Honest question for PPC Mac owners

[Starfighter]

Oh I don't know about being unique... Wasn't PowerPC macs sold in pretty large quantities? As in there are many of them out there and many of us still using them?

[SimonUK5]

I'm still kinda sad that Apple Replaced my Powerbook G4 with a 2011 MBP, for sure the MBP is great and is going to last me forever it feels, but there was something about the Powerbook just being amazing, at everything. If you wanted it to do something, it could.

[rjcalifornia]

Originally Posted by Starfighter

Oh I don't know about being unique... Wasn't PowerPC macs sold in pretty large quantities? As in there are many of them out there and many of us still using them?

I'm pretty sure no one uses a powerpc mac in my country

[Starfighter]

Originally Posted by rjcalifornia

I'm pretty sure no one uses a powerpc mac in my country

If that is true I willingly stand corrected!

[Zeke D]

Originally Posted by rjcalifornia

I'm pretty sure no one uses a powerpc mac in my country

I know this to be untrue. When I was in Suchitoto, El Salvador I used my 12" iBook.

[Davy.Shalom]

1) I'm poor (personally). I can't afford a 2k macbook pro or a 5k mac pro. When I go to off to college I'll invest in a new mac but until then I'm going to continue using my PM G5 as my desktop and the 12" PB G4 as my portable. The Mac Pro is my dad's and gets used when I need to run windows.

2) Aesthetics. I feel in love with the 12" PowerBook when I first saw it at age 7. At the time they were released, my Aunt was project manager of the PowerBook line. She gave me a prototype model of the 1.33 GHz 12". It's the same as all the 1.33 DVI PB's that got released to the public, with the exception that it has an original model number. This powerbook is 10 years old, and I'm still in love with it.

3) Feel and nostalgia. Using my PowerBook reminds me of all the memories created on long car trips watching movies. It reminds me of those rainy days when everything seemed sad, but my PowerBook was always there to play games on. As I grew up it became my workhorse. Performing for 5 hours a day, the battery managed to keep up with me all the way until high school. I bought a new battery for it and it's stayed with me all through high school. I continue to get 4-5 hours on this new battery, and use it every day in the classroom.

4) History. I guess this could be part of number 3. It's a piece of history, and represents in my opinion the most fully-featured ultra portable Apple has ever released.

5) Uniqueness. Everyone has a MacBook Pro 13" these days. Ain't nobody got nothing on my PB.

6) Keyboard. I love it.

[rjcalifornia]

Originally Posted by Starfighter

If that is true I willingly stand corrected!

They see my ibook, They hatin' Patrolling they tryin to catch my powerpc laptop

----------

Originally Posted by Zeke D

I know this to be untrue. When I was in Suchitoto, El Salvador I used my 12" iBook.

[OldHenry~G3~]

I just simply love being able to tell all my friends that I own a computer that has 720mb of RAM (I'm 14 so they're all like "Totally Retro Dude!"). Also, I'm a writer, but I have slight ADHD so I get distracted easily if my computer is able to let me get on the internet and such, but with my G3, I'm not able to do crap on the internet, so it keeps me on track.

[bteam]

Originally Posted by SimonUK5

I'm still kinda sad that Apple Replaced my Powerbook G4 with a 2011 MBP, for sure the MBP is great and is going to last me forever it feels, but there was something about the Powerbook just being amazing, at everything. If you wanted it to do something, it could.

How'd you get a 2011 MBP from a Powerbook?!? Applecare is 3 years and the last Powerbooks were sold at the beginning of 2006. That means you were out of warranty for at least 2 years.

[wobegong]

Originally Posted by Davy.Shalom

6) Keyboard. I love it.

Good point! The PB keyboard (well my 15" High Res end-of-line 1.67 anyway) was the best I ever had, thanks for reminding me about that!

(Unlike the G5 standard keyboard which had me pressing two keys at once the whole time - just ghastly, the new slim ones are far far better..)

[seveej]

Originally Posted by Dewroo

What keeps you attached to your PPC mac? I respect that you're useing the older hardware and I think it's kind of neat, to be honest. But I'm still curious as to why most of you choose to use PPC macs as your primary machines.

Well, firstly my main computer is a newish MBP and the reason for that is that I am a somewhat impatient person (I used to have the motto: "may I be the bottleneck in this man-machine -interface"), and this level of oomph is just not available in a PowerPC machine.

Thenagain, I'm utilizing some nice PPC hardware, because they meet my needs at a highly competitive price.
For instance my server is an MDD, because my specs (OSX server, 4 HDD, gigabit Ethernet, etc.) were more cheaply met. I admit I would have preferred a Mac Pro, but mainly because I perceive some inherent risks in running a machine 10+years old. In stead I have one MDD in active duty, another similarly spec'd in a box in case the primary breaks. Even then, the cost for setting up the machines (primary and secondary) were about 300€ (machines, max ram, Sata cards) and comparable to the 2 huge Sata disks.

I gave my dad (he's 80) a PBG4, because it meets his needs, and I had already had two disasters with wintel-machines.

I do not consider the ppc's to be in any way better than intels and I reject the concept of tighter integration in ppc's as I remember apple often had problems in convincing the AIM-consortium of the way to go.

The fact of the matter is in my case simply price, and that I consider it a shame to not recycle fully working machines when it is so simple.

[SimonUK5]

Originally Posted by bteam

How'd you get a 2011 MBP from a Powerbook?!? Applecare is 3 years and the last Powerbooks were sold at the beginning of 2006. That means you were out of warranty for at least 2 years.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...1325763&page=2


Haha, it was a one off lucky thing. But it still sucks as this MBP is going in for its second logicboard at the end of this week.

[bteam]

Originally Posted by SimonUK5

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...1325763&page=2


Haha, it was a one off lucky thing. But it still sucks as this MBP is going in for its second logicboard at the end of this week.

Wow you got lucky. The "genius" should've given up as soon as he realized it was too old to fix. All the resellers and Apple people I've talked to say they don't even have parts for them any more. 5 years max.

[Jethryn Freyman]

Originally Posted by SimonUK5

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...1325763&page=2


Haha, it was a one off lucky thing. But it still sucks as this MBP is going in for its second logicboard at the end of this week.

If you have three "major" faults while under warranty Apple has a policy of replacing your Mac with a brand new, current model one. After 3 super drives, a battery, two logic baords, that's how I replaced my 2007 MBP with a 2010 model.

[SimonUK5]

Originally Posted by Jethryn Freyman

If you have three "major" faults while under warranty Apple has a policy of replacing your Mac with a brand new, current model one. After 3 super drives, a battery, two logic baords, that's how I replaced my 2007 MBP with a 2010 model.

Yeah thats what i said, but apparently only two are showing on their system. But i have little to no hope that this logic Board will last till christmas. So I think i'll end up with a new one soon haha

[Zeke D]

Originally Posted by rjcalifornia

that's a lot of !

[Liquinn]

Hmmmm... I bought the G5 for the case and to use Leopard when I wanted to use it. I love the G5 case deign, it's timeless.

[craisin]

My Emac G4 800mhz is not my Primary Computer.
It wasnt going when I got it so I got it going by installing Lubuntu on it.
Plays good video for its age and specs
I was told they were hard to work on. You Tube is a place to learn for others
I have one AMD and many Pentiums PCs but the Emac is Special

[ChrisMan287]

I got it for free and this design is timeless.

[Mr. Retrofire]

Originally Posted by wobegong

To be fair I'd have to disagree on that, Powerbooks are prone to separating at the seams - they are well made machines for sure but I believe the newer Apple laptops are more robust - My MBP for example is pretty much a solid lump of metal with no seam except for the bottom plate - out of the Powerbook, MB and this one it's by far the most solid and despite heavy use and a huge amount of travel (international) after a good wipe down it looks like it could be straight from the Apple shop. But certainly for the time the PB was one of the very best made laptops around.

I agree 100 percent. My Early-2011 MBP "survived" two cruises, together with my Mid-2009 MBP countless travels and the daily "abuse" in my business.

[rjcalifornia]

I forgot to mention that my old iBook G3 (R.I.P.) survived a rain. I went on a mission trip and I left my ibook outside. It rain all night long, and when I woke up I saw my ibook outside and I was like 'oh crap'

I left it in the sun for a day, turned it on, and voila! It was working with no issues!!!! Pretty awesome

[SuperPolli]

Pretty much because they're fun to mess around with. I've got a Summer 2000 iMac G3 that is still, "alive" even thought the AirPort card I installed myself failed last year. It will still connect through Ethernet and can do limited web browsing. Right now I've got a Power Mac G5 from Late 2005 that I love and is actually becoming a major part of my setup. I'm debating getting another old PPC Mac now to mess with. Probably a laptop. I might pick up a Clamshell iBook.

Ranting aside, PPC Macs are fun to explore. If they are in good cosmetic condition and are highly functional some people may actually be able to make a profit from buying them in bad condition, fixing and upgrading, and then reselling. G5 Macs running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard (Like my PowerMac G5) can actually be a really good workstation for someone who doesn't need newer software. Those are just my thoughts though.

[Antonius]

For me its my first and only mac, that cost me £2000 back in 2002
But after all these years I still love using my mdd

[mccjim12]

For a while it was no more complicated than the fact that I didn't want to spend $2500 or so on a new Mac. I got a 15" PowerBook G4 new in October '04. I was in college at the time and my mom foot the bill for it.

I remember the Intel switch in '06 but really didn't care. I continued to use the PB until June of last year when the HD and logic board both went (coincidence?). Thanks to the help of the fine folks on this board I was able to replace both and I'm happy to say that the PowerBook is still running strong today.

Since then, I've kind of become a PPC enthusiast. I guess I just get a kick out of keeping them running on the cheap, and as someone said, in Starbucks etc. people look at it and are somewhat perplexed and somewhat curious.

I subsequently bought a 12" iBook G4 which I type this on now. I love the thing. Almost as much as the PB!

I plan on buying a G3 iBook and am just waiting to find a good 466 SE. They are on ebay from time to time.

I'll keep running these machines until I can afford a new Mac but even after I do buy one I will always keep my PPC machines!

[AlbertEinstein]

Because Cube G4.