Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Sold my DELL...about to buy a PowerBook...did I do the right thing??

ckeck

ckeck

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 29, 2005
722
67
Texas
Hey everyone...

I just sold my Dell Inprison 6000 that I just bought a few months ago...UGH! Planning to order my new 15" PowerBook tomorrow morning. Just wanted some reassurance I did the right thing :confused:

Is there anything I should consider or anything I should not go without? Please let me know so I can get it all taken care of.

One thing I am concerned about is getting the Apple care plan. I always get extended warranties, but I might be tempted to sell this PB and buy one of the Intel PB's around this time next year...especially if they upgrade the video further. Can you buy the Apple care plan at any time?

Just ordered my 24" Dell LCD as well and can't wait to hook this up to it! Should I just order a standard DVI-DVI connection cable or is the DVI-VGA connection that comes with the PB good enough?

Thanks (any other tips/advice let me know!)
 
YES! You made the right decision.

I wouldn't bother with AppleCare, and you can order it anytime before your one year warranty is up.

The Dell display comes with a DVI cable in the box, so you can hook it up directly to the PB.

Enjoy your new toys!
 
Yes ... you made the correct move. The Switch To A Mac is a beautiful thing. Congrats :D
 
Yes, of course you made the right decision. Advice for buying that PowerBook: if you can afford it, get the 1.67Ghz model with the 128MB of video RAM. It makes a big difference in the speed of your system.

Get Applecare later, you won't need to for a year anyway. Get the best hardware you can now with the money you have, then save up for the Applecare.
 
Thanks for the info...I will hold off on the AppleCare for now, if I decide to keep it I will purchase it before my warranty period runs out.

Is there any insurance I could get for this computer in case of accidental damage, etc? My old insurance company made a special exclusion for my old Dell laptop in case of damage like this, but I don't have them anymore and I can't find anyone else who will cover it.

Any ideas?

Also, what are some must have accessories? I am getting an iSight camera for sure, but don't know what else to get. Thanks again.
 
I highly recommend you get a Marware case for your PowerBook. Their sleeves are great if you already have a backpack or briefcase you'll be carrying your PowerBook in. They're at www.marware.com.

Other than that, and maybe an iSight, there aren't too many accessories I use on the road with my PowerBook. A wireless mouse and full size keyboard are nice for home use.
 
Mac Tiger is so much more powerful, elegent, clean, simpler to use, then the pushing 4 year old XP. You will be amazed with the computer when you get it. Did you get the 64MB or 128MB video card?
 
ckeck said:
Is there any insurance I could get for this computer in case of accidental damage, etc? My old insurance company made a special exclusion for my old Dell laptop in case of damage like this, but I don't have them anymore and I can't find anyone else who will cover it.
Click to expand...
I'd like to know the same thing. My Powerbook came in today and I just don't want to see my baby die on me... :( :(
 
Welcome aboard!

DO:

Get more than 512 RAM if you can. Eshop.macsales.com is a good source if you don't want to pay Apple's not-so-good RAM prices.

DON'T:

Feel pressured to get AppleCare. You can decide any time before your 1-year warranty runs out. I always wait to decide--and pay for it--later.

My case recommendation: the nicely padded semi-rigid BrainCell sleeve from Tom Bihn--complete with handles and pocket:
http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/300/TB0300
 
Definitely get a good laptop bag. I got my Samsonite L35 for my 14" iBook and love it even though I don't have my iBook yet. The L45 will fit it nicely

16823_sq250.jpg


http://www.ebags.com/samsonite/l45_notebook_plus_case/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=16823
 
I think you made a great decision by switching. I just recently switched and i'm loving it. So much happier now.

I'd recommend you just order it with whatever memory it ships with and buy the rest aftermarket. Apple seems to really hike up the prices. Installing memory is almost a no brainer.

Check your credit card and see if it extends your warranty out any if you use it. I decided not to go with applecare because my CC extends the factory warranty out one year from the time the original's expires so I have 2 years.

I got the iBook but when the new mactels come out whenever they do, i'll be all over a new powerbook.

Jack
 
Yes most definetely the right choice... as said before you shouldnt go without the 128mb of VRAM on your 15" powerbook
 
I'm going to be the dissenting voice and say it was a bad move to sell the Dell. The PBs have terrible LCDs, run hot, and generally do not hold well when bumped or even dropped from a short distance. The PBs have reached end-of-life status as most of the Apple engineers have already moved over to Intel chipsets.
 
Welcome to the Mac world! I recently made the full switch. I originally bought a Mac Mini, then last week I got my 1.67Ghz Powerbook. Haven't looked back or regretted it for a second. It drives me crazy now when I have to get on my wife's machine, a Windows magine, and run installers, reboot, clean the registry, defrag the hdd, etc, etc, etc. You're gonna love it, and this forum is a great place to find out all kinds of cool stuff to do with your new world!
 
www.safeware.com offers insurance for computers that covers accidental damage. I've never used them, but they seem to have reasonable prices (about on par with AppleCare for the same length of coverage). Other people on the forums have used them and say good things about them.
 
Thanks everyone for your input! This is the configuration of my system:

PowerBook 15" 1.67 GHz SuperDrive
1GB RAM
100GB Hard Drive
iSight Camera
Apple Bluetooth Keyboard (for the desk @ home)
Logitech V500 Wireless Mouse (love this thing...and it works with the mac)

What do you guys think about the 'Brenthaven Fusion Flex Messenger Case' thats offered on the Apple website?

Thanks for the tip on the insurance company too...will probably take out a policy from them. Sh*t happens
 
Hey ckeck...


I would hope you made the right choice. Guessing you were neglected by the windows or even the other evil empire, Dell?
 
I wouldn't have sold the Dell... I would have taken it to the top of Mount Doom and thrown it in the fire. Evil like that must be destroyed.

Yes, you did the right thing. The 15" Powerbook is just awesome. Order some extra RAM from a third-party though. 1 gig is recommended. And you could have saved a little money by buying a refurb, but that's no biggie, and some people don't like the idea of refurbs I guess. And yep, get Applecare, and make sure you do it within one year of your purchase and then register it right away.

Enjoy your 'book!
 
wako said:
Hey ckeck...


I would hope you made the right choice. Guessing you were neglected by the windows or even the other evil empire, Dell?
Click to expand...

No no, heh...I still love Windows & Microsoft...never did care much for Dell though...but my Inspiron was nice...

I have 2 custom built Windows machines that are "power houses" that I game on and do a few other things with...

I have just always wanted an Apple to play around with and thought this might be the best way. Who knows what will happen from here if I really like it :D
 
If you have two 'gamer machines,' than I'd say you did the right thing. The only thing I ever so slightly miss about windows are a few of the games...

That being said, the 2005 15 inch powerbooks are incredible machines, after a few weeks you'll try to two-finger scroll on any other trackpad you use... just be wary of playing Doom III and resting the thing on your lap...
 
ckeck said:
No no, heh...I still love Windows & Microsoft...never did care much for Dell though...but my Inspiron was nice...

I have 2 custom built Windows machines that are "power houses" that I game on and do a few other things with...

I have just always wanted an Apple to play around with and thought this might be the best way. Who knows what will happen from here if I really like it :D
Click to expand...
Ckeck,
Your experience with the PB will probably be similar to mine. Making a clean switch from Win to Mac is a lot easier and quicker if you dispose of the Win box. I was not in a position to do this since I have to use Win for work purposes, and have the Mac at home for 'life' purposes. So the advice I'd give to you is give it some time. Different keyboards will drive you up the wall especially if you are reasonable at touch typing. Learn the keyboard shortcuts on the PB, thankfully most are visible in the menus - they save you so much time. Check out the system keyboard shortcuts in system preferences. ( I use the screen zooming regularly when demoing things ). Load up XCode on the PB and play with it and the bundled tools. Terminal is your friend. Check out all the other threads in this forum that give lists of recommended free software. There are some amazing things out there. The interface takes a while to adjust to and you will spend ages looking for things that you used to tinker with to get the PC's working. Don't try and make the PC and Mac desktops, startbars, taskbars similar, you need the difference so that your mind can distinguish between the two.

For me it's been a year and a half since getting the mac at home. I now regularly bash my head with frustration in work because of the things I cannot do on Win that I would easily be able to do at home. There are a few times when I get frustrated at home because of a things that aren't Mac friendly. (Last night I was viewing a webpage with an embedded windows meta file image .wmf and all the PB would display was a question mark. The fault here is with the page provider for using a proprietry format not the PB). My preference is definately with the PB / Mac. As Lacero says, the screens are starting to look a little old compared to the current crop of PC laptops, but I have no problem with mine except in bright sunlight and then all screens will suffer. They do get hot when sitting on you lap and using them in bed / on carpet is not the best idea. I always treat mine with care since I don't want to scratch or dent the case
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back