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How Often Do You Get A New Mac?

Hmm...every 2 years. I got my first imac in 2003, sold it for a PB in 2005, just got a new 24'' imac last month!!😀

I'm thinking of selling the PB to get a MBP (maybe next year).....need the portability of the laptop for work and school.
 
Most of my life has been PC. Upgraded them about once every 2-3 years.

Macs seem to be useful for longer... my Powerbook is coming up to its 4th year. It *is* starting to feel a little dated in comparison to what's available now, but it still does everything it used to, and with Leopard actually seems a little faster. I could easily make it last another couple of years (though after the 4 years is up, which was also a stupid credit agreement, I'll be thinking of a new Intel one).

On the PC you'd generally be wanting to upgrade to the latest Windows version or play the latest games, which take huge leaps in system requirements.

Interestingly, Macs seem to depreciate a lot more gently than PCs and even my G4 Powerbook could still be sold for a reasonable amount. That's another point to raise for the next person to say Macs are too expensive.

Side note - maybe this is why Apple are always trying to ignore the gaming market. Games age computers pretty rapidly.
 
How Often Do You Get A New Mac?

It depends, on a number of different factors.

For example when Apple went from the power mac cpu to the Intel chip, I was ready.

I placed my order for the MacBook Pro, the day it was announced at MacWorld.

I waited almost a year before I replaced my G5 tower. I bought a Mac Pro, and unless the Mac Pro has a really substantive rebuild, not just cosmically, I"ll probably keep the 1 have for 3 years a more.

I'm ready to buy a new Mac Book Pro, but I'm holding out for the release of the Mac ultraportable. I want a light weight Mac to run around with.

If an ultraportable is not announced in January, 2008 at MacWorld,
I probably won't buy anything.

Hey Steve are you listening?
 
june 2002 age 18 - ibook g3 700 mhz 512 mb ram (sold), ipod 1st gen 10 gb

june 2005 age 21 - powerbook 1.5 ghz 1.25 gb ram

june 2006 age 22 - refurbished ipod shuffle 512 mb (lost)

sept 2006 age 22 - refurbished ipod shuffle 512 mb (lost)

jan 2007 age 23 - refurbished white ipod nano 2gb w/ nike+ kit

nov 2007 age 24 - imac 2.0 ghz 1 gb ram (soon to be 4 gb)

2008 iphone 3g 32gb


ultimately, dashboard performance, video editing, and the want of a dvd burner made me upgrade to a powerbook. Just got the imac because of my powerbooks inabilty to watch/edit HD video, itunes library load times(external drive),and crappy wireless reception (imac is ten times faster loading websites), and the fact that i don't need a notebook as my primary computer as i'm not in school anymore. i was thinking about selling the powerbook for an asus eee due to size/battery life, but back to my mac and streaming audio via simplify media were not features i was willing to sacrifice. i still travel enough to warrant having a laptop. hopefully there will be a cheap ultraportable mac sometime soon.
 
You should make a real poll now that you have the framework down from all these replies.

Poll: On average, how often do you buy a new mac?

Option 1: <6 months
Option 2: 6 months - 0.99 years
Option 3: 1 year - 1.99 years
Option 4: 2 years - 2.99 years
Option 5: 3 years - 3.99 years
Option 6: 4 years - 4.99 years
Option 7: >5 years

*I added the 0.99 year increments to make it really nerdy so that people who get it every 2 years before the 2nd birthday could really state they get it every 1.99 years to be truly accurate...

For me, every 3-3.99 years
 
I'm replacing my Macs about every 7 years it seems.

1981 - Apple ][ +
1987 - Macintosh SE (man, I miss that machine. It was sooo sweet)
1987 - sold Apple ][
1994 - Power Macintosh 6100
1995 - Sold Macintosh SE
1999 - the original iBook
2001 - 2nd iBook for the family
2006 - another, newer iBook (used)
2007
- original iBook bites the dust (not worth fixing)
- used, newer iBook bites the dust (not worth fixing)
- Power Mac still works - just don't use it.
- Family iBook still going strong
- Using borrowed Macintosh powerbook "bronze" (built circa 1999)
2008 - iMac (I'm waiting for the next revision on purpose)

But my machines do get upgraded during their lifetimes. Most upgraded was my original iBook: OS 8.6, 9.0, 9.3, 10.2, 10.3, memory, harddrive. Try that on a PC! That's like asking a PC originally running Windoze 3.1 to run Vista (and I don't mean the basic version)! Mac's have such a longer and more robust practical lifetime than PC's; Microsoft should be embarrassed.
 
I've had my MacBook for 1 1/2 years, and I plan to keep it for 6+ years. When I utterly max the RAM to 3.3GB and I'm gonna upgrade the HD every year, so it should keep me going for a while. In 2009/2010 I plan to remove the optical drive and put in another HD. Just before the AppleCare runs out I'll send it in for a check up (new screen, case, etc).

I just dont see the point in getting a new computer every year; I'd rather spend the money on something else. And because Mac's have a much longer lifespan than PCs, I dont see why I can't be running the latest release for years to come (practically, I'd like to be running the latest release in 2011).
 
Whenever I can con my wife into letting me drop 2 large on a new machine. Last time I used "but honey, with the kids being so young (4 and newborn at the time) think of all of the videos and pictures we (I) can put in to neat little videos that we can share with friends and family. Our current (G4, 450) computer will struggle to handle all of the video stuff." Since I have only produced two videos, unfortunately, neither of them for my wife, I will have to come up with something else. Fortunately for me, Apple has gone and switched processors and created some programs (iMovie) that will only work on said processors.
I think I am going to have to wait at least another 6 months or so. I think next time around it is going to be an iMac. I always said I wanted the PowerMac (now Mac Pro) so that I could expand etc, but I never seem to have the money to do anything other than add memory and HDD. The iMac should be just fine for me.
Hummm, it would be nice to have a new laptop as well............
 
Usually 2-4 years, depending on my financial situation. I'd like to upgrade every year but that's not always realistic. Not counting my hobby computers, this is my timeline:

Atari 800 - 8 years
386 33 Mhz PC - 5 years
Powermac 7200 - 3 years
G4 400 mhz Sawtooth - 4 years (my favorite mac)
G4 1 Ghz (upgraded) - 2 years
G5 1.8 - 2 years
Macbook C2D 2.16 - current

Of course the second a midrange mac between the MacPro and iMac comes out, I click that order button.
 
Considering that my disposable income comes form buying and selling used computers, and I've only had a Mac for around 5 months, my list is going to sound odd. I've never really spent any money on these beyond the first Mac, I just trade around depending on what's available. Average: around 25 days

At mom's:
July-last rev 12" iBook G4

At dad's:
2004-Dell Dimension 8100
2006-Toshiba Satellite 5205 laptop (these two were dads)
June: Pentium II in a case 3 feet tall
early August: DA 466MHz
mid August: QS 867MHz
late September: TiBook 667MHz with issues
mid October: dual 800 MHz QS
early November: got the TiBook back
late November: maxed out Dual 800MHz QS (not the same one)
Christmas: Aluminum PowerBook? MacBook? We'll see...

then the "second computer":
late August: 500MHz iceBook
late September: two Clamshells. One donated to a Uguandan charity, one traded for..
early October: 450MHz Sawtooth
late October: box o' broken iBook G4s
beginning o' November: iMac G4 700MHz
mid November: 2 Sawtooths 1 400MHz 1 500Mhz
Now: 1 Thinkpad 600Mhz Celeron, 400MHz Sawtooth, grape iMac


sorry you guys had to read that
 
My first Mac was a G4 iBook. I've had that for almost 4 years now. I added a new iMac about a month ago. I only do basic things while I'm on the road, so I'm hoping to squeeze at least a couple of more years out of the iBook. It still runs great and is perfectly acceptable for most tasks, but it was time to get something faster. In contrast, a Dell laptop I have that is 3 or 3 1/2 years old has really been showing it's age for a while now. Luckily, I rarely have to use it.

I picked up a used G3 iMac for my younger brother to use last year. That thing must be at least 7 years old, but it holds up real well for someone who mainly used it for the web, email and iTunes.
 
I'm about once every three years but paradoxically lying around the house I have 4 Pismos, 2 iBooks, an LC 2, a Performa, an iMac G5, and an iMac G3, and some Windows laptop that I am proud to say I have never turned on. I have absolutely no idea where half of these machines came from and I certainly don't remember buying them. On Tuesday, the Dec 4th I'm buying the new MacPro.
 
I would have to say I am slow when it comes to being up with the times, at least with computers. Here are all the computers i have owned/used:

1. PowerMac 6100/66 [brothers first Mac]
2. PowerMac 6400/200 [bought new, for $2000, when i was 15 i think]
3. PowerMac G3 333 MT [was given to me, from my boss, in College]
4. PowerMac G3 350 B/W [bought on eBay, for $35, bought another from the MR market place for parts]
5. PowerMac G4 Dual 450 [i loved this machine, another buy form a College on eBay]
6. PowerBook G4 Titanium 450 [bought from a friend]
7. PowerBook G4 867 12" [eBay purchase]
8. PowerMac G4 Dual 1.42 [another great tower, hated it when i accidently fried it]
9. PowerMac G5 Dual 1.8 [my most recent computer, bought from another graphic designer]

I think i bought all these in a span of 6-8 years.
 
Last time I got a Macintosh was in 2005...before I would use the Mscintosh of my family which were from 2002,the newest,1998 and 1983.
 
this is my history of mac....

2001: G4 iMac
2003: G4 iBook 12"
2004: G5 iMac
2006: MacBook Pro 15" 2.16 Ghz
2007: MacPro 2.66ghz

I generally get a new mac when the processor no longer meets my needs.

I would still have my G5 if Adobe Premiere CS3 ran on it but im happy with my upgrade 😀

My iBook is now my girlfriends personal computer.... she's a newbie!

:apple:
 
2004 Sep: iMac G5
2006 Sep: iMac G5 Dead + applecare = iMac C2D
2007 November: Macbook

I bought the Macbook as I got a funding for it so it hardly cost me anything. I don't really use the iMac any more as this macbook is very good indeed. Think I might leave it at my girlfriends house when I go back from christmas.
 
lasuther said:
I have two Apples in my house, iMac and MacBook. It seems about every 2 years I replacing one of them.
Click to expand...
A 30" iMac Quad Core with Blueray drive is not overkill His signature

A 30" iMac Quad Core with Blueray would burn up in less than an hour.
 
June 2006 - Macbook

That's it. Very happy with it. Does everything I need it to (though I am gonna upgrade to a 250GB hard drive this Xmas so I can fit my movie collection on it without an external HD).

Although I don't need to upgrade, something tells me I should do before September 2008 when my higher education discount expires (unless I PhD it next year). If I do, its the Macbook Pro all the way for me. The only thing I don't like about my Macbook is its inability to play any recent games (though I think I may just get a Wii for that) and its small screen 🙁
 
My first Apple computer was an Apple IIe around 1981 (I think). My fist Mac was an LC II. I've never owned any other computer (aside from a comadore vic 20 and a 64 for games----but then I found nintendo 😀). On average I think I get a new one every three years or so. I've only had one actually fail on me; that was my IIe. It was fried in a lightning strike.
 
I'd buy them much more often if I wanted to sell the old one at the same time, but the problem is I have so many places and ways that I want to use different Macs that I can't get rid of the old one to fund the purchase of a new one! I still use every Mac I ever bought. My 8500 acts as a dedicated OS 9 music synth for some softsynths that never got ported to OS X. My B&W G3 acts as a front end to my networked iTunes library in my bedroom. My B&W G4 acts as my download station, my print and scan server, and a web surfing computer. My Powerbook laptop moves to all the rooms to do any heavier computing that I need to do.

This way I don't need to constantly be moving my laptop around with it's power adaptor and plugging things in and out of it all the time. Setting things up that way is a recipe for never actually using the Mac in those ways, and having a million cables laying about.
 
Well I just got my Macbook Pro a few months ago and it's the first NEW Mac I've gotten in 12 years 😛.

1995 we got our first computer, a Macintosh Performa.
ca 2000 got a Gateway desktop
2004 got a Dell desktop
2006 I got a Dell Inspiron for college
2006 I bought a used iBook so i could play around with some video editing
2007 Bought a Macbook Pro because the Dell was a ****ing piece of **** that never worked and iBook got broken.

Hopefully the MBP will last me through getting my BA (May 2010) but we'll see.

I'm also probably going to get a Mini next summer to use as a DVR/HTPC.
 
Usually every 4 years or when 4X the computing power is available, but my current G4 seems to have some legs. The current mac pros are about 25X the computing power of my 1.5GHz machine. I'll hold out as long as I can, but Lightroom seems sluggish at times.
 
December 2003: received used Pismo.

October 2005: Pismo died, bought 12'PB.

November 2007: Bought 24' iMac.

Every two years. Sweet.
 
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