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Wishing I had bought a 1.67gHz Powerbook G4 instead of an i3 HP Notebook...

R

Riviera122

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 14, 2008
492
171
Hello,

A couple of months ago, I needed an affordable laptop for work as my netbook was, to quote IBM in 1983 on the Apple II, "too small to do serious computing". As Apple are my number one technology brand, I looked around for a cheap Powerbook G4. I was centimeters away from buying a top of the range maxed out Powerbook on eBay until my parents said this:

"The laptop is 5 years old, it is very likely to break down".

I explained to them that some people use the same Apple product for 20 years and that people still use the Powerbook G4 as their main computer because of its reliability. They didn't listen.

So, instead, I had to find a Windows laptop. I found the HP G62, which I bought because of it's Core i3 processor and overall performance. To be honest, I'm slightly disappointed. The whole thing is made out of plastic, and it just feels cheap. I knew I would feel this way about it in the bottom of my heart, but I reassured myself that I've taken too much Apple Kool-Aid. But, no. I can just imagine opening the beautiful Powerbook and it being such a joy to use with its aluminium surfacing.

Ugh. What can I do to help numb the pain? :(
 
you work and your parents dictated to you to buy a windows based laptop?
i think you need to grow a spine, and tell your parents ' stop being such control freaks ' lol
 
Justin122 said:
Hello,

A couple of months ago, I needed an affordable laptop for work as my netbook was, to quote IBM in 1983 on the Apple II, "too small to do serious computing". As Apple are my number one technology brand, I looked around for a cheap Powerbook G4. I was centimeters away from buying a top of the range maxed out Powerbook on eBay until my parents said this:

"The laptop is 5 years old, it is very likely to break down".

I explained to them that some people use the same Apple product for 20 years and that people still use the Powerbook G4 as their main computer because of its reliability. They didn't listen.

So, instead, I had to find a Windows laptop. I found the HP G62, which I bought because of it's Core i3 processor and overall performance. To be honest, I'm slightly disappointed. The whole thing is made out of plastic, and it just feels cheap. I knew I would feel this way about it in the bottom of my heart, but I reassured myself that I've taken too much Apple Kool-Aid. But, no. I can just imagine opening the beautiful Powerbook and it being such a joy to use with its aluminium surfacing.

Ugh. What can I do to help numb the pain? :(
Click to expand...
i feel your pain for 2 years i had a pc netbook and the hole time i wished i had a g3 ibook, you could try installing osx on the pc, but the only real way would be to buy a powerbook
 
There are i3 machines with aluminium body, I just saw a few from HP, I think.

Anyway, I have a faulty 12" PowerBook. Do you want it? Frankly, your parents have a point. Things do go wrong. An i3 is not just significantly faster than a PowerBook, but it also comes with at least one year warranty. Those PowerBooks are pretty heavy and thick.
 
kernkraft said:
There are i3 machines with aluminium body, I just saw a few from HP, I think.

Anyway, I have a faulty 12" PowerBook. Do you want it? Frankly, your parents have a point. Things do go wrong. An i3 is not just significantly faster than a PowerBook, but it also comes with at least one year warranty. Those PowerBooks are pretty heavy and thick.
Click to expand...

This.
 
Justin122 said:
Hello,

I was centimeters away from buying a top of the range maxed out Powerbook on eBay until my parents said this:

"The laptop is 5 years old, it is very likely to break down".
Click to expand...

Well just because a computer is old doesn't necessarily mean it will break (as long as it is well taken care of) it can work for a long long time. My friend and his brother both had HP laptops and it took them all of 1.5 years to stop working, so yeah age isn't the only factor. But I would get a powerbook to compliment the new laptop that you got, that would make you feel better.
 
If you get rid of that HP and get a G4, you'll take a massive speed hit. I wouldn't worry too much about it... Win7 is a great OS, I have lots of good things to say about it. Though, if you have anything less than Home Premium, I'd spend the money to upgrade. Personally, I like Pro (Ultimate just isn't worth it).
 
Hi,

Your parents are right.

It's okay. It happens from time to time that parents know what they are talking about.

s.
 
So you bought a i3 HP? so I take it you spent about $800 on it or so right?Well my solution is return it or sell it,then get a refurb late 09 MacBook on the Apple store for $750. :D Much better than a PB or HP. :D
 
macgeek18 said:
So you bought a i3 HP? so I take it you spent about $800 on it or so right?Well my solution is return it or sell it,then get a refurb late 09 MacBook on the Apple stop for $750. :D Much better than a PB or HP. :D
Click to expand...

Brilliant!
 
dont know how it is now ,but about 7 years ago i had a HP laptop (pentium4 ) it was a great thin until about 15 month later , the harddrive went dead , i thought no problem get a cheapish hardrive for it job done ........didn't work HP did tattooed the hardrive so you could only fit HP's harddrives which did back then cost 3 times that of a normal harddrive ( the tattoo did tell the bios" hello i'am from hp " or something like that , was actually the last laptop i bought until begin this year when i bought the iBook g4 1.42 which sadly died not long ago

with laptops you can never be sure especially if you buy them used , my ibook did and still does look like it just came out of the factory without even the hint of a scratch the previous owner had it polished to a extrem standard but the logicboard exploded

so i agree with your parents dont buy laptops without full warranty ,other then for a hobby or fun of having one , as they might break , but if your i3 hp breaks now its under warranty
 
MacHamster68 said:
year when i bought the iBook g4 1.42 which sadly died not long ago

with laptops you can never be sure especially if you buy them used , but the logicboard exploded

so i agree with your parents dont buy laptops without full warranty ,other then for a hobby or fun of having one , as they might break , but if your i3 hp breaks now its under warranty
Click to expand...

Well that may be true, but much of it has to do with the type of laptop it is. Unfortunately iBooks were notorious for various problems throught their lifespan. :mad:
 
I've still got and am using my PowerBook G4 1.5GHz from 2004. It won't die haha. But, it is rather sluggish for many things, and much of the new software that has come/is coming out doesn't support the PPC architecture. And, even if it does, it acts kinda buggy with the PB.

The G4's were, and still are, great machines. Technology has moved past them though.

The HP will probably get you by until you have enough cash saved to buy a fancy new MBP... or, like macgeek18 said... return/sell it and get a refurb.
 
raysfan81 said:
Well that may be true, but much of it has to do with the type of laptop it is. Unfortunately iBooks were notorious for various problems throught their lifespan. :mad:
Click to expand...

i know it i shouldn't have bought it ,i knew about all the various defects the iBooks develop, but i just like the look of it and that one was really like out of the box , it was a gamble and i lost , but i get one again and hope it develops only the bad solder problem :confused:
but the PowerBooks had not been problem free either, neither had been the MacBooks /pro throughout their life, so laptops are a gamble but Apple laptops are still some of the best when it comes to reliability, with the exeptions through the lines which you can read about and should before deciding for a model
and you might get a working one that last you another 20 years :)
 
I'm glad my parents know nothing about computers and can't influence my buying decisions (not that they could anyway, I'm 28 lol)

They are still trying to figure out why their computer (iMac) has the computer built into the screen and why my my computer (mac pro) has a tower. My dad thinks I have an older computer than him lol.
 
Giuly said:
For the $650+ you put on the table for your i3, $200-250 would have bought you a refurbished 13" MacBook Pro, with 1 year of warranty.
On eBay, could have picked up a last-gen MacBook as well, which you could AppleCare-up to 2 more years of warranty - or wait until they come available in the refurb store for $759.
An older 15" or 17" MBP is also in that price range.
Click to expand...

Well in the UK, it is almost impossible to get a Macbook Pro for the same price that I paid for my HP i3 unfortunately (£420).
 
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