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iBook G4 or iMac G4 what to buy!!

B

beelzebub

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 10, 2004
9
0
I am looking to buy a new mac after using a compaq for 4 years.
I was looking into buying the iBook G4 12" for $1095 but when I was shopping at macconnection.com I found an iMac G4 800 256 15" with a 60GB HD running 10.2 for $999

I don't know which one to buy. I will be using it mainly for word processing, browsing the web, and email.

I would appreciate the mobility of the iBook but I could live with out it

The only real differences that I can see are the price, mobility, screen size, HD and OS(but I can easly upgrade to 10.3 for the imac)

Please help me make the right decision.
Thank you

edit: I can also get also get a G4 iMac 1GHz 80 gb HD refurb from apple.com for $1099
 
i have the ibook and i am very happy with it but if portablility is not much of an issue and money is tight, go with the imac. also, the extra features of the imac like a 60gb hd instead of 30 give you more for your $
 
Originally posted by abhishekit
you can get the ibook for 999$ too if u r a student. they give educational discount at the applestore.
cheers
Click to expand...

I have to be a member of one of these groups to get the discount;

- Employee of public or private K-12 institutions in the United States
- School Board members who are currently serving as elected or appointed members
- PTA or PTO executives currently serving as elected or appointed officers
- Qualified homeschools
- Employee of a public or private, profit or non-profit preschool
-from apple.com
I am just a student.
Could I lie and say that I am a member of one of these groups?

What would happen if they (apple or my HS) found out if I lied?
 
Originally posted by beelzebub
Does the edu discount work for High School Students? I though it only worked for college.
Click to expand...

it does work for highschool (though possibly not all highschools - not sure about this).

go to store.apple.com
you will be able to choose from "shop for yourself" and "shop for your school"
under the first option, click "find your k-12 school"
 
Originally posted by beelzebub
Does the edu discount work for High School Students? I though it only worked for college.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that the student discounts are only for college students.

For high school discounts, you have to be a faculty member. HS students aren't eligible for the discounts.
 
Originally posted by beelzebub

Could I lie and say that I am a member of one of these groups?

What would happen if they (apple or my HS) found out if I lied?
Click to expand...

If I were you, I wouldn't lie.

Apple does perform random checks, more so on the HS side, and if they find out you lied they will charge you the full price, and you may find yourself ineligible for any discounts in the future.

Also, for my HS store, you could only purchase things with a purchase order that came from the school. So, you couldn't simply buy a mac with a credit card.
 
Originally posted by beelzebub


- Employee of public or private K-12 institutions in the United States
Click to expand...

What if my mom voluntered some of her time to work there? would that count as an "employee"?
 
Originally posted by beelzebub
What if my mom voluntered some of her time to work there? would that count as an "employee"?
Click to expand...

Employee means that they have a contract with the school system and receive a salary. Volunteer's are not employee's.

Please don't try to cheat the system.
 
I'm leaning towards an iMac but I'm still not sure between

a refurb Imac 1ghz 80 gig for 1099
or a 800 mhz iMac 60 gig for 999

Im not sure about buying a refurb, what risks are involved
my friend bought a refurb dell from ebay a year ago and the motherboard was busted within 2 months

i get a lot more bang for my buck with the 1ghz
 
The iMac I tells ya.

From a pratical day-to-day perspective, I'm always even more wary about drinking from my jumbo portion coffee near my iBook.

Scalding drink spilled on iMac keyboard -> ruined iMac keyboard

Scalding drink spilled on iBook -> the trauma is too much, leading to drinking habits far worse than coffee.
 
Go for the 1ghz iMac. The quality of Apple's refurbished machine's are excellent. The 200mhz will definitely add some power. If you can afford it, purchase some RAM from Crucial and you'll really see some speed increases.
 
Thanks for all your help especially you, RBMaraman, in advising me to go the legal way with the edu discount(not get it). I should be ordering my 1ghz iMac either tonight or sat. I'm looking forward to getting a quality computer and OS after 4 years of hell on my 600mhz celeron compaq on win ME.
 
Glad we could be of some help! If you have any other questions, post 'em and will try our darndest to help you out!

I'm sure your going to love your Mac! Welcome to the good side!
 
the refurb imac comes with 10.2.7 already installed but it comes with 10.3 on an install disk. Does anybody know if it would come with the new iLife that has garage band.
i just think that gb would be something nice to mess around in(i dont play an instruments or anything)
 
If you have problems with an apple product that is still under warranty do you have to ship it back to the warehouse to get is fixed or can you just bring it into you friendly neighboorhood apple store and save the hassle of shipping it? Just incase because my brothers ibook was DOA and he went through a lot of hassle.(It got lost at the FedEx warehouse for 4 days)
 
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