PowerBook Buying Advice

[Sacerdotalist]

Hey there all!

Quick autobiography, so anyone offering advice knows where I'm coming from;
I've been a Windows user all my life, but will need to be purchasing a Mac notebook before Septt of '05 due to compatibility and portability issues. It won't be used for any heavy image editing, but might get a workout doing statistical analyses. I have no particular upper bound to purchasing price. I would like to buy as soon as possible (in order to get fully Macclimated [get it? Mac acclimated? Ouch, I'm not funny 😱 ] from my PC background) without shooting myself in the foot. I like having the best I can get, but don't throw a tantrum when the inevitable next-best-thing comes around, as long as I bought at the "correct" time in the first place.

So, I'm now asking for advice about buying a PowerBook. I've been reading a bunch of rumors about dual-core G4s and G5s coming sometime soon, and would love to own a G5 PowerBook. It seems as if there's really no sound estimate of release date (although MWSF might change that). So, specific questions; How ill-advised would it be of my to by an initial-release PowerBook G5? How long might I expect it to be after initial release for the second revision to ship? I've heard Mac's had a history of flawed first-run notebooks, so am sort of worried about that issue.

One simple strategy would be for me to just wait until Sept. and buy whatever's out then, but I'd like to buy as soon as is reasonable.

Any advice (answers to the specific questions, or more general)?

Thanks a bunch!

Looking forward to joining the Mac family,

Matt

 

[Spymit007]

I've been the proud owner of several first revision Macs and I must say that I've had nothing but smooth sailing (knock on wood). Perhaps I've just been lucky but I've always frowned when I read people on these forums bad-mouthing Rev. A Apple products. Worst case though, if problems do arise, they'll most likely arise within the first year in which it's still under warranty.

When the Powerbook G5 is announced, I'll have my credit card ready. When will that be? Not for a while it seems; WWDC in June '05 is a possibility. Apple has said that they want to move away from announcing products at big events like MacWorld Expos or WWDC but I can't imagine that Apple or Steve would quietly introduce the Powerbook G5. I expect a lot of fanfare and pomp when that thing gets introduced. Additionally, Apple must know how much demand there is going to be for such a machine that I don't think we'll see what happened when the PowerMac G5 was introduced when there was a 3 month window between announcing the product and actually shipping it. Maybe I'm just a fool, but I think when Apple unveils the Powerbook G5, it will have immediate availability. I have no basis for that, it's just my intuition.

If I were you, I'd wait until MWSF (less than a month away now) and see what gets introduced. Most likely a minor speed bump, better graphics card, and a price drop. Wait until then and then get whatever is the top of the line powerbook. I am sure it will suit you well and last you many years. I've had my Powerbook now for almost 4 years and it still works like a dream and looks pretty new as well. In any case, good luck with whatever you decide on doing.

 

[dragula53]

buying a computer

Waiting for "the next best thing" never pays off, in my experience.

the G4 is an extremely long-in-the-tooth architechture, but a single 1.6Ghz G5 is not going to be the miracle processor for the powerbook, as the G5 is actually slower, clock for clock.

It will be a fine machine, no matter what, but it is already a fine machine because of all of the niceties and the operating system.

Get what you need now, if you need it now. tomorrow it will always be cheaper and better.

 

[Sacerdotalist]

Thanks for the replies.

Dragula, I know that technological progress is inevitable. I'm asking for advice from those who have more historical knowledge about Mac 1st Rev. vs. 2nd Rev. notebooks (qualitatively and temporally) in order to weight the costs and benefits of owning sooner versus owning later and better. 😉

 

[betsbillabong]

I have no experience with Rev. A products, so I'm not saying that there are problems with them -- but if it is an issue you're concerned with, the current powerbooks are quite fast, mature and reliable.

I think you'll be waiting for some time before a Rev. B G5 powerbook comes out (but of course I could be wrong; none of us knows where this year will take us).

The advice to wait until Mac World SF is a good one, unless you need the computer now. Just buy the computer that suits your needs after MWSF.

 

[tsk]

Since your deadline is fairly far off, you have the luxury of being able to wait.

First, I think you'd be foolish to buy right now unless you needed it. You don't. I'd expect something out around MWSF. At least at that point you probably will have a better idea what the future holds. I'd personally probably take a good look at what they say about the future revs and let that guide my decision.

Since money is no object as you said, I wouldn't really have any reservations about the G5. I would just make sure I got the extended warranty (Applecare).

But if the next rev was a cool dual core G4 or something similar and they said it was still a while for the G5, I might pounce on that right away.

 

[herrmill]

I've been using my 15' Ai Rev A PB heavily for the past year as my primary business machine averaging 10+ hours per day. No problems at all except I noticed that the deck over the drive slot has a slight dip or bend from where my wrist sits while typing. Aside from that, this machine rocks & is highly recommended!

 

[Jdm_rsx]

i recently just bought a REV C? powerbook 12 inch

i had the educATIONAL discount so it came to out to like 1450 with tax

additional ram prepare to spend another 90-100 for a 512 stick and 200-300 for a 1 GB stick

i owned a 12inch ibook and wasn't really happy with it...

but i had the extra money, i wanted something better

so i sold it and took a lost just went w/ the powerbook

u cant go wrong with it, thats just me but refer to my posts its quite long

captain, me and maya had a long talk about it

just scroll down a little more and u will find it

 

[Jsmit]

I believe everyone can agree that we should see a new PowerBook revision in the next couple months (probably January). You should probably at least wait until then. Is is rumored that this will only be a speed boost, but you never know.

So the real question is will we see a second update before September? I would guess not, but looking at the buyer's guide I see they have made revisions in less time.

If I were in your shoes and thought I could wait a couple monthes then I would buy after the next revision. That would give you plenty of time to learn the OS, but quite frankly it wont take you long to be able to do most things. It take a little longer to stop tinking in the Windows midset and start thinking lkike a Mac user.

B.T.W. You will likely love any PB you get, even if it is the current revision. Very fine machines.

 

[Jdm_rsx]

its like i said before

u cant keep up with technology

just gotta be happy with what u got and buy the best within ur budget

iBOOK and PB imo..is a big difference in budget ...

without education discount = 50 for ibook and 200 + for powerbooks