In need of advice

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Hello, my first message here.



I presently own a pc laptop, and I am looking for a desktop. Friends convinced me to look at what Apple had to offer, and the power mac with dual ghz processor fell to my liking. I do not need the computer for school or work so I can afford to wait a short period before I buy. When can I realistically expect to find a G5 in the stores, and how will the G5 differ from the present G4. In short I am wondering if I should buy now, or wait for the G5?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    g-newsg-news Posts: 1,107member
    You might want to wait until after MW Tokyo and, even better until MW NewYork. However I wouldn't wait for the G5, as that may be 4 months as well as 4 years away. Wait for something you know is going to happen. And if you don't want to wait, the DP 1GHz surely won't be obsolete anytime soon.



    G-News



    [ 03-10-2002: Message edited by: G-News ]</p>
  • Reply 2 of 18
    I would just get the DP 1 Ghz now.
  • Reply 3 of 18
    quaremquarem Posts: 254member
    I think the earliest that a G5 will appear will be this July at Macworld New York. If the G5 is announced there it probably won't be in Norway until September sometime.



    Of course the G5 will be a signicant improvement over the G4, with support for DDR motherboards for faster memory access, and hopefully well into the GHz in clock speed. Also the FPU and Integer units should be somewhat improved per clock over the G4, as well as Altivec, which will make it a faster CPU per clock cycle when compared to the G4. It is also rumored that the G5 may be a 64-bit chip, this doesn't directly translate into twice the speed like you might think it would, but will provide a boost in speed in some select applications.



    So the question you have to answer is are you will to wait to at least September to get a new computer while you could have been using a DP 1GHz for 6 months by then.



    Personally, if I didn't need a new computer right now I would wait until Macworld New York and buy whatever they release then. Even if it is another G4 it should have a DDR motherboard for faster memory access. But that just me.
  • Reply 4 of 18
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    Velkommen til



    Best advise is always to wait to buy until the very minute you need the computer. DON´T buy the top end right now unless you need it now. Even if the chances of a new Powermac @ MWT is slim I would kill myself for having bought new HW if it was updated a couple of weeks later.
  • Reply 5 of 18
    webberwebber Posts: 12member
    the g5 won't debut until january 2003 at mwsf. you can quote me on that.



    rather than denying yourself all that time as you wait for a marginally faster machine, that might have lots o bugs like any brand new apple machine, you might as well get the dually today and enjoy the hell out of it. those are sweet machines.



    if you wait for the next best thing, you'll always be waiting...
  • Reply 6 of 18
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    "if you wait for the next best thing, you'll always be waiting."



    That is so true. But if he don´t need the machine now why buy it? Always buy your computer when you need it. Not after but certainly not before either.
  • Reply 7 of 18
    david rdavid r Posts: 135member
    I don't need a new machine but I would like one. So I'm waiting for the G5. If it comes out in July, I'll get it then, if it comes out in July '03, I'll get it then. That's when I'll upgrade.
  • Reply 8 of 18
    [quote]Originally posted by hans:

    <strong>Hello, my first message here.



    I presently own a pc laptop, and I am looking for a desktop. Friends convinced me to look at what Apple had to offer, and the power mac with dual ghz processor fell to my liking. I do not need the computer for school or work so I can afford to wait a short period before I buy. When can I realistically expect to find a G5 in the stores, and how will the G5 differ from the present G4. In short I am wondering if I should buy now, or wait for the G5?</strong><hr></blockquote>





    As long as you don't need it, then wait. The G5 will be out either MWNY or more likely MWSF...and it is going to kick some serious arse. Well worth the wait if you don't need a computer right now.
  • Reply 9 of 18
    [quote]Originally posted by webber:

    <strong>the g5 won't debut until january 2003 at mwsf. you can quote me on that.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    based on information i have, i think it's entirely possible they will be ready by mwny. i think by then they may have been stockpiling the chips for a couple months. i don't know how far in advance apple needs to start stockpiling the chips before they feel comfortable releasing a machine though.



    now for the speculation part: i think they're waiting on 10.2 until they can ship the g5's to wait for a 64-bit processor to go along with 10.2.
  • Reply 10 of 18
    cdong4cdong4 Posts: 194member
    my general rule for buying a new Mac... buy now, regret much later...
  • Reply 11 of 18
    hanshans Posts: 7member
    Thanks for all advice.



    If I were to buy the G4 now, will it be possible to upgrade it when the G5 comes out? And if so would that be expensive?
  • Reply 12 of 18
    g-newsg-news Posts: 1,107member
    Most certainly won't be possible and if, only a lot later and a horrific prices.



    G-News
  • Reply 13 of 18
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,561member
    [quote]Originally posted by hans:

    <strong>Thanks for all advice.



    If I were to buy the G4 now, will it be possible to upgrade it when the G5 comes out? And if so would that be expensive?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    What a question! Apple hasn't announced the G5. They haven't released the tiniest smidgeon of information that it will ever exist and you want to know about upgrades?



    Let's rephrase the question, forgetting the G5 for the moment. Suppose you wait till MWSF (January 2003) or MWNY 2003 to buy a new PowerMac. Whatever comes out will be quite an upgrade from the current system.



    Based on recent history you will not be able to upgrade, nor (in my opinion) would you want to. By a year from now I think there would be so many changes (FW2, DDR memory, better PCI bus, faster HD bus (ATA100?, ATA133?), different graphics bus and card plus maybe some surprises so that just upgrading the processor would not get you the full benefit of the new machine.



    My suggestion is to buy now, enjoy your machine for a year or two, then sell it and buy the current product.



    I haven't looked at it very carefully but recently Macs seem to hold their resale value quite well. Others here will know this much better than me but I would guess that if you bought a machine now for about $3,000 you could sell it in a year for $1,800 or $2,000.
  • Reply 14 of 18
    [quote]Originally posted by webber:

    <strong>



    if you wait for the next best thing, you'll always be waiting...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    That line helped me sell a lot of nearly obsolete computers for too much money.



    I'd like to take this opportunity thank the purveyors of that line for all the help they've given me in the past with making my rent.



    Thank-you.



    However, now that I'm no longer in that game, It's time to speakeasy ...



    1 - Buying within a couple of weeks of a tradeshow is just plain stupid ... even if they don't bother to update the machine you had in mind, they sometimes drop the price. If nothing happens, well you lost a couple of weeks waiting, oh the agony ... Yes, despite what guys like me used to HAVE to tell you, there is a good time and a bad time to buy a computer, meaning, just before a trade show is pretty much in the dictionary as a BAD time.



    2 - Avoid the Macho tax. The very top of the line computer generally doesn't offer enough features to make it worth paying the extra money for - now this is a generality, so sometimes it isn't true. But before you consider whipping a mega-wad 'o cash for the biggest-shiny new Apple ... please consider the price difference between it and the next in the line, and if you REALLY need the features it offers.



    And finally, FWIW ... the dual Apple G4's just scream "stopgap" computer, the problem is, nobody really knows when the next big thing is due out ... so, at the very least, despite the fact that a major hardware revision is unlikely for Tokyo, it's probably best to wait until after Tokyo ... and if you really don't need the thing till the summer anyway ... wait until after MWNY.



    There ya be, just a few pointers, which is the best anybody can really claim to do, short of have a direct window into Mr. Jobs brain, that probably the best anybody can claim to do ...



    (so why am I reading these rumor sites then?)



    ahhh, busted!
  • Reply 15 of 18
    Enten kjøper du en dual g4 nå eller venter til juli for nye maskiner
  • Reply 16 of 18
    x704x704 Posts: 276member
    Here's the way I see it. I just (well about 2 months ago) purchased a new G4 800 (SP). It's not much of an upgrade from my old G4 466 but it fits into my overall strategy. I always buy bottom of the line (then beef it up a bit with ram, HD upgrade & video too).



    In one year (when I'm sure the G5 will be out), I'll turn around & sell my Mac for probably $1200 , when I add the cost of the Mac + what I've added to it I've only spent about $1800*. So when I sell this in 1 year I'll have only lost $600 (perhpas less if I can sweet talk someone well enough).



    Now in 1 year we'll probably have low end G5's that will surpass the performance of the High end G4. So I'll spend around another $1800 (of which $1200 came from my old one). This way I'll have a faster computer then I would've had if I had spent $3000 (which in 1 years time will only be worth around $1800, perhpas less. A loss of $1200).



    To me this is the best financial way to go about it. It helps me always have a new mac & do it at a reasonable price. Of course it you must have the fastest mac out there (or just got money to burn) then by all means get the latest & greatest every year. That's my strategy.



    *there are various things you can do to increase the value/performance of your mac. One example is how I took advantage of a $206 offer to get a Radeon 8500. I can garentee you that I can sell my Radeon 7500 for $200 or more (most likely $250-$300). Why becuase it has ADC connectors. To me ADC is nice but not worth the premium I'll have to pay to get an apple monitor & the money I can make off of selling the card. This way I get an upgraded card (that I'll tout when I'm selling the machine & probaly a few extra bucks too) for free & not have to buy an ADC to DVI adapter (as I said Apple monitors cost to much, unless of course it's coming out of company money ). Overall a very sweet deal.



    Edit: finished last sentace



    [ 03-11-2002: Message edited by: X704 ]</p>
  • Reply 17 of 18
    x704x704 Posts: 276member
    :o D.P.



    [ 03-11-2002: Message edited by: X704 ]</p>
  • Reply 18 of 18
    hanshans Posts: 7member
    Thanks again for all advice.



    Not easy being a novice when it comes to computers trying to navigate the information jungle. I want (need) the new machine to be able to work with digital video on a hobby basis, something I cannot on my present laptop. But needs have a tendency to change as new hardware comes out able to do new things. With that in mind I want to buy something that will keep up for some time. After considering your advice I will wait until summer and see what is available at that time.



    In the meantime I guess I'm going fishing. (In stead of sitting here cursing my present hardware)



    Thanks again.
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