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Should I wait for WWDC?

SuperChuck

SuperChuck

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 15, 2003
301
3
Celebration, FL
I'm about to come into a sizable amount of cash which will be used to buy a new computer. My budget is around $3500. Here's my dilemma:

The cash arrives June 16, WWDC is June 28. Although I'm 90% sure that I want a Powerbook, I could very well be swayed if the new PMs or iMacs are incredibly, Earth-shatteringly amazing. On the other hand, I compulsively visit Apple.com to drool over the Powerbooks (we're talking every other day - it's bordering on psychosis) and I dream of the freedom to work in the park or coffee shop.

Is there any possibility that PBs will get better at WWDC (like the fake-out upgrades that happened at Christmas before the intro of the 17" and 12")?

Is it possible that the new features and price of the iMac/PM upgrades would be great enough to overcome my desire to be free from the anchor of my computer desk?

The obvious answer is that I should wait (duh) but surely you understand how hard that could be with $3500 in my pocket? Could it be worth the wait?

And, finally, is there anyone else out there who has looked at the pictures and QTVRS on Apple's site WAY too much, or am I the only one who senselessly burns up Apple's bandwidth?
 
one more thing you should remember... even if new PBs are announced in WWDC (which i doubt since they were recently updated), you are going to have to wait even longer to get hold of one.

it won't be as easy as WWDC keynote -> new PB in your hands the next day.

i personally find waiting fruitless. but it's your choice.
 
You'll likely wait much longer than the WWDC for an actual unit to be shipped to you. Delays of 6 weeks from time of announcement are not uncommon for Apple products. Take that into consideration too.
 
SuperChuck said:
(we're talking every other day - it's bordering on psychosis)
Click to expand...

That's nothing. Before (and even after :eek:) I got my PB, I went to the apple.com over three times a day. Add that with this site every waking moment of my life and you have one psychotic mac fan -aka me :D.

Anyway, I'd wait until WWDC. In my eyes, we're almost sure to see iMac and PM updates of which the iMac could very well go G5... However, I highly doubt the PB's will be updated - as a matter of fact I would 99% guarantee that they won't be upgraded. Here's why: as of now, the G4's are already at their maximum limit - 1.5Ghz. The only place to go next is G5 and there is no way that there will be G5 PB's at WWDC.

In breif synopsis: if you need portability and power, go PowerBook now. If you you just like the PowerBooks but don't really have any use for a laptop then wait until WWDC. It won't kill you - trust me ;).

Best wishes,
JOD8FY
 
Is it that time of year already? By "that time" I mean "should I buy now or wait until WWDC" time. That is followed by a 2 month + period I call the "when the hell is it going to finally be released?" period. That's followed by the "I hear this version is buggy, so I'm waiting for the next revision" period. That's followed by WWDC again.

If you want to buy now, buy now.
 
Waiting, Waiting, and Still Waiting

We've got a dilema here, too. We use two Macs. The oldest is a PowerMac 7500 purchased new in 1995. The other is a G4 Sawtooth purchased new in 1999. We've watched WWDCs and MacWorld Expos come and go.

Still no upgrades for us. Why? We don't care for builtin displays - my old eyes need a 19 inch screen running at low resolution. Don't need a laptop. And, don't want a huge tower on my desk or below it. I really would like a small form factor OS X box perhaps about the size of an old Apple II GS.

So, we keep waiting and hoping. Do you think this patience thing is going a little too far?
 
SuperChuck said:
Is there any possibility that PBs will get better at WWDC (like the fake-out upgrades that happened at Christmas before the intro of the 17" and 12")?
Click to expand...



There were no fake outs:

The 15" Ti was updated in November 2002. It was not updated again until September 2003 (over 10 months).

Yes, the 12" and 17" were introduced two months after the 15" was updated (January 2003), but the 15" remained unchanged for another 9 months.

There will NOT be a PB upgrade for a while now, there was one a month ago. Buy and enjoy!

Cheers,

James
 
Thanks for all the great advice. Especially the folks who said "just buy it."

I know that once I've held that Powerbook in my hands, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I just needed a little reassurance that I wasn't being an idiot for buying a new mac with WWDC only days away.

Now my only problem is choosing between the 15" and 17"...such a wonderful problem to have.
 
James L said:
Yes, the 12" and 17" were introduced two months after the 15" was updated (January 2003), but the 15" remained unchanged for another 9 months.
Click to expand...

Yeah, well I told a friend - "buy it now - they just updated." Lucky for me, my friend had to save up some extra cash and was about to purchase it the day the new ones came out. He had the order set up with PowerMax and everything. True, he had to wait forever for his 17" to arrive, but if he had listened to me and bought right away, he would have been pretty ticked.

I still believe that was an underhanded update.
 
jackieonasses said:
Yeah, well I told a friend - "buy it now - they just updated." Lucky for me, my friend had to save up some extra cash and was about to purchase it the day the new ones came out. He had the order set up with PowerMax and everything. True, he had to wait forever for his 17" to arrive, but if he had listened to me and bought right away, he would have been pretty ticked.

I still believe that was an underhanded update.
Click to expand...

Why?

The 15" in November was 1Ghz, the 17" was 1Ghz. They both had 64MB of VRAM, Superdrives, etc. Short of maybe moving from USB 1 to USB 2 the changes were only to the case and the size.

Your friend would have had the EXACT same amount of computing power had he bought the 15" in November or the 17" in January. Just a different screen and case.

And, if he ordered in January, it arrived when... March? April?

I am not totally disagreeing with you, but it isn't like they made any serious computing gains... just a new box in different sizes.

My point was that there has never been two 15" updates within a two month period, so holding out for WWDC is foolhearty.

Cheers!

James
 
Just do it

Considering that the PB updates are so fresh that they are still advertised on Apple's home page, I'd say buying a new PB would be a pretty safe bet at this time...and you'd still get quite a few months of having one of the best PowerBooks available.

Several years ago, I was debating between getting an iBook or an iMac (older CRT model). The iMac had a lot more power and it was cheaper, but it lacked the portability of a laptop computer. After getting the iBook, I was very happy to have bought it! I used my iBook as my main machine for nearly a year, so I got plenty of use out of it at several jobs, at school, and at home. Very useful to be able to take all of my work around and keep it on one computer.

As for the decision between 15" and 17", and if money wasn't too much of a factor, I'd probably get the upper tier 15" with backlighting and upgrade to 128 MB VRAM. Oh, and buy loads of extra RAM after checking out ramseeker.com.
 
For mac users i suppose waiting is alot diffrent then waiting for a newer pc to come out.i have a pc p4 3 gig and i thought i had the ultimate machine .im still waiting to switch .ive waited for long enough but one more month wont hurt.hang tight
 
Since you are only getting the money about 2 weeks before WWDC, I say just wait anyways. It will provide you with peace of mind that you are getting exactly what you want once you see what is announced.
 
cjman said:
We've got a dilema here, too. We use two Macs. The oldest is a PowerMac 7500 purchased new in 1995. The other is a G4 Sawtooth purchased new in 1999. We've watched WWDCs and MacWorld Expos come and go.

Still no upgrades for us. Why? We don't care for builtin displays - my old eyes need a 19 inch screen running at low resolution. Don't need a laptop. And, don't want a huge tower on my desk or below it. I really would like a small form factor OS X box perhaps about the size of an old Apple II GS.

So, we keep waiting and hoping. Do you think this patience thing is going a little too far?
Click to expand...

How about getting a 12" powerbook and hook it up to your 19" display. I know - you don't "need" the portability. But its really small ! And once you get the portability - you will use it.
 
I think the 17" is incredibly badass. I do a lot of design work so it helps both work and play. It IS portable enough for me, and really isn't that much bulkier than a 15". I take it on business trips all the time. You can watch others drool over it too!!
 
SuperChuck said:
...On the other hand, I compulsively visit Apple.com to drool over the Powerbooks (we're talking every other day - it's bordering on psychosis) and I dream of the freedom to work in the park or coffee shop.
Click to expand...

I hear ya bro, I'm at that stage now, only I already have the money - the problem being that I also have to pay rent, a further problem beings its becoming increasingly hard to stop myself from clicking though the apple shop and getting it over with! How could anyone resist?

The question remains, live on the street with a beautiful new powerbook or live an empty life in this place without it ;)

Mark.
 
It is usually best to buy what you need when you need the product. If you buy now, then you will have the enjoinment of your new PowerBook. There hasn't been much mention of a PowerBook update at WWDC anyway.

My wife has a 15" PowerBook and love's it!
 
nyprospect said:
dbirider how is the 17"
Click to expand...

I like it alot. the 17" screen is great for doing alot of graphics and video work. i have a booq laptop sleeve so its really easy to just toss it in there and take it with you without having to worry about it getting damaged. So far i havent had any unusual problems. all the apps work nice and fast. even with a bunch of them open. Only problem is 1 bright white dead pixel near the middle of the screen :-/ but i learned to deal with it.
 
the new powerbooks kick ass!
if you opt up for the 5400rpm 80GB HD, and the 128MB Vid Card... then it is really going to be YEARS until you would have to upgrade.
Look at how many people are still running G3's with panther and loving it!
The G3's life was from late '97 to to mid '03. The G4 was born in '99.

Granted, technology moves at an exponential pace, not necessarily a relative pace.... I wouldn't expect a 'true need' for the G5's 64-bit architecture until 2007.

as soon as you get that money, get a powerbook.
 
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