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If not now, then when will you upgrade from PowerBook to Mac Book Pro

B

bammac

macrumors member
Original poster
May 20, 2005
38
0
Melbourne
Very curious to find out for all those that have a PowerBook, as to what are you holding out for in future versions of MacBook Pro's instead of purchasing the latest C2D Version today.

I was very impressed with the specs, but personally it's not enough for me to ditch my 18 month old PBG4.

For me what will tip the scales is:

- Waiting till my machine has reached the 2 year milestone, more so to reduce any buyers remorse of having a rapidly outclassed machine.
- Robson Cache: Really curious to see how this new technology will work. Who knows it may come to nothing, but I use potential technology as a way to prevent myself from rushing in every update!
- UXGA+ 1920x1080 on the 15.4" display. Especially with the possibility of "Resolution Independence" in Leopard. Dell does it, admittedly I have not seen a machine with that res in person.
- Possibility of design change?
- Possibility of Apple going with nvidia (GeForce Go 8xxx maybe on the horizon?) for it's graphic card's. Or even sticking with ATi but updating the card.
- Waiting till Leopard is released, that way I will not have to pay for the upgrade.

What about other current PowerBook owners out there? What will tip the scales for you?
 
I've got a 2.5 year old PB 1.5 G4 w/ 1.5 Gb RAM, and will look to upgrade some time next year. It handles everything I need for now and as usual, the longer you can hold off, the better machine you get.

I pretty much agree with everything on your list. The 'free' OS upgrade being the most obvious reason to wait a few more months, and then by that time, more info will hopefully be available on what the next round of updates will bring.
 
Well, for me the money is not an option (I have done some freelance work and get a new MacBook Pro in return) so it does not cost me anything. Also, as I have a ADC membership I will hopefully get Leopard for free before the subscription ends (early March).

I am happy with the C2D, FW800, extra memory, bigger harddrives... However I have doubts because of:

-Robson / Santa Rosa
-802.11n being finalised (probably the 802.11n hardware is already present as in the Imac C2D)
-the GPU has not been upgraded; since jan the MacBook Pro has the X1600 GPU
-no 7200rpm harddrives?
-Blueray?

For the rest; brilliant machine and -according to apple- 7 times faster than my PB G4 ;)
 
I'm holding off upgrading until my PowerBook aka my precious will have given at least two years solid loyal service which likely will coincide with Leopard's appearance. Guess I'm also against more frequent upgrades in an effort to save our dear old Planet Earth ;)

- Dal
 
My PB G4 has given me 2.5 years of great service, without a single problem. It does everything I want it to. Pro apps are a bit slow (I only have 1 GB RAM at the moment), but since the little I do with pro apps is only for fun and not for a living, I'm more than satisfied.

I will upgrade when it no longer works. :D
 
I will be upgrading as soon as I can sell my PB on craigslist... I've actually been waiting for this upgrade and paid for a student ADC so the OS upgrade isn't that big of a deal since I will get it through ADC, granted not immediately at release however. To bad iLife '07 won't come with ADC though. Does anyone know if it does?

I've been wanting this to run parallels so that I can run some programs that I need for school instead of having to use my desktop at school...

Nuc
 
If I was in the market for one, I'd definitely now consider a 2.33Ghz C2D 15" MBP to replace my last revision 15" PowerBook, much more so than I looked at the core duo model. The new models have pretty awesome specs.

However, software is an issue. Leopard (as other have said) will be a free upgrade in six months (or less) and I'm still slightly putt off by the lack of a native MS Office package and Adobe/Macromedia stuff.

I also wonder if a new chip set (Santa Rosa) could mean a new design ;)
 
I have a 1.5 Ghz G4 PowerBook with 1.5 gigs of ram that's about a year and a half old. It's certainly fine for day to day tasks, and it can still handle Garageband, Photoshop, iPhoto just fine if you don't have them all open at once.

I'm thinking about getting either an iMac or a Mac Pro a year or so down the line for photos and music and keeping the PB for a portable. The stock 15" MBP seems pretty nice though even at $1999. 160gb hdd and 3gigs of ram would be nice. :D
 
I will only upgrade when it becomes clear my PowerBook is dying or dead. I have in it a perfectly usable laptop, so don't need another one.
 
I don't plan on switching to an Intel system for at least 2 more years. For myself there is no reason to upgrade. My PB handles all the tasks I throw at it and if it can't I do the job on my PowerMac. The PB is used for traveling so I need the light weight design. The .6 pound difference of the MB is very noticeable when you pick the two machines up at the same time. Also I figure the Intel transition (software wise) will be finished and I won't have to worry about running applications under Rosetta.
 
bammac said:
What about other current PowerBook owners out there? What will tip the scales for you?
Click to expand...

I'll be waiting for the key applications Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite to be released as Universal Binaries before considering an Intel Mac of any type.
 
The next Mac I buy will be a Mac Pro. Why? Because I need an expandable, upgradable powerhouse for my home. Now that I'm out of college, my need for a laptop has decreased dramatically, and the PowerBook is still quite suited for the sorts of tasks I do on-the-go—namely, web browsing, e-mail, word processing, and the like. So, probably, if the PowerBook eventually dies or just falls so far behind it's not useful anymore, I'll replace it with a regular MacBook, which is more than sufficient for mobile tasks as well (and is a bit smaller, if not dramatically lighter).
 
When my current machine no longer suits my needs. :) Seriously, I see my existing hardware lasting me at least another year, maybe longer. Plus, as that point, we'll have even newer Macbooks, and of course, Leopard.
 
I have a 1.67 GHz Powerbook that's about 18 months old. I'll most likely wait until the first expensive repair after Applecare runs out! . . . or would it be better to sell it before then??

Assuming it meets my needs most of the time, which is best - to sell in about 6 months' time when there's still some guarantee with it, or to wait until it's worth nothing?
 
Nuc said:
To bad iLife '07 won't come with ADC though. Does anyone know if it does?
Click to expand...

Nope; I have had an ADC membership for over 1.5 years now and I have never received iLife. I did receive several Panther/Tiger and development DVD's though...
 
Mine is almost 2 years old now. Still works great.

I don't think I'd buy another one until they change the form factor again. I don't think I would like the idea of getting a totally new laptop that's looks practically identical to my current one.

So far everything still runs fine. Hoping that Leopard will be okay too. I doubt I'll be upgrading before OS 10.6 is released.
 
dynamicv said:
I will only upgrade when it becomes clear my PowerBook is dying or dead. I have in it a perfectly usable laptop, so don't need another one.
Click to expand...

Ditto that. I have a 1.5 years old Pb and handles everything I throw at it just
fine. I won't upgrade just because there is a faster machine out there. I won't
as well upgrade if they change the mbp form factor.

I don't do any video/photoshop work so I need no xCore machine :D.
 
my PB 1.5G4 is 2.5 years old, has upper ram slot failure that will give me a new motherboard via applecare. i will not upgrade at all to a MBP because the MB is fast enough for everything.

i think more along the line MB + a mac pro or similar.
the MBP costs about $3000. for that money you get a MB and you have money left to put it towards a refurb/used mac pro.
 
If a PowerBook is doing everything you need to do without causing workflow issues, then there's really no rush.

You have a machine capable of running Leopard and all the current PPC and UB
applications.

WE still don't know what kind of heat issues will turn up in the new MBP line-up, so it may be better to hold off for Santa Rosa or better yet Penryn 45 nm chipsets..

Also keep in mind that ATI and NVidia will be working to reduce size, heat and power requirements on their video cards.

The end result should be FAST cool running notebooks with an average 8 hour battery life.
 
I'm definitely waiting till Leopard. I'm hoping for a smaller MBP too though, the 12" Powerbook is such a great size.

By then my iBook and Windows laptop will be dead (or close to it). I don't know what I'd do with my Powerbook though. I think maybe I'm going to be waiting for a few years. :eek:
 
bammac said:
Very curious to find out for all those that have a PowerBook, as to what are you holding out for in future versions of MacBook Pro's instead of purchasing the latest C2D Version today.

I was very impressed with the specs, but personally it's not enough for me to ditch my 18 month old PBG4.

For me what will tip the scales is:

- Waiting till my machine has reached the 2 year milestone, more so to reduce any buyers remorse of having a rapidly outclassed machine.
- Robson Cache: Really curious to see how this new technology will work. Who knows it may come to nothing, but I use potential technology as a way to prevent myself from rushing in every update!
- UXGA+ 1920x1080 on the 15.4" display. Especially with the possibility of "Resolution Independence" in Leopard. Dell does it, admittedly I have not seen a machine with that res in person.
- Possibility of design change?
- Possibility of Apple going with nvidia (GeForce Go 8xxx maybe on the horizon?) for it's graphic card's. Or even sticking with ATi but updating the card.
- Waiting till Leopard is released, that way I will not have to pay for the upgrade.

What about other current PowerBook owners out there? What will tip the scales for you?
Click to expand...

I agree and feel the same.
 
when i get some $$$$$ !!!!

ive been wanting a C2D machine for a while simply becuase the C2D is the best chip on the market right now.

but design wise, i think the bezel on the top of the screen of the PB looks too big. yes, i know they added the iSight camera, but still, the bezel on the 15" pb looks much better!

and maybe some color variations like the iPod nano. . . id like that black on a MBP!

I also wouldnt mind waiting until lepord is out along with a better version of Boot Camp. I have had some difficulties with Boot camp and my mac mini. I dont want my HD to be at risk of some dumb boot camp failure!
 
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