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Should I sell pismo for a PB G4?

W

woolyb

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 6, 2007
2
0
Hello. I'm new to macrumors. I've been ready around on this site and I like the candor and comments floating about.

Currently, I have a working pismo (500 mhz) with 768 M memory and original harddrive. I don't have any problems with it but I would like to have more speed and alittle more "visual real estate" (15 or 17 inch).

I'm looking for opinions from others as to whether or not it would be worth it to sell this and get a PB G4 (1 ghz or better).

Comments?
 
Welcome to the forums. As the prismo was my first laptop when I make the switch. I would try to keep it and get the PB if you can
 
I forgot to mention that I'm considering an ibook 1.42 GHz rather than a PB G4.

So would it really be worth the extra money to sell the pismo and get either the ibook or a PB G4?
 
I really wouldn't get a PPC laptop now. They're dead-ends, and will become less and less useful in the next few years.

See if you can get a second-hand intel chip macbook - the core duo (i.e. the ones before the core 2 duo) models are getting pretty cheap now, and will go down a lot further if an update is released this week, which may happen.

Check the Apple Refurb store for price guidelines (30%ish off new prices) and reject anything that approaches these prices and isn't from Apple.

xoxo T
 
Dont forget theres always the option of an external display, and you could bump the RAM up to a full 1 GB.

A lot of people I know have maxed out Pismos, and they work very well considering their age. If the upgrade to G4+ isn't critical, I'd suggest these minor upgrades for the G3
 
Welcome!

My recommendation would be to scan the forums for any suggestions to make your Pismo faster, such as repairing permissions, clearing caches, keeping you desktop clear etc., because if you have been happy with your Pismo until now, it may only need some minor maintenance to bring it up to speed again. This is presuming of course that you are like me and aren't well read on Mac maintainance!

If you still feel that you would like more speed, then by all means get a PPC laptop. I would bet that you aren't a power-user (tm), so a 1.42 iBook would be a very nice upgrade for you, and should you need software, scan eBay or craigslist for cheap PPC vesions.

It's all too easy in the Mac world to become obsessed with having the biggest and best, but when one steps back and looks at what one needs to get their computing done, you realise your current system will do :)
 
Yeah, sell it and go for a G4 Powerbook.

The Pismos command a bit of a premium over what their performance alone would merit - because of their upgradability, reliablity, and also their pretty useful drive bays (I had a Lombard and the ability to use two batteries = awesome).
 
RedTomato said:
I really wouldn't get a PPC laptop now. They're dead-ends, and will become less and less useful in the next few years.

See if you can get a second-hand intel chip macbook - the core duo (i.e. the ones before the core 2 duo) models are getting pretty cheap now, and will go down a lot further if an update is released this week, which may happen.

Check the Apple Refurb store for price guidelines (30%ish off new prices) and reject anything that approaches these prices and isn't from Apple.

xoxo T
Click to expand...

This couldn't be more wrong. Unless you have an ultimate need for the power pf the Intel chip, I would say definately go with a G4 iBook/Powerbook. They can be bought very cheap second hand. I got the PB in my sig 2nd hand for less than £400, though you won't find many for that price.

I would reccommend 1.2Ghz or faster as speed but RAM and HD is also important for performance obviously so go with whats best for you.

The PPC platform is not dead and won't be for years. Developers will continue making applications for PPC for quite some time as there are many, many users who haven't transitioned to Intel yet. The only example of an Intel only application is Adobe's Soundbooth which was never made for PPC anyway. Existing PPC applications will be developed for PPC for years to come.
 
woolyb said:
Currently, I have a working pismo (500 mhz) with 768 M memory and original harddrive. I don't have any problems with it but I would like to have more speed and alittle more "visual real estate" (15 or 17 inch).
Click to expand...
As with any upgrade, the main question is, what will you be using it for. If the issues are speed and visual real estate alone, I would get an external display (you can get a 19-inch for $160 or so now) which are easy as pie to connect and span with your Pismo, and bump the memory to 1GB. You can also upgrade the hard drive fairly cheaply. I have a Pismo and it was my main machine until finally getting an iMac G5. The only reason I don't still use it regularly is that the battery is dead, and a new one is fairly expensive relative to the worth of the machine.

I wouldn't get rid of the Pismo, even if you do get a new machine. Yes you can get a couple hundred dollars for it, but the Pismo is very easy to connect to a TV or projector to show your presentation, among other things.

Dave
 
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