Wasting Money on Powerbook G4

[KittenKrusher]

I talked to my brother today about computers and he said he wants to buy a new notebook since his is years old now. He said he is going to purchase a 17" PB this weekend and I asked if he knew of the new Intel MB that is now out. He said yes but he is still going to get his 17" PB despite it being PPC still. He says that his reasons are that he wants a 17" notebook, he doesn't want a RevA machine, and you get a DL SuperDrive + FW800 (which he won't use).

I tried convincing him that down the road he is going to regret it but he is going out to buy his 17" PB. So do you guys think this is very stupid of him? Do you think it's not smart for anyone to buy a G4 notebook at this time?

 

[grapes911]

If that is what he wants then I have to problem with it. It could be 10 months before the 17-inch MacBook Pros come out. Plus, PPC will be supported for years to come. Probably much longer than his notebook will last.

 

[California]

I tried convincing him that down the road he is going to regret it but he is going out to buy his 17" PB. So do you guys think this is very stupid of him? Do you think it's not smart for anyone to buy a G4 notebook at this time?

Yeah, I love my new PB 12". They'll never make another one again. I got the last of a great line of powerbooks! And it'll be supported for years. Let him get the 17" in peace. Just make sure he shops around for the best deal.

 

[KittenKrusher]

Yeah, at this point I am trying to get him to maybe pick on off from eBay or Refurb to try to save some cash.

 

[sw1tcher]

If he's set on getting the 17" PB, I say get one from Apples refurb page. They have some great deals right now.

 

[dodonutter]

I have a 15" Powerbook and it is definitely the best £1400 i have ever spent. It would probably be better to wait for the Intel version but he's not going to be disappointed if he does decide not too.

Apple refurb would be a good idea though just to save some money

 

[devilot]

I think it sounds as though your brother has done his research-- knowing about features and whatnot. He still seems very set on the 17" G4 and so I think he has already weighed the pros and cons and knows that he will be content w/ that PB.

And in no way will the PPC be phased out with the next Intel revision... It will take some time to revise Apple's whole line up, and even for some time after that, there will be universal binaries available.

Shrug. My family owns 3 PPC machines all purchased within the last year or so... We're not worried. We can still use the software that we have now and the software that will be coming out for awhile yet.

Be happy for him.

 

[Seasought]

So do you guys think this is very stupid of him? Do you think it's not smart for anyone to buy a G4 notebook at this time?

I don't think it's stupid of him. He knows what he wants and he's going for it. It sounds like he has the fortunate position of being able to buy what he wants and can do so. I don't foresee the Powerbook G4's suddenly becoming worthless for dozens of reasons mentioned in this thread and others. Is this his first Mac?

 

[dr427]

I definitely don't think he is being stupid about it, but I do think he sould look at the refurb page as well.

I'm on the fence right now myself about a PB. I am starting to think if we wait until Feb the deals might be even better on G4 PB's.

 

[macnvrbck]

I just got a open box-outer box blemish/referb 12' Powerbook G4 1.5/512/Combo from Amazon's warehouse_deals for $975!

It came in the mail yesterday and it was in perfect condition! I am very happy with this purchase and a great price!

Keep looking at Amazon as they seem to be putting these up a few days after someone buys one. The only one available now is from Small Dog for $1195, your better going with the Apple referb at $1099 at this moment.

 

[Little Endian]

I think your brothers decision is ok. It would have been better if Apple had given us a better update to the last PowerBook G4 or better yet another last PowerBook G4 to tide us over during the intel transition.

I would not be surprised if the 1.67Ghz PowerBook G4 could still beat the new MacBook Pro in some non-universal binary Applications. Rosetta speed is acceptable for some Applications but benches have shown it to perform only about 1/5th to 1/2 the native speed of course most of those benches were comparing Core Duo to a single core G4 but I think in real world applications the PowerBook G4 will more than be able to hold it's own especially when no Universal Binary application is available (yet) and then again some software especially older one may never go Universal Binary.

 

[danny_w]

I don't think there is anything at all wrong with your brother's decision, esp. if he can get a good deal on one (check Apple refurb and Amazon pricing); it is probably the same decision that I would make if I were in the market. No amount of coaxing would get me to buy a first model of anything, esp. with such a big change in store going from PPC to Intel. Let others be the beta testers.

 

[plinkoman]

there seems to be this general conception on these boards that the 1.67GHz G4 in the powerbooks is slow...

well, i have the same powerbook your brother is thinking about, and do you see me complaining?