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PowerBook before Fall 2005?

K

Kurt871

macrumors regular
Original poster
Hi everyone. I have a question that's been nagging at me for sometime. I'm currently a senior in high school and will be graduating in June, and (hopefully) going to college in the fall of 2005. I'm definetely going to be buying an Apple computer (my very first one! 😀) and I think I've narrowed it down to a PowerBook. My question is: will there be a new iteration of the PowerBook by that time? A G5 maybe? I own an iPod, so I know from experience how quickly something can become "obsolete" very quickly (though I hate the 4G and would never trade in my 3G for anything 😉) Do you recommend waiting until JUST before I absolutely need it or just might as well get one now? Thanks for any input on this.

Kurt
 
Kurt871 said:
Hi everyone. I have a question that's been nagging at me for sometime. I'm currently a senior in high school and will be graduating in June, and (hopefully) going to college in the fall of 2005. I'm definetely going to be buying an Apple computer (my very first one! 😀) and I think I've narrowed it down to a PowerBook. My question is: will there be a new iteration of the PowerBook by that time? A G5 maybe? I own an iPod, so I know from experience how quickly something can become "obsolete" very quickly (though I hate the 4G and would never trade in my 3G for anything 😉) Do you recommend waiting until JUST before I absolutely need it or just might as well get one now? Thanks for any input on this.

Kurt
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i would wait until the next ones come out, because i got my 12" powerbook right after the got released in April. so its soon to be replaced, and you dont want to have the disappointment of of buying a $1400+ computer to have it drastically lose its value two weeks later when the new ones would be realized.... thats what happened to me with my iPod ($300 brand new, and a 2 1/2 weeks later 4g ipod comes out and my 3g is now worth $200 at best, now its even worse, i probably couldn't even give it away lol.)
 
Yes it is highly likely that the Powerbook will be updated by the fall of 2005. The Powerbook was last updated in April, and the average time between recent updates is about 9 months. So January next year, based on recent history is the best guess. However no one knows if it will be a speedbumped G4, G5 or even the dual core Freescale processor. All that one can say is that it almost certainly will be updated with something before fall next year.

All Apple have hinted at is the Powerbook will not be updated this year.

However, the current Powerbook is pretty quick, but if you really don't need one now it may be worth waiting to see what happens at the Mac Expo in January.
 
James Craner said:
Yes it is highly likely that the Powerbook will be updated by the fall of 2005. The Powerbook was last updated in April, and the average time between recent updates is about 9 months. So January next year, based on recent history is the best guess. However no one knows if it will be a speedbumped G4, G5 or even the dual core Freescale processor. All that one can say is that it almost certainly will be updated with something before fall next year.

All Apple have hinted at is the Powerbook will not be updated this year.

However, the current Powerbook is pretty quick, but if you really don't need one now it may be worth waiting to see what happens at the Mac Expo in January.
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I just got hired at a highschool and slated to start Jan 10th 2005. So it will be Mac buying time. I have been holding out for a while now. So i just hope they updaye these damn pbooks. cause if not i will just get an iBook.
 
I would wait until the very last rev., if you are planing before fall 2005 you may get the possible release in Paris.

I'm pretty sure we will see something new in MWSF 05 and then Paris, if they come later, March/April, and I doubt it, the next one would be in november 2005... buying is almost gambling...
 
Kurt871 said:
Hi everyone. I have a question that's been nagging at me for sometime. I'm currently a senior in high school and will be graduating in June, and (hopefully) going to college in the fall of 2005. I'm definitely going to be buying an Apple computer (my very first one! 😀) and I think I've narrowed it down to a PowerBook. My question is: will there be a new iteration of the PowerBook by that time? A G5 maybe? I own an iPod, so I know from experience how quickly something can become "obsolete" very quickly (though I hate the 4G and would never trade in my 3G for anything 😉) Do you recommend waiting until JUST before I absolutely need it or just might as well get one now? Thanks for any input on this.

Kurt
Click to expand...

As always it is always best to buy what you need when it's needed. There will always be something new coming just around the corner. If Apple does come out with a dual core G4 or G5 PowerBook, it would be best to wait for Rev. B. Let others test out the new product.
 
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It is true that ordinarily you should buy whenever you need something.

But this is an exceptional case.
The G4 is a badly outdated processor. The G5 is just beautiful.

There is such a gap in real-life performance that it might make sense to wait for a G5. I mean think about it, the G4s FSB makes it look 3 years old. Frankly, thats unnacceptable in any machine these days, and apple knows it.

Im agreeing with the previous poster, i think powerbook G5 will come between April and july 2005. It will definetely come in 2005.

I actually am waiting for a powerbook. But then im in no real rush for one.

Can i just comment about the number of 'switchers'. I find the number of switchers staggering these days compared to 2 years ago, apple must be making inroads. It sure is a far cry from a couple of years back, and its good to see.
 
V.A.Toss said:
It is true that ordinarily you should buy whenever you need something.

But this is an exceptional case.
The G4 is a badly outdated processor. The G5 is just beautiful.

There is such a gap in real-life performance that it might make sense to wait for a G5. I mean think about it, the G4s FSB makes it look 3 years old. Frankly, thats unnacceptable in any machine these days, and apple knows it.

Im agreeing with the previous poster, i think powerbook G5 will come between April and july 2005. It will definetely come in 2005.

I actually am waiting for a powerbook. But then im in no real rush for one.

Can i just comment about the number of 'switchers'. I find the number of switchers staggering these days compared to 2 years ago, apple must be making inroads. It sure is a far cry from a couple of years back, and its good to see.
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i disagree a bit, because it seems that everyone i know would love to have a mac, but they have this misconception that they cost tons of money, but then again i am a firm believer in you get what you pay for. and as far as the g4 being outdated, i would say that for a desktop but keep in mind ALL of apples laptops are 1.35" or less thin, so to cram a g5 in such a small space will take sometime, but i hope not to much time. and the pc people sure they can put their biggest fastest processor in, but they sacrifice size and battery life.
 
What will you be using it for? if you would do heavy editing/gaming then wait for the G5, if not then G4 are doing very well as they are now.
 
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rozwell said:
i disagree a bit, because it seems that everyone i know would love to have a mac, but they have this misconception that they cost tons of money, but then again i am a firm believer in you get what you pay for. and as far as the g4 being outdated, i would say that for a desktop but keep in mind ALL of apples laptops are 1.35" or less thin, so to cram a g5 in such a small space will take sometime, but i hope not to much time. and the pc people sure they can put their biggest fastest processor in, but they sacrifice size and battery life.
Click to expand...

Its not about biggest fastest processors though, its just the FSB. There have been thinish laptops with mobile Athlons at 1.5Ghz for a while now, and they eat a G4, simply because the FSB is faster. Im not saying that the PC laptop is better, but the CPU is.

your right though, the G4 doesnt look nearly as embaressing in the powerbook as it did in the powermac.

Your right every1 wants a mac and yet no one is willing to take the plunge. But if you compare on these boards the number of switchers with the amount 2 years ago (or during the dark days of the PPC 7400), then it really seems like apple is starting to make inroads. Small inroads, but an increase never the less.

I think they will cram a G5 in a powerbook within 8 months simply because its what both Apple and IBM are good at. After all, fitting the G4 in a TiBook was astonishing when it happened. This is only about as much so.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm gonna wait until the last possible second buy a PB. I'll prolly just use it for school-related stuff. I could probably settle for an iBook, but there's something about the PowerBook that just captivates... sorry, dozed off into my Mac-reveling phase. *crosses fingers for G5 PB in '05*
 
The PowerBooks should be updated before then. My PowerBook is not slow by any means, and next to my Dull, it seems very fast, but I am always after more speed. I have always been like that. My PowerMac wasn't fast enough 12 months after new, and my PowerBook would have been better with a G5, but we can't control these things. A Laptop is never meant to be a gaming computer. Not in the peecee world or in the Mac world, and this reflects on the speed and the FSB on the Power/iBooks. Sure, a G5 may make it a semi capable computer, especially for gaming, but if that is what you wanted to do, get a dual G5 or a peecee, like many people on these forums. If you buy the computer now, you will not regret it at all. Just remember is is a year before Autumn next year (northern Hemisphere, not southern), so we will see a possible iMac update, a PowerMac Update and definitely a update to the 'Book range.

Oh, and V.A.Toss, a Subject is not necessary, and if you are only going to type random characters into it, don't bother posting a subject at all.
 
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