To 970 or to not 970???

[djtet]

Hey everyone...I know that plenty of times people have posted for feedback when buying a machine; heck, I've done it plenty of times (and recently to). But I really would appreciate some feedback.

See, even though I have no money, I would say that I am in the market to purchase another mac (voted against a cheap PC, as well as a temporary upgrade solution such as an emac/imac...I will be getting a powermac)! I can justify this purchase by hopefully making some $ with some upcoming freelance work, and have the machine pay for itself.

Now the problem...IF the 970's appear tomorrow, and the price is right, I will go for the low-end. But I'm skeptical because of people saying they will wait for the next revision. I usually don't buy the "latest and greatest"...So I am asking for feedback from people with experiences that bought first versions of computers. My understanding is that if it is defective, it's under warranty, correct? So what should I look out for? I'd appreciate any feedback! Thanks!

 

[jelloshotsrule]

in general, it's ideal to wait and have the kinks worked out... the problem with that is, there's always some kinks... generally with apple, the kinks are not very severe whichever generation of machine you get (emac screen problem is probably the worst recent one)... and yes, it's under warranty for at least a year, so that covers you for most things.

i used to think that i could wait til the second rev, but if the specs stand up at all to what we saw leaked, then i'd have a hard time resisting the first rev, if i had the money...

only you know how much you can afford it and such. but i'd say if the specs do you right, get one.

 

[pilotgi]

Within the first two weeks of introduction, you will be able to get lots of reviews of the new machines.

So if you don't want to jump in right away, just wait a couple o' weeks and read the feedback.

 

[MUrhino]

I'll second that...

As a newbie to the Mac community, I purchased a 17" PB and haven't had a single problem with it. I look at it the same way you do...it's under warranty so what's the big deal. Most PC companies don't even have rev's of their products because they change so often. Heck, if the new PowerMac is that good, I might just sell mine on eBay as I don't really use the portable factor that much. Anyways, we'll see tomorrow. Good luck getting any sleep tonight!

 

[Golem]

Well I have had 5-6 first rev machines over the years and the only problems I have ever had was a bunch of 9500/132? where straight from the box and installed of same cd the fastest machine was twice as fast as the slowest but they all behaved fine.


Mind you I did have a powertower 180 that used to wipe its disk every few months(traced to bad scsi cable after a year) and I once received a brand new 9xxx which had a barely noticeable forklift sized slit on outside but was caved in on inside.

 

[medea]

unless your really power hungry the current G4 machines would do you fine if you didnt want to get the 970's and the G4's would drop in price.

 

[cheb712]

New machines/chips? I bought the PowerPC when it first came out (the 7100). Published 'benchmarks' looked great. In reality, my quadra 650 was faster than it in all aspects except gaming (marathon 1). Yes, it was even quicker in Photoshop. Then I bought a G3 (b&w the last one they made, 400mhz). That machine was AND STILL is very rock solid. 3 months later I bought the NEW "super computer" G4. Again, great 'benchmarks'. Ugh! My G3 was faster than the G4 in everything again. INCLUDING photoshop. That 7100 was slow in starting up, so was the G4. The g4 and 7100 were always freezing up and it seemed like they took a lot of time to 'think' about saving or opening a file or window. The G4 has been given new life by upgrading to a sonnet 800 and it is a now rock solid. I purposely bought a Dual 1.42 ghz because I wanted the fastest chip possible but not a new chip architecture like the 970s. IBM may make a far superior product than Moto but, I personally would wait. I'm looking at getting a 970 (980?) next summer. I've been burned by too many "latest and greatest" chips to do that again. That's just my 2¢. (my dual is quite fast. I'm very happy with my machine. I do graphic design btw)

 

[ddtlm]

djtet:

If Apple really does launch an entry level 1.6 ghz PPC970 tomorrow then it seems like thats the machine to have. I'd have a hard time believing that a PPC970 at that speed, paired with decent DDR RAM (better be dual channel), would very often be slower than even a dual 1.42ghz G4. It does lack the L3 and existing programs would be compiled with the G4 in mind, but I don't expect those to be the dominant factors.

 

[djtet]

First let me thank all of you for giving your feedback...All is appreciated...

Originally posted by medea
unless your really power hungry the current G4 machines would do you fine if you didnt want to get the 970's and the G4's would drop in price.

This is definately an option...I don't really NEED the latest and greatest - It's more of a want! So I'm thinking, depending on price, maybe I'll get a current G4, and that will easily smoke both of my machines. My only worry about that, is how panther will work with the current G4's? Should be fine right?

 

[caveman_uk]

My guess is anything recent would work with Panther. It's supposed to be 64-bit but Apple would be mad not release a 32-bit version so their current machines can use it as well. You can imagine can't you. SJ on stage...

'So that's Panther - the next generation Apple Macintosh OS. There's one more thing. You'll need one of these to run it (points to a G5 powermac) so you may as well throw the stuff we've just sold you in the trash'

...not popular.

 

[djtet]

Originally posted by caveman_uk
My guess is anything recent would work with Panther. It's supposed to be 64-bit but Apple would be mad not release a 32-bit version so their current machines can use it as well. You can imagine can't you. SJ on stage...

'So that's Panther - the next generation Apple Macintosh OS. There's one more thing. You'll need one of these to run it (points to a G5 powermac) so you may as well throw the stuff we've just sold you in the trash'

...not popular.

I'm imagining it, but you left out one part...when he points to the G5 powermac, there's a sign that reads "G5 Now Only $399"...HA!

 

[djtet]

Well, I need more help now...

OK, so I don't think I'll be getting a new G5...fair prices, but still too much for me.

But, needing to upgrade from my G3 300 clamshell ibook, what about this deal from macmall...

Just Announced!
Single 1.25GHz G4 processors
In Stock
256K on-chip L2 cache
2MB DDR SRAM backside L3 cache per processor
512MB DDR SDRAM
120GB (7200 RPM) Ultra ATA Hard Drive
ATI Radeon 90000 Pro with 32MB of DDR SDRAM in 4x AGP slot
DVD-R/CD-RW SupoerDrive
2 FireWire 400 ports
4 USB 12-Mbps ports
Gigabit Ethernet
AirPort Card Ready
Mac OS v10.2 and v9.2

Starting at $1,294.00!

I could be wrong, but I think I'd get free shipping (after $100 rebate), another 512 Ram for $39.99, and I don't think I'll pay sales tax (SC resident)! A HUGE upgrade for me, and this system should last me a few more years, right? Opinions please!!!

 

[djtet]

incorrect specs...

Macmall is listing the incorrect specs! I knew it was too good to be true...
After I placed the item in my shopping cart, there was only 256 ram (not 512), an 80 gb harddrive (not 120), and a combo drive (no superdrive)...

Too good to be true!