$600 laptop for college.

[sushi]

I recently bought a last revision 15" PowerBook for $700 USD. The machine was right at a year old. I chose it over a refurbished MacBook because:
it has a 128MB Radeon 9700
higher screen resolution
some of the applications I run aren't yet Universal
and, believe it or not, I still use Classic.

Sounds good.

I too still use Classic and find that my PowerBook 15 works fine.

I also have a Core Duo Mac mini, and while the speed difference between the two is definitely noticeable, it isn't nearly as vast as some make it out to be.

For day to day tasks such as wordprocessing, spreadsheets, e-mail and browsing the web I completely agree.

Of course for some, there are reasons to get a new Intel based laptop.

As I mentioned earlier it all depends on the user's needs.

 

[janey]

Bottom line, it all depends on one's needs.

Yes it does, and nothing mentioned by the OP is something that the OP's sister needs a PPC mac for

and I suppose, to clarify, I meant that PPC was being obsoleted by apps not supporting it anymore, partly due to the OS (eventually Apple will drop PPC support), partly due to the arch (sometimes too much of a PITA, as seen with apps like Joost).

Get one directly from Apple either through Edu discount or refurbished discount. Pick up warranty a month before it expires if she still has it.

ADC student discount is nice for pricier machines (e.g. MBP and Mac Pro).

Being in a college dorm, she'll hopefully learn how to share music & files over servers wirelessly. At the very least 1GB of RAM (NOTHING LESS!), Superdrive (DVD burner), and a mini-portable hard drive.

No, I wouldn't agree. If the Superdrive costs extra, it might as well be spent on an external DVD burner if she needs to burn DVDs. More useful, faster (internal 16x dvd burners are $30-40, so either external burner or external enclosure for the internal drive will be under $100), cheaper. The odds she'll need to burn a DVD on the go is very slim.

I'd bet that what would be more useful would be a flash drive or iPod, not an external hdd. The iPod doubles as a media player, the usb flash drive fits on a keychain. I got a 4gb flash drive for dirt cheap a month ago, it fits nicely on my keychain and I love it. I got U3 and PortableApps on it, as well as portable versions of some Mac software, so I can use all my usual apps without needing to install (and of course, it's impossible to install anything in a school lab ...).

and as for a spare battery, most people arent away from a power source more than 5 hours a day, which is the battery life of the current macbook.. soo.. why are you telling someone whos trying to save money that they have to buy all these different things when they dont need them?

I would disagree. I use my MacBook for almost all my classes (even math, har), and sometimes my battery can't go more than 2-3 hours at most. Five hours is if you turn off everything and have brightness at low and use TextEdit to take notes with a fully charged battery, not using Visual Studio in Windows in Parallels (dumb CS classes...), or using Airport with SubEthaEdit or Google Docs for collaborative notetaking at the same time I'm using Eclipse to play around with sample code and using Safari to research stuff online.

I had some Apple discount codes to burn, so I got myself an extra charger and battery a couple months after getting my MacBook. Even if I only use each battery for 3 hours at most, it lasts long enough to generally cover all my classes and gives me some time between classes to use for one day. A battery is significantly thinner than the charger, even without the extension cable. This also lets me choose better seats in class and gives me more mobility to move around, instead of sitting near the back where there's a plug or having to think about moving the power cord out of the way or in some position so someone won't trip over it.

I also have a Core Duo Mac mini, and while the speed difference between the two is definitely noticeable, it isn't nearly as vast as some make it out to be.

Depends on what you're doing

I think the bigger point people are making in this thread is that the Intel mac isn't going to be easily outdated like the PPC ones already have been, and particularly the cost of some of the PPC laptops is ridiculous considering the OP's sister has yet to have a need for something that requires such a Mac (like you with Classic). Plus whatever apparently slight performance benefit there is from using an Intel mac will only grow as time goes on.

The only major non-Universal app the OP's sister might need is Microsoft Office, and even that is going to see a Universal update later this year. Even if she doesn't get Office 2008, 2004 still runs okay with Rosetta.

 

[theLimit]

Depends on what you're doing

Definitely true! Like I said, there is a noticeable difference in speed. Even the iLife apps are snappier on my Core Duo mini over the G4 PowerBook. Video rendering seems to be the biggest difference in my usage, with the mini winning hands down. But with Safari, Mail, iTunes, and MS Word, the difference is imperceptible.

Honestly, if I wasn't tied to software that either hasn't been upgraded, or is too expensive for me to upgrade at this time, I would have spent the extra $200 on a refurb MacBook. If you don't rely on outdated/abandoned software like I do, the Intel Macs are the way to go.

I do believe that third-party PPC support will disappear sooner rather than later, and an Intel Mac would be a more wise investment. Especially for a young, trendy college student, with their IMs and video blogs and TV over the internet.

 

[sushi]

Yes it does, and nothing mentioned by the OP is something that the OP's sister needs a PPC mac for

True!

But some of old farts like classic ladies (like yourself ), computers, etc. and of course to be able to run Classic apps!

and I suppose, to clarify, I meant that PPC was being obsoleted by apps not supporting it anymore, partly due to the OS (eventually Apple will drop PPC support), partly due to the arch (sometimes too much of a PITA, as seen with apps like Joost).

You make a good point about in the future when new apps are developed that will not run on PPC Macs.

But that does not mean that current apps will no longer run fine. If my current PowerBook still works 5 years from now, the apps that I am currently using will continue to work as they do now. Now granted they won't be the latest and greatest, but if my apps meet my needs who cares? Heck, my favorite word processor is FullWrite Professional and it runs under Classic. The last time it was updated was in 1996 -- so that makes it 11 years since the last update.

BTW, I dread the day that I cannot use FullWrite professional anymore.

 

[seany916]

I understand the concept of saving money and trying to do the most with the least. It always perplexes me how people will try to save a few bucks when buying a computer and accessories, then spend more on a bunch of workarounds to make up for not getting decent stuff in the first place.

Yes, a G4 will work. I can't even find a power connector for my old G3 anymore. For surfing and note-taking, it'll be fine. You'd figure that she would learn something from the people around her at school. I hope she doesn't end up replacing it earlier than she otherwise would have because it can't run what she wants it to or just runs slow in comparison to other computers she will probably use.

If all she's doing is surfing and note-taking, $99 towards learning how to better utilize her computer would go a lot further than $99 toward equipment.

Your sister isn't worth spending a few hundred bucks more now for less aggravation down the line? Have you ever seen a college student frantically searching for an electrical socket because their battery is dying? It's so sad it's not even funny. Many schools have now added sockets right in front of the desks to provide a reliable source of electricity. In the older buildings, many students FIGHT for space near the wall socket. Sometimes, people will bring power strips so that the 2 sockets can be expanded to 4+. 5 hours of regular usage on a Macbook is amazing if she can pull it off. How many classes will she be attending in one day? The hours will add up. If she wants to just sit at the student union and surf/email or find a nice shady spot outside to work, will she have to debate using up her precious battery life?

Don't cheap out on something you'll be using almost daily for the next few years (unless you go cheap in the first place and have to replace it much sooner).

Just a personal opinion (please don't flame):

Spend more up front:
Great computer/good computer/decent computer/sell and recoup some of what you originally paid to go toward next computer

Cheap out to save money:
decent computer/frustratingly slow computer that might not run current or needed programs/options are to sell for almost nothing, rip somebody off (don't do that!), or use it as a large paperweight

That said, YMMV. Best of luck to your sister. Where is she going to school & what is she studying? Her major may have specific preferences toward computers.

Maybe drop $600 now and drop more later when she discovers her setup is woefully inadequate. Maybe her classes will require her to run mostly PC programs (parallels...). Maybe she'll really like her $600 PPC G4 with 512 RAM and 60GB HD.

 

[sushi]

IMaybe drop $600 now and drop more later when she discovers her setup is woefully inadequate. Maybe her classes will require her to run mostly PC programs (parallels...). Maybe she'll really like her $600 PPC G4 with 512 RAM and 60GB HD.

Or maybe she can use the G4 laptop for a few years, then get a current machine when she is ready to upgrade.

 

[brop52]

I'd buy a new computer when it is updated this summer instead of an older one. (Especially laptops). It's value is much less in terms of a cycle of replacing your computer. Buying one computer in 5+ years is much more cost effective than buying a used old one and then a new one in the same timeframe.

 

[Whistleway]

If you really want to go mac, then G4 would be just fine, given the budget and needs. All this fancy talk of latest and greatest is ..

As a student with a laptop, they will eventually break down in the dorm in a couple of years. No need to buy a refurbished one with apple care etc and when you add in the taxes at edu apple store etc, it just not worth it, given the needs.

G4 is a fine machine. Powerbook 12" if you can find one at price or iBook 12" would be real neat. 1 GB sticks are getting cheaper all the time. Besides, PPC will be supported for quite a while. If you get a family pack of leopard, you are all set for a couple of years, atleast.

Probably a reasonable PC might be better if applications etc are needed for school.