Are Dual Core rumors enough to wait for?

[sswany]

I've been reading these forums for the last week or so and wanted to ask an opinion. Right now I have a recent IBM that I'm selling to purchase a Powerbook (should have done it in the first place but was scared about engineering/education software incompatilibities). Once I sell the IBM (hopefullin the next week) I'll be in the market to purchase a Powerbook.

I want the 15" but I keep reading about these Dual Core rumors. Will the Dual Core G4's go into the 12 - 17" Powerbooks or maybe just the 17" because of size and cooling?

My main dilemma is that the 1.67GHz Powerbook is only $1899 through my school instead of $2299 through the Apple Store or the $2099 it is through normal education discounts. I'm wondering if the Dual Cores will be maybe the same price and worth the wait, or if maybe when they release the one I want will drop further. I do occasional Photoshop/InDesign/Illustrator work and will probably end up using SolidWorks through VirtualPC a few times out of neccessity so the extra power would be nice, but I've used the 15" now and they're MUCH faster than I expected after reading all the Pentium-M vs. G4 debates.

I think I'm leaning towards just buying the 1.67 when I sell the IBM and just dealing with it, but I'd hate to have thought that I could have purchased maybe the last interm update before the Intel Powerbook (not concerned with waiting for that one).

Thanks for the help and the opinions.

 

[chucknorris]

I've been reading these forums for the last week or so and wanted to ask an opinion. Right now I have a recent IBM that I'm selling to purchase a Powerbook (should have done it in the first place but was scared about engineering/education software incompatilibities). Once I sell the IBM (hopefullin the next week) I'll be in the market to purchase a Powerbook.

I want the 15" but I keep reading about these Dual Core rumors. Will the Dual Core G4's go into the 12 - 17" Powerbooks or maybe just the 17" because of size and cooling?

My main dilemma is that the 1.67GHz Powerbook is only $1899 through my school instead of $2299 through the Apple Store or the $2099 it is through normal education discounts. I'm wondering if the Dual Cores will be maybe the same price and worth the wait, or if maybe when they release the one I want will drop further. I do occasional Photoshop/InDesign/Illustrator work and will probably end up using SolidWorks through VirtualPC a few times out of neccessity so the extra power would be nice, but I've used the 15" now and they're MUCH faster than I expected after reading all the Pentium-M vs. G4 debates.

I think I'm leaning towards just buying the 1.67 when I sell the IBM and just dealing with it, but I'd hate to have thought that I could have purchased maybe the last interm update before the Intel Powerbook (not concerned with waiting for that one).

Thanks for the help and the opinions.

If I was in the market for a pbook right now, I wouldn't even think about buying until they get an update. The line is ripe for a speed bump (the processors are there), and most of all a price drop. You could very well save 2 or 3 hundred dollars by waiting for the update, whether it's something dual-core or not.

The way the iBook line shifted down price-wise, left very obvious (to me) room for the PowerBooks to do the same. Using the iBook as an example: one would have paid $300 more for a computer with similar features BTO and an inferior gpu had they purchased before the recent update.

That's incentive enough to hold out!

I would say wait as long as you can, and expect an update in the near future (at least before September's over).

 

[Project]

Yeah wait until the Expo - its only a month and definitely worth holding out for.

 

[eXan]

Yeah wait until the Expo - its only a month and definitely worth holding out for.

Yes I agree with Project - wait a month if you can then buy.

 

[djkny]

Yeah wait until the Expo - its only a month and definitely worth holding out for.

but the question is --- what's your time worth? 30 days for $300 off? That averages to $10/day or $1.40/hr. that's quite a low view of your personal value.

Money you can always make back, but not your time.

 

[ouphe]

Then again, how much of your time will you save using a superior machine? I'd wait.

-Colin

 

[46and2]

Personally, I don't see the PBs going dual core until they switch to Intel (i.e. Yonah). That said, we are so close to Paris, you might as well wait and see.

 

[sswany]

If these supposed Dual Cores come out, if they hit the same price point that I'm looking at I'd buy that for sure, but that would suck if I waited until Paris to buy and they didn't release.

Whoever invented the way technology gets released and outdates itself almost instantly is a genious.

 

[ouphe]

Even if the dual cores come out and they are out of your price range, you will still see a significant price reduction for the non-dual-core PBs, so you will save some of your money to put toward an extra monitor for it, or other accessories. Or, you know, buy groceries (or maybe that's just the college student reaction to extra money...).
In any case, I think you should wait, but regardless of when you end up buying, I know you will love your PB. Many of my friends have them, and they would give away their children before their beloved PBs.

-Colin

 

[4God]

Wait.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Allways buy after the shows not before. Dual Core's maybe,maybe not. G5s are what 2.3 without water coolers on them at the moment? 3.0 G5s are 2 years overdue? I would have to lean we wont see any dual core's and maybe the 3.0 G5 with a small radiator. Paper is easy just ask Motorola, mass production is another. IBM's history with chips for Apple has sucked and with Apple's announcement of Intel i dont think its going to improve the situation. Still the shows are when they make a lot of changes.