Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Powerbook Upgrade Advice

AHDuke99

AHDuke99

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 14, 2002
2,288
86
Charleston, SC
Dear Friends,

The time has come for me to upgrade computers, as my September 2003 Powerbook G4 1.25Ghz FW800/1.25GB/80GB HD laptop is beginning to show its age. I currently have an $840 bid on it on ebay for it and am deciding whether to take it or leave it. I will be looking to buy a macbook pro to upgrade, and wonder if i need to borrow my friend's spare 867MHZ 12" PB until the Memron MBPs come out or buy a 2.16GHZ MBP/1GB on ebay for $2099 + $30 shipping. I want to future proof it as much as possible, I've seen the benchmarks etc on the Yohan vs. Memron and notice that its only slightly faster .. My question is is it worth waiting for and using the 12" for a while until Apple decides to release Memron MBPs? Also, is there a chance they migh have FW800 since my external HD uses FW800/FW400? If I dont sell my PB now, I can wait, but I know each day the value lessens. WHat's the best way to go about doing this process? Surely Apple wont wait till the end of September to ship Memron notebooks, could they? Is the $2099 2.16MHZ MBP too good a deal to pass up?
 
M

Makosuke

macrumors 604
Aug 15, 2001
6,662
1,242
The Cool Part of CA, USA
You could really go either way--I'd say it depends entirely on whether you can comfortably wait a couple of weeks.

As with all computer decisions, it's not a matter of whether something faster is going to be available tomorrow, it's whether it's worth it to you to wait until tomorrow for the something faster.

Sure, I'd have liked a Merom-based MBP, but I needed a laptop immediately, so I chose the best of what was available, and I'm not going to complain about it.

Merom-based MBPs could be announced Tuesday, or it could be another couple of weeks--it's hard to say, and depends on whether they're drastically re-vamping the case or not, and what kind of volume Intel is actually shipping at this point. Certainly, the price of the MBP you're looking at is going to drop a chunk when something with a Merom ships, but as you said yourself, there's probably not going to be a huge speed difference, and unless you need more than 2GB of RAM, it probably won't be a night-and-day difference.

So, can you wait a couple of weeks to either save money on the last generation or get the latest, or do you need something speedy right away?

I wouldn't get my hopes up for FW800 on the 15", but I suppose it's possible--they put a couple of FW800 ports on the Mac Pro, so they're definitely still backing the tech.
 
AHDuke99

AHDuke99

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 14, 2002
2,288
86
Charleston, SC
well, my powerbook has sold for $900. What I will do is wait till this Tuesday and see if there are updates, then if there isn't, I may go ahead and buy a 2.16GHZ Macbook Pro. I can't wait a month for updates, and I knew the longer I waited for them the less I'd sell my Powerbook for. I really like the Macbooks for their portability, but the lack of a dedicated graphics card would cripple the Photoshop work I do. If there are no Memron MBP Tuesday, then I expect they wont come till the special event. Sadly, I dont see me being able to wait a month to get a new machine now. I can use FW400 on my external HD, it'll just kill the speed and the whole reason I bought the drive, but I'll survive :p

I could always spent just $100 more and get a Macbook for $994 from macmall or amazon to hold over till MWSF, who knows. Apple sometimes makes life frustrating.
 
M

Makosuke

macrumors 604
Aug 15, 2001
6,662
1,242
The Cool Part of CA, USA
It won't do any good with the case you already own, but a suggestion: an eSATA card for the MBP will hook to any cheap eSATA case, and that'll net you speeds even in excess of FW800. It's what I plan to do with mine, even though I actually have a FW800 port.
 
F

Fearless Leader

macrumors 68020
Mar 21, 2006
2,360
0
Hoosiertown
Makosuke said:
Certainly, the price of the MBP you're looking at is going to drop a chunk when something with a Merom ships, but as you said yourself, there's probably not going to be a huge speed difference, and unless you need more than 2GB of RAM, it probably won't be a night-and-day difference....
Click to expand...

well technically yonah chips are able to handle up to 4gb of ram.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom