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When do you consider your Mac outdated?

wrldwzrd89 said:
That's good to hear. I don't really have a desire to play the latest games anyway - this Mac's primary purpose when it's not being used is to run Folding@Home. If anything, I'd want a larger HD in my iMac, not necessarily a faster one.
EDIT: It's not like I'm going to run out of space anytime soon. I have over 60 GB free right now.
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You'll be limited to 120 GB...more-or-less...since there is a limit to the ATA controller's ability to handle bigger drives. That's a component you can't change. However, a faster drive will help your system use virtual memory more quickly, so that when you're using folding@home and some applications, it won't appear (too) slow.

I would cite the 9 GB Ultra2SCSI drive in my G3/800 but the drive just died tonight after 5 years. :eek:
 
When my computer dies: After the burial and mandatory 7-day mourning day period (I'm Jewish, and that time is called 'sitting shiva', or consoling the bereved) I get a new mac. Fortuanatly, that hasn't happened yet. :D

To stay fairly up-to-date, around every 3 years or so but I've worked on some old LC's that you could run ClarisWorks on, and connect to an old printer... And there is that old Mac Classic which could connect to the Internet if I bothered to upgrade the RAM and install OS 7 and and and...:)

Outdated? Yes. Trash? No.
(Or, for you Windoze freaks, "Recycling Bin") ;)
 
Here's my Mac computer time line:

1)MacPlus - 1986 or 1987
(only needed a $15 repair job to get it working again in 1995... but decided it was time for a new computer. Last OS it used was earlier version of System7 ... like 7.1)

2)Macintosh Performa 6320CD - 1995-1996
(bought it somewhere during the second year of University. Given to my Mom when I bought the G4, given away a few years later but still worked fine. Last known OS was 8)

3)466 Mhz G4 - 2000 (the one I'm using now with upgraded video card. Currently running 10.3.5)

I am thinking about upgrading my computer soon, but I'm not really in a rush...I could buy anywhere from 6 months to another year or so. The next purchase will be the "go big" buy so I've got to save some cash.

Mind you I'll keep my G4 this time (Mom can't get all my hand-me-downs!) and run it as a server or something.
 
Usually every 3 years...hmmm that means my Quicksilver is almost ready to go! Perfect timing for me to buy a new G5 with Tiger in about 8 months or so, onc he next rev. G5's ar released!
 
bousozoku said:
...I would cite the 9 GB Ultra2SCSI drive in my G3/800 but the drive just died tonight after 5 years. :eek:
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I've got a G3 800 iBook. Would you consider it out of date?
 
I think a mac is outdated when it will not run one of the apps you want. My dual 800 quicksilver g4 won't run motion. I now consider it outdated. =(
 
outdated. . . hmmm. . . when i got my first mac, and iBook 700mhz the next update came out a few months later, i thought it was outdated, useable, but still no longer top of the line. when that died due to the video card problem and i became tired of sending it back in (3 times so far) i bought my current PB. its a rev A and i got a good deal on it right when the rev B was announced. so a week later when the rev B started shipping i thought my PB was out of date. even though it is out of date (not top of the line) it is still very useful, though after a year i am ready for a little more speed and will probably upgrade the ram as soon i can come up with a little more cash. but when will i replace it? well i have had my iPod for three years now, its a 1st generation 10 GB. . . and it still functions (battery still lasts more than 8 hours) so i will keep it as long as it works (or until i can get wi-fi control of airport express on a new iPod) i hope to keep my PB for at least two more years (till apple care runs out) and then later until i can no longer run the latest OS.
 
Our family Macs:

Macintosh Plus - some 1987-88, sold away, little info, external 20 MB HD (I was born in 1989)

Macintosh SE FD/HD - some 1988-90, still working, with System 7.5.3 (40 MB HD, 4 MB RAM)

PowerBook 170 -1991, sold away

Power Macintosh 6100/66 - 1994, 16 MB RAM, 350 MB HD, CD-drive, still in use on System 7.5.3, external SCSI Zip drive

PowerMacintosh G4 350 "Sawtooth" - 2000, specs in sig. main computer in use, 10.3.5, but yes, outdated. It can't run games (well, yes EV Nova), and the OS feels slow occasionally. Quite much slow actually. Need a new PowerMac! RAM went up 64 -> 192 -> 704 MB and HD 10 -> 10+30 -> 120+30 GB

iBook 500 (Dual USB) - 2001, the travelling companion. 256 MB RAM, 10 GB HD. Very slow running 10.3.5, but it works. A new 'Book wouldn't bother me either.
 
Simple.

When your uses or desires outgrow it.

If you're simply a surfer who uses word, a seven year-old computer would do you fine.

Most people have minor requirements but major desires. Hardware junkies if you will. Lots of 'em here. Wish I had their budgets!

Upgrade because you want to if you can't justify having to... - j
 
for me, a computer becomes obsolete when it can't do what i want it to do in a reasonable amount of time. therefore, any 32-bit computer is not obsolete by my standards, although i do have pretty low standards (ie i have an old 486 router, headless, no-hd, no keyboard).
 
This is a tough one. At home, I generally try and upgrade every 3 years. More than that, and the expense really isn't justified for what we do.

However, at work, I try to slip in an upgrade every 18-24 months at the most, since I deal with a lot of processor-intensive applications. The problem is that then I get frustrated with my home computer.

I imagine I'll upgrade my 1.25GHz iMac in another year, depending on what the new one looks like. And my 15" PowerBook is screaming for a replacement.
 
My 1.25 GHz emac was outdated before I bought it, but it was the only desktop Mac priced for mortals.
 
I am in the "upgrade at the end of AppleCare" camp. My last computer, a beige G3 minitower, I vowed to take it to its "logical conclusion." That was maxed RAM and VRAM, added a CD-Burner and Zip drive, replaced the hard drive, added a second monitor and a Radeon card for primary monitor, added a FireWire/USB card and finally bumped it up to a 500mHz G4. That was its logical conclusion. It ran well under OS 9 but I was hesitant to install OS X on it. I felt it was a little too modified to expect stable, consistent performance.

Now several years later I am hoping to add an employee. They would get my current Quicksilver G4 and I would get a G5. AppleCare is almost up on the G4 so hopefully I'll be in a hiring/upgrading position in December. I will probably upgrade the processor of the Quicksilver for my assistant next year if we feel it needs it. Again, the logical conclusion.

David
 
vga4life said:
My 1.25 GHz emac was outdated before I bought it, but it was the only desktop Mac priced for mortals.
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Ouch! If it did what you needed it to do when you purchased it, then I don't think you should consider it "outdated." The eMac is a decent machine, even though it isn't built for high-performance applications. The same could be said for many low-end PCs as well.
 
emw said:
Ouch! If it did what you needed it to do when you purchased it, then I don't think you should consider it "outdated." The eMac is a decent machine, even though it isn't built for high-performance applications. The same could be said for many low-end PCs as well.
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Uhh the whole point of being "outdated" is that it doesn't mold to your *current* needs. What you wanted to do at the time you got it is of no consequence, but rather what you still *can* do with it. By most standards, if you want to do something with your older computer now, but can't, then it's probably outdated...
 
If/When money permits

i have a G4 Sawtooth and a G3 Wallstreet --- i would love to get a new laptop (i need the portability), but i have other things that i would rather spend my money on, such as equipment that i could use to make money to buy new computers, for now the Sawtooth will have to do, and the Wallstreet, well i like to write on the road.

That and i'm waiting for the G5 powerbooks --- YA THATS RIGHT, I'M HOLDING MY BREATH
 
if i were still in college, it would be four years before id get a new one. now i am within the 2-3 year range. the way i look at it. 3000.00 powerbook = 1000.00 a year.
 
I consider mine outdated, when they can't run the software I need/want to run (EG my current system can't run all of iLife '04, and I want ot play with Garageband) or they break on me. Pretty much I run them until the situation becomes untennable (sp?). Of course, if I could afford it, I would upgrade every 3 years.
 
vraxtus said:
Uhh the whole point of being "outdated" is that it doesn't mold to your *current* needs. What you wanted to do at the time you got it is of no consequence, but rather what you still *can* do with it. By most standards, if you want to do something with your older computer now, but can't, then it's probably outdated...
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Very true, but vga4life's comment was that it was outdated before he bought it, but it was the only reasonably priced desktop Mac. If the comment was instead that the eMac couldn't do now what was needed, that would be completely different.

I was simply saying that if he bought it, I would hope he purchased something that did what he needed it to do, and not just purchased it because it was the cheapest Mac.

So it wasn't a matter of doing something now with an older computer, it was about doing something now with a computer he just purchased.
 
emw said:
Very true, but vga4life's comment was that it was outdated before he bought it, but it was the only reasonably priced desktop Mac. If the comment was instead that the eMac couldn't do now what was needed, that would be completely different.

I was simply saying that if he bought it, I would hope he purchased something that did what he needed it to do, and not just purchased it because it was the cheapest Mac.

So it wasn't a matter of doing something now with an older computer, it was about doing something now with a computer he just purchased.
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Ah, didn't really read vga's comment, but yes, that certainly makes sense.
 
5300cs said:
I've got a G3 800 iBook. Would you consider it out of date?
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For general things, no. However, for doing any demanding work such as graphic design, it's at a disadvantage because you can't put enough RAM into it. The graphics capabilities can't be upgraded, so it tends to look slower as sloppier, less efficient applications arrive.

I've been looking for a laptop computer lately and I cannot decide on one because, while one is less expensive, it will be outdated more quickly. The other, for $500 more, has much more in it but I feel that it will only last 9 months longer. My last two PowerMacs have been top-of-the-line machines and are better insulated against the future demands of sloppy applications, especially with the dual 800.

Can anyone see either the iBook (1.0 GHz, 12 inch) at $1099 or the PowerBook (1.33 GHz, 12 inch) at $1599 having a life over 1.5 years?
 
bousozoku said:
Can anyone see either the iBook (1.0 GHz, 12 inch) at $1099 or the PowerBook (1.33 GHz, 12 inch) at $1599 having a life over 1.5 years?
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The refurb Rev B I got actually runs most consumer apps fine, so I think if you're just sticking to basic work, with no real heavy applications, a 12" would actually be fine.
 
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