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Some Mac Questions(important.. lol)?

Rob587

Rob587

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 4, 2004
801
1
Orlando, FL
I will be going to college next year and I wanted to do some research about different mac computers to find out which one I would prefer(G5 Powermac with 20" Display or the 17" Powerbook). I will not need portability what so ever, but I like how the 17" pb looks and feels. I just dont want to get to college and after a year of using my notebook, regret that I didnt buy a desktop that has more speed over the good look of the powerbook, and regret the fact that I cant upgrade anything(not really sure if I can.. I dont think so though, enlighten me.). I currently own a Custom PC(I am finally done putting up with them and want to start over when I go to college). My PC has an AMD 2000, 1GB of ram, and a 64mb Nvidia Graphics card. Basically two questions: Do I go for the desktop or the Powerbook? If I go for the desktop can I put my PC ram into the mac? (keep in mind what I have now and what you recomend will feel like compared to my PC) THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! :)

P.S. Reason I like all of the power is for the games I play that actually all happen to be made for mac aswell. :D
 
Rob587 said:
Basically two questions: Do I go for the desktop or the Powerbook? If I go for the desktop can I put my PC ram into the mac? (keep in mind what I have now and what you recomend will feel like compared to my PC) THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! :)

P.S. Reason I like all of the power is for the games I play that actually all happen to be made for mac aswell. :D
Click to expand...

If you are a hardcore gamer then definitely go for the powermac. The 17 inch powerbook does pack a lot of power in its 1 inch frame, however. They are both excellent machines.

Your PC ram will likely not be compatible becuase it will probably not be PC2700 or PC3200 DDR. Even if it is, it still may not be compatible...
 
I will say go for the desktop over the laptop. I tried the laptop thing and it just does not work since it lacks power hard drive space of a desktop. It close but it just lacks stuff. Desktop all the way so you will not regret it


Also if you a hard core gaming you going ot need a Wintel for gaming since macs Heavy lacks in that area.
 
if you don't need portability and want to play current or upcoming games than go for the desktop. Sounds like the only plus for the laptop is you like the look and feel, but once you get into month 12 of ownership and gaming my guess is you'll wish you had the desktop.

BTW, I have a laptop and am very happy with it but I like the portability and am content to play Warcraft III and slightly older games.

Vince
 
Well the thing is... I dont play games very often..... but when I do I dont want my brand new computer to be slow when I play them... Is everything but the processor on the notebooks upgradable... and if I were to get a maxed out 17" you dont think it would be good for games? GOD... I wish I wasnt so attracted to the 17" pb... it would make this alot easier.
 
You can get more memory but I doubt you can change the video card. Not sure what else would make a difference.

i've got a 15 1.25 ghz and I think it's fine for the games I play. The Call of Duty demo ran Ok on my computer...good enough for me to think of getting the game but I don't know if I'd play multiplayer on it.

But I don't hold out much hope for the new games coming out. It doesn't sound like Blackhawk Down or Doom 3 will run well, if at all, on my computer, and I imagine that's just going to get worse.

So I still think you should consider the desktop simply because of the games and the upgradability.

On the other hand, if you think you'd be content playing the games that are currently for the next few years than your gaming needs should be meet by the laptop. You also have to not mind occasionaly slowdowns during a FPS. But really, when you buy a laptop you are locking yourself into a lower level of technical power for a few years.

I'd be very careful about letting a love of how the laptop looks and feels overcome rational decisions based on your power needs. The laptop is just fine for me but portability and space were high on my list and I'm not doing high-end video or music editiing.

Good luck with what ever you choose. I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

Vince
 
Beef up on the videocard as much as possible.

I went with the 9700 with 128mb, knowing that i won't have the ability to upgrade it later.
 
listen dude......if you like the Powerbook THAT much.....just get the damn powerbook heheheh life is short and who knows what might happen.......so........get the 17" 1.5ghz, 128vram...etc.etc.. (whole works)....upgrade the Ram memory ( 768 to star.........and then 1.5 or 2gb later.......(just don't buy it from Apple...it's tOO expensive!)

you'll have a GREAT computer (i own a 15" 1.33 pbook and it's f*ckin' great! i mean......this is awasome...the portability, the looks, and screen EVERYTHING is great.....

so go for it.....get the one you like man.............you can always buy an external Hard drive for extra disk space....you can get extra display if you want a bigger screen.......but let me tell you that the powerbook by itself is a great machine!...you just need to upgrade RAM memory and it'll do it!


then after you get it.......save some cash so that maybe in two or 3 years you can buy a desktop.........but if your heart is leaning towards the pbook SO much........just get it......because you'll spend A LOT of time thinking about it after buying the desktop.



that's all i have to say......as an advise........(of course the desktop is a better choice if you don't need portability.............like i told you......this is ALSO about what your heart wants....and believe me that....even when desktops are faster and more upgradable this pbook WON'T leave you wanting MORE.... trust me!...it's QUITE FAST and the looks its just from another world!


:D

let us know what you did
 
Joeytpg said:
listen dude......if you like the Powerbook THAT much.....just get the damn powerbook heheheh life is short and who knows what might happen.......so........get the 17" 1.5ghz, 128vram...etc.etc.. (whole works)....upgrade the Ram memory ( 768 to star.........and then 1.5 or 2gb later.......(just don't buy it from Apple...it's tOO expensive!)

you'll have a GREAT computer (i own a 15" 1.33 pbook and it's f*ckin' great! i mean......this is awasome...the portability, the looks, and screen EVERYTHING is great.....

so go for it.....get the one you like man.............you can always buy an external Hard drive for extra disk space....you can get extra display if you want a bigger screen.......but let me tell you that the powerbook by itself is a great machine!...you just need to upgrade RAM memory and it'll do it!


then after you get it.......save some cash so that maybe in two or 3 years you can buy a desktop.........but if your heart is leaning towards the pbook SO much........just get it......because you'll spend A LOT of time thinking about it after buying the desktop.



that's all i have to say......as an advise........(of course the desktop is a better choice if you don't need portability.............like i told you......this is ALSO about what your heart wants....and believe me that....even when desktops are faster and more upgradable this pbook WON'T leave you wanting MORE.... trust me!...it's QUITE FAST and the looks its just from another world!


:D

let us know what you did
Click to expand...

its good to be decisive but we aren't talking about a $30 game or something this is $2,799!
but on the other hand don't go buying something if theres something you want more (if you can afford it that is) because you'll always be left wondering "what if......"
 
stevehaslip said:
its good to be decisive but we aren't talking about a $30 game or something this is $2,799!
but on the other hand don't go buying something if theres something you want more (if you can afford it that is) because you'll always be left wondering "what if......"
Click to expand...

that's the thing.....i mean....if he can afford it then he should go with what his heart wants..........i mean.......either way he's going to be a VERY VERY happy guy......and c'mon....i know dual processor G5 can be faster and he'll have a larger H.D..........but man.....that powerbook 17" 1.5 (the top one) is smoking!

...and like i said.....if he ain't got another desktop (G5) to compare the pbook with.....he won't be left wanting more..............because i have a 15" 1.33 and 768 ram and i'm VERY VERY happy speed wise!
 
I do have an AMD 2000, 1 gig ram, 64mb nvidia, 90gb hd,with a 17" LCD. Maybee thats why I want the powerbook so much, cuz I already have an ok desktop(which when I buy my mac will be retired). I think It would probally be smarter for me to get the desktop I suppose, but If its so damn smart why am I having such a hard time doing it. Then when I tell myself to go for the powerbook, I feel like maybee I should get the desktop. I just cant win.
 
Rob587 said:
I do have an AMD 2000, 1 gig ram, 64mb nvidia, 90gb hd,with a 17" LCD. Maybee thats why I want the powerbook so much, cuz I already have an ok desktop(which when I buy my mac will be retired). I think It would probally be smarter for me to get the desktop I suppose, but If its so damn smart why am I having such a hard time doing it. Then when I tell myself to go for the powerbook, I feel like maybee I should get the desktop. I just cant win.
Click to expand...

You've just touched on what is probably the best solution. Keep your PC desktop for taking care of games (your Athlon 2000 XP system is still relatively up to date, and can easily have its video card upgraded at a later date to anything that ATI or nVidia produces), and get an Apple notebook to experience OS X, get some real work done with, and to take with you everywhere you need it. Getting a Macintosh doesn't need to be an 'all or nothing' decision. If you don't need to sell your PC to pay for the Mac, just keep it. There are plenty of people on these forums who work with a Mac as their primary machine, but who also keep PCs around to run software they can't get for the Mac (serious MS Visual Studio and SQL Server development is a permanent favourite...Virtual PC doesn't cut it when you're doing a lot of compiling and devlopment testing), and of course to play games with.

You'll be hard pressed to find an x86 notebook that's better than a PowerBook. This is where Apple really excels. Their desktops are also good, but if you already have a decent PC desktop that you don't need to get rid of, and if you play any amount of games at all, maybe a 'cross-platform' solution is the best one for you.
 
Maybee... I just hate windows so much now.... And whats a cross platform? By the way how much do you think I could get for my sony 17" lcd and my amd 2000, 1GB ram, 64mb nvidia, and 120gb hd?
 
hey Rob.......listen hehehe i think i understand you pretty well......it shows that you're baddly in love with the pbook....................so listen to what oingoboingo says..........keep the PC (it's good to have both world..trust me!.......you won't get enought money for it in case you sell it.............you'll win more by keeping it............

so keep the PC desktop.......for the things oingo... told you.........and buy the pbook..........the experience of owning a laptop (but not JUST any laptop........an Apple POWERBOOK!.....it's the top of the line apple notebook.....plus you'll be getting the TOP END Model! which is GREAT.......so...you won't regret it!...trust me................you won't even have the need to get a desktop!

and there are so many benefits of owning a laptop..........portability, being able to use it wherever you want!......(take me for example...........Before i only used to use the computer while at home........and sometimes i wanted to watch a movie or watch some videos ya know.....but it was a problem! but now........i can take it to wherever i go and watch a movie or just listen to music..........you name it!........plus the "WOW" factor that it causes when people see this beast! :D :D

get the powerbook dude! :D
 
Rob587 said:
Maybee... I just hate windows so much now.... And whats a cross platform? By the way how much do you think I could get for my sony 17" lcd and my amd 2000, 1GB ram, 64mb nvidia, and 120gb hd?
Click to expand...

The 'cross-platform' thing was just referring to the possibility that you could co-exist quite happily on both the Mac OS X platform and the Windows platform. Sorry, can't give you good estimates of what your PC stuff is worth, since I'm in Australia and the market values for computer equipment are completely different to the U.S. (in general, electronics are much cheaper in the U.S., even accounting for exchange rate).

I kind of stopped caring about how badly Windows sucked when all I used my Windows boot partition for was to play games. All my work got done on the Linux partition on my system, and then I switched over to Mac OS X. If you truly don't think you'll need the portability, if you are really sick to death of Windows/x86, and if you have enough money, then undoubtedly a PowerMac system is a better long-term bet than a PowerBook. You'll be able to upgrade the graphics card down the track, connect your choice of screen, add up to 8GB or 16GB of RAM, add extra hard drives, upgrade the optical drive, and add extra PCI cards for things like TV tuners, extra FireWire/USB ports, SCSI, FibreChannel, or whatever else takes your fancy. A PowerMac is a fairly upgradable beastie. Oh yeah...it's also significantly faster than PowerBook :)

Like I said...if you really want to ditch Windows/x86 and not keep your PC around, then congratulations...go ahead and do it. But stop and think about your medium to long term needs. You're heading to college. You'll be attending lectures. Studying in the library. Moving around campus. Possibly being away from home, and travelling back there in the vacations. The portability of a PowerBook could come in handy. But if not...PowerMac all the way.
 
couldn't agree more with oingo......... hehehee....... :D

hay rob and also think that.........you can UPGRADE the powermac.........BUT.....it costs.......... A LOT OF MONEY! so, you can survive PRETTY well with the powerbook for the next 3 years or 4......... a lot of people can.....so why can't you?.......just make sure you add RAM...and A LOT........ and maybe in about 3 years or so......you might be able to upgrade the powerbook....who know if apple by then will let you! :D


but if you don't need portability Go for the desktop!



let us know
 
Hey, if you do not care about portability, and your goal is to be a gamer i would get a PowerMac. The video chip on the powerbook over time will become obsolete and you will not be able to upgrade it, but on a powermac you just swap out the video card.
 
G5 imac

If the purchase can wait for a month, in your shoes I would be very tempted to wait for the new G5 imac. Because it's from Apple and an imac to boot it WILL look awesome :D and will have the power of the G5 (anybodys guess but prossibly single 1.6 & 1.8 ghz) which will out gun the current PBook and will be considerably less than the Power Mac & 20' LCD combo.
 
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