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Should I trade up to the new PB?...

S

slick316

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 28, 2005
377
28
I have a 15" PB that I bought in Feb of this year. Its the 1.67GHz model with Superdrive and 64mb 9700.
My friend wanted to buy my laptop off of me when he heard about Apple updating the PB's. I told him that if they did a significant CPU update, I would sell him mine. Well, they didn't. But my friend is offering $1500 for mine. The only thing I did to it was add a 1gb ram module so total system memory is 1.5gb. If I did sell it to him, I would buy another 15" model.
So the question is, are the new ones worth the extra $500 + tax + memory upgrade I will have to pay?
Seems as though the most significant changes are the display and the extra battery life, though both are fine by me on my current machine.
 
Well if you don't want to upgrade any of the standard specs (you shouldn't really, it already comes with everything you need and the Superdrive) you can get it for $1800 shipped AR from Amazon.com. If the bigger display is worth $300 to you, by all means get it :)
 
$500 for the new screen and battery life is Not a good deal if you ask me. I have yet to see one of the new PBs, though so if the screen was some how jaw dropping above the current one, then perhaps. I can think of a lot of better ways to spend $500 if I were you.
 
Edu?

If you are eligible for the edu prices I might consider it. But remember you have to pay taxes etc so that will add >$140. So you will be out ~$100-200 on ram and $140 on taxes. To get the new PB you would have to spend ~$700-800 more to be on par with your old pb. Not really worth it...unless you can sell the PB for more. I think you could get more for your PB than $1500.

Nuc
 
Well, I have other things I am interested in.
One was a new video card for my PM. The problem is, cards like the X800 XT or the 6800 GT are really expensive, especially when compared to their PC counterparts; I have a mental block with things like this, I can't pay so much for the mac version knowing what the PC versions cost in comparison.
Then there is the display. I am wanting to trade up to the Dell 2405FPW from my 2005FPW, same friend is willing to pay $325 for the 2005 off of me. I was wanting a larger display, and considering the display has component video in, I can use it as a temporary display for my upcoming XBOX 360.

I think I might go for the one of the above considering what you guys are saying about the PB. I think deep inside, I am waiting for an Intel PB like most of you guys :)
 
If your PB is working good (hardware wise), I would just keep it. The new ones are having mass display problems (according to sites/posts).
 
ITASOR said:
If your PB is working good (hardware wise), I would just keep it. The new ones are having mass display problems (according to sites/posts).
Click to expand...

Really? Wow, yea, forgot that. I've had mine since Feb of this year, not a single problem yet, no dead pixels or anything.
 
Anytime a new computer is being considered, there is going to be some apprehension about whether it will be free of hardware and pixel problems, etc. Even if you have no issue with spending several dollars more, you may be unhappy if you run into unexpected problems. If your current system has been meeting all your needs, I would hold onto it and not lust after something else.
 
The performance of the newer powerbooks is slighly lower than the previous generation powerbooks. Why? Power managment will not let you set processor speed to HIGHEST. It's automatic, and results in unwanted performance hits...

My friend just got a new 1.67 15". I've got the previous 1.67 15". He runs World of Warcraft (we both in the same room, looking straight out the same room with the same settings) 2-5 FPS slower than i do. I don't know if he was running at the native resolution like i was though... i'll have to ask him.

I primarilly play games on my desktop... waiting for the x86 powerbook for gaming. I hope they put the 6800go in there...
 
ITASOR said:
If your PB is working good (hardware wise), I would just keep it. The new ones are having mass display problems (according to sites/posts).
Click to expand...
Are you referring to the screen flickers and distortions for certain 15" and 17" screens on the newly released PBs? I wonder how widespread those problems are. As Apple is hyping up on the HD screen/brigher LCD screens on them, if those screens are indeed developing those defects, that would be a deal breaker for that new machine. Thank God, none of my Macs have those problems. So far.
 
I think it is a total waste of money.

I'm a geek who likes the latest and greatest, and even I think you will feel terrible after spending the money. You won't notice much--if any--difference.

Save the money. In general, and there exceptions to this, but in general one update to the next is generally not worth it. Upgrade after 2-3 updates, and the change is noticable.

I just upgraded my 17" PowerBook from Rev B to Rev E. The change is noticable and the price was worth it.
 
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