Keep my powerbook g4 or get the MBPro?

[hazybluedot]

I was/am in the same boat. I have a PB G4 bought in Feb 2004 and have been eyeing the MPB for a while now. However, since I'm a grad student, money is a big factor and I finally convinced myself that a new computer isn't urgent. The G4 still does everything I need it to do (though it is a big sluggish opening my ever growing iPhoto library). At first I thought I might just upgrade on the next cycle in Sept/Oct but then I've been reading about Intel's next major revision, Nehalem which is due out later this year. I've decided it makes the most sense to just wait for that in a MPB, probably a year from now. I think I will double my ram to 2GB in the interim to make my G4 a little happier when I have a ton of apps open.

I agree with the others who have suggested moving your iTunes/iPhoto libraries to an external drive. Also, upgrading to Leapard and using Time Machine for backups would be good too considering the age of the machine (especially the internal harddrive). Of course if you do all that then I think it makes sense to be frugal and just wait it out and use the machine until it because unusable.

 

[lasuther]

I think you should wait until the laptop update. Then you have the option of buying the version, or a old version at discounted prices. Most rumors point to a end of September release.

But if you buy one now, you can do the back to school promo for a free iPod Touch.

 

[moniker]

Within two weeks? Or maybe even (hopefully) Tuesday?

Apple has previously told us about product launches in Q3. That usually means as close to September 30 as possible (I believe they even once took down the online store on the evening of September 30 for a Q3 launch), but I'd say in the last two weeks of September.

I'm also on an old machine, although it's slightly newer, a 1.67 GHz G4 17". My computer is my work tool as I work as both a professional photographer (advertising) and as a Mac software developer. I'm still holding out for the updates as I know I would kick myself if I were to buy now and Apple would subsequently introduce a laptop that's what I really want.