card too. Granted you only get 256MB Ram, but another 256MB shouldn't cost too much especially from crucial.

One other point worth mentioning is that the eMac will accept the new airport Extreme WIFI cards (802.11g - 54Mbs) whereas the imac you are looking at needs to use the older Airport cards (802.11b - 11Mbs) that are becoming very rare as they aren't made anymore.

Do yourself a favour and have a read here: http://www.apple.com/uk/emac/
 
Lincoln said:
For only £4 more you can get a brand new eMac (1.25Ghz G4/40Gb drive/256MB Ram/ Combo drive) from Apple. This is a much better spec and its new so has a full year's warranty. The screen is much bigger and you get a better graphics card too. Granted you only get 256MB Ram, but another 256MB shouldn't cost too much especially from crucial.

One other point worth mentioning is that the eMac will accept the new airport Extreme WIFI cards (802.11g - 54Mbs) whereas the imac you are looking at needs to use the older Airport cards (802.11b - 11Mbs) that are becoming very rare as they aren't made anymore.

Do yourself a favour and have a read here: http://www.apple.com/uk/emac/
Click to expand...

i just bought an emac from dabs 🙂
 
marknicholls said:
i just bought an emac from dabs 🙂
Click to expand...

That was actually a great idea. If you didn't need the portability, at least you were able to trade up performance wise when switching to a desktop. Losing the portability without gaining performance was not that great a deal, but this was.

Congratulations on the new eMac!
 
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