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How do you guys do it?
- Thread starter cwazytech
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GoCubsGo
macrumors Nehalem
When I was using windows machines I would upgrade every 6 months max, it just seemed necessary (and easy). Since moving to a mac things have been different thus creating a wider upgrade gap thereby saving more money which I would spend on more expensive computers.
I don't have a lot of money, I just spend wisely and I don't buy every single latest and greatest each time it is released. My PowerBook was replaced 4 years later with a MacPro and to get something portable I bought a MB Air.
I don't have a lot of money, I just spend wisely and I don't buy every single latest and greatest each time it is released. My PowerBook was replaced 4 years later with a MacPro and to get something portable I bought a MB Air.
SilentPanda
Moderator emeritus
We're twins! I have the same setup...
But yeah... not only do I feel uncompelled to upgrade my Mac Pro with the latest gadgetry as I did my Windows box, I honestly have far far fewer options.
IgnatiusTheKing
macrumors 68040
UltraNEO*
macrumors 601
Dunno about the rest of yous' but I work. My Mac rig, as a tool, earns me money. Makes my job a little easier and makes that huge loan all that much easier to pay off and comprehend. Fortunately after two projects I've cleared my loan!! 🙂
On average I'll keep a machine till it's no longer valid or usable (speed wise) unlike some users here who seem to update and change their machine with every revision, I don't think it's necessary and it doesn't make much financial sense.
bruinsrme
macrumors 604
I am a PCer and agree with Jessica that PCer can end up spending more because the new stuff comes at you fast.
having worked at Intel I learned what chips to look for, not all chips are created equally or functionally.
I sock away $20 to $40 a week into the toys account. when I get to 75% of the items price I start looking for interest free deals.
Desktop upgrades 3yrs but I see that being streched to 4 years, at least
notebook only when the 4 yr full hardware warranties expire.
I don't think you have to be rich in order to purchase a top-of-the-line Mac Pro and 30" ACD. You would need a steady income and learn to save if you really want the set.
I don't think it's outrageously priced-- these are meant for professional work, and if you're only a novice with a modest income who want a powerful setup, then you'd better start saving.
I suppose someone could look at what you've got and ask you the same question, no? 😉
PowerPaw
macrumors member
My first computer was a PC, a 486/33 with 16GB of RAM and that was considered to be a heavy spec machine when I purchased it back in the early 90s for around $3000 - I had no money and took out a three year loan to pay for it.
I kept the 486 for around 7 years tinkering with small upgrades like a DX4 CPU, bigger drives etc. After that I bought an IBM ThinkPad at the end of 1999, again for $3000 or was it a little more adding a bigger disk and more RAM over the 5 years I used it. Only recently (OK past 10 years) have prices on PCs really gone down and they work a lot better than they did in 1992!
I bought my PowerBook towards the end of 2003 and am still using it - I now have a 23" external display, keyboard, Wacom Intuos tablet, maxed the RAM and added a 250GB drive to it. It still works great for PhotoShop though a few plugin filters can be really slow - a bad time for upgrading (economy) but its done a good number of years for me and I now my next purchase should last another 5 years (I hope!).
Buy quality, add a little to it over the years that you have it and it should last for a good time.
I kept the 486 for around 7 years tinkering with small upgrades like a DX4 CPU, bigger drives etc. After that I bought an IBM ThinkPad at the end of 1999, again for $3000 or was it a little more adding a bigger disk and more RAM over the 5 years I used it. Only recently (OK past 10 years) have prices on PCs really gone down and they work a lot better than they did in 1992!
I bought my PowerBook towards the end of 2003 and am still using it - I now have a 23" external display, keyboard, Wacom Intuos tablet, maxed the RAM and added a 250GB drive to it. It still works great for PhotoShop though a few plugin filters can be really slow - a bad time for upgrading (economy) but its done a good number of years for me and I now my next purchase should last another 5 years (I hope!).
Buy quality, add a little to it over the years that you have it and it should last for a good time.
designed
macrumors 6502
Sorry but I think you mean "16MB of RAM", or else it really was a heavy spec machine, my 486DX2/50 had 16MB of RAM 😛
But don't worry, my father has spoken for years of megabytes when he has meant gigabytes, and now it's beginning to show that I speak of gigabytes when I mean mega- or terabytes... 🙄
GoCubsGo
macrumors Nehalem
I also think the way that the Mac OS handles the system helps in eliminating the need or desire to upgrade every few months. Like I said, my PowerBook still goes so strong it is disgusting. If I can buy a retail copy of Leopard I am certain it'll run well.
Again, it comes with planning and saving and realizing the true benefit of the premium we pay for Apple products.
Again, it comes with planning and saving and realizing the true benefit of the premium we pay for Apple products.
sushi
Moderator emeritus
I tend to upgrade every 4-5 years.
In the interim, I save $50 per month for my next purchase. Every 4 to 5 years I will have saved $2,400 to $3,000. What I don't use one time, I roll over for the next or put it towards something like the iPod touch, Airport Express, printer, or whatever else that I need.
Note, in the old days, I needed more power and would save $100 per month. So in 4-5 years I would save $4,800 to $6,000. These days I don't need that much power so I save some funds.
Fonzijr1964
macrumors 68000
Macpros are really intended as workstations for professionals. Spending $5000 or $10000 on a complete new workstation/display setup is a lot easier when it is helping you earn a living then when you just want a new shiny box under your desk.
Save, save, save AND have a good job to pay for it. If your a computer junkie like me, better have a real good job. Heck, I started with a commadore vic 20, then a 8088, IBM 386 (micro channel, expensive as hell), upgraded that to a 486, apple IIc, couple of pentiums from dell, apple 6400, then switched to all macs, powerbook G4, a mini, 24 inch iMac, then my current 2 ghz mac pro and just ordered a 2.8 octo. I enjoy video editing for home stuff and do a little for friends events. Kind of a obsession i guess. Instead of suped up cars, I enjoy suped up computers. One hell of a hobby. Like any hobby, if you enjoy it, you'll pay for it.
Dr.Pants
macrumors 65816
Well, I lurk around here because I intend to buy a MacPro - but I am doing what everybody else is suggesting. Saving up money - I already have enough for the *speculated* price of the base Tylersburg MacPro, but additional items (Intel SSD, RAID, video i/o, FCS, etc) I still have to save for. Then again, I'm saving $800/mo...
The money you pay up front is dwarfed by the earning power of the unit. My father still uses a G3 he bought in '99 or so. Over the course of 10 years it's easily helped him earn $1,000,000. All of a sudden that $3,000 price tag doesn't seem so big.
Sesshi
macrumors G3
Purely psychological. It comes with the classy design that the system doesn't look outdated in a couple of years. I've had the unexpected opportunity recently to unearth some of the first Intel Macs I had and relatively speaking, it would be as equally tough for me to deploy them for mainline tasks in conjunction with current machines as with Windows. Even Vista. And if you spend as much on a PC as you do on a Mac, the relative upgrade cycles are the same - if not practically longer.
Amazing, the Kool-Aid effect and what it causes people to say...
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As for me, I usually buy the cheapest of what I want out of my own pay packet that I pay myself, then buy the rest as a business requirement. One of the great things about being a truly general technologist is that I can legitimately justify almost anything with a chip in it - and many things without - as a business expense. e.g. Among many other things I consult on portable media with manufacturers. So every MP3 player / headphone I buy is a business expense. I don't pay myself a lot for practical reasons, but the gear thing is one of the upsides of being in this business.
im not rich, just a student in my last year at college...
im trying to save up for the upcoming mac pro through freelance jobs.
im trying to save up for the upcoming mac pro through freelance jobs.
JesterJJZ
macrumors 68030
As said already, a lot of the people that buy MacPros do so because they use them for work. I do video and film work. The projects I get can generate a lot of money. Then again I spend a lot of that money to fund my own projects.
Personally, I can't stand the dude that get's a MacPro to surf the web, check his email and maybe do so some Microsoft Office. Most people don't NEED a MacPro.
Personally, I can't stand the dude that get's a MacPro to surf the web, check his email and maybe do so some Microsoft Office. Most people don't NEED a MacPro.
surflordca
macrumors 6502a
Your right most people don't need one. I would be one of those people but I love my MacPro. I am one that has tons of stuff running all the time. With 10 gigs of ram installed my Mac never crashes. So if you can afford to buy one, get it. If not the iMac is a great machine.
sushi
Moderator emeritus
I say to each his own. 🙂
True.
However, if someone wants to buy a MacPro and 30 inch monitor more power to them.
Back when I had a need, I purchased a PowerMac with 22 inch ACD. The 22 inch ACD was around $4,000 and the PowerMac around $3,000.
Now that I don't have that kind of need, I can make due with a laptop or iMac. If my needs were to increase, and a MacPro with a 30 inch ACD fit my needs, then I would purchase one tomorrow. A computer to me is a tool and I need to get the right tool for the job. Simple.
GoCubsGo
macrumors Nehalem
You couldn't be more wrong or more misguided about me when it comes to my use and upgrade tendencies. 🙄 You may want to review a few of my posts about Apple before you start coining me as one of their drones. 😎