HELP! Urgent buying advice needed

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Which Powerbook wants to come home with me the most?



The story so far.....



Plan A was wait until new powerbooks are released then decide whether to get the new model or pick up an old one at a cheaper price. When the new PBs were released, we quickly moved on to Plan B, which was must have new PB but wait until Panther's released/free to recent purchasers. So that was all settled. But then I've come down to Sydney and I thought I'd just stop in to an Apple Centre on the off chance they had some old models/ex-demos in stock,not really expecting them to. Well they do but they could go at any time so I need to make a decision fast.



So here are my options:

1. brand spanking new 12" PB with superdrive - no bells and whistles



Or one of the following ex-demo 867 mHz models. All are standard config 12 inchers with SD unless otherwise indicated and come with 3 yr AppleCare. For reference, a new 12" PB with SD (no AppleCare) costs $3400 (AU) - I'll wait a moment while the Americans who weren't aware of the exchange rate pick themselves up off the floor, shall I..... Right, now that we're all settled again, here are the ex-demo options:



2. 12" PB $2999

3. 12" PB 60GB hard drive $3099

4. 12" PB 60 GB hard drive + airport $3299



OK so now I'm leaning to number four. Because it seems like a good deal. I think Applecare on a PB is around $600. For reference, I don't want to do anything very fancy. A bit of sound editing would be the most demanding thing and as my 700 mHz eMac handles that fine, I figure the PB will too. Speed is not overly important but money is an object.



I've compared the specs and I really can't see any advantage now in getting a new one. But only stuff like speed, ram and HD size means anything to me. Are there advantages that the new PB offers that outweigh the cheaper prices on the ex-demo models? Which model do you all think is the best deal? Is the DVI out likely to be important to me?



I've got about 12 hours to decide. I hope the above makes sense. It's been a long day. Big cities are such hard work! Plus I'm in an internet cafe on a PC (eeek!) - always a struggle for me.



Any advice will be warmly welcomed and thanks muchly in advance.



Oh yeah, just for shits and giggles, the guy at the AppleCentre reckons January release for Panther and given this is the word of some dude who works in an Apple reseller in Sydney, well you just know it's gotta be true.



cc

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    How much is an airport card down there? It looks like it's adding $200 to the price between 3 and 4. Of course, if you've got latest and greatest syndrome, you have to get the new 12", but my 12" 867 is trucking along just fine. Make sure you up your ram to the max and you'll be happy. I'd go for 3 if airport doesn't cost over $200. And you can live without airport for a while, but use that extra $200 for ram. You'll thank yourself for it.
  • Reply 2 of 2
    Thanks you just saved me 45 bucks (or 200 depending upon your POV - airport $155). I had a feeling I wasn't thinking straight enough to avoid being ripped off. And as I can live without airport for a while, 4 is now scratched but the odds on 3 are firming nicely (endorsement of the 867 noted). No L&G syndrome here. If ex-demos were readily available in Canberra I probably wouldn't consider a new one at this point in time. But they're not and next week is the last time I can get to Sydney before the end of the year. And yeah, the memory thing has been a factor in the back of mind.



    Anyway, I chickened out and decided to risk the ex-demos selling to give myself a few more days to consider it. Thanks again for pointing out the blindingly obvious and stopping me from doing something really stupid.
Sign In or Register to comment.