New Macbook?

[Coca-Cola]

I really want a new Macbook. I have a 12" PB. It is great. Works perfect and still has plenty of power. The thing is, I have had this computer for a while. Should I try to sell it now while I can still get a good price. Or should I just hang on to this trusty machine. I am afraid of being left in the technological dust. I think I can hold on for one more year at least. Should I sell now and buy a new Macbook? If I had the extra cash, I would buy a new Macbook. However, I am broke.

Suggestions?

 

[CoMpX]

If the PB meets your meets now, stick with it. No need to buy the latest just because it is...well, the latest.

P.S. When I saw this thread I thought it was some speculation on new MacBooks. Ugh. You never know.

 

[WildCowboy]

If cash is an issue and your current machine is still serving your needs, there's absolutely no need to get a new MacBook now.

 

[Coca-Cola]

Thanks, it really is an issue of need versus want. I want a new Mac, yet have no need for one. I guess I can just admire them from afar.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

Definitely keep it - you don't always have to have the latest technology.

 

[YS2003]

I am itching to get a new Intel Mac; but, I decided not to jump from Power PC Mac to Intel Mac just yet because my Adobe CS2 and MX2004 will not run natively with Intel chips. I am timing my next Mac purchase early next year by getting:
Desktop Mac (Mac Pro?)
MBP
CS3
and
Apple Final Cut Studio

Also, by that time, Apple would have been able to work out some kinks for their Intel-based hardware. Also, maybe the next OS Leopard should be out by then. It's a big jump from Power PC to Intel and I am impressed Apple has been making the transition so quickly.

 

[bit density]

One of the truths that I have found is that my annual net (cost of new - amount recovered on old) mac purchases tend to be the same, whether I keep the machines through 1 or 2 upgrade cycles and may even be the same through 3 cycles.

So I upgrade frequently, and have been moving up the family a bit as well.

In otherwords it turns into somewhat of a cashflow problem. Being broke now, just means it will be more expensive later to upgrade. But the same dollars per annum.

I look forward to upgrading my macbook to something that is faster, better graphics, smaller and with better battery life.

It is all about where do you want to be in the food chain.

 

[zap2]

Your PB is fine, wait for Merom and jump ship to intel when you get Merom!

 

[CoMpX]

One of the truths that I have found is that my annual net (cost of new - amount recovered on old) mac purchases tend to be the same, whether I keep the machines through 1 or 2 upgrade cycles and may even be the same through 3 cycles.

So I upgrade frequently, and have been moving up the family a bit as well.

In otherwords it turns into somewhat of a cashflow problem. Being broke now, just means it will be more expensive later to upgrade. But the same dollars per annum.

I look forward to upgrading my macbook to something that is faster, better graphics, smaller and with better battery life.

It is all about where do you want to be in the food chain.

I think I understand what you are getting at here. In other words, if you keep a Mac, or any computer for that matter, for a short period of time, you can sell it for close to the price you bought for it. You can then put the money you made toward a new Mac. This way, you lose less money when you upgrade, but it becomes more of an inconvenience to be constantly upgrading every time something new comes out.

 

[Coca-Cola]

I am really excited about the intel chips. The best part is that apple will be upgrading super fast. We used to wait many months for a keynote in order to receive news about a upgrade of a few megahertz. Sometimes the announced upgrade wasn't available for months later. This is really exciting. I am so glad motorola is out of the loop. We would be waiting how long for the G6?

I think I will plan on upgrading after Leopard comes out and pass this computer to a family member.

 

[ImNoSuperMan]

One of the truths that I have found is that my annual net (cost of new - amount recovered on old) mac purchases tend to be the same, whether I keep the machines through 1 or 2 upgrade cycles and may even be the same through 3 cycles.

So I upgrade frequently, and have been moving up the family a bit as well.

In otherwords it turns into somewhat of a cashflow problem. Being broke now, just means it will be more expensive later to upgrade. But the same dollars per annum.

I look forward to upgrading my macbook to something that is faster, better graphics, smaller and with better battery life.

It is all about where do you want to be in the food chain.

You are absolutely right. I myself try to follow the same regime. But the fact of the matter is MB is my second Mac only . But this is exactly what I planned bout my future Macs. This way you spend the same amont of money and still have the latest/fastest Mac all the time.

 

[amin]

I think I understand what you are getting at here. In other words, if you keep a Mac, or any computer for that matter, for a short period of time, you can sell it for close to the price you bought for it. You can then put the money you made toward a new Mac. This way, you lose less money when you upgrade, but it becomes more of an inconvenience to be constantly upgrading every time something new comes out.

Frequently upgrading and selling has the following extra costs:
1) Cost of shipping the sold Mac (obvious).
2) Ebay, PayPal costs (obvious).
3) Cost of a bad selling experience - hard to estimate.

#3 is the reason I don't sell and buy all that often. I tend to keep my Mac laptops for 2 years at a time. This is the most tempted I have been to upgrade this soon (my PB is 10 months old); however, I am going to resist temptation, buy a kickass Merom iMac, and get a new Book in the summer of '07!

 

[danny_w]

I bought my 15" PB about 2 months ago as an upgrade from my Mac Mini that I got when they came out, and which got me hooked on Macs. Although I don't need it (my PB is flawless and does not even get that hot), I have been looking at the new Macbooks. It seems like a lot of computer for the money, but I don't really need it and the integrated graphics still worries me somewhat (I'm not a big gamer but occasionally like to play a game of Diablo II or Doom 3). I just hate the thought of giving up the PB features, like the lighted keyboard and aluminum case. As was mentioned above, perhaps the best thing to do would be to wait for Leopard to come out before I make any move.

 

[bit density]

I think I understand what you are getting at here. In other words, if you keep a Mac, or any computer for that matter, for a short period of time, you can sell it for close to the price you bought for it. You can then put the money you made toward a new Mac. This way, you lose less money when you upgrade, but it becomes more of an inconvenience to be constantly upgrading every time something new comes out.

Much tougher with PC's because the price drops to essentially nil so quickly. Macs have much higher price stability overtime, and a more predictable upgrade cycle.

And as to the inconvenience, not since OSX. You plug in your old one to your new one, run the upgrade software, and all your programs and documents transferred over and working... Completely unattended, and so far works flawlessly. Then spend the rest of the afternoon making my old one look all minty and back in the box, and there you go.

 

[danny_w]

Frequently upgrading and selling has the following extra costs:
1) Cost of shipping the sold Mac (obvious).
2) Ebay, PayPal costs (obvious).
3) Cost of a bad selling experience - hard to estimate.

#3 is the reason I don't sell and buy all that often. I tend to keep my Mac laptops for 2 years at a time. This is the most tempted I have been to upgrade this soon (my PB is 10 months old); however, I am going to resist temptation, buy a kickass Merom iMac, and get a new Book in the summer of '07!

I've used eBay a lot in the past, but lately have been using craigslist and selling locally for cash, so I avoid #1 and #2, and #3 hasn't been a problem either; once it's gone for cash, it's gone for good. And the things that I have sold locally have generally brought as much as eBay (esp. after deducting for fees).

 

[bit density]

Frequently upgrading and selling has the following extra costs:
1) Cost of shipping the sold Mac (obvious).
2) Ebay, PayPal costs (obvious).
3) Cost of a bad selling experience - hard to estimate.

#3 is the reason I don't sell and buy all that often. I tend to keep my Mac laptops for 2 years at a time. This is the most tempted I have been to upgrade this soon (my PB is 10 months old); however, I am going to resist temptation, buy a kickass Merom iMac, and get a new Book in the summer of '07!

I sell all my computers locally. Fortunately, I have a local university, and there is a large enough market here that I can sell them relatively quickly and without hassle by pricing them at a competitive price (I don't sit on the computer looking for the best price.

My point being that if I sell them on about a 9 month cycle, in the end it costs me about the same annually as if I wait longer till the computer depreciates to nearly nothing, but I get to keep using better technology.

But, yes, many many people have a tough time participating in the pre-owned marketplace as either buyer or seller.

 

[bit density]

I bought my 15" PB about 2 months ago as an upgrade from my Mac Mini that I got when they came out, and which got me hooked on Macs. Although I don't need it (my PB is flawless and does not even get that hot), I have been looking at the new Macbooks. It seems like a lot of computer for the money, but I don't really need it and the integrated graphics still worries me somewhat (I'm not a big gamer but occasionally like to play a game of Diablo II or Doom 3). I just hate the thought of giving up the PB features, like the lighted keyboard and aluminum case. As was mentioned above, perhaps the best thing to do would be to wait for Leopard to come out before I make any move.

This is one of the odder inflection points in Mac History. I think the right thing to probably do is to hang a for sale shingle out at a price that you think is good for you. If you get a bite, upgrade to a MBP (not a macbook). It sounds like that is the level of computer you are looking for at any given time.

PB's will definitely depreciate faster than Ibooks will during this time frame, as a standard PB owner will have greater demands for newest/fastest computer. After the beginning of the year when we can expect Universal Adobe/Microsoft/Quark apps, and Parallels, Leopard and bookcamp are more than just on the horizon, I would expect PB prices to drop alot.

Going forward from here I would expect that there will be more price stability in the MB/P lines though.

But, in your case, I would just keep the PB. It will probably meet your need quite well for the next couple of *years*, and then you can come up for air and see where the world is at, and still get a few hundy for your PB.

Cheers
John

 

[danny_w]

This is one of the odder inflection points in Mac History. I think the right thing to probably do is to hang a for sale shingle out at a price that you think is good for you. If you get a bite, upgrade to a MBP (not a macbook). It sounds like that is the level of computer you are looking for at any given time.

PB's will definitely depreciate faster than Ibooks will during this time frame, as a standard PB owner will have greater demands for newest/fastest computer. After the beginning of the year when we can expect Universal Adobe/Microsoft/Quark apps, and Parallels, Leopard and bookcamp are more than just on the horizon, I would expect PB prices to drop alot.

Going forward from here I would expect that there will be more price stability in the MB/P lines though.

But, in your case, I would just keep the PB. It will probably meet your need quite well for the next couple of *years*, and then you can come up for air and see where the world is at, and still get a few hundy for your PB.

Cheers
John

Sorry, but you have me confused here. It sounds like you are giving conflicting advice. First you say sell it and upgrade to a MBP, and then you end by sayiing to keep it.

 

[bit density]

Sorry, but you have me confused here. It sounds like you are giving conflicting advice. First you say sell it and upgrade to a MBP, and then you end by sayiing to keep it.

I am saying, since he bought the computer only two months ago, and seems to also be frugal, that the best advice may be to stay with what he has, unless he can get a buyer that will essentially overpay for his machine.

His particular case demonstrates the problem of buying soon to be deprecated versions of Apple equipment. At the time they tend to be the best and most well built mac machines. But they will suffer from the most rapid price depreciation because of a much narrower aftermarket. In this case, your least loss, is to probably keep the machine, rather than upgrade.

 

[Nate4747]

One of the truths that I have found is that my annual net (cost of new - amount recovered on old) mac purchases tend to be the same, whether I keep the machines through 1 or 2 upgrade cycles and may even be the same through 3 cycles.

So I upgrade frequently, and have been moving up the family a bit as well.

In otherwords it turns into somewhat of a cashflow problem. Being broke now, just means it will be more expensive later to upgrade. But the same dollars per annum.

I look forward to upgrading my macbook to something that is faster, better graphics, smaller and with better battery life.

It is all about where do you want to be in the food chain.

I do the same thing. It works out great, I usually only spend an extra 100 - 200 each year to stay current.

 

[bodeh6]

When the MacBook came out, I was all about selling my 9 month old iBook for the new MB seeing how in a few months I am gonna HAVE to buy Apple Care for almost $200. Knock on wood no problems yet from day 1. Then I thought to my self that some of the Apps like PhotoShop elements, Flip4Mac, and others aren't universal yet. Sure the MB is much nicer and faster then my current iBook. But I say I should just keep it for at least another year or 2 or 3. It is plenty fast for everyday use and it has served my well.

 

[QCassidy352]

One of the truths that I have found is that my annual net (cost of new - amount recovered on old) mac purchases tend to be the same, whether I keep the machines through 1 or 2 upgrade cycles and may even be the same through 3 cycles.

So I upgrade frequently, and have been moving up the family a bit as well.

In otherwords it turns into somewhat of a cashflow problem. Being broke now, just means it will be more expensive later to upgrade. But the same dollars per annum.

I look forward to upgrading my macbook to something that is faster, better graphics, smaller and with better battery life.

It is all about where do you want to be in the food chain.

great post. I agree entirely. I upgrade frequently, but sell my old stuff for so close to what I paid for it that the new one only costs a couple of hundred dollars each time. Not that a couple hundred is chicken feed, but the alternative is to run a mac in to the ground (until it's worth about $50 or $100) and then buy a brand new one, essentially absorbing the whole cost at once. Since buying new macs makes me happy, I choose to pay a few hundred at a time rather than a few thousand every few years.

 

[pna]

I bought my 15" PB about 2 months ago as an upgrade from my Mac Mini that I got when they came out, and which got me hooked on Macs. Although I don't need it (my PB is flawless and does not even get that hot), I have been looking at the new Macbooks. It seems like a lot of computer for the money, but I don't really need it and the integrated graphics still worries me somewhat (I'm not a big gamer but occasionally like to play a game of Diablo II or Doom 3). I just hate the thought of giving up the PB features, like the lighted keyboard and aluminum case. As was mentioned above, perhaps the best thing to do would be to wait for Leopard to come out before I make any move.

As I started reading this, I was thinking about how I'm in *exactly* the same situation, to the point that I actually checked to make sure I hadn't posted this myself. My brother bought me a mac mini when they came out as a gift, which rapidly caused me to relegate all of my linux machines to headless research machines. I bought a used 1.25 ghz 15" powerbook and have used it probably 6-8 hours a day since, when I'm not using my mini. The combination of those two machines have completely changed my computing life for the better. To make it weirder, I had *just* checked macrumors having just returned from the apple store to take a look at the macbooks, thinking about the exact same choices that you're talking about -- sell it now and get a macbook, or wait and sell it for less later.

All strange enough, but then I got to the end of your post. I don't play games. Period. Except for Diablo 2, which I just lost two hours to earlier today in Act V. Bizarre.

Since we're the same person, here's how I see it.

1 - the gpu on the macbook is probably fine for diablo II if you install boot camp.

2 - The macbook is nice, sure, but even at the higher screen res, I just don't see it as a great trade for the 15" powerbook, once you've gotten used to the screen size of the 15". Especially if you've got a high-res pb. It's not even that much lighter.

3 - Your PB won't drop *that* much in the next few months. If you're going to do anything, at least wait until the merom powerbooks are out, and either pick up a refurb for $2-300 cheaper, or just save your money and pay for it out of pocket.

That's what I'm going to do, anyhow.

 

[danny_w]

As I started reading this, I was thinking about how I'm in *exactly* the same situation, to the point that I actually checked to make sure I hadn't posted this myself. My brother bought me a mac mini when they came out as a gift, which rapidly caused me to relegate all of my linux machines to headless research machines. I bought a used 1.25 ghz 15" powerbook and have used it probably 6-8 hours a day since, when I'm not using my mini. The combination of those two machines have completely changed my computing life for the better. To make it weirder, I had *just* checked macrumors having just returned from the apple store to take a look at the macbooks, thinking about the exact same choices that you're talking about -- sell it now and get a macbook, or wait and sell it for less later.

All strange enough, but then I got to the end of your post. I don't play games. Period. Except for Diablo 2, which I just lost two hours to earlier today in Act V. Bizarre.

Since we're the same person, here's how I see it.

1 - the gpu on the macbook is probably fine for diablo II if you install boot camp.

2 - The macbook is nice, sure, but even at the higher screen res, I just don't see it as a great trade for the 15" powerbook, once you've gotten used to the screen size of the 15". Especially if you've got a high-res pb. It's not even that much lighter.

3 - Your PB won't drop *that* much in the next few months. If you're going to do anything, at least wait until the merom powerbooks are out, and either pick up a refurb for $2-300 cheaper, or just save your money and pay for it out of pocket.

That's what I'm going to do, anyhow.

Yep, that's my thinking exactly. I like the size of the 15" PB, the aluminum case, the lighted keyboard, and the fact the my PB is almost perfect. Although the Macbook is a big upgrade in processor performance, it is bound to seem a step back in all of the other areas. I think it would be dumb right now to swap a known quantity PB for a MB. The MBP may be another thing altogether, but it is also way more money than I am prepared to shell out at the moment.

 

[ksz]

I am really excited about the intel chips. The best part is that apple will be upgrading super fast. We used to wait many months for a keynote in order to receive news about a upgrade of a few megahertz. Sometimes the announced upgrade wasn't available for months later. This is really exciting. I am so glad motorola is out of the loop. We would be waiting how long for the G6?

I think I will plan on upgrading after Leopard comes out and pass this computer to a family member.

I'm also very tempted by the MacBook. I've been waiting for a 13-inch laptop from Apple and now that it's here, it's sending out subliminal messages. But I'm fighting back. My 15-inch PowerBook is going to serve its purpose for a few more months because what I will most certainly splurge upon is the new MacPro if Apples releases these puppies with 2 Woodcrest processors. I've got Aperture, a Nikon D200 and lots of RAW files, so I'm craving sheer processing power. I will replace the PowerBook early next year.