Hi guys,
I've appreciated the advice I've gotten on here for the last few years. My iBook G4 is just over three years old. It's been a very durable computer, and I've worked it hard the last few years. I probably use the computer for six hours a day minimum, mostly for small things -- internet, Word, photos, that sort -- but also occasionally for InDesign work. Next year is going to be a very work-intensive year; I'll be using the laptop for normal school work, but also in my work as the editor for a weekly newspaper. That means more InDesign and occasional Photoshop.
I've had some problems this last year. I lost a hard drive very abruptly in December. I've had a few other small bugs -- the internal mic never functioned properly, for instance. My warranty expired a few months ago, and now the hard drive (possibly?) is acting up again. The computer started freezing a few weeks ago. When I go to turn it on, sometimes it doesn't respond at all. Other times, I'll get to either the window with the Apple logo or the spinning wheel, or a picture of a file folder with a blinking question mark. And about half of the time, it turns on just fine and works from anywhere to a few minutes to a few days. I took the computer up to the Apple store today, and the Genius guessed that it was slowly working its way towards another hard drive failure.
Here's my question: the Genius told me that with most laptops, they've got 7 years before they're totally obsolete, but most get anywhere from 4 to 6 six years of solid running time. Do I replace the hard drive and try to get another year out of this puppy? I'll be a student until the end of May, so I was sort of planning to buy a new laptop with my student discount just before graduating. My father, on the other hand, is encouraging me to buy now: essentially, to go into the next year with a new warranty, a reliable and fast computer, and no worries about failure during an inoportune time (read: finals (as has been the case with both hard drive problems, incidentally)).
My iBook has a 40 GB harddrive, of which about 3 GB are free right now. (It's getting harder and harder to accomplish work right now. If I'm typing in Word, the computer can spit out about three words, sometimes a sentence, before hitching, giving me the spiral wheel, and making me wait a few minutes.) I'm looking at a mid-level MacBook; not top of the line, but not bare bones, either. Thoughts? Advice? Should I wait to buy, or should I make the plunge?
I've appreciated the advice I've gotten on here for the last few years. My iBook G4 is just over three years old. It's been a very durable computer, and I've worked it hard the last few years. I probably use the computer for six hours a day minimum, mostly for small things -- internet, Word, photos, that sort -- but also occasionally for InDesign work. Next year is going to be a very work-intensive year; I'll be using the laptop for normal school work, but also in my work as the editor for a weekly newspaper. That means more InDesign and occasional Photoshop.
I've had some problems this last year. I lost a hard drive very abruptly in December. I've had a few other small bugs -- the internal mic never functioned properly, for instance. My warranty expired a few months ago, and now the hard drive (possibly?) is acting up again. The computer started freezing a few weeks ago. When I go to turn it on, sometimes it doesn't respond at all. Other times, I'll get to either the window with the Apple logo or the spinning wheel, or a picture of a file folder with a blinking question mark. And about half of the time, it turns on just fine and works from anywhere to a few minutes to a few days. I took the computer up to the Apple store today, and the Genius guessed that it was slowly working its way towards another hard drive failure.
Here's my question: the Genius told me that with most laptops, they've got 7 years before they're totally obsolete, but most get anywhere from 4 to 6 six years of solid running time. Do I replace the hard drive and try to get another year out of this puppy? I'll be a student until the end of May, so I was sort of planning to buy a new laptop with my student discount just before graduating. My father, on the other hand, is encouraging me to buy now: essentially, to go into the next year with a new warranty, a reliable and fast computer, and no worries about failure during an inoportune time (read: finals (as has been the case with both hard drive problems, incidentally)).
My iBook has a 40 GB harddrive, of which about 3 GB are free right now. (It's getting harder and harder to accomplish work right now. If I'm typing in Word, the computer can spit out about three words, sometimes a sentence, before hitching, giving me the spiral wheel, and making me wait a few minutes.) I'm looking at a mid-level MacBook; not top of the line, but not bare bones, either. Thoughts? Advice? Should I wait to buy, or should I make the plunge?
