Decisions on Purchase ($1300 to Spend)

composercomposer
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Arrgh! I can't decide on what to get...

I need something for creating music on the Mac (obviously). I've been using a 266Mhz iMac w/384MB to do Notation in Sibelius, Sequencing in Vision and Digital Performer, and Audio Editing in Peak, Deck, and many, many others.



My choices are:

iBook 800 (My personal fave)

iMac 700 CD-RW (Hmm.)

eMac 700 Combo



What should I pick? I want portability, but I can't afford a TiBook. I want a G4, but I can't afford anything but the basest models. Basically, I want an iBook, but I'm concerned that I'm screwing myself in the end.



Forever in doubt,



Tony



P.S.



The Real irony here is that I sell Apple computers for my day job, and you'd think I'd be able to help myself...



[ 11-20-2002: Message edited by: Composer ]</p>

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    stevesteve Posts: 523member
    Get the iBook. I'm betting it'll meet your needs.



    EDIT: Wait a minute. Music creation, huh? Isn't that sped up big time by the Velocity Engine of the G4? Hmm, mayube you should consider a G4 machine, instead. Tell you what. Wait until MWSF. The iMacs have been setting stagnant for an entire year, so the odds are that they're going to get one hell of an update in January, because frankly, if it wasn't for the G4, the iBook is making it look awfully pathetic, with its larger cache and damn fine graphics chip.



    [ 11-20-2002: Message edited by: Steve ]</p>
  • Reply 2 of 10
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    If you can scrap together another couple hundred bucks, you can get an older ti (667). That's what I'd recommend.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    composercomposer Posts: 212member
    Yeah, I had thought about going with an older (667) TiBook, but performance wise, it's actually going to be worse than the iBook. And it's bigger. I really like the small size.



    As far as my software goes, none of it is optimized for the G4... yet. The primary advantage in my head is that the G4 is the latest generation processor, and that it will keep me running longer. I think...



    I think I can almost see where I'm going now...
  • Reply 4 of 10
    stevesteve Posts: 523member
    If it's not optimized, then by all means, get the iBook. The non-AltiVec differences between the G3 and G4 are marginal at best, and since the new 750FX is in the new iBooks, those things blaze.



    It's a powerful little chip that runs cool and doesn't drain battery life. If portability and compactness is what you seek, I can easily say the iBook is what you want. In fact, if you can swing it, I'd recommend picking up an AirPort card and a third-party wireless router. Doing so will make you think about using your computer in new ways, and it'll replace a lot of what you use now, which wasn't really feasible before when you had a desktop. You can replace your calendar, newspaper, phone book, address book, stereo (provided you have some good external speakers), etc. once your computer has become as small and as light as the iBook. It's not something that hits you right away, but once you start forming a habit of sitting at the kitchen table eating corn flakes every morning while you IM your mofos with iChat, you'll find it hard to go back.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    stunnedstunned Posts: 1,096member
    The ibook is definately worth it. get Apple's double ram offer and u got yourself a great deal.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    composercomposer Posts: 212member
    Looks like I'll be the owner of a brand new iBook pretty soon. Thanks for all the help. I really do appreciate it. I was almost leaning towards the eMac, but after remember what those things look like in the repair shop, I don't think it's a risk I'm willing to take.



    Mmmmm, 12" of translucent white goodness...

    (That didn't come out right...)



    Anybody want to buy a used iMac?
  • Reply 7 of 10
    dvddvd Posts: 45member
    wow you'd get a ibook 800mhz over ti667? i used to have the 700mhz ibook and i sold it (lost about 500 bucks from the stuff i bought with it) then got a used tibook for 1700. I love the tibook that ibook i had made me want to give up on macs, but the tibook has brought me back =]
  • Reply 8 of 10
    mcqmcq Posts: 1,543member
    Well, it sounds like Composer has about $1300 to spend, not $1700 or so. So a Ti667 is out of the question, unless you know where one can be found for $1300 (in which case I'd like to know as well).
  • Reply 9 of 10
    valisvalis Posts: 19member
    If You dont mind mail in rebates, you can pick up yourself a iMac 15" 700 for $1,150 with 512meg of ram, from either macmall or clubmac. That'll leave you to buy $150 of software, which we all pay for of coarse, or half way to a 5 gig iPod, x-mass is comming up, maybe you know someone who'll double it. Honestly I'm looking to buy a 15" iMac to have for about a year, till I buy a serious machine when the IBM 970 comes out (or what ever the next generation chip turns out to be)

    -val1s
  • Reply 10 of 10
    composercomposer Posts: 212member
    [quote]Originally posted by valis:

    <strong>If You dont mind mail in rebates, you can pick up yourself a iMac 15" 700 for $1,150 with 512meg of ram, from either macmall or clubmac. That'll leave you to buy $150 of software, which we all pay for of coarse, or half way to a 5 gig iPod, x-mass is comming up, maybe you know someone who'll double it. Honestly I'm looking to buy a 15" iMac to have for about a year, till I buy a serious machine when the IBM 970 comes out (or what ever the next generation chip turns out to be)

    -val1s</strong><hr></blockquote>

    The 15" iMac was tempting, but the portability is one of the primary factors in the purchase. That and the ability to span monitors , play DVD's and whatnot. I actually thought of getting the 667 tiBook, but for my use the 800 iBook is definately a faster, more useful machine.



    Should be only a couple of days now. I'm so friggin' excited!!!



    -Composer
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