Buying time

[staka69]

I was going to get a PB or iMac a few months back but I'm going to hold out until next year when the PB's come with intel inside.

I'm installing Linux on my windows xp laptop to hold me over.

My big beef is the outdated components in the ibooks & PB's. The new ibooks still only 32mb of video, that will get me through what another year before the latest & greatest programs/OS run too slow. For that kinda cash you should be talking about at least a 128mb video card. Same with the top of the line PB's, yeah they are nice but I don't want to spend $2500 bucks on yesterdays technology.

Regarding the iMacs, way too many reviews about the power supply burning up, components inside melting/poping....

I hope the switch to intel also means a safer investment.

I always thought Apple was the 'Toyota's' of computers, meaning they will always work, 100% reliable. I guess Dell would be up there in the PC world, even if it breaks, customer support is always there. Not in the mac world right?
I have seen way too many stories as well about apple putting up a fight and trying to band-aid the problem instead of just resolving your problem.

I understand the pluses that come with a Mac on the software end, but the hardware seems a little too iffy.

Anyway, I'm not bashing Apple but just want them to put out a better product line up & would not fear when I turned on the machine cuz it might not work.

 

[blackpeter]

I think you're taking a much bigger risk in waiting for the Macintels. You don't really expect them to work flawlessly for at least the first few months and even after that?

You'd be much better getting a Mac now and buying a Macintel as the next computer after that.

 

[grapes911]

I was going to get a PB or iMac a few months back but I'm going to hold out until next year when the PB's come with intel inside.

Who says it's going to come out next year? What if it isn't for two years?

I'm installing Linux on my windows xp laptop to hold me over.

Good choice. I love linux.

My big beef is the outdated components in the ibooks & PB's. The new ibooks still only 32mb of video, that will get me through what another year before the latest & greatest programs/OS run too slow. For that kinda cash you should be talking about at least a 128mb video card. Same with the top of the line PB's, yeah they are nice but I don't want to spend $2500 bucks on yesterdays technology.

I'd hardly call my recently purchased powerbook 'yesterday's technology', but I guess I can't argue with opinions.

Regarding the iMacs, way too many reviews about the power supply burning up, components inside melting/poping....

I have heard of this, but it's not a much of a problem as you think. It's very, very rare.

I hope the switch to intel also means a safer investment.

I just means a faster processor. It might even be a worse investment. Hope they don't rush the switch too fast (like they did with Tiger which was full of bugs).

I always thought Apple was the 'Toyota's' of computers, meaning they will always work, 100% reliable.

I've owned a Toyota and I'd wouldn't put them in the same sentence as Apple, but that's for another thread. No technology is 100% reliable, but I'd put Apple up against anyone.

I guess Dell would be up there in the PC world, even if it breaks, customer support is always there. Not in the mac world right?
I have seen way too many stories as well about apple putting up a fight and trying to band-aid the problem instead of just resolving your problem.

Dell sucks. I'd take almost any PC manufacture over them, unless you are only looking at price. Apple is very good at customer service. They don't please everyone, but no one does. I've dealt with them on more than one occasion. They've fixed every problem I've had (assuming I still had time on my warranty left).

I understand the pluses that come with a Mac on the software end, but the hardware seems a little too iffy.

Iffy? You're kidding me right? Apple has the best consumer hardware out there.

Anyway, I'm not bashing Apple but just want them to put out a better product line up & would not fear when I turned on the machine cuz it might not work.

I'm going to say it again: "You're kidding me right?" Dude, go get a Dell.

 

[BlizzardBomb]

I just means a faster processor. It might even be a worse investment. Hope they don't rush the switch too fast (like they did with Tiger which was full of bugs)..

How can you think such a thing! Apple like to push out the latest version fast so people can have a fiddle with it and then fix the bugs later! I'd rather fiddle around with something much closer to a beta version than have nothing at all.

 

[lfielder06]

The new ibooks still only 32mb of video, that will get me through what another year before the latest & greatest programs/OS run too slow. For that kinda cash you should be talking about at least a 128mb video card. Same with the top of the line PB's,

You want the ibooks to have 128mb of vram? They don't have dvi out or support screen spanning because they are "i"books, not "power"books. They are for normal people that like internet, word, and itunes and not much more. They can do all that and more. Remember that just one year ago the powerbooks were at 1.33ghz and they were $1500. 1/3 the price drop in a year isn't bad or outdated technology. I wish I was in the market for an ibook because I would jump all over the new updates.

Also find me a dell laptop w/ 128mb of vram for under $1000. What are you doing that you need to have 128mb of vram anyways?

If you want to wait for an intel powerbook you will be waiting at least a year and maybe longer.

 

[PaRaGoNViCtiM]

I think you're taking a much bigger risk in waiting for the Macintels. You don't really expect them to work flawlessly for at least the first few months and even after that?

You'd be much better getting a Mac now and buying a Macintel as the next computer after that.

I concur.

 

[grapes911]

How can you think such a thing! Apple like to push out the latest version fast so people can have a fiddle with it and then fix the bugs later! I'd rather fiddle around with something much closer to a beta version than have nothing at all.

Do you remember all the problems with Tiger at launch? I don't remember as many with Panther or Jaguar. It just seem rushed to me and too buggy for it to be an official release.

 

[staka69]

Yeah I guess it's just me wanting the latest and greatest.

I understand the ibook is not meant to be a powerhouse.

 

[chucknorris]

Regarding the iMacs, way too many reviews about the power supply burning up, components inside melting/poping....

I hope the switch to intel also means a safer investment.

I always thought Apple was the 'Toyota's' of computers, meaning they will always work, 100% reliable. I guess Dell would be up there in the PC world, even if it breaks, customer support is always there. Not in the mac world right?
I have seen way too many stories as well about apple putting up a fight and trying to band-aid the problem instead of just resolving your problem.

I understand the pluses that come with a Mac on the software end, but the hardware seems a little too iffy.

Anyway, I'm not bashing Apple but just want them to put out a better product line up & would not fear when I turned on the machine cuz it might not work.

Hearing this brings up a point that I can't seem to stress enough.
You hear about so many problems because people EXPECT their computers to work flawlessly. When the machines don't have any problems, customers are simply satisfied and nothing more. In other words, very few people post about how their mac has been perfectly reliable, unless prompted by a thread like this.

The fact that dozens of thriving web communities exist dedicated to a relatively small computer company (try to find this many dell fanatics!) underscores how satisifed the average apple customer is. I have personally had nearly flawless experience with my apple hardware, and the support for it. I'm sure the overwhelming majority of mac owners would be in the same boat.

Of course the unhappy majority has a much louder voice, so you've heard quite a bit more from it.

 

[Makosuke]

I have to say I'm with most here; I weren't happy with my current computer, I'd rather have the use of one of the current updated iBooks for the next year (give or take) than wait that long for a crack at first-gen Intel hardware.

In reality, I will consider getting one of the revision B Intel-based laptops since I'll be in the market for a laptop toward the end of next year anyway and it'll provide an "in" to the x86 MacOS, but I already own a G5 tower that is running well. Heck, I'm considering getting one of whatever the final generation PPC-based towers end up being just so I'll have some stable iron for the next 5 years or so while the kinks get worked out of the x86 stuff.

As for reliability, there's little question; Apple makes solid hardware, particularly laptops--it's been my personal experience through the past 20 years of computers I've bought, the couple of dozen Macs I cumulatively care for across several businesses, and every consumer survey I've seen has backed my anecdotal sample size up.

Again, anecdotal only, but I've seen far more complaints about malfunctioning Dell Inspirion laptops (hardware, not software) than Apple ones, despite the fact that I've worked with less of them.

Numbers, if you really want to know: I have contact with about 4 Inspirions, two of which have major issues, while out of the 12 Power/iBooks I see from time to time only two ever had anything go significantly wrong (both were refurbs; one just a dead CD-RW still under warranty). I currently work with 20 desktop Macs, of which one hard drive failure and two DVD-RW failures are the sum total of breakages.

In fact, two of those Inspirion users have since switched to current-gen iBooks specifically because they were so unhappy with the hardware.

[end 3 cents]