ibook g4 bad buy at this point

[tim2006]

Is the ibook a bad buy at this point with the switch to intel and no price reduction. The ibook would have enough power for me. I will be using it primarily for word.

 

[watchmainspring]

The ibook would have enough power for me. I will be using it primarily for word.

In that case, the ibook is a good buy.

 

[OldCorpse]

Is the ibook a bad buy at this point with the switch to intel and no price reduction. The ibook would have enough power for me. I will be using it primarily for word.

Amazon is running a $100 rebate on the new 12" iBooks. I think that's a good buy. However, if you can wait until April, it is likely new intel iBooks will come out. At that point you could decide if whatever the new iBooks offer is worth taking a risk on a Rev A. Also, it is possible that there may be a price drop on the PPC iBooks at the time, though I doubt it'll be more than the $100 that Amazon is already offering. I decided not to wait (see my sig), and I'm very happy with my new 12" iBook.

 

[mkrishnan]

If you're worried about cost justifiability, try to get a refurb copy of it from the Apple store or used, from a forum. This way, if you do want an Intel one this summer, you will be able to turn around and resell yours with a relatively minimal loss.

 

[rye9]

I highly reccomend that you get the current iBook bc you never know when the Intel one's will be out. Honestly, I dont even think an Intel Mac is so great. The current ones are fine. I did what OldCorpse did, in fact, we bought our iBooks at pretty much the same time. We got our iBooks for $785 on amazon.com bc if u use their search engine for a couple days you save 1.57% and they were selling them for $900 with the extra $100 rebate. So if you want you could check amazon.com every once in a while to see if they're $200 off but if not, they still are $100 cheaper than Apple bc of the rebate. Also, no tax! (depends on where u live) Besides the purchasing part, I'm thrilled with my iBook and I see no need to wait for Intel. The sooner you get one, the sooner you'll be happier!

 

[thequicksilver]

I still think it is a poor buy, if you're ok waiting up to four months. The iBook G4 is a nice machine (I have one) and it would serve your needs. But, crucially, a machine that's "powerful enough" now probably isn't going to be powerful enough for too much longer, especially in the field of Mac notebooks, where we've just seen them move forward light years with the Powerbooks. Assuming the iBook will use the Core Solo chip, it's going to be at least twice as fast as the the current iBooks. That's going to be more than powerful enough for the current generation of software, and will much more futureproof than the soon to be obsolete G4.

(Yes, software will still work on the G4 for a while, but to plump so much cash into a technology that, while decent, is on its very very last legs seems a poor move to me.)

If you possibly can, wait. If you can't, then make sure you get a good deal. A refurbished model from Apple would seem an ideal purchase at this point.

 

[yoak]

I have to agree with Thequicksilver. I have a 12" ibook, and I´m very pleased with it. It still runs well and I had it for more than a year now.
When I bought it I spent some time on this forum first to get up to date on the Mac scene again.
People here adviced me to wait a month, because an update was expected.
I did, and got Airport and Bluetooth as standard (not BTO as before) and a $150 price drop.
I was going to add AE and Bluetooth, so in the end I saved around $ 250 + got a faster machine thanks to the guys here at MR-
So if you can, wait. But if not, you still will be happyu with your ibook for a couple of years I think.

Good luck.