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Advice: the high end powerbook or the 15 gig iPod

Z

zach007

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 29, 2004
37
0
Arkansas
this is what I am planning on getting: the lower end 15" PB with added superdrive and backlit keyboard.

If I get the better 15" then I can't get the iPod.

advice please... :D

btw. all i'm planning on doing with the PB is normal web and school related stuff with microsoft office X and games like Counter Strike
 
simple: buy the 1.5 GHz pbook
reason: you won't be able to easily upgrade from 1.33 to 1.5 GHz, but you can, over time, save up for an ipod. by then, 4th gen's will almost definitely be available...

reality
 
realityisterror said:
simple: buy the 1.5 GHz pbook
reason: you won't be able to easily upgrade from 1.33 to 1.5 GHz, but you can, over time, save up for an ipod. by then, 4th gen's will almost definitely be available...

reality
Click to expand...

Yup. The iPods are great, but I think the high end pb will be a much better investment. The pbs are at a great price point to hardware ratio right now, and if I were in your shoes I would go for the high end pb in a heartbeat.

- reaper
 
...and let's not forget- that as long as you don't mind carrying your PBook with you where ever you go- there's your iPod ;)
(just hard to jog/excercise with it that way)
 
realityisterror said:
simple: buy the 1.5 GHz pbook
reason: you won't be able to easily upgrade from 1.33 to 1.5 GHz, but you can, over time, save up for an ipod. by then, 4th gen's will almost definitely be available...

reality
Click to expand...

agreed. Always make what you can't upgrade later your first priority.
 
personally- I would get the 15" combo drive, but with no frills. Buy an external DVD burner if you need one. The 1.5 ghz is barely benching any higher than the 1.33- strangled by the 167 mhz system bus. Also, you can get an external Lacie 8x DVD burner for around 200 bucks. do you really need a DVD burner on you? Save the 500 bucks and get 1gig of ram and an ipod. The backlit keyboard is "cute" but worth it? The internal drive even when upgraded sucks anyway- personally I'm thinking of getting the 15" combo drive with two firewire 800 drives (one as a boot disk the other for audio) and then 1 gig of RAM for the same price as the 15" 1.5 with 128 vid card and 5400 rpm HD. Not too tough of a choice for myself.
 
Bhennies said:
personally- I would get the 15" combo drive, but with no frills. Buy an external DVD burner if you need one. The 1.5 ghz is barely benching any higher than the 1.33- strangled by the 167 mhz system bus. Also, you can get an external Lacie 8x DVD burner for around 200 bucks. do you really need a DVD burner on you? Save the 500 bucks and get 1gig of ram and an ipod. The backlit keyboard is "cute" but worth it? The internal drive even when upgraded sucks anyway- personally I'm thinking of getting the 15" combo drive with two firewire 800 drives (one as a boot disk the other for audio) and then 1 gig of RAM for the same price as the 15" 1.5 with 128 vid card and 5400 rpm HD. Not too tough of a choice for myself.
Click to expand...
i agree, but id replace the HD myself with a 7200 rpm drive. 167mhz FSB makes the difference between a 1.3 and 1.5 almost irrelevant. The money for the superdrive is better spent on RAM and an external burner (wait for dual layer burners).
 
I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I didn't use my 20gb iPod as much I used to after I purchased my PB. That's why I sold it 2 weeks later. If I were you, I'd buy the 1.5mhz PB, max it out, and save for the 4th gen. iPod.
 
sorry...just my two scents...

I know this wasn't one of the options you suggested...but considering what you want the computer for and what stage you are in your life (from what I can tell from your post)...have you considered getting the 14 inch iBook? It's nearly half the price of the computer you're considering and will do all the applications you mentioned with one hand tied behind its back. Save your money...or invest it...and buy a G5 PB in a few years' time when your needs are greater and you will be able to make use of the extra power...why own a lamborghini when you never drive above 80 mph?...unless the aesthetic issue is an issue...it IS true that there are few lovelier things than the 15 inch PB with backlit keyboard...
 
0s and 1s said:
I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I didn't use my 20gb iPod as much I used to after I purchased my PB. That's why I sold it 2 weeks later. If I were you, I'd buy the 1.5mhz PB, max it out, and save for the 4th gen. iPod.
Click to expand...
Same here. I got the iPod and used it quite a bit, but now that I have my iBook I rarely use the iPod. At work I just plug into the iBook and listen to iTunes.
 
Come on guys, Music Moves the Soul. Go with the lower end and the iPod. I doubt you will notice the difference. Granted the other way does make more sense, as an iPod is much easier to add than a processor upgrade, but I know I couldn't live without my iPod. If your really into Music, I would say get the iPod.
 
Koodauw said:
Come on guys, Music Moves the Soul. Go with the lower end and the iPod. I doubt you will notice the difference. Granted the other way does make more sense, as an iPod is much easier to add than a processor upgrade, but I know I couldn't live without my iPod. If your really into Music, I would say get the iPod.
Click to expand...
But you can get the iPod later, and probably a bigger capacity at the same, or lower, price point. You really can't do that with the PB.
 
Get the 1.33 GHz PB. The 1.5 GHz hardly benchmarks any higher than the 1.33 because the 167 MHz system bus is such a bottleneck. Spend the difference on a bunch of extra RAM and an iPod.
 
Get the 1.5. It'll have a higher resale value than the 1.33. Get the 128 vram and 5400rpm HD. Wait for the new iPod or buy a mini in 6 weeks.
 
Counterfit said:
But you can get the iPod later, and probably a bigger capacity at the same, or lower, price point. You really can't do that with the PB.
Click to expand...

I know. That's what I said. What I was getting at though was that if someone likes music a lot they will value an iPod more than a faster processor.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that around mid summer Apple might offer the a deal if you buy a computer and an iPod. I know I got my iPod for $79 after MIR, which was a deal I couldn't pass up. If you can wait, I would see if they have any promos like that again. Then you could have the best of both worlds.
 
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