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I'm out of my mind for sure...

post #1 of 13
4/10/06 at 4:48pm
Thread Starter 
Well... as my savings account continues upward and my need for a laptop grows stronger each day (starting my PhD in the fall), I think I've finally decided to buy a new Mac... an iBook G4.

Hear me out on this one. I'll be getting a system that has been out for 10 months, has most, if not all, of the kinks worked out, is portable, runs my PowerPC software like a charm (Microsoft Office - heavy user - and Photoshop, for editing my dSLR images on the weekends) and can run Tiger for however long I want it to run (I'm not planning on upgrading to 10.5 in the near future since "if it ain't broke...").

I know many here will chastise me over the fact that the MacBook is just around the corner and will probably be around the same price point, but I don't really want to take the chance of working on my dissertation with a system that I have no idea about its reliability and runs my main application (Microsoft Word) through Rosetta. Even if the speed hit isn't noticable, I'm just quivering thinking about my dissertation not running native under OS X.

Thoughts appreciated.
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post #2 of 13
4/10/06 at 5:17pm
Wait and buy the MacBook.
"Many people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so." - Bertrand Russell
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"Many people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so." - Bertrand Russell
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post #3 of 13
4/10/06 at 5:39pm
Quote:
Originally posted by adamrao
Well... as my savings account continues upward and my need for a laptop grows stronger each day (starting my PhD in the fall), I think I've finally decided to buy a new Mac... an iBook G4.

Hear me out on this one. I'll be getting a system that has been out for 10 months, has most, if not all, of the kinks worked out, is portable, runs my PowerPC software like a charm (Microsoft Office - heavy user - and Photoshop, for editing my dSLR images on the weekends) and can run Tiger for however long I want it to run (I'm not planning on upgrading to 10.5 in the near future since "if it ain't broke...").

I know many here will chastise me over the fact that the MacBook is just around the corner and will probably be around the same price point, but I don't really want to take the chance of working on my dissertation with a system that I have no idea about its reliability and runs my main application (Microsoft Word) through Rosetta. Even if the speed hit isn't noticable, I'm just quivering thinking about my dissertation not running native under OS X.

Thoughts appreciated.

By the time you write your dissertation it'll be 10.8 and all kinks will be worked out. No worries.
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post #4 of 13
4/10/06 at 7:19pm
Quote:
Originally posted by adamrao
[B]Well... as my savings account continues upward and my need for a laptop grows stronger each day (starting my PhD in the fall), I think I've finally decided to buy a new Mac... an iBook G4.

Hear me out on this one. I'll be getting a system that has been out for 10 months, has most, if not all, of the kinks worked out, is portable, runs my PowerPC software like a charm (Microsoft Office - heavy user - and Photoshop, for editing my dSLR images on the weekends) and can run Tiger for however long I want it to run (I'm not planning on upgrading to 10.5 in the near future since "if it ain't broke...").

By the time you start your PhD the iBook will be well over 12 months old, and to be honest, it wasn't exactly cutting edge when it came out. PhDs last a long time, you should really be looking to the future when buying a computer. Sure Office and Photoshop won't have Universal binaries until next year, but you'll most likely be able to buy those packages with an extremely good Uni discount when they do come out.
Quote:
I know many here will chastise me over the fact that the MacBook is just around the corner and will probably be around the same price point, but I don't really want to take the chance of working on my dissertation with a system that I have no idea about its reliability and runs my main application (Microsoft Word) through Rosetta.

If you haven't even started a PhD yet you won't be writing your dissertation just yet, or for a few years. Word ain't great through Rosetta, but its useable, and you'll probably only be using it for 6 months before Office 2007 comes out.
Quote:
Even if the speed hit isn't noticable, I'm just quivering thinking about my dissertation not running native under OS X.

Out of interest what are you doing your PhD in? You may not be using Word at all to write it.
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post #5 of 13
4/10/06 at 7:28pm
  • Kickaha
  • Really Fast Typing Member
Ditto on the last question, and yes, I'd wait a few weeks first.

Unless you need one NOW, as in TODAY, wait a bit. Say, May. If you're concerned about getting shafted on an early release unit, wait until right before you enter the program, to give them a couple of months at least.

I just finished my PhD in computer science this past Dec, and it was all done on (and still being continued on) a PowerBook G4. Three years old, and still kicking. I'm considering a MacBook Pro, but more because my wife's iBook G3 is showing its age, and I could hand down this one to her and get us both upgraded at one shot, than because the speed is essential.

Seriously, unless you're more ready for that dissertation than 99% of the PhD students, expect to spend more than a few months just getting it together to do *preliminary* work. Most students spend 5-8 years on it, in my field. Proposals after a year or two, then research starts in earnest, then writing after that... then edits, then hair pulling, then redoing research, then... you get the idea.
My brain is hung like a HORSE!
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My brain is hung like a HORSE!
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post #6 of 13
4/10/06 at 7:57pm
You will replace your computer at least once during your dissertation.
"In a republic, voters may vote for the leaders they want, but they get the leaders they deserve."
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"In a republic, voters may vote for the leaders they want, but they get the leaders they deserve."
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post #7 of 13
4/11/06 at 1:16am
Quote:
Originally posted by hardeeharhar
You will replace your computer at least once during your dissertation.

Wise words indeed! 8)
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post #8 of 13
4/11/06 at 4:52am
I'm a skatman!

DaHarder just got banned. Let's crack open the champagne.

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DaHarder just got banned. Let's crack open the champagne.

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post #9 of 13
4/11/06 at 5:08am
  • Anders
  • Feared and Biased Moderator
Quote:
Originally posted by Ireland
This ones for the "Skatman"

"I'm a skatman"!

Why do that guy have a camera? One could lose his faith in god, had he one.
"I reject your reality and substitute it with my own" - President Bush
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"I reject your reality and substitute it with my own" - President Bush
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post #10 of 13
4/11/06 at 6:29am
Skatman video= DRUGS ARE BAD!


I would wait just a bit longer see if apple releases their new intel ibook. Either way if they do, you will be able to choose the ibook g4 at a big savings once new hardware is released. Or, you might just want that sparking new intel chip and whatever Apple bundles with it coupled with the edu discount that you will get.

The macbook pro is able to use 802.11 a b and g which means a lot more wifi hubs are accessible and it is quite a bit faster.

Look at the minis and think about those specs in an ibook.

Whatever you do, get applecare and you will be covered for 3 years.

You will then probably buy another computer.

Also, remember this during your important work....

BACKUP YOUR DATA FREQUENTLY ON MULTIPLE SOURCES!!!

Then, take those sources to different places.

In the event of catastrophe you will not lose all of your data.

Good luck!
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post #11 of 13
4/11/06 at 6:49am
I vote for Macbook too. I know your reasons for sticking to the PPC and I personally still sort of vote for PPC on the desktop but for laptops, the argument doesn't hold up:

The Macbook is seriously 4x faster if not more than an ibook. All the G4 Mac laptops are overpriced for what they offer.

Concerning the issue of native software, Word for Windows runs much better than Word for Mac so at the worst, you could dual boot a Macbook and run Word under Windows.

I personally used LaTeX for my university papers because nothing beats plain text + markup for responsiveness on large documents. Then you just output to pdf.

Bottom line - DO NOT BUY A G4 IBOOK. The only reason to wait might be so you don't have to pay for Leopard but the ibook won't hold much of it's value and you will have trouble selling it. In terms of performance, the ibook is quite a few years old.

On the issue of buying an ibook, be aware that they seem to be powerbooks/macbooks minus quality control. The build quality on my ibook was pretty bad with the trackpad peeling off and cheap keyboard. I now have a powerbook from work and the quality is much better but it's still the same speed as my G4 Mini at home, which cost 3.5x less money.
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post #12 of 13
4/11/06 at 7:34am
If your mind is made up to get a g4 iBook, I would definately get a refurb. I wouldn't pay full sticker on a g4 ibook at this point. Personally I would wait till the summer and see what happens with new product releases.
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post #13 of 13
4/11/06 at 7:53am
  • Kickaha
  • Really Fast Typing Member
Quote:
Originally posted by TednDi
Also, remember this during your important work....

BACKUP YOUR DATA FREQUENTLY ON MULTIPLE SOURCES!!!

Then, take those sources to different places.

In the event of catastrophe you will not lose all of your data.

Good luck!

As someone who lost 18 months of work due to three drives dying *on the same day* (main + 2 backups), all I can say is, you can never be too paranoid about backups.

I ended up CVSing everything (source code, OmniGraffle diagrams, LaTeX files, *everything*) not only to the home server, but also to the departmental server. Then, I also backed up the files en masse to the home server. Both servers were then backed up to other media. The home server backups were rotated, with one always offsite.

Now I'm horribly lax about it.
My brain is hung like a HORSE!
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My brain is hung like a HORSE!
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