Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Collecting: Are you excited to add Intel equipment?

840quadra

840quadra

Moderator
Original poster
Staff member
Feb 1, 2005
9,580
6,527
Twin Cities Minnesota
Many of us collectors have had this problem of holding onto old Apple hardware for many years now. I am interested in most every piece of Apple hardware produced, but with one caveat. I have little or no interest in owning any intel equipment, with the exception of modern hardware that I am using for day to day work.

Not sure what it is, but I don't hold onto my intel Macs after I upgrade, however, I had a hard time parting with any of my PowerPC equipment, and often held onto it.

Am I the only one with this problem? I can't figure out why I am simply not that interested in Intel era equipment, besides when it is new.
 
Power PC macs ran an entirely different architecture then wintel PCs, making them truly different.

But i love the modern designs of current intel Macs.

early ones are designed similarly like their Power PC counterparts, making them interesting, but not new.

idk, i love all macs, but PPC has that different quality about it.
 
borg.

840quadra said:
... I can't figure out why I am simply not that interested in Intel era equipment, besides when it is new.
Click to expand...


i can. the PPC stuff held value like nothing else in the computer world. now a 2 year old intel system is utter crap and worth 20% of purchase price.

the new stuff is changing fast, the resale/value is dropping faster, and there are no new hardware designs that deserve to be collected. peecee beige box vs. g3/g4 drop side... gateway all-in-ones vs. imac g4/g5/al... dell stuff vs. g3/g4 powerbooks... all were day and night different. they stood out in a remarkable way. in the PPC era, "think different" was really, well, different!

the new stuff is nice, but not that different anymore. there are comparable products (if you have an open mind) in every catagory. good thing for consumers, bad for collectors is my take. just my two cents.
 
4JNA said:
i can. the PPC stuff held value like nothing else in the computer world. now a 2 year old intel system is utter crap and worth 20% of purchase price.

the new stuff is changing fast, the resale/value is dropping faster, and there are no new hardware designs that deserve to be collected. peecee beige box vs. g3/g4 drop side... gateway all-in-ones vs. imac g4/g5/al... dell stuff vs. g3/g4 powerbooks... all were day and night different. they stood out in a remarkable way. in the PPC era, "think different" was really, well, different!

the new stuff is nice, but not that different anymore. there are comparable products (if you have an open mind) in every catagory. good thing for consumers, bad for collectors is my take. just my two cents.
Click to expand...

That is really well said, and I agree with every point there. It is really hard to keep up with the new equipment, when before you really knew what you were getting from your Mac, something faster, something different, something truly cutting edge.

I love my MacBook Pro, I feel that the Unibody enclosure is truly innovative, and I love the industrial design, it just lacks the soul of older PowerPC era systems to me.

Great movie in your Avatar, and signature. I miss RISC, RISC was good. ;) .
 
I'm about to add one (potentially two or three) older Intel iMacs to my collection - I believe they are first or second generation - along with an older teardrop model, which is not Intel. For some reason, though, you're right - once the HDDs are replaced, they'll simply be older, slower computers and simply not have the charm of the older Apple systems running a PPC architecture.

Of course I'm happy to add old Macs to my grid, since I know they'll keep working. My Macs always outlast their hard drives, but at the moment I can't say I'm all that thrilled with the performance I get out of the older Intel Macs my dad and I use. Sure I'll keep them around and perhaps throw them at some distributed/volunteer computing projects now and then, but mainly the older Intel iMacs (for instance) are something I'd rather keep around as a backup machine "just in case," or as something for the kids' homework, rather than purely a collector's item.
 
I don't know why, but I always liked the PPC Macs starting with the G3's with colors.
 
See, what we need is the essence of the g3 imacs in the new macs, I believe those are the most memorable and well know macs to date, I mean EVERYBODY knows an imac g3 when they see them, they're unforgettable.
 
The comments here are very interesting. I remember with my old PPC machines, I felt like I had a connection to them in some way (maybe a weird thing to say). But somehow, my little personal tweaks and settings made the computer feel more mine. With the latest machines, the experience is a little more stark and cold. Maybe it's just because Macs are so ubiquitous now, but you really used to stand out from a crowd if you were using an early Titanium PowerBook G4, and I think that must have been part of the appeal. Still, my girlfriend doesn't want to part with her white 2010 MacBook for a better model, because she feels like she's befriended it, so I guess it's still possible to get attached to an Intel Mac. =P As for me, I tend to sell my Intel machines on whenever I get the chance.

Someone made a good point earlier - the hardware in the Intel Macs seems much more prone to malfunction, which must be why the queue in the Apple Store repair section is always so long. I never questioned the quality of my Motorola 68020 or my G3 iMac. It was just accepted that the thing would work. My latest experience with a 2011 MBP took a total of THREE machines to finally land on one that didn't have a problem. Long live PPC.
 
I think I'm just old, but from a collecting standpoint I have a hard time getting into any machine post-Nubus, let alone Intel. A lot of the magic for me was lost when Macs went PCI. IDE was another big one, but by the time IDE was widespread in Macs, NuBus was already gone.

I know it doesn't make much sense, but that's the cool thing about collecting vintage hardware - it doesn't have to. :)
 
I'm actually trying to *REDUCE* my collection. Keep only truly 'important' models. So my 128k stays, probably an SE/30 (or possibly my upgraded Color Classic,) MAYBE a IIsi or Centris 650, maybe the IIfx. Power Mac 6100, 7300, one of the B&W G3-to-MDD G4 styles (haven't decided between the B&W G3 and the Digital Audio G4 yet, though.) For laptops, a PowerBook 170, 540c, 5300c, and if I can get one cheaply enough, a G4 Titanium, plus I'll keep my first-generation MacBook Pro. At some point, I'd like to add an original Intel Core Duo iMac, too. The only one missing that I'm on the fence about is the Mac Portable. I had one that died (just sold it, actually,) and don't know if I really want one bad enough to buy a working one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back