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Keep my powerbook g4 or get the MBPro?

B

betsy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 27, 2008
8
0
I've been a mac user since the early 80s. I'm not a professional photographer or a graphics person. I use it for some work <lawyer> and just as my home computer. I keep about 10,000 photos on it.

I bought my kids a MacBook a few months ago and love it. I do love the titanium though more:)

OK: my 80G hard drive is almost full, I have a little money in my pocket and love the MBP. Do I get the new one (with time capsule) or keep mine, get more memory and hard drive? The personal shopper at apple store said he'd be about 50-50 as to whether i need a new one. Advice please??
 
I spoil myself, I just ordered mine, can't wait to get in the mail. So if you got the cash for it, I would say go for it. You've got to spoil yourself once in a while
 
My other option is taking the MacBook, giving kids this one after moving all my data, etc.
But not sure about word 4.0, etc.
 
LifeCerealRocks said:
I spoil myself, I just ordered mine, can't wait to get in the mail. So if you got the cash for it, I would say go for it. You've got to spoil yourself once in a while
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Hmmm good point. And I did just get back child support and this purchase wouldnt make a dent AND i get 8% off as a state employee hmmmm :)
 
I think you should get a new one when the MBP goes through a case redesign. That way you can maximize the lifetime of that computer. This is based on the fact that you kept your computer for a while; if you went through computers a lot, my advice would be different.
 
aosman said:
I think you should get a new one when the MBP goes through a case redesign. That way you can maximize the lifetime of that computer. This is based on the fact that you kept your computer for a while; if you went through computers a lot, my advice would be different.
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I bought this one in April 2004. Does that change your opinion?
And thanks:)
 
The MBP is rumored to be seeing a significant update soon, so if getting a new Mac isn't urgent then I'd recommend trying to hold out for a few months and not spend any money on interim solutions. To hold you over, there are ways to reclaim a few gigabytes of wasted hard drive space to hold you over.
 
motulist said:
The MBP is rumored to be seeing a significant update soon, so if getting a new Mac isn't urgent then I'd recommend trying to hold out for a few months and not spend any money on interim solutions. To hold you over, there are ways to reclaim a few gigabytes of wasted hard drive space to hold you over.
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Do you think there will be more changes than a redesign? I've been reading rumors.....
 
My wife is a photographer. She keeps her photo library on an external drive. You could easily just move your photos off the G4 to the external drive and free up a great deal of space on your current machine. Did you know that if you hold down the option key when launching iTunes or iPhoto, it will prompt you to find a library of your choice or create a new library? By using this, you can actually have multiple libraries. In your case, you could just copy your iPhoto (or even iTunes) library to an external, launch with option, select the new library location and return to life as normal (from then on, iPhoto will open with the external library; you don't have to hold down option everytime, it always defaults back to the last library used). Once you are confident the move to the external space is valid, you can delete the libraries from the G4 (always back up first).

That said, there is good reason to consider buying new: the PPC architecture is being left behind with the next iteration of the OS, the newer product offers a lot more speed/space, and well... it's just nice to get a new computer. In the end, that
 
i would go for the new one. But wait a bit, as the redesign is right around the corner. You will be paying the same amount and who knows what new bells and whistles you will get, not to mention it will look even better than it already does now.
 
LifeCerealRocks said:
I don't see the updates being that significant, I'd buy it now.
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I completely disagree. Rumor signs point to this revision being almost as big as they get. The next revision will almost definitely have an entirely new type of processor (as opposed to just a bump in mhz), new mother board, new hardware features, new case design, etc.

https://www.macrumors.com/2008/07/18/apple-prepping-for-notebook-refresh/

and maybe even a price drop

https://www.macrumors.com/2008/07/22/apple-to-drop-prices-of-notebooks/
 
tMac85 said:
i would go for the new one. But wait a bit, as the redesign is right around the corner. You will be paying the same amount and who knows what new bells and whistles you will get, not to mention it will look even better than it already does now.
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Define "right around the corner" please:)
 
I say get some more ram, buy an external hard drive and dump your iphoto library onto it, and then run onyx on your computer to make sure everything is running in good shape.

For the things you want to do with your computer, after all the above is done it will run just as fast as a macbook pro will for a tiny fraction of the cost.

really. a good computer like yours really will last you quite a bit longer.
 
Mr. B said:
I say get some more ram, buy an external hard drive and dump your iphoto library onto it, and then run onyx on your computer to make sure everything is running in good shape.

For the things you want to do with your computer, after all the above is done it will run just as fast as a macbook pro will for a tiny fraction of the cost.

really. a good computer like yours really will last you quite a bit longer.
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How much longer do you think I'd get? And what are the odds of the whole thing going kaput?
 
betsy said:
How much longer do you think I'd get? And what are the odds of the whole thing going kaput?
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Its really hard to say as there is no certainty when it comes to computers, there are just statistical data, but just to give you an idea, I have a '03 PB G4 and it runs like a dream. I also have a PB G4 Lombard sitting down doing nothing but it starts up and runs like a champ as well, just the battery has crapped out :D
Go :apple:
 
tMac85 said:
not to mention it will look even better than it already does now.
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We don't know for sure that this will be the case. Rumor has it that Apple may use the black MacBook Air keyboard on the new MacBook Pro. I am one of the many people in this forum who would not be happy if this were to happen.
 
To be honest I've found that older powerbooks seem to be a bit more stable feeling than the newer macbook pro's.


It's not that the new macbook pro's are bad or anything, far from it, it's just that I feel that the older machines really were designated with pro users in mind.

This is all just completely my opinion, but there is a reason the old powerbooks still sell for so much even used.
 
Mr. B said:
To be honest I've found that older powerbooks seem to be a bit more stable feeling than the newer macbook pro's.


It's not that the new macbook pro's are bad or anything, far from it, it's just that I feel that the older machines really were designated with pro users in mind.

This is all just completely my opinion, but there is a reason the old powerbooks still sell for so much even used.
Click to expand...

they feel pretty much the same to me, as everyone else has said, I'd also wait for the update that we should see in august I think, October at the latest, but it's still worth the wait, as it's most likely going to be a big update.
 
Mr. B said:
To be honest I've found that older powerbooks seem to be a bit more stable feeling than the newer macbook pro's.
It's not that the new macbook pro's are bad or anything, far from it, it's just that I feel that the older machines really were designated with pro users in mind.
This is all just completely my opinion, but there is a reason the old powerbooks still sell for so much even used.
Click to expand...
I completely agree, physical stability as well as functionally stable. I have many fewer kernel panics on my 12" than on my brand new penryn mbp. Plus the 12" has better audio (without buzzing/popping) and is perfectly lap-sized. :D
 
motulist said:
The MBP is rumored to be seeing a significant update soon, so if getting a new Mac isn't urgent then I'd recommend trying to hold out for a few months and not spend any money on interim solutions. To hold you over, there are ways to reclaim a few gigabytes of wasted hard drive space to hold you over.
Click to expand...

There are always groups of people hanging on for updates. MR gathers quite a bit of them. I think that a MBP sounds deserved, if you're running a PB from '04. If you want to hold out and see, go for it. But if you want it now, don't worry about updates. Just keep in mind the rumors flying around MR about G5 Powerbooks way back when. :rolleyes:
 
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