When should I buy a G4 Powerbook????
Ok, I know I am going to buy a Titanium Powerbook but my big question is when. It seems like the last time Apple updated it they hardly did much but bump the resolution, put a little better graphics card, a dvi output (i realize means a lot to some people just not me), and a 100mhz speed boost. I really don't want to buy one and have a new version come out the next day. So my question is when should I buy and what should I expect on the new one. Most of the rumor pages have not said anything in quite a while and I think it is about time the thing is upgraded.
thanks a lot
thanks a lot
Comments
There will always be updates, but the important thing is usage.
Unless you're editing the next hit sitcom via Final Cut on your new PowerBook don't sweat it.
Just wait until August and see what's offered, then buy when you need a new machine.
The Pismo came out in February and the PowerBook G4 didn't show up until January. Food for thought.
Edit: The Pismo did have a bump in September, but it was a minor increase in HD space.
[ 07-24-2002: Message edited by: Fran441 ]</p>
I'm on a 500MHz Ti right now and not really hurting any except in the real graphics-intensive stuff.
And that's the important difference. I say it doesn't much matter when you get a PowerBook right now because when they *are* updated this fall, I don't think it's going to be much except a speed-bump/hard drive hike.
That is, all the major complaints of the first generation have been addressed, and all the latest Apple pro features are built-in, such as:
1. 32MB Radeon graphics
2. DVI out
3. Gigabit Ethernet.
4. 133MHz bus
And the graphics are where this thing shines - even the 667MHz PowerBook model outperforms the 800MHz iMac in almost every task (graphics related or not). Not bad for the low-end model.
In short, missing out on 100MHz or so isn't gonna make a big difference, and the PowerBook's already got everything else. The only 2 things they could do right now are the addition of Bluetooth and DDR, and I think just about everyone in these forums would concede that neither of those are coming to the PowerBook like within the next 2 months.
So if you need, get. If you're looking for things like a new DDR motherboard and Firewire 2, you're looking at MWSF or later.
My $.02
-S
<strong>I just bought a 667MHZ and I love it. Sure the 800mhz is faster but not by much. 133mhz isn't going to make or break anyone. Remember when the beige G3's were 233mhz and 266mhz with a $500 price difference! Kinda sounds funny now. The 667mhz is blazing through everything lightning fast. I can play games at highest settings with no problem. You won't be dissapointed.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Well said. I wonder how well (or not) the 800's are selling. Hardly seems worth the price difference, especially now that 'books cost a pretty penny more than they did this time last year.
S
<strong>take advantage of some good deals like the $100 Amazon rebates/free shipping. That's my plan in about a week or so.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I did that deal on Wednesday for an iBook (doesn't arrive until, they esitimate, next Tuesday). Anyway, that deal ends either tomorrow or this Sunday (I can't remember which).
Buy it when you need it.
I went ahead just a few days ago and closed an auction on a refurbished unit -- used to be the flagship model, per se (667, 512MB, 30G HD, Airport built-in, 16MB graphics, etc.), but got it at a great discount.
I know if you've scanned all the boards out there that many complain about certain issues (paint, heat, etc.) and even proclaim how much brighter the screen is on the newer DVI versions, but remember how far computers have come altogether and eye a Pismo's LCD compared to a new G4 -- is the difference really significant? Don't sweat the details unless you have to for your well-being's sake (i.e. in the publishing/movie/TV biz).
It all depends on need and whether or not you already have a mac.
Anyone who has any reasonably snappy OS9.x mac should not buy any mac right now, period. This is not a flame, please read it seriously. Too many variables, and not enough info.
Let me explain:
OSX.2 (jaguar) is the real OSX. Quartz Extreme will be integral to reasonable OS performance. We DO NOT KNOW how these machines will perform under Jaguar/QE. Apple says they'll be fully supported, but some very credible rumor (from none other than the non-admissions of XLR8yourMac) suggest that while the GPU's Apple describes as 'supported' may nonetheless not support QE all that well. Most Apple computers still ship with 2X AGP. If QE is going to be swapping info in and out of memory (as the AGP requirement suggests) then 4X AGP should really be the minimum for true GPU acceleration, regardless of what Apple tells us. I think the TiBook ships with 4X, but do we know if 32MB ATI7500 is really up to the task? Once again, rumor suggests that GF2MX is barely up to it. 7500 is better, but how much so?
There is the ever present CPU/bus speed issue. The thing is, unlike he days of OS9, OSX.2 is the base of a next generation of Apple computing. ANY sluggishness at all will only be amplified as software vendors add more apps and features. A minimum of hardware compliance will be required to insure that machines run properly (with acceptable smoothness) and we DO NOT REALLY KNOW what that minimum is untill we have seen it up and running and can honestly judge for ourselves.
If you doubt me, look at the shake announcement. Only one of Apple's portable products meets the minimum requrements for shake. Pro products on sale just over a year ago, do not meet it, etc etc... Witness FCP: there is a legion of 1st and second rev Ti's that cannot fully utilize its features in real time. And this is all hardware and software that has been released in a relatively narrow range of time. And there are others (in audio) that already spec a 'minimum' requirement dangerously close to Apple's high end. Does anyone honestly think that the first few revisions of any major 3rd party app or suite will NOT require even more power? The entire history of software evolution says that it will. Even Apple's own apps are having difficulty, iTunes visuals bog down on just about any mac, and iPhoto might just be the most sluggish thing out there. Certainly there is room for improvement in the software itself, but there are limits to what the designer can do before they require INCREASED minimum HARDWARE specs. Apple is just too close to that minimum for any purchaser to be reasonably assured that revisions to their key apps will run acceptably over the life of the machine.
OSX seems to be an exception but is it really? OSX 10.0 was NOT a true commercial release. It was a promotional exercise/mass testing beta. You could say 10.1 truly began the life of OSX, but we're talking about the difference between a product that the public shouldn't ever have seen and something that was finally (truly) commercially ready. The speed step from OSX 10.1 to 10.2 requires quite a radical innovation on Apple's part. Well done, but as far as I can tell there won't be a second bit of un/under-used hardware just waiting for someone to tap it.
It all comes down to CPU/GPU/bus against software improvements. If you have an OS9.x set-up that works, stay on it, and don't believe any OSX jaguar/QE claims untill you see them for yourself.
No seriously the 800mhz machine is said to be faster that either the new iMac and the old PowerMac 800. In short a very good machine. However I would probeble wait until Jaguar is released as I think the up-to-date policy will chgange at that point to Jag being foc if not pre-installed with new machines.
Besides Jaguar, there is really no reason at all not to buy this very instant.
LCD: The display is at what many consider an optimal resolution for it's size. It's gorgeous.
CPU/fsb/RAM: Well it would be nice if the Powerbooks had DDR RAM, but we're going to see it in Powermacs first, and it's not even there yet. Motorola is rumored to be moving a DDR RAM memory controller on die in the next major G4 revision, but whether this chip will make it into Powerbooks is unknown. If you wait for this development, then you might as well buy an iBook to have something to use while you wait for the Powerbook to get better.
That said, the current G4s in the Titanium are SWEET!!! They SCREAM, they are fast on any computer, and on a laptop they are even more impressive. PC133 doesn't sound so fast, but when you consider that the MPX FSB used by Motorola on their G4 CPUs is an extremely high-throughput bus with higher sustained data transfer rates than intel buses rated at far higher MHz....well it makes you realize that MHz isn't everything unless you're in the marketing department.
Graphics. The Powerbook has a fine graphics chipset. Yeah, I'd rather see something a bit more high-end, with 64 MB vRAM instead of 32 MB, but this is Apple and Apple doesn't believe that laptop users play games or do 3d animation/compositing. Still it's a fine graphics chipset that can drive an external display with no problems at all.
HD: HD Size is fine, but you should make sure you get one with a 5400 RPM HD and not the cheesy 4200 RPM drives. Particularly with OS X, HD performance is going to have a great impact on how fast your system "FEELS", so you want something fast. You could also upgrade your HD, but this is a real bitch on a Titanium and it may void the warranty.
Ahh, finally, Jaguar and Quartz Extreme...the Titanium fully meets the optimal requirements for Quartz Extreme, meaning that it WILL support it and benefit from it. Not only that, but Jaguar is going to be at minimum, not considering any code optimization, 10-25% faster than Puma, because Apple has developed a superior compiler, gcc3.1. So IF you do buy NOW and get a Titanium preinstalled with OS X, 10.1.5, then when you finally do get Jaguar and update your Titanium to the new OS, it's going to be as if you got a CPU speedbump only a few weeks after buying it!
Considering all that, I'd say, get up off your undecisive ass, pick up the cordless phone, and place your order with Apple!
Oh and BTW, tell them that you almost bought a Dell because of the new .mac price raping. Just to put in a word for all that is good and just in society!
Rock on, and enjoy that beautiful work of art you're about to purchase....I'm sure you will! Oh and also, don't tell me where you live because at night I get these weird blackouts where I regain conciousness and my apartment is loaded with all sorts of Wintel laptops I must have stolen over the night. Problem is they are always Dell! Not even an iBook! It makes me want to cry....I just want to wake up one morning in my muddy, grimy clothes and find a Titanium Powerbook at the foot of my bed, full of drool and maybe some dried, white stuff running down the edge of it. Alas, I'm destined to sleepwalk like an idiot.
<strong>
Oh and BTW, tell them that you almost bought a Dell because of the new .mac price raping. Just to put in a word for all that is good and just in society!
</strong><hr></blockquote>
Soon I'll recieve a static IP.
"Hey barto, what's you e-mail?"
"it was [email protected], now it's [email protected](.xxx.xxx)"
"wtf?"
Barto
(As you might be able to tell, I bought one right after the keynote. :-) Well, bought one for my wife. :-)
<strong>
Soon I'll recieve a static IP.
"Hey barto, what's you e-mail?"
"it was [email protected], now it's [email protected](.xxx.xxx)"
"wtf?"
</strong><hr></blockquote>
Unfortunately, this won't work (in case xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx was supposed to be your new IP address). Internet mail transport relies on domain names, IIRC, and will only work with "[email protected]", not with a numerical address.
Bye,
RazzFazz