new to Mac

[MacNoobie]

Hello all,

First time posting in a Mac forum though I'm really at a crossroad here I feel like. I've always been a Windows and PC kind of guy and the last time I used a Mac was when the IIe's were around in elementary school and later on in middle school with OS 9 and one of the power Mac’s around the 9700 models I think. Anyways needless to say I haven’t looked at Apple or Mac's in awhile but recently I've started to take a HUGE interest in Apple and Mac's after I bought my first iPod (40GB) and after seeing the Macworld or Keynotes speech for 2005 from Steve Jobs. I must say I'm very impressed with how far Apple's come in the last few years especially with stuff like iLife, iWork, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Shake. I'm debating on getting a PowerMac and if I should wait because I want a system with OS X Tiger on it and I read that eWEEK said that Apple would announce Tiger the beginning of April and sell it by April 15th, whether this is true or not is another story. Now I'm hearing rumors of the new 970GX CPU and what not and I'm wondering what’s going to happen to the dual CPU G5 2.5 GHz? I can’t remember exactly what web site I saw that the dual CPU PowerMac's were reaching their end of life and that they'd be replaced eventually. I don’t have a problem with waiting but I'd rather not go out and buy the dual 2.5's and find out like a month or two later there’s a 3 GHz model out.

I'm also looking at a PowerBook 17" model but I'd rather wait on that till the G5's make it into the PB's.

So basically what should I do for a first time switcher?

Want a Mac that’s going to be fast and last awhile which is why I'm going with the fastest Mac Apple offers and a nice 30" Apple Display since I'm planning on using Final Cut Pro and Motion to edit high definition video off the Sony HDR-FX1 I plan on buying. I'm also going to use Photoshop CS, Illustrator CS, Dreamweaver MX 2004, and Flash MX 2004.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Hi MacN, welcome.

It looks like you are in the enviable position of being able to afford the equipment you need.

As far as timing the market... There is no way to protect yourself. There is guaranteed to be a newer, faster, cheaper option within 6 months of whatever and whenever you buy. Nobody in their right mind would give you even a two month guarantee against technological progress. Also, a new machine announced in three months does not change the speed or capability of your existing machine one whit - the only change is your perception of whether you have the "best" or not.

Apple doesn't preannounce their models (well, some people will argue that announcing a product that they don't have adequate stock of for two months is really pre-announcement, but I digress) The Apple Rumor industry is very active, and the thing is, almost all of the wish list (dual core G5, new IBM cores, new Powerbook chips, quad processor) will come true ---- eventually. The rumor mill however has been really bad at predicting when, exactly, a given enhancement will appear.

You can look at historical hardware version update intervals and the classic Apple announce events (MacWorld, WWDC) and make some extremely short term decisions like "MacWorld is next week, should I commit $5000 today or wait?". BUT - basing a purchase decision around when Apple is going to put a G5 in a Powerbook is fruitless, because it is so far out and unpredictable.

In general, buy a machine when you need to use the machine, with the exception of the couple of weeks leading up to a major event like MacWorld.

We know Tiger is coming; your cost of jumping into a Panter machine now is the cost of Tiger later - what is it in the US, $159? That's like 2% of the budget for your whole system. Is it worth $159 to use the machine for 2 months? Also, I personally prefer to let the keeners and early adopters shake out a new OS for a few months before jumping in myself. Remember, never volunteer and never buy version 1.0

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[MacNoobie]

Hi Trevor,

It almost seems like I should bite the bullet and just dive in to the Mac right now and start learning the OS and all the Applications I can get my hands on right now and just go out there and do it. The dual 2.5's don’t feel slow and I don't mind paying the what 130-160 for Tiger but it almost seems like all this new stuff is coming out in the next few months which if I have to I could wait until June and see what happens to be out at the time.

It seems like my only option is to buy this stuff now (or at least some of it) learn the OS, learn the apps, and come July when our family goes on vacation I'd be more confident in knowing how to edit all the high def videos I plan on shooting and getting use to a digital SLR.

Buy it now, play with it, have fun and learn something new.

 

[CanadaRAM]

My view is:
if you will get value out of having it today, vs. 3 months from now, buy it today.

If it's going to sit around like a doorstop for 3 months until you can give it time to work on it, then wait until you have the time to jump onto it -because then you won't lose anything by waiting.

Each decision has an opportunity cost:
wait and lose 3 months of learning time, or
get started using it and lose the potential opportunity of buying something newer later.

If you really, really can't decide, borrow or rent a Mac, any Mac, and start learning on it until you are ready to go for the new machine. The rental fee is a loss, of course, but that's the cost of hedging your bet.

Last but not least, you have a self-imposed deadline in July -- If you wait for the New Thing that is announced in, say, mid-June, be prepared that the top end model would not be deliverable for some weeks, pushing your start date into July or even August.

 

[jackieonasses]

Hi Trevor,

It almost seems like I should bite the bullet and just dive in to the Mac right now and start learning the OS and all the Applications I can get my hands on right now and just go out there and do it. The dual 2.5's don’t feel slow and I don't mind paying the what 130-160 for Tiger but it almost seems like all this new stuff is coming out in the next few months which if I have to I could wait until June and see what happens to be out at the time.

It seems like my only option is to buy this stuff now (or at least some of it) learn the OS, learn the apps, and come July when our family goes on vacation I'd be more confident in knowing how to edit all the high def videos I plan on shooting and getting use to a digital SLR.

Buy it now, play with it, have fun and learn something new.

Boy will you be impressed. I remember when i first started using macs... (about 6-7 years ago) I was overwhelmed. I am sure you will be too. Maybe even more so. No viruses. Period. No spyware/adware - No crashing (a severe rarity) And a multi-tasking experience. Not to mention Apple makes good looking computers too.

Remember to Search the forums for any questions, and Welcome to MacRumors!

Just remember to search for some sweet sharewhere apps here - the programmer's community is sweet - and you get alot of apps that way.


kyle

 

[MacNoobie]

My view is:
if you will get value out of having it today, vs. 3 months from now, buy it today.

If it's going to sit around like a doorstop for 3 months until you can give it time to work on it, then wait until you have the time to jump onto it -because then you won't lose anything by waiting.

Each decision has an opportunity cost:
wait and lose 3 months of learning time, or
get started using it and lose the potential opportunity of buying something newer later.

If you really, really can't decide, borrow or rent a Mac, any Mac, and start learning on it until you are ready to go for the new machine. The rental fee is a loss, of course, but that's the cost of hedging your bet.

Last but not least, you have a self-imposed deadline in July -- If you wait for the New Thing that is announced in, say, mid-June, be prepared that the top end model would not be deliverable for some weeks, pushing your start date into July or even August.

I'd definitely get value out of buying one in the next few weeks, I'd use it all the time to get to know Panther and things like iLife and iWork and using those and maybe Final Cut Express HD to learn how to edit videos and make something I'm proud to say I made and learned how to do. That’s more or less the sort of head start advantage I want before going on a family vacation.

I really wish there were places here in my small town to rent a Mac or at least be able to sit at a station ala Kinko's and just be able to use one even if it was like 9 bucks an hour or what not.

The other thing is I really don't have a problem with buying one now and finding out let's say in August that a dual 3Ghz is out because that’s inevitable and that’s progress. I just don’t want to buy one now for example and find out Apple's like yeah we're getting ready to release a new PowerMac dual 3Ghz in May (highly unlikely) and be like well I could of waited 2 more months and probably gotten a more updated machine.

What I might do is just pickup everything and start playing with it in the next few weeks.

Might also look at a Power Book but that’s probably more towards June so I could finally upgrade my 1Ghz P3 laptop I'm using for web design.