I've been sitting on my hands and biting my lip waiting for Leopard to come out before buying my next laptop, but it's getting harder to do. I just don't know how much longer I can limp along this old G3. So, here's the question: Are we expecting any major hardware revisions to be announced around the time that Leopard is released in October? I'll wait if I have to, so I can get the new hardware with the new OS. But, if no hardware revisions are expected, I'll buy now and then just pay for the OS upgrade. What do you think?
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Is It Worth The Wait???
- Thread starter maestrocasa
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darthraige
macrumors 68000
I wouldn't expect any newer laptops til the first 3 months next year. Get a MacPro when they are released hopefully by then end of this year.
darthraige
macrumors 68000
Actually, to make you feel better, I just picked up my new MacBook. Thing is awesome. I can get a copy of Leopard later anyway. I say go for it. Thing is really fast.
filmgirl
macrumors 6502
Are you looking at MB or MBP?
Purely speculative on my part, but I figure that the MB will probably get the SR bump (because that will have to happen two months after I buy my laptop - it's scientific 😛) and any changes to the MBP will be minor. Nothing from Intel makes it sound like anything new will be out before November - so it might even be a Leopard Launch in October and then the usual 6 month revision cycle in November. If you need a new machine, you need a new machine - Leopard or no Leopard.
Personally, I think that the whole "wait for the best" quandry that so many Mac (or future Mac) owners face (myself included - I originally planned on buying machine after the MBP's were released in June - it took me another 6 weeks to do what I knew in my heart would be my financial reality back in May) is really, really unproductive and in many ways - kind of destructive. It takes a lot of the joy out of a process - and more than any other computer, the Mac is really a joy to buy. I mean, I'm a gadget junkie - like a HUGE, HUGE gadget/electronic fanatic - toys of any type get me excited, but I haven't been this excited about a toy, as I have with my MacBook in years and years. The last time I got this much pure pleasure out of something like this was probably when I bought my first DV camera my senior year of high school. And yet, my joy was tempered a bit because I can't help but question "what will come out next; what if I could have waited; what if I had just sucked it up and asked for the extra $400, etc."
And the internet doesn't help - actually, the internet is the problem. Sites like this are a breeding ground for people who like to get the best value they can while also being the most advanced (and again, I'm totally one of those people). Apple is a particularly problematic company because a) they appeal to even non gadget junkies the same way they appeal to people like me who live for toys b) the brand itself is elite and has a sense of gravitas to it that makes the purchase seem more important and more serious than buying a regular computer, even a really nice regular computer, thus the decision to "get it right" and lessen buyer's remorse (or not remorse, but future product envy) as much as possible and most importantly C) the fact that the model line-up is so limited and updated only twice a year (and major changes to design are much less frequent) - no one wants to get stuck with "last year's model" mere months before the new revision comes out.
More and more, I think that all of those factors go into creating emotions that aren't entirely healthy or useful (at least for me) - and ultimately, detract from the enjoyment and you know, the purpose of the product itself. If you are always waiting for the next thing, you'll always be waiting. Here it is four days after buying my laptop and it's taken me to type this up to fully resolve being OK with getting a MacBook rather than a MacBook Pro (which I didn't need - honestly - it's not like I won't be getting a new computer in two years anyway, the only reason my last laptop lasted so long was because I built a cutting edge PC rig two years ago that only recently went on the blink - really, really inopportune timing - but still) - and I haven't had as much fun on a computer in ages and ages.
Anyway, sorry to be so long-winded - but it's just up to you - how much do you need a new computer? I just wouldn't let future "what if's" impede any pleasure you could be having NOW.
Purely speculative on my part, but I figure that the MB will probably get the SR bump (because that will have to happen two months after I buy my laptop - it's scientific 😛) and any changes to the MBP will be minor. Nothing from Intel makes it sound like anything new will be out before November - so it might even be a Leopard Launch in October and then the usual 6 month revision cycle in November. If you need a new machine, you need a new machine - Leopard or no Leopard.
Personally, I think that the whole "wait for the best" quandry that so many Mac (or future Mac) owners face (myself included - I originally planned on buying machine after the MBP's were released in June - it took me another 6 weeks to do what I knew in my heart would be my financial reality back in May) is really, really unproductive and in many ways - kind of destructive. It takes a lot of the joy out of a process - and more than any other computer, the Mac is really a joy to buy. I mean, I'm a gadget junkie - like a HUGE, HUGE gadget/electronic fanatic - toys of any type get me excited, but I haven't been this excited about a toy, as I have with my MacBook in years and years. The last time I got this much pure pleasure out of something like this was probably when I bought my first DV camera my senior year of high school. And yet, my joy was tempered a bit because I can't help but question "what will come out next; what if I could have waited; what if I had just sucked it up and asked for the extra $400, etc."
And the internet doesn't help - actually, the internet is the problem. Sites like this are a breeding ground for people who like to get the best value they can while also being the most advanced (and again, I'm totally one of those people). Apple is a particularly problematic company because a) they appeal to even non gadget junkies the same way they appeal to people like me who live for toys b) the brand itself is elite and has a sense of gravitas to it that makes the purchase seem more important and more serious than buying a regular computer, even a really nice regular computer, thus the decision to "get it right" and lessen buyer's remorse (or not remorse, but future product envy) as much as possible and most importantly C) the fact that the model line-up is so limited and updated only twice a year (and major changes to design are much less frequent) - no one wants to get stuck with "last year's model" mere months before the new revision comes out.
More and more, I think that all of those factors go into creating emotions that aren't entirely healthy or useful (at least for me) - and ultimately, detract from the enjoyment and you know, the purpose of the product itself. If you are always waiting for the next thing, you'll always be waiting. Here it is four days after buying my laptop and it's taken me to type this up to fully resolve being OK with getting a MacBook rather than a MacBook Pro (which I didn't need - honestly - it's not like I won't be getting a new computer in two years anyway, the only reason my last laptop lasted so long was because I built a cutting edge PC rig two years ago that only recently went on the blink - really, really inopportune timing - but still) - and I haven't had as much fun on a computer in ages and ages.
Anyway, sorry to be so long-winded - but it's just up to you - how much do you need a new computer? I just wouldn't let future "what if's" impede any pleasure you could be having NOW.
I appreciate your long-windedness. helps us to see your thought process. I really need the new machine, mainly because I need to be able to run some windows apps for work (probably going with VM Fusion as the virtualizer) I guess I'll just bite the bullet and buy now. way more pleasureable, but I live in fear that the "next big update" will happen days later...
ricgnzlzcr
macrumors 6502a
I doubt we'll get an update in the next couple months. I'd buy now to be honest. You can pick up Leopard later after its been tested out a bit. If you wait for Leopard now then you might also feel like waiting for a new hardware update since you've already waited that long. Bite that bullet.
Also, out of curiosity, how long have you been using that pismo?
I too have been limping along with my old G4 Yikes machine + a G4 iBook. My Yikes machine is starting to show it's age as I just got a dSLR and it is so slow for processing the 5 mb pics I now work with. My wife and I are still going back & forth on which Mac to buy. Fortunately & Unfortunately, sites like this let me study each machine more then is probably worth it.
In short, I'm with you in tiring of the nitpicking over nano size details that probably in the end really don't matter as much as to the effort as which we study them.
Cheers,
Mike
In short, I'm with you in tiring of the nitpicking over nano size details that probably in the end really don't matter as much as to the effort as which we study them.
Cheers,
Mike
Man, I'm ready! Will order the new machine (2.2GHz MBP, 2GB, 160GB) this weekend. I got the Pismo back in 2000, during my last year of college. upgraded to a G4 TiBook along the way, but it crashed out on me over a year ago (screen hinge broke, then screen quit working, then the motherboard finally crapped out.) luckily I was able to salvage the harddrive and RAM from the TiBook, put it into the pismo, and everything fired up. WHEW!! It's been a hard year, though, limping along at 500MHz, no CDR, lousy graphics, etc., etc. I won't know what to do with myself on a fast, new machine. Probably just waste a lot of time playing with photobooth 🙄
ricgnzlzcr
macrumors 6502a
That's going to be a hell of an upgrade that I'm sure you're really looking forward to. I actually just bought a g3 powerbook off ebay for my trip to Costa Rica and for any other rough places where I'm unsure of the safety of my macbook. I'm sure the powerbook wll chug along just fine although I'm debating whether to downgrade it to Panther for a smoother experience. Do you have any thoughts on that?
I've been running Tiger without any trouble, excepting the fact that all operations are slow. I've contributed this more to the age of the machine than any OS bloat. I did not notice any significant change in speed when I upgraded from panther. You might have significant speed gains if you are able to run only OS 9. It's fairly speedy in classic mode, and probably would be real quick if that was your only OS. Good luck.
dmw007
macrumors G4
Good choice, the new MacBook Pros are real speed demons (especially compared to a PowerBook G3/G4). 🙂
