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Buy in January or wait till summer?

C

crossed-over

macrumors member
Original poster
Hey guys. I'm fortunate to have the following dilemma, and wanted some advice:

I am currently running a very nice dual G4, but have fallen in love with the G5's. I think they are the best computer Apple has produced in a long time. To make it short: I am going to get one.

The problem is, I will be shopping for a diamond ring in the very near future for my lady whom I've been seeing for over 4 years now. I know that once I buy the ring, I will be a little strapped for cash, and probably won't be able to buy one of these revolutionary machines. My thinking is that I should buy the best possible machine I can get to last me awhile before I have to settle down with my spending.

I am caught in a situation where I want to buy one of the upcoming g5's anticipated in January(MWSF), but have heard rumors that summer '04 will see 3GHz g5's. Also, I am concerned that the value of my G4 will decrease too much if I wait.

Should I go ahead and jump on the ones in January, or wait it out for the possibility of a giant leap to 3gig in summer? 😕

Any opinions will be appreciated.
 
if she's special enough that you want to marry her, i'd think G5s are an afterthought.

the question should NOT be "should i get G5 in jan. or summer" but "when would i want to propose to her?"

she would (rightfully) get mad if she found out that the date of your proposal was affected by your desire to purchase a computer.

-------------------------------------------------

waiting is not just lowering your resale value of G4. it's also increasing your use out of the G4 and the specs that will come in your G5 whenever it's purchased and/or decreasing the price of G5...
 
She is certainly special enough to marry her, which is why I'm choosing to buy the computer before I take up the financial responsibility of having a significant other. And how exactly does pushing back the date of a proposal indicate that I care less about her? Where does anything state that a later proposal means I love her less? We have discussed that we would rather get the things we personally want before merging together, and having to budget our funds for the future.

This decision is based on the fact that I love her, and I'm willing to hold onto a computer for a long time to aid in our own financial circumstances. My dilemma is will I get the better computer for the future in January or Summer?

In essence, this is a sort of bachelor gift for myself before the wedding.
 
it's just a matter of perspective, i guess.

i would personally make the G5 purchase decision based on when you plan to propose, not the other way around - which is the way your question was phrased. (before your edit...)

i'm not trying to be critical, you asked for an opinion so i responded based on what you wrote. i wasn't really questioning how much you love her, etc. that's really none of my business.

i don't know, man, i don't think it really makes much difference when you buy it. since this isn't about buying a G4 vs. G5, no matter when you buy it, the longevity of the machine will be about the same. sure, if you buy next summer, it's 6 months ahead in terms of technology and price, but do you think that 6 months will make *that* much of a difference 3 years down the road? i think not.

jobs promised a 1 GHz increase in a year, so if you believe that, there should be a 3 GHz machine next summer. but 6 months from now, your G4 will be that much older. take your pick...

is there a special date that could fall between now and the summer? why not plan on proposing then and see how you are financially based on that - then decide when you can buy the G5?
 
Well, I had two dates available for proposal. One in March, and the other in May, both times when we will be going on trips/vacation. Either one is ideal for the proposal. Like I said, she is a very open and giving person, and she cares more about me being ready than tying the knot earlier. I am thinking now, that it is probably best to sell my g4 as soon as I can to get more resell value out of it, and just spring for the g5 in January. 😀 No complaints with that. Thanks for the input.
 
Ha ha. Nice, but she's already claimed my 500MHz powerbook for her own. Maybe I can talk her into getting registered at the Apple store for the wedding gifts....😀
 
Re: Buy in January or wait till summer?

Originally posted by crossed-over

Should I go ahead and jump on the ones in January, or wait it out for the possibility of a giant leap to 3gig in summer? 😕

Any opinions will be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Maybe you should wait and see what is released at MWSF before trying to make that decision. =)

If the new machines top out at 2.5 Ghz or better, I don't think there is much to be gained from waiting for another 500 Mhz (unless IBM surprises us and moves some Power5 features - in particular, simultaneous multithreading - down to the PPC family by this summer).
 
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