when will my Powerbook be obsolete?

proverbs said:

i bought my PB back on 02/05. it is the 15" 1.67ghz 128mb v-ram 1.5gig ram. i was planning on selling it this month and save some money for the new MacBook Pro or MacBook that is supposed to come out in the near future.

i like my PB, but i havent used it to its maximum potential like i thought i would (my job changed from marketing to finance). i generally use it for internet, excel, word, toast, itunes and use it occassionally for photoshop, garageband, and macromedia.

i guess what im askin is - when do you think the PB will be considered OBSOLETE? is it a good time to invest in a MBP? i know there are still some people who would buy a PB since they only use the computer for programs like adobe cs2, etc. i paid a LOT of $ for it so im tryin to sell it while i can still get somethin for it.

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Your PB has become obsolete when is ceases to have the capability to, in a timely manner, perform the tasks that you require (bet it business or pleasure) in order to get on in life.

But your definition of "obsolete" may vary from mine. If by obsolete you mean it to have a low monetary value then the answer is no. You are correct in assuming that you could still get a decent bit of money for your PB were you to sell it today. If that is your concern then by all means ebay that baby and upgrade! Obviously, each week that goes by older computers become less valuable.

The G4 was already obsolete before it got phased out. Long live the G4.

Master of the obvious says...

When it quits being able to do what you need and/or as fast as it needs to be to satisfy YOU.

Neither Photoshop nor Microsoft Office for Mac have been released in a universal binary version.

Until that time, you're actually better off with what you have.

Just be sure to max the RAM.

You can run Tiger and Leopard and still do all the things you are used to doing.

I wouldn't bother upgrading until we see the Intel Penryn 45 nm processors.

That's hopefully next summer.

Your PowerBook will still be a very useful tool for most general use for quite some time.

Once you outgrow it, hand it down to a family member.

It will still be appreciated.

proverbs said:

i like my PB, but i havent used it to its maximum potential

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Well, then your PowerBook will last you much longer than you thought it would, and is far from obsolete.

Keep in mind that I am still able to do all the tasks you mention
on my 8 year old 300 MHz G3 tower.

If you already have a working computer running OSX and it's still doing everything
you need it to do, you're in good shape.

That's a real nice machine.

I would keep it for basic portable needs and if I needed better performance or
more storage, then I'd buy an iMac for all those big projects.

did you take it out of the box? then it's obsolete

The Powerbook Lombard that was released in 1999 is only now vintage and not yet obsolete. The Pismo from 2000 is still running Tiger great. Obsolete is really what you make it. If you're a high end graphics person then obsolete may be every 4 years or every year. It all depends on what you do. Your computer will be supported just fine by Leopard and I'm willing to bank some money that the OS after that will also run on your powerbook. That's just me though.

I have a 1ghz powerbook for home and work with intel imacs at work. The speed difference for my use (which are just like yours) isn't significant for me to jump ship. I'm constantly using garageband to record new songs and use most of the ilife apps. Until the computer is counterproductive towards what I do or the cost of upgrading justifies the money and productiveness I make, I'm staying with this "obsolete" g4 chip

proverbs said:

i bought my PB back on 02/05. it is the 15" 1.67ghz 128mb v-ram 1.5gig ram. i was planning on selling it this month and save some money for the new MacBook Pro or MacBook that is supposed to come out in the near future.

i like my PB, but i havent used it to its maximum potential like i thought i would (my job changed from marketing to finance). i generally use it for internet, excel, word, toast, itunes and use it occassionally for photoshop, garageband, and macromedia.

i guess what im askin is - when do you think the PB will be considered OBSOLETE? is it a good time to invest in a MBP? i know there are still some people who would buy a PB since they only use the computer for programs like adobe cs2, etc. i paid a LOT of $ for it so im tryin to sell it while i can still get somethin for it.

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I have an iBook which I was going to get rid of this year. Instead of spent money on upgrading the RAM (1.25GB) and added a 7200rpm hard drive. This thing flies and I'm happy to keep it for another 2-3 years. Its only a 1Ghz as well, if I get another machine before then to replace it then its only because I bought another one a whim and not because I needed to.

So since you haven't used yours to its potential its going to last a lot longer than mine anyway and you can still upgrade yours in the future.

Your PB will get obsolete once you realize you *need* a new computer, not want. Even then, it will be obsolete only for you. Some people with less demans to the computer will gladly take (buy) it from you.

dpaanlka said:

Well, then your PowerBook will last you much longer than you thought it would, and is far from obsolete.

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Agreed. For what you do, your computer is FAR from obsolete. It's silly to think that buying a new computer will help you do what you're doing any better than you're already doing it.

proverbs said:

i like my PB, but i havent used it to its maximum potential like i thought i would
<snip>
i guess what im askin is - when do you think the PB will be considered OBSOLETE? is it a good time to invest in a MBP?

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I think that the two sentences in your post answer your question for you. If you aren't even using a powerbook to its full potential, then what the heck do you need a MBP that is several times faster for? Seems excessive to me, based on what you said.

That baby still got some life in it.. let it live for at least another 6-8months..

unlike my 12" G4 887Mhz and 640mb ram, the thing is slowly apporaching its retirement age..

Zim

It becomes obsolete as soon as the new model is released

Your Powerbook will only become obsolete when it can no longer do the things that You need it to do.

We can not tell you when your computer is no good, if it does everything you need it to do.