Powerbook v. PowerMac

[MiLife]

I am the current, happy owner of an Aluminum Powerbook G4. She is a beautiful 15" running at 1.25 Ghz, one stick of RAM at 512 MB, 80 GB hard drive, Superdrive, Bluetooth, AP Extreme, et al. It truly is a great computer. But the sad thing is that it has left my desk here at school a grand total of 6 times, three of which was bringing it home for extended stays. I feel like I am not doing justice to it and its capabilities.

Now, I present the question at hand. Do I sell my powerbook, and take the cash and put it towards a G5, or do I keep the 'book? Both will inevitably sit on my desk for LONG periods of time. I don't do heavy applications often, but I have them and I tend to run them simultaneously when they are up. But I am looking to have a computer that I can keep for the long haul. I am just afraid that the G4 will not be able to keep up for 3+ years, while I can upgrade the G5 with cheap upgrades and the next-gen G5 processors will be able to handle the coming software. If anyone would care to help me out as I struggle with this, please let me know. I am welcome to either impartial or biased advice. Just hit me with it. And if anyone wants to make me a deal, I can be convinced...


By the way, this is my first post EVER. I have been watching Macrumors for a year before I bought this powerbook one year ago, and it has been my homepage ever since. And I just now joined....🙄

MiLife

 

[jsw]

Well, for the most part, you pay quite a premium for the portability of the PBs, and it seems as though you don't use that aspect all that often. For approximately what you could sell your system for, you could get a nice starter PM G5 setup. If it were me, that's the way I'd go. You could add to it as finances allow.

One possible consideration would be to sell your PB and get a G5 iMac. It's no more upgradeable, really, than your PB, but it'd be a lot faster and have a larger screen. In addition, it's relatively portable (the PM G5's are not portable....) for those extended trips home.

And congrats on posting, BTW!

 

[Blue Velvet]

If the portability and size is not an issue, absolutely go for the PowerMac.

It will keep you happy for years... but be sure to stick at least 1gb of RAM in to get the best out of it (if not more)...

It's expandibilty will keep it a bit more future-proof.


And... hey!
Welcome on board!

🙂

 

[jcru]

Hmmm...found myself in a similar situation recently. I too have a PB 1.25 which has left my house only once or twice!!! I love the PB though. So my solution.....I recently bought a PM G5 2.0 to add to the collection! So now I have both machines and have been struggling on which to sell. Of course I want to keep both, I hate the thought of selling my PB. Plus having the portablitly available is nice (even if it never leaves the house). Sitting wireless-ly within the house is a nice perk though.

Anyway, my gut says that I don't NEED these 2 machines and will probably sell the PB soon. Use that money for more upgrades on the G5, etc....

For you, I'd say go with the G5 too.

 

[Phatpat]

I'd further recommend a G5. You'll appreciate the power. I'd say consider both a 1.8 17" iMac and a dual 1.8 ghz pmac. If you don't have a monitor, this would add the the cost significantly. The iMac is nice and easy to bring home; the powermac would me much more of a hassel, but gives you dual processors and more upgrade options. But I'd recommend selling the powerbook.

 

[JLS]

If your going to sell the PB, I would suggest you hurry up and do it before the next speed update - you will get more for it on ebay. 🙂

 

[MiLife]

Thanks for the help thus far

I appreciate all the helpful advice from everyone! I have thought about the iMacs, but I, again, they run into the problems of limited upgade potential. I am headed to the Apple Store near me this weekend, and, who knows, they may convince me that I should, in fact, buy one. Apple products tend to do that to me.

Are there any real significant increases in the performance of the DP 1.8 and the DP 2.0 Powermacs? Let me clarify by saying that I am looking for one of the Rev. A DP 1.8 Powermacs that has the 8 GB RAM limit and the PCI-X. Is there anyone who could claim experiences on either/both machinces. Or, does anyone know the real world speed differences on the current revisions?

And, while I am at it, are there any preferences among the different venues for selling a powerbook? I have no experience on eBay, and hesitate to venture there with a powerbook for my first sale...

Thanks for all the help, again. I take all the advice to heart.

MiLife

 

[Blue Velvet]

...are there any preferences among the different venues for selling a powerbook? I have no experience on eBay, and hesitate to venture there with a powerbook for my first sale...

You could always try here on these forums. There's a buy/sell board.

 

[dav]

I would say go for the iMac: 'twill be much faster than your current Powerbook, and it also offers enough portability for your needs (Just pack it up and take it home for those extended stays).

Also, it will save you a lot on buying a new monitor. 😎