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I have money I need to spend... what should I buy?

Chrispy

Chrispy

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Dec 27, 2004
2,270
524
Indiana
Hello. I am in a rather odd situation at the moment. I was saving up money to buy a new mac at some point during the summer and I have more than enough momey in the bank to do so. However, my greedy college is doing its occasional financial check that they do on top of the FASFA. This check is a random thing from what I understand and they have done it to me before when I was a sophomore (now going to be a senior). Problem is, as a student if I have over ~$2000 in the bank they deduct that money from my financial aid (gift grant and loans). I figured this out the first time this happened and got slightly burned. They even go so far as to look into your investments (I currently own some stock as I have already started saving for retirement). If you have too much tied up in investments they want you to cash some of that in and use it too. I would rather not loose my grant since it is free money and they only way to do this is to drain some money from my savings (yes, sad but true). Soooo (after a long explanation) here is my situation....

I am debating between going with three different systems to purchase and I was wondering what you would all suggest. I am going to be using the system to do some video work as I run a small business (very small just started up) making video slideshows and converting VHS to DVD and what not. It is nothing too major most of the time but speed is good. I have the PC in my sig that I use for it now but I would much rather do it on a mac. Here are the three I am debating...

New Dual 2.0GHz Powermac with the 9650 graphics and 1Gig of Ram for $1934 before tax of 6% and with student discount figured in.

15" Powerbook configured to 128MB VRAM for $2189

12" iBook after updates for who knows what??? Also, will I be able to output to an external monitor with the new iBook. I know nobody can know for sure but what is the word on the street about this?

Portability would be nice but is not a huge issue. I already have a 2005FPW monitor that I will be using with whatever I buy. What would you all suggest? Oh and I play an occasional game of WoW ;)
 
In that case I suggest the PowerBook as a college student you never know how nice it'll be to hang out somewhere other than your dorm/parent's house and do your work. I have a powerbook with a display and it's the best.

I am glad I didn't get the PowerMac yet. I'll do that after I finish my masters.
 
i would go for either the powerbook or the G5, have you thought about the new iMacs though?
 
PlaceofDis said:
i would go for either the powerbook or the G5, have you thought about the new iMacs though?
Click to expand...

Ahhhh new imacs (a warm feeling flows through my body ;) ) I would jump on one of those in a second but I already have a nice 2005FPW monitor and I would hate to see it go to waste.
 
Go to the Apple Education store Red Tag Sales

Rev B 2.0 dually's are now $1699
Apple RAM upgrade to 1GB $150.

This is way more machine that you'll probably need for long time
and it still allows FULL 8GB RAM / PCI-X expandibility.

The improvements that Apple added to the Rev C 2.0's
can be added later at any time, but you won't be crippled.
 
Haha this thread has led me to the same delima as before... trying to decide between a powerbook for powermac.... at least the iBook has been ruled out.
 
right now the powermacs are the better deal over the powerbooks in my opinion.

there is a screenspanning hack that you can use if you wanted to user your monitor with it.... but otherwise unless you NEED portibility i would go for the powermac
 
Unless portability is really important, go with the PowerMac. I'm a college student as well. I have a 12" Powerbook and a Dual 1.8 GHz PowerMac, and I also do video work, and if I were going to only have one machine, I'd keep the PowerMac. That said, I LOVE my PowerBook, but I can't imagine using it for much video. It's just not fast enough, and the hard drive is too small.
 
FFTT said:
Go to the Apple Education store Red Tag Sales

Rev B 2.0 dually's are now $1699
Apple RAM upgrade to 1GB $150.

This is way more machine that you'll probably need for long time
and it still allows FULL 8GB RAM / PCI-X expandibility.

The improvements that Apple added to the Rev C 2.0's
can be added later at any time, but you won't be crippled.
Click to expand...

Nooo... Please stop... have mercy!
 
Are you ok Raven? haha ;) Keep the opinions coming all you are helping my inner battle continue :)
 
I seldom NEED portability, but once I tried it, I LOVED it. I would never be without a laptop. I'll probably alternate purchases between desktop (speed) and laptop (portability), so I always at least have my old laptop around.

I find SO many ways I appreciate that privilege. Grab ALL your stuff and go, anyplace, anytime, without a second thought. (Well, do think about theft prevention and get a cable lock :) ) Compute in any room, at a friend's house, at a meeting, whatever. Give presentations on TV. Play LAN games. Fill time when you're stuck someplace. Go to cafes and surf wirelessly. And at home base, hook up your PC keyboard/mouse/display and forget you even have a laptop. Or span your display across the internal and external both.

So unless top speed is really important, I'd go for a PowerBook. G5 or no, that's a REALLY nice machine, and certainly not slow. I have an older 15" PB myself, the first Al version, and it's great. But the new ones are so much better.

Speed is nice for many things... but vital for few. Portability on the other hand actually changes what you can DO with your computer. So unless you're sequencing genes, I suggest putting functionality ahead of raw speed :)
 
for the video stuff, if you really want to make a business out of it get the PM. you will appreciate the power and speed if you start doing a lot of work. if its just a small litte hobby every now and then then go for the PB you will love the portability in college (i love my 12" PB!!) but contrary to PlaceofDis said, you do not need a hack to screen span on a PB. only on the iBook, but with all the considerations, i would not go with an iBook. 32mb v-ram will kill you on video stuff. i even have my 12" PB set up with the 2005FPW
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/75540/

and it works great!! the 15" with 128mb vram would be even better!
 
nagromme said:
I seldom NEED portability, but once I tried it, I LOVED it. I would never be without a laptop. I'll probably alternate purchases between desktop (speed) and laptop (portability), so I always at least have my old laptop around.

:)
Click to expand...

I agree with nagromme here. I generally buy a new computer every two years, alternating between laptop and desktop. Keep sme reasonably up to date on both, and doesn't bankrupt me. I'm falling a little behind on my laptop purchase though... At any rate, if you've never had the pleasure of taking your computer to the library, or a cafe', or a bookstore, then a laptop is the thing to get, and right now that means a Powerbook. And you can always hook up the powerbook to your external display with no need for any screen spanning hacks!
 
Aaon said:
... At any rate, if you've never had the pleasure of taking your computer to the library, or a cafe', or a bookstore, then a laptop is the thing to get, and right now that means a Powerbook. And you can always hook up the powerbook to your external display...
Click to expand...

yup yup. i have a pretty nice desktop & a current top of the line Powerbook. if i were in college right now, no doubt i would go w/ a Powerbook. just having the versatility to pop into a coffee shop, write a quick email in bed, sit in front of the tv, etc. is a great feature.

either that, or mail me a check. i could REALLY use that $$ for some new patio furniture...
 
nagromme said:
I seldom NEED portability, but once I tried it, I LOVED it. I would never be without a laptop. I'll probably alternate purchases between desktop (speed) and laptop (portability), so I always at least have my old laptop around.

I find SO many ways I appreciate that privilege. Grab ALL your stuff and go, anyplace, anytime, without a second thought. (Well, do think about theft prevention and get a cable lock :) ) Compute in any room, at a friend's house, at a meeting, whatever. Give presentations on TV. Play LAN games. Fill time when you're stuck someplace. Go to cafes and surf wirelessly. And at home base, hook up your PC keyboard/mouse/display and forget you even have a laptop. Or span your display across the internal and external both.

So unless top speed is really important, I'd go for a PowerBook. G5 or no, that's a REALLY nice machine, and certainly not slow. I have an older 15" PB myself, the first Al version, and it's great. But the new ones are so much better.

Speed is nice for many things... but vital for few. Portability on the other hand actually changes what you can DO with your computer. So unless you're sequencing genes, I suggest putting functionality ahead of raw speed :)
Click to expand...

This is how I feel also myself, and I also have a rev a PB...12" though. 867mhz, but it does everything I need:
Photoshop 7.0
Illustrator CS
some iMovie occasionally.

Keep in mind the PS isn't crazy fast, but as long as you aren't doing HUGE projects its not a problem. I had to do a project with 200 layers at one point last semester and that HOGGED the processor, wish I had a dual G5 at that point lol. But until you get past 40-50 layers its no big deal. And it filters at a reasonable speed.
 
How crippled would I be doing video work on a top-of-the-line powerbook vs. a Dual 2.0 PM? The videos I do are fairly simple video slideshows no more than an hour long. Would this be enough for me. Also, will I feel like the OS is more snappy with Tiger vs. Panther (my g/f has a 12" Rev. C powerbook and at times it seems to drag a little even with 768 RAM). Sorry to be asking so many questions but I want to make the right choice. Thanks!
 
Tiger is going to be a bit faster than Panther. A new 15" PowerBook will be faster than a 12". And a G5 will be faster yet :)

What software will you use to make your slideshows? iMovie can to that, for instance.

A PowerBook can handle that. If you are doing lots of effects, a G5 will render quicker... but who cares, if you're productive?

And lots of people use PowerBooks + Final Cut as mobile video suites.

So while a dual G5 is much faster, I wouldn't call the PowerBook "crippled" by any means.
 
Ok... I still have not been able to make a decision haha. I just don't know what to go with. How large would the performance difference between the 15" 128MB graphics PB and the Dual 2.0 PM be in tasks like, iphoto, office 2004, iTunes, occasional iMovie and iDVD and most importantly... WoW? Does anybody own both computers and can see the difference firsthand? Would love to know. Thanks!
 
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