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Have I Done The Right Thing?

M

Maxicek

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
107
0
OK, I have finally gone and done it. After some negotiations with my other half, I got the approval to go and buy a new computer. I was initially looking at an iBook, probably 1.2GHz + BT + 512 RAM from Crucial, all in about £1100.

But then I found a Refurb PowerBook G4 15"/1.25GHz/512DDR/80GB/SD/AE/BT on the Apple store UK... It was about £200 more than the iBook. :D

I know I'm getting a much better machine, but bearing in mind my girfriend will just use it to e-mail / surf the web, how do I justify this? I could be in the dog house for weeks :(

And do I need to buy more RAM for the PB in the short term?
 
Hmmm. Well, if the Mac is going to be used for surfing, that extra screen real estate will come in really handy. That's a selling point. Plus, you get the Airport card included. Another plus. And the ability to burn DVDs. And a bigger drive. All in all, it's a great deal. I assume you can get Apple Care for it? I wouldn't get a portable without it.

As far as RAM goes, 512M will be OK, but you will want to bump it once you can afford to do so, likely up to 1GB. Does the iBook have a free slot, or is it shipped with two 256MB sticks (i.e., the internal and customer-accessible slots are both full)? That would be bad. The PB undoubtedly is easier to upgrade, RAM-wise, and that's a plus.

I think it's a great deal for you. For the g/f, though, it's going to come down to selling her on the bigger, higher-res screen, which she will appreciate.

Good luck either way!
 
the latest g4 ibooks come with 256 onboard...so they are just as upgradeable as the pb's..

the ram ceiling isn't as high though (1,25 on ibooks 2? on pb's...)
 
Maxicek said:
OK, I have finally gone and done it. After some negotiations with my other half, I got the approval to go and buy a new computer. I was initially looking at an iBook, probably 1.2GHz + BT + 512 RAM from Crucial, all in about £1100.

But then I found a Refurb PowerBook G4 15"/1.25GHz/512DDR/80GB/SD/AE/BT on the Apple store UK... It was about £200 more than the iBook. :D

I know I'm getting a much better machine, but bearing in mind my girfriend will just use it to e-mail / surf the web, how do I justify this? I could be in the dog house for weeks :(

And do I need to buy more RAM for the PB in the short term?
Click to expand...

of course youve done the right thing... the question should be how can you justify not buying the powerbook??? ibook just are not as good..ive owned both and i promise...powerbooks rock...and when the little lady sees it she will be stoked and you will be in for a night of passion...
 
Appeal to her feminine side. PowerBooks are much more beautiful and glamorous than iBooks :p
 
Also if you had bought the iBook, you still would've had to add Airport Extreme which is about $100.00 and a bluetooth module, if you're interested in that, which is about $40.00.
 
noel4r said:
Also if you had bought the iBook, you still would've had to add Airport Extreme which is about $100.00 and a bluetooth module, if you're interested in that, which is about $40.00.
Click to expand...

actually, since he bought a 1.25 GHz re-furbished, I don't think it will include BT or airport extreme.

(edit) i didnt read the specs on the 15". :eek:
 
bigger screen, superdrive, bigger harddrive, and airport all for just $200 more? thats a bargin!! the superdrive would normally cost you that alone!

it was a value and if i were your shoes i would have done the same thing
 
aptmunich said:
the latest g4 ibooks come with 256 onboard...so they are just as upgradeable as the pb's..

the ram ceiling isn't as high though (1,25 on ibooks 2? on pb's...)
Click to expand...

Also, but the iBooks only have one easily-accessible slot vs the two of the PBs, so it'd be easier to swap in two new sticks later should he want to do so. Minor difference, though, agreed. Does the PB come with the 512 as one or two sticks? I'm guessing two, but just curious....
 
AL-FAMOUS said:
...and when the little lady sees it she will be stoked and you will be in for a night of passion...
Click to expand...

Well, my wife doesn't mind the iMac, and she pretty much ignores the G5, and, if I came home with a PB now, I'd be in for many, many nights of... couch sleeping. Until I took it back.

So... perhaps I need to trade her in for a new model? One that will give me a "night of passion" if I buy a new PB? Where would one find such a woman? Presumably, in the Apple Store. I guess I just need to get to the one near here earlier in the day, since, by the time I get there, all the Mac roadies seem to have already hooked up, and I'm left with mostly guys with really white skin hanging around there.
 
jsw said:
So... perhaps I need to trade her in for a new model? One that will give me a "night of passion" if I buy a new PB? Where would one find such a woman? Presumably, in the Apple Store.
Click to expand...
Just make sure it's not a refurb model. And if you try for an education special but they find out you aren't really in school, it could be big trouble.
 
jcook793 said:
Just make sure it's not a refurb model. And if you try for an education special but they find out you aren't really in school, it could be big trouble.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. The refurbs are less expensive, and often come with extra stuff the new ones don't. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the anti-virus solutions are adequate.

I suppose that, if I were to get a new one using the edu discount, I could qualify myself as an "educator". ;) But I'd probably just get a non-discounted one. Hate to have her considered "cheap".

Next question: should I go for the consumer model or the "pro" version? I hear the pro line is much more expensive but can do more than the consumer line.
 
Well, after a little confering with my beautiful wife to be on this subject she said shed go with "a night of passion". Mmmm, i must be a very luck guy indeed then ;). Actually quite tempted to get the PowerBook myself right now :D. Anyway good luck Max', but im sure you wont need it!

Enjoy,

Mark.
 
Go for the Powerbook refurb, One of my colleagues in the office purchased a refurb iBook and it was perfect, not a scratch on it. I have seen a number of people post positive feedback on the refurb store. For the price difference it is a steal. In answer to you question on memory, 512 MB will keep you going for now. Unless you are heavily into Photoshop or other memory intensive applications you would not notice much improvement.

Good Luck!
 
Thanks for the comments guys, I broke the news to her last night and she was totally OK about it.

I think I will give it a while and see how I go before I get a RAM upgrade. I'm mainly going to be doing iLife, Photoshop, DTP and web stuff so I think I should be OK in the short term.

My only problem now is the wait until the shipping date. I can't wait to get full back into the Mac scene and ditch this Wintel piece of junk that I am using now. OSX here I come :D
 
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