PowerBook upgrade or New Mac? Poor Highschool teacher needs help!

[eXan]

True , but with new releases just around the corner.....

What new releases are you talking about? Snow Leopard? Thats almost a year away still and most certainly won't run on PPC.

 

[montanachad]

Four hours until Fall Quarter...similiar situation, but...

Hello,

I'm a liberal arts and Web design student. See my signature below? Perfect setup! Might operate better with 10.5, but it's fine with 10.4. Upgrade the RAM indeed; you have a nice machine.

 

[marbles]

What new releases are you talking about? Snow Leopard? Thats almost a year away still and most certainly won't run on PPC.

I was referring to Snow Leopard but only when he buys a new machine , I wasn't expecting his PB to run Snow Leopard, but by the time SL does come out in a year or so his existing 'updated' (with 2Gb & fresh install ) Powerbook will be tired .

For the OP's uses there is no point (imo) getting a new machine until absolutely necessary .
.

What I'm saying is this :
OP ... keep the Powerbook , upgrade the RAM , stay on 10.3 until Snow Leopard comes out , then buy a new Intel Mac with Snow Leopard on it .

This is what I would do if I used a machine the way the OP has said

 

[zapp]

... keep the Powerbook , upgrade the RAM , stay on 10.3 until Snow Leopard comes out , then buy a new Intel Mac with Snow Leopard on it .

This is what I would do if I used a machine the way the OP has said

I agree with this, Upgrade the RAM first, and see if it fixes your operating systems issues. You might find that the crashes you experience are related to that. If you still have issues, do a archive and install. You can do all of these yourself, and only cost you the price of RAM. Then if you still have issues take it in. I do recommend going to 2Gb of RAM, it is cheap and you will see the difference.

 

[eXan]

I was referring to Snow Leopard but only when he buys a new machine , I wasn't expecting his PB to run Snow Leopard, but by the time SL does come out in a year or so his existing 'updated' (with 2Gb & fresh install ) Powerbook will be tired .

For the OP's uses there is no point (imo) getting a new machine until absolutely necessary .
.

What I'm saying is this :
OP ... keep the Powerbook , upgrade the RAM , stay on 10.3 until Snow Leopard comes out , then buy a new Intel Mac with Snow Leopard on it .

This is what I would do if I used a machine the way the OP has said

I don't see a need for a new computer for this type of use in a couple of years, yet you recommend getting it as soon as 10.6 is released.

 

[Compile 'em all]

I would refurbish it. It's still an awesome machine and a OS re-install should fix all your problems!

It will be cheaper than buying a new one and from what you use the computer for you probably wouldn't notice much of a difference for the money you would spend on a new macbook pro.

bad idea. Snow Leopard will be Intel only and further s/w offerings will try to utilize multicores.

New macbooks will be cheaper than current offerings. I say, sell your powerbook and get an intel machine when the new ones are out.

 

[Wotan31]

Here's my thoughts on it:

1. It's a relatively recent machine - if it is indeed the one from just a few months before the intel switch, that means it's a 1.67 Ghz G4. Same as my Powerbook! That's more than enough horsepower for all the latest and greatest web applications and word processing - it is barely 3 years old.

2. Your stated usage / requirements are relatively modest (in terms of hardware requirements) so your existing machine is certainly capable.

3. 512 MB of RAM is so small and cramped and uncomfortable, I bet it feels dog slow with this paltry amount of memory!

4. Upgrade the following components and you will be one happy camper:

• Memory. You can get 2 GB (the maximum for your machine) for around $40. Go to Crucial.com and fill in your make/model of laptop and it will show you the appropriate memory and it's price - you can buy direct from there too.
  
• Hard Drive. Newer hard drives offer considerably more capacity, higher performance, and less noise/heat. You need a PATA drive (NOT a SATA drive). I'm using the Hitachi 5k160 available here for $70 and I'm quite pleased with it.
  
• Operating System. Backup your data to an external firewire or USB disk. Do a re-install of the operating system. Apply all the latest updates and patches from Apple!!

Now enjoy your new and very usable system, having spent less than $200 to upgrade it to modern specs!

 

[DaveF]

However you have all changed my mind – I am going to bring my laptop in for servicing – mainly cleaning the dust bunnies out of the inside and to do the complete reinstall of the OS (I would do it myself but I sort of want to “pave over” HD to remove any fragments of things which might be causing problems – not sure if that is totally necessary? I am running OS X 10.3.9 – so I might even consider an OS upgrade depending on the relative advantages/disadvantages.

I’ll also max it out in ram – which I’ll buy and install myself from a third party vendor.

Even if I spend a few hundred on this and it does not work well enough that I decide to buy an new one anyways – it will breath life into this one which I can use in my high school for showing movies and general internet searching strategies; also expose them to the superiority of the Mac environment/ I’ll keep the MacAir for my university work.

How much will is this "servicing"?

I'm all in favor revitalizing what you've got. But if it's $150 for RAM, and $150 for an OS X upgrade, and $200 for cleaning dust bunnies, I'd re-examine the cost of a new, or even used Mac.

 

[marbles]

I don't see a need for a new computer for this type of use in a couple of years, yet you recommend getting it as soon as 10.6 is released.

Yes , well almost as soon as it comes out as his current machine will be tired by then ..
I've said all this before .