Should I get a powebook 17"?

[joeyg2477]

I like bigger laptops and I've seen these for cheap since the intel announcement. So I guess how long do you think I can get out of this laptop, support wise?

 

[kntgsp]

I like bigger laptops and I've seen these for cheap since the intel announcement. So I guess how long do you think I can get out of this laptop, support wise?

Well supposedly all the new programs will be developed as UB (universal binary) for i think 3 years. I believe it was 2 or 3 years, I can't remember what was officially said by Steve-O. But anyway you'd be able to get functionality out of it for 2 years probably before having to worry.

Support-wise, if you mean AppleCare, then however long the warranty is. And after that probably a few more years for parts, but you'd be paying for them and the labor.

Honestly I would wait until June, as it's rumored that the new 17" MacBook Pros will be announced this summer.

 

[joeyg2477]

if I could get one for basically 800$ should I do it?

 

[kntgsp]

if I could get one for basically 800$ should I do it?

Ha wow. $800, yea I would. What rev? A,B, etc?

 

[jacobj]

Things to consider in my opinion:

Pros

1. Not all apps are Universal Binary at the moment so you may have some issues for a while as some PowerPC will not even run under Rosetta. Not many though.
2. The machine is still good, just not as powerful.
3. You will get Universal apps for some years to come.

Cons

1. It is still expensive
2. The resale value will not be as good at a MacBook in 2-3 years as it will be close to losing application support.
3. The 17" MBP is close....
4. For the money of the MBP you will get a considerably more powerful machine

That's my GBP 0.02 worth .

 

[kntgsp]

Things to consider in my opinion:

Pros

1. Not all apps are Universal Binary at the moment so you may have some issues for a while as some PowerPC will not even run under Rosetta. Not many though.
2. The machine is still good, just not as powerful.
3. You will get Universal apps for some years to come.

Cons

1. It is still expensive
2. The resale value will not be as good at a MacBook in 2-3 years as it will be close to losing application support.
3. The 17" MBP is close....
4. For the money of the MBP you will get a considerably more powerful machine

That's my GBP 0.02 worth .

That's a good point. I dunno. The Universal support gets better and better. The only thing that really irks me is that Adobe won't release a Universal until the next product cycle, meaning CS3. Which really sucks, because CS crawls on even the 2.0Ghz Core Duos.

 

[iGary]

With my edu discount, it sure is becoming tempting as I will be out in the field a lot more and need something better than my iBook for image editing in the field - and the UB of Photoshop is a long way away...bah.

It's a shame Adobe is screwing us like this.

 

[Tilmitt]

I would say get it definitely, but I am a PowerPC fanboy. Still here's some true thoughts: Your PowerBook will not fantasmagically explode the day Apple stops releasing new versions of OS X for it. Furthermore, when that point does come, you will at the very very least be running 10.5, which will mean your PowerBook will be even more functional then than it will be now when you get it. Then there's this, and I've been on their forums and they say they'll soon be releasing 7448 G4 cores for the 1.67Ghz PowerBooks which have twice the L2 Cache, lower power consumtion and will likely be clocked at 1.84Ghz. And if you don't have a 1.67 then you can still get the 1.92Ghz or 2Ghz 7447 (same G4 as in current PowerBooks) upgrades. The situation is not as grim for PowerPC as the Intel collaborators would have you believe...