Should I buy it?

[sniffies]

Hi there,

I am currently looking to buy a notebook. I am interested in the 15" powerbook, but am not sure if I should buy it because:

1) A newer one might come out
2) It can overheat
3) It can dent
4) It might get old, fast.


Please help me decide if I should buy it this month or not. Thanks a lot!

 

[iGary]

Hi there,

I am currently looking to buy a notebook. I am interested in the 15" powerbook, but am not sure if I should buy it because:

1) A newer one might come out
2) It can overheat
3) It can dent
4) It might get old, fast.


Please help me decide if I should buy it this month or not. Thanks a lot!

1) That could always happen.
2) Rare, but a possiblity.
3) Have to be careful and use a good sleve/bag.
4) That's not a good question - do you need it now? If so, buy it. It will be out of date at some point. My iBook that I only bought in October is now old news - I don't care, I needed it.

 

[sniffies]

Well,

Is there a good possibility a new PB can come out in the next 3-6 months?

 

[CanadaRAM]

Well,

Is there a good possibility a new PB can come out in the next 3-6 months?

Of course there is. You can say with confidence that there is a good possibility of any machine having an update within 6 months.

If a model has gone 8 months whithout an update, its practically a dead-cinch certainty that it will be updated within the next 6 months.

The question is, why does it matter to you?

Obsolescense exists only between your ears. The machine either does the job it was bought for, or not.

 

[sniffies]

Well, I am not in so much of a rush for it...I just don't want to spend 2.7k on a machine that will be updated shortly.

Should I wait? Or should I buy now?

 

[joecool85]

Well, I am not in so much of a rush for it...I just don't want to spend 2.7k on a machine that will be updated shortly.

Should I wait? Or should I buy now?

I would say wait. They should be updated ASAP. Hard telling what type of updates though. Probably minor unless you want to wait a while for the Intel switch. The only good update that might happen in PPC land would be a dual core G4...but that seems kind of unlikely to me.

 

[sniffies]

When is the intel switch taking place? And what will that do?

 

[joecool85]

The Intel switch is suppose to happen by next summer and go through summer '07. Basically all computers will be switched off from PPC G4/G5's to some Intel chip. Nobody knows exactly what chips will be used or when they will come out for sure. But within the next year or so. And since the biggest dilema on Apple's hands right now are slow mobile units, odds are the PB and iBook will be first to run Intel chips, therefore making them due out in mid '06.

 

[sniffies]

The Intel switch is suppose to happen by next summer and go through summer '07. Basically all computers will be switched off from PPC G4/G5's to some Intel chip. Nobody knows exactly what chips will be used or when they will come out for sure. But within the next year or so. And since the biggest dilema on Apple's hands right now are slow mobile units, odds are the PB and iBook will be first to run Intel chips, therefore making them due out in mid '06.

Ok. Thanks a lot.

 

[quidire]

The Intel switch is suppose to happen by next summer and go through summer '07. Basically all computers will be switched off from PPC G4/G5's to some Intel chip. Nobody knows exactly what chips will be used or when they will come out for sure. But within the next year or so. And since the biggest dilema on Apple's hands right now are slow mobile units, odds are the PB and iBook will be first to run Intel chips, therefore making them due out in mid '06.

I disagree; we are hearing all sorts of reports that Apple is finding designing Intel-based computers for the first time to be something of a challenge. We also know that they are going to go "bottom-up" in the upgrade order (for once, quite an oddity really; usually new chips are introduced at the high end). The reason for that order is because they are waiting for some Pentium-M based chip which comes out much later, for the higher-end computers.

You aren't going to see an Intel computer before WWDC '06. That may indeed be the laptops, with the consumer desktop line getting its update at MacWorld, the PowerMacs at WWDC '07. You won't see any meaningful updates of the laptops before then. Maybe a .166 GHz bump, maybe a slightly better video chip, but nothing major.

-RS

 

[rkristich]

1) Unless you want to wait for Intel Powerbooks, I doubt any major upgrades will occur until then.

I bought my Powerbook back in January and recieved it a few days before the updated ones came out. I'm actually pretty confindent my PB was one of the last 1.33 ghz 12" produced, as according to serial number info, it was made in the 3rd week of January. The new powerbook came out on Januray 31st.

Do I regret not ordering a week later? Not really. The speed bumb was small, from 1.33 ghz to 1.5 ghz. Not a big deal in my opinion. Yes, they did add that sudden motion sensor, but I regularly back up my hard drive, and if I drop my PB the last thing I'm probably going to be worried about is losing data. As for trackpad scrolling, iscroll2 is pretty similar to Apple's built in scrolling. Concerning the added RAM, well I would have just taken the newly provided 256 MB out of the slot and added 512 MB, so that would have been useless. The price reduction would have been nice, but I was already getting a student discount in the first place, so I'm not complaining

2) My 12" PB does get pretty warm, but never enough to be uncomfortable to have on my lap. I also have a Dell laptop, and even when it's not running processor heavy programs, the bottom gets hot enough to actually burn you.

3) I'm a pretty klutzy person who often damages things, but after about 6 months my PB still doesn't have any dents or scratches on it. My secret: Keep it protected in a good case (I like the neoprone kind) when you're out, and at home just be careful around it. Oh, and be selective in who's allowed to play around on it. When little cousins and such come over, I just guide them away from the PB and over to the Dell

4) So far after 6 months, my PB hasn't even come close to getting old. Even now, I'm still finding new little things on it I never knew existed. For example, I just realized the other day that I could put a cool little character palette in the top menu bar, through the international section of system prefs. Now it's a whole lot easier to find symbols and accented words. You have no idea how much easier this makes my Spanish homework! Besides, I've seen people on these forums who have had Powerbooks for 4 or 5 years and still find them useful.

 

[amin]

Hi there,

I am currently looking to buy a notebook. I am interested in the 15" powerbook, but am not sure if I should buy it because:

1) A newer one might come out
2) It can overheat
3) It can dent
4) It might get old, fast.


Please help me decide if I should buy it this month or not. Thanks a lot!

1) Likely
2) Unlikely
3) Up to you - physical damage can happen as easily with most laptops.
4) Unlikely - if it does everything you need it to do now, it is unlikely you will develop a new interest that requires a more powerful machine in the near future.

I bought the first 12" Powerbook just before they introduced the second revision with the speed bump from 867MHz to 1GHz. I never regretted my decision to buy because that little 12" did well everything I threw at it for the next 2 yrs, which is as long as I planned on keeping it. I then sold it for more than half of the original combined cost of the PB and Apple Care, which I consider to be holding value well.

Two weeks ago, knowing that new revisions are likely soon, I bought a new 15" PB. Why? Because I am comfident that my next laptop will be a second revision Intel Powerbook, and I am confident this 15" will do everything I need until that time. If they speedbump it next week, I won't care.

Good luck with your decision. Whatever you decide, don't look back, just enjoy it! The next model is always right around the corner