Well i read that the ADC Student version does not get access to pre-release beta tests and such. So I guess its a good deal, you pay 99US and i get around a 600$ discount on a system...I like..!
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Students
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I know this going to contrast most of what other people have been saying, but that's what discussion is all about. I am currently a student, and can tell you that the best part about having a 12" PB is being able to surf and email on my bed or on my couch. Homework, notetaking? Nothing beats pen and paper.
My major is writing intensive, and I will occasionally write a paper someplace other than my room. But it's really not that different than when I had a desktop -- the paper still has to get done, and I'm still in my room doing it. Most of my friends with laptops take them off their desks about every other week. Now those are huge Dell laptops, and not the slim and sexy 12" PB. I'll bring mine out to the living room about every day -- but it's just for fun.
If you're happy with your PC machine (and are able to take it to college with you), then keep it. There's stuff you can't do on a Mac that a PC is good for. Get a PB, and use your PC for the games and heavy data crunching. You will use the PB's portability.
If you want just one computer, I'd say wait until school starts (August or September?), and get a Mac then. There's bound to be upgrades by then. A G5 is cheaper than a 20" iMac -- I would go with the G5.
Having said that, I am extremely happy with my PB. If I were to do it again, I would get another 12" PB. But I do have my Windows desktop to do all my heavier computer stuff.
My major is writing intensive, and I will occasionally write a paper someplace other than my room. But it's really not that different than when I had a desktop -- the paper still has to get done, and I'm still in my room doing it. Most of my friends with laptops take them off their desks about every other week. Now those are huge Dell laptops, and not the slim and sexy 12" PB. I'll bring mine out to the living room about every day -- but it's just for fun.
If you're happy with your PC machine (and are able to take it to college with you), then keep it. There's stuff you can't do on a Mac that a PC is good for. Get a PB, and use your PC for the games and heavy data crunching. You will use the PB's portability.
If you want just one computer, I'd say wait until school starts (August or September?), and get a Mac then. There's bound to be upgrades by then. A G5 is cheaper than a 20" iMac -- I would go with the G5.
Having said that, I am extremely happy with my PB. If I were to do it again, I would get another 12" PB. But I do have my Windows desktop to do all my heavier computer stuff.
I would go with the reverse of what I'm seeing suggested.
Spend more money on a good PowerBook, whatever size you like best (I've got a 12", great computer). It won't be the fastest thing available, but you won't care, believe me. It'll be fast enough for what you want to do.
Then buy a nice quality CRT for cheap. Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 930SBs are gorgeous, got mine for about $300 from Dell.
Then just use a cheap PC for gaming. Slap a good video card in, smallish hard drive and be done with it.
Spend more money on a good PowerBook, whatever size you like best (I've got a 12", great computer). It won't be the fastest thing available, but you won't care, believe me. It'll be fast enough for what you want to do.
Then buy a nice quality CRT for cheap. Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 930SBs are gorgeous, got mine for about $300 from Dell.
Then just use a cheap PC for gaming. Slap a good video card in, smallish hard drive and be done with it.
mrgreen4242
macrumors 601
Well, as a student, here's my take... Sounds like you are a PC user atm, as am I. But you are looking to 'switch' presumably for the improved user experience, and not the gaming available!
So I would point you towards grabbing a high end 15" powerbook for now. (well, wait untill closer till the school year starts, if you look around the forum, you will see it is my opinion, as well as many others, that new PB models are on the way).
As mentioned earlier, the 15" PBs will run just about any of the games available right now with any issues. If there is a decent bump in PB specs this summer (slightly faster CPUs, more vram) then it'll just be gravy.
For general computer usage, you can't go wrong with a new PB, especially the 1.25ghz w/ the superdrive. It'll probably get you all the way thru med school for non-gaming usage!
Anways, that'll be significantly cheaper than getting a powermac, and you probably won't miss the extra power right away. By the time you start to see games come out that require more 'juice' the next generation of consoles will be hitting the shelves. From all accounts the XBox2 and PS3 are going to pretty much low away PC based gaming anyways, and more and more games are going to be first run on consoles. Grab a nice HDTV then too, you'll still be spending less than you would have on a powermac. Your DVDs will look oh so nice then as well!
The point is that your PB will still be a perfectly viable computer for general use and light, on the go gaming, and you will still get all the newest video games. Plus when the next greatest video game systems come out, you will only have to invest another $300 or so, which about the cost of the latest and greatest video card for a computer.
As a current PC gamer, and someone looking at making a mac switch shortly, this is honestly where I see myself in about 12-18 months. I think that's the way the world is moving...
Hope all that helps!
Rob
PS I was looking at the ADC program myself. The discount on a PowerBook is about US$200-300 over and above the educational pricing depending on what you buy, and the membership is US$100, so the net savigns of a $100-200 is pretty decent, but it is a ONCE in a lifetime deal (at least thats how I understand it, correct me if I am wrong), so you may want to save it for later if money isn't an issue now and it may become one at a later dae (ie, when Med school bills start to pile up and you are thinking about upgrading). Jus a thought. 🙂
So I would point you towards grabbing a high end 15" powerbook for now. (well, wait untill closer till the school year starts, if you look around the forum, you will see it is my opinion, as well as many others, that new PB models are on the way).
As mentioned earlier, the 15" PBs will run just about any of the games available right now with any issues. If there is a decent bump in PB specs this summer (slightly faster CPUs, more vram) then it'll just be gravy.
For general computer usage, you can't go wrong with a new PB, especially the 1.25ghz w/ the superdrive. It'll probably get you all the way thru med school for non-gaming usage!
Anways, that'll be significantly cheaper than getting a powermac, and you probably won't miss the extra power right away. By the time you start to see games come out that require more 'juice' the next generation of consoles will be hitting the shelves. From all accounts the XBox2 and PS3 are going to pretty much low away PC based gaming anyways, and more and more games are going to be first run on consoles. Grab a nice HDTV then too, you'll still be spending less than you would have on a powermac. Your DVDs will look oh so nice then as well!
The point is that your PB will still be a perfectly viable computer for general use and light, on the go gaming, and you will still get all the newest video games. Plus when the next greatest video game systems come out, you will only have to invest another $300 or so, which about the cost of the latest and greatest video card for a computer.
As a current PC gamer, and someone looking at making a mac switch shortly, this is honestly where I see myself in about 12-18 months. I think that's the way the world is moving...
Hope all that helps!
Rob
PS I was looking at the ADC program myself. The discount on a PowerBook is about US$200-300 over and above the educational pricing depending on what you buy, and the membership is US$100, so the net savigns of a $100-200 is pretty decent, but it is a ONCE in a lifetime deal (at least thats how I understand it, correct me if I am wrong), so you may want to save it for later if money isn't an issue now and it may become one at a later dae (ie, when Med school bills start to pile up and you are thinking about upgrading). Jus a thought. 🙂
jxyama said:
What would the problem be with getting a 1.8 Dual G5 1GB ram for gaming? I hardly think it would be a waste because the games keep pushing the envelope with system specs....
jxyama
macrumors 68040
it's a waste because gaming on Mac, both hardware (mainly videocard) and software, generally are behind those on PCs, are less performant and cost more.
it's like getting a top of the line digital camcorder so you can shoot still images - there are cheaper and better options.
getting G5s (mostly) for gaming is not worth it - it's marginally better than G4s just because gaming on Macs is lackluster in general. no amount of computing power can make up for that general trend. i'm not saying gaming is non-existent in Macs, but i hope you see my point. there are, however, things Macs do very, very well and i feel that your money will be better spent on a fully spec'ed PowerBook.
it's like getting a top of the line digital camcorder so you can shoot still images - there are cheaper and better options.
getting G5s (mostly) for gaming is not worth it - it's marginally better than G4s just because gaming on Macs is lackluster in general. no amount of computing power can make up for that general trend. i'm not saying gaming is non-existent in Macs, but i hope you see my point. there are, however, things Macs do very, very well and i feel that your money will be better spent on a fully spec'ed PowerBook.
Ok if i fully spec'd a powerbook, 15inch lets say, would I still be able to run games like battlefield and such at a tolerable level?
Also, can you dock the laptop so you can use a CRT, regular keyboard/mouse in your dorm room?
Also, can you dock the laptop so you can use a CRT, regular keyboard/mouse in your dorm room?
crowdaddy said:
Student ADC is great! True you won't get pre-release betaware. But you will save a heap of money on your single ADC order, plus receive upgrades. I received both a copy of OS X 10.2 and 10.3 CD's free as a member. It will pay for itself many times over and is very easy to get setup.
jxyama
macrumors 68040
crowdaddy said:
i don't know how you mean "tolerable" but 15" PB will run any Mac games as well as any other Macs. it may not be as good as PCs, but chances are, if 15" PB can't run the game well, then G5 will not be much better.
PB will connect to any DVI or VGA monitors, you may need an adapter, though. check included accessories for the PB. if by "regular" you mean USB, then keyboard and mouse will connect to the PB. if it's a PS/2 style PC keyboard/mouse, then no Mac will be able to use them, not just PB and you will need a PS/2 -> USB adapter.
Jovian9
macrumors 68000
I do not think you can go wrong with any of these choices.....except for an eMac or a 12" iBook. My wife and I had a 12" G4 iBook and size and power were not enough for us (so we sold it and bought a 17" PowerBook....which we love.....bought it refurbished in the special deals section at the apple store.......GREAT DEAL!). eMacs and iMacs are not really upgradeable.....but the difference is design and function. 2 friends of mine have eMacs with the exact specs as my 17" 1GHz iMac G4 SD but they are just not as great to use.....why?.....b/c if you sit at a computer for hours at a time you just cannot beat the mobile abilities of the iMac screen....it adjusts to your constant sinking into the chair you are sitting in. If I were you I'd get a refurbished PowerBook and either a refurbished G5 or a refurbished iMac....this setup works great for my wife and I who are on computers all the time (school, music, web development, creating films, photographs, etc.)....and if you are not comfortable with refurbs, be sure to follow the advice of others about the Developer Discount.
baby duck monge
macrumors 68000
mrgreen4242 said:
someone please correct me if i am wrong, but i'm pretty sure it's one purchase with the discount per membership year. like when your year is up if you renew you could get another purchase. that makes much more sense.
mrgreen4242
macrumors 601
baby duck monge said:
Ok, since I wasn't sure, and we both had different impressions of the deal, I did a little checking... according to http://developer.apple.com/students/sthardware.html ...
So it looks like it is indeed a one shot discount... something that may be better saved for the purchase of a powermac and a big 'old LCD (greater discount if you buy more expensive stufff). But, if you don't intend to get a PM before you graduate, and the laptop is going to be it for you 'till then, no sense in not using it.
Rob
mrgreen4242
macrumors 601
jxyama said:
Ya, that's probably right... I was specifically talking about Student ADC membership, probably should have said that. Just assumed it was inferred as that is what was being discussed ealier. My bad. 🙂
Rob