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Which Mac?

selloutvixen

selloutvixen

macrumors member
Original poster
Okay, I'll admit it. I need a new computer.

Right now I have a 3 year old Fujitsu laptop. Nothing fancy. Pentium III. Windows 2000. Enough space for my pics and music. A few games. It's been sufficient until now, when I find myself waiting.. and waiting.. and waiting for stuff to load. It's starting to get on my nerves big time. No, I'm not a nerd, and I'm not a power-user, but I think I get more use out of my PC than the average person. I'd absolutely drop dead without the internet.

The computer has already been formatted twice. This has not helped the speed. The only games I have on my computer are The Sims and Ragnarok. Earlier in the month, I had to install Ad Aware and some Virus Software and something happened with the way cd-rom drives runs games and now The Sims won't even run, so now that's gone as well. I live with two comp-sci grads and they couldn't fix it. (they should be ashamed)

So. I need a new computer. My boyfriend and my roommate both have PB G4's and they swear by them. After using them occassionally, I found myself downloading iTunes for my music, and Picasa for my pictures; like I'm trying to trick my laptop into thinking it's a mac by download mac or mac-like programs. 😉

I don't think I want a PB, but an iBook would be awesome. With my educational discount, it's about 899.00 for the 12". I know mac are awesome quality, which is why they're more expensive. I'm just on the fence on if I should bother getting another laptop. I don't really take this one anywhere other than to the living room, and that's only once in a great while. I don't want to sacrifice more power/less money for portability I don't really use. I still plan on keeping my windows laptop around for the few games I do play until it gets too slow to do so.

Thoughts?
 
What about an iMac instead?

You may be able to swing the cheapest one (17") with the edu. discount and it has some portability (18.5 lbs) with a lot more power than an iBook.
 
well since you don't consider yourself a power user and portability is of little concern to you, ever thought of getting an iMac? it's seem to me to come at a reasonable cost for what you would gain over the iBook performance wise. If gaming isn't really a priority for you I think it would be a great choice.
 
I agree with Blue Velvet and FistfulofAngst - if you can swing the extra $300, get the iMac. If not, get the eMac with SuperDrive (same price as the iBook - $899). Both will provide you with much more bang for the buck. I love the iBooks and PBs, but, if portability is not important to you, don't pay the notebook premium.

And, whatever you buy, please upgrade it to at least 512MB of RAM. Anything less than that is nearly useless....
 
selloutvixen, it depends on what kind of person you are. Myself I am a notebook person and I have NEVER OWNED a desktop in my life, I love all my notebooks since even when you upgrade you will still find people who are willing to buy a notebook any day compared to a desktop. Plus the space issue and portability. 🙂


If you do not game and are portable go to an Apple Store and try both the iBook and PowerBook and as people have stated above max out the ram on the portable at least to 512MB if not more. You only have 1-2 Ram slots so use them wisely. 🙂

Desktops well the iMac is an all in one it has more power given, its kinda portable I guess very heavy indeed, and no means of upgrading other than Ram and WiFi.

PMG5 even though they are upgradable I find people buy this as a safety reason to upgrade parts however at the rate technology is moving the machines internals are outdated within 1-2 years and you pay a premium for having the WHAT IS NOW POWERFUL? I never understood the logic in this considering the PMG5 user PCI-X and not PCIe, it has its benefits however its a high-end system with a slow 8x AGP GPU.

It all comes down to your needs and personality along with the funding for a suitable machine. 🙂


All the best to you in your search. 🙂
 
I would have to agree with Maya, on this one. Laptop or desktop is really a personal preference. I've owned two desktops before my PowerBook and I wont buy another desktop again.

If you want a desktop then the iMac is probably the desktop to buy. It is the greatest value for your money in my opinion.

Maya just forgot to mention the eMac, which is the cheapest of the Macs. It is a fine machine but not as powerful as the other iMacs and PowerMacs. Like the PowerBooks, a new revision is expected out soon. If you decide on an eMac, I would wait if you can.

The 12" iBook is clearly the laptop for you. The base 30 gig hard-drive is kind-of small, I would get the built-to-order option of a 60 gig drive.

Forget about the PowerBook and PowerMac, it dosn't sound like you need the extra power or want to spend the extra cash.

Did anyone mention that you should upgrade the RAM? Did they also mention that Apple charges a lot for RAM that you can cheaper somewhere else?
 
I've seen the new iMacs, and trust me, I'm not anti-iMac by any means. I just am wondering the difference between the iBook and iMac that would justify the extra 300 bucks. (well, 379 since I want the airport extreme card) I know the standard hard drive is twice the size of the iBook, and it's a little faster, but otherwise I don't see much of a difference.

This is now becoming slightly more urgent because I got an iPod for christmas 😀 and my current laptop doesn't have USB 2.0 or firewire, and dammit, I want my music!

I'm still on the fence, but still slightly leaning towards the iBook and just upgrading the hard drive. I also want more memory, but as previously discussed, apple charges way too much for memory, so I'll buy it elsewhere. Thoughts?
 
selloutvixen said:
I've seen the new iMacs, and trust me, I'm not anti-iMac by any means. I just am wondering the difference between the iBook and iMac that would justify the extra 300 bucks. (well, 379 since I want the airport extreme card) I know the standard hard drive is twice the size of the iBook, and it's a little faster, but otherwise I don't see much of a difference.

This is now becoming slightly more urgent because I got an iPod for christmas 😀 and my current laptop doesn't have USB 2.0 or firewire, and dammit, I want my music!

I'm still on the fence, but still slightly leaning towards the iBook and just upgrading the hard drive. I also want more memory, but as previously discussed, apple charges way too much for memory, so I'll buy it elsewhere. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
The new imacs are much faster than the new ibooks...160gb hd at 7200rpm better graphics card(not good but better)bigger lcd and a 1.6 or 1.8 G5 and faster ram...i have both and the imac is a much faster machine and its a great deal
 
I guess you may not know to much about it, and no one mentioned it yet, but the iBook has a G4 CPU and the iMac has a G5... So even if they were the same clock speed the iMac would have a definate edge... but they aren't the same clock speed, and so the iMac is even faster! Think about it like comparing your P3 laptop to a P4 desktop.

The iMac is really a pretty good value... you get a much faster system, a 17" high res display (as opposed to a 12 or 14" so-so display), and you can get more RAM and a bigger HD for less added cost.

If you are not going to be taking th ecomputer out of the house, get the iMac. A 1.6ghz 17" goes for $1100 in Apples refurb store, and is a steal.
 
Yes!!

selloutvixen said:
I've seen the new iMacs, and trust me, I'm not anti-iMac by any means. I just am wondering the difference between the iBook and iMac that would justify the extra 300 bucks.
Click to expand...

Yes, just the additional LCD screen real estate makes the extra $300 money well spent. But, in addition to a larger screen you also get a faster G5 CPU, a larger and faster hard drive and quite a few additional extras that are crimped on lap tops in order to save space, reduce heat and extend battery life.

Having said that though, my daughter has had the previous version of the 12" iBook almost a year now and she is still very happy with it. Its performance over the past year has been virtually flawless, unlike MS for Mac v.X which will be replaced shortly by v.2004.

IMHO they both offer outstanding value for money, and for a student, $300 is a lot of money. So I suggest that you go to your local Apple store/dealer and try them both out. Only you will really be able to say whether the larger screen and slightly faster computer is worth the extra dollars.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.
 
i agree with the people who said to get a desktop. i was going to get an ibook but then i thought about it and realized i didn't need the portability and got an emac. im really glad i didnt get an ibook because i love the 17" screen, having an actual keyboard and mouse, having a dvd burner, having a 7200rpm hard drive and a bunch of things i wouldn't have gotten with the ibook. of course, if you're a laptop person you'll end up with a laptop and vice-versa. i thought i was but now i know i could go either way. if this sounds disjointed and weird i'm late and it's sick
 
go for a mac...

Any Apple an improvement- the latest iBooks a great deal; understand the G5 imac not much faster yet more$...

I had a great Apricot 386sx25 PC in 87 running GEM OS with DTP, and DOS for CAD etc..

Since then all PC'S have been a waste of time, and buggy.

Latest PC a Dell crash-monster with XP and world's worst support (dunno if legal as was so bad...)

Switched back In 04 (wow- no crashes, great UI, quality kit).

Some hassles, with legacy (buggy) office files- but realistically Gates deserves no dollars for the absolute cr*p he sells...doesn't event work wih upgrades of same software.

BTW i teach college and university MS office basics (together with MBA ops mgt and marketing)- and still hate the cr*p they produce.
 
I'd go for the desktop, I think it'll be well worth your money especially if you don't really need the portability. Besides, if you're planning on keeping your Fujitsu around you can still use that in case of emergency 🙂 A desktop will probably end up lasting you longer as well.
 
As a recent switcher and owner of a new Powerbook (which I love), I'd say go for the iMac. They're amazing machines, and if you don't really need the portability much, they're a much better deal for the money. The huge screen alone is worth the extra money, but you also get faster everything, bigger hard drive, better graphics card, etc. That said, whichever Mac you decide to go with, you're going to love it. I switched about 4 months ago, and I really can't see myself ever going back to Windows.
 
a g5 is faster than a g4 any day so the ibook is really alot slower(ive used both)so it really just depends on if you want a laptop or a desktop because i would have to say that the imac is worth the extra cash 😀
 
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