The "To Buy or Not to Buy" Official Thread (merged)

ryanschmidt · June 6, 2005 3:18PM

After the recent announcements, those of us that were waiting for a PB G5 or just plain waiting to buy an Apple are now sitting here not sure of what to do.

So, oh wise ones, what should we do? Buy? Wait a week? A month? Stick with our blue screens? Please help.

peter north · June 6, 2005 3:35PM

Ive wanted a Powerbook for so long, yet what they have hasnt been enough for me to drop coin. Now what? Wait till late 2006 ? I hope they can somehow get the pentium-m into a powerbook by Fall.

ryanschmidt · June 6, 2005 3:37PM

I am going to college in July... ART COLLEGE. I want the PB now. Wow. No PB G5 is fine, but don't keep me guessing and waiting Jobs. argh.

anders · June 6, 2005 3:40PM

Same situation here. I was going to buy a Powermac and Powerbook, one this year and the other in first half of next year. I really don´t know what to do now

blackcat · June 6, 2005 3:55PM

Well, my fiancee was about to buy her first Mac after a week of virus hell in XP (*with* 2 virus checkers running!), but now she sees no point.

"Wasn't the point of a Mac it isn't a PC? Now they are."

I won't buy a new Mac this year now either, I need to see how Rosetta performs first.

I think Apple just killed a lot of sales.

ryanschmidt · June 6, 2005 4:03PM

Wow. Screw this. What the heck am I supposed to take to college now? Thanks Jobs. Seriously, if this isn't some type of smokescreen, I may not be ever buying a Mac. This is bull.

gugy · June 6, 2005 4:07PM

Well, It's very trick right now.

I was ready to buy a PB G5 today. Now i cannot even consider spending good money on a G4 PB. I think it's suicide.

Now my big question is: buy a top of the line Powermac G5 or a lower end. At least is a G5.

Imac doesn't fit my needs, so what's next?

According to the keynote doesn't seem that we will ever see a PB G5. and also feels that the Powermac is not going to get any upgrade soon.

xool · June 6, 2005 4:07PM

If you need a new machine, now is the time to buy. No machines will be shipping with intel under the hood for a while, and even when some are they will likely be alongside PPC Macs. At this point, x86 isn't a reason alone to postpone your purchase, in fact waiting may be a waste... unless you're willing to wait for over a year.

Either you want a Mac and Mac OS X or not. My bet is that x86 under the hood won't help until we see Leopard. It may not hurt, but its not a reason to wait. The machines in 2 years will trump current machines no matter what CPU is inside.

lundy · June 6, 2005 4:09PM

I see a tremendous amount of confusion here.

x86 Macs won't be released until a year from now.

Rosetta will ONLY be needed for those apps that did not complete their Xcode recompiles by summer 2006, and only on the NEW x86 Macs. By that time, there could be dual-core Pentiums at 3.8 gHz ready for the towers. And dual-core Pentium M for the notebooks. So if one HAD to run the emulator, it would be at least as fast as your current machine is now.

All other apps will be released as universal binaries, which is directly supported in Mac OS X. So they will run on whatever you buy now, as well as whatever you would buy a year from now. No emulation in either case.

The main problem is that there won't be a substantially faster PowerBook for a year, unless Freescale comes through with something. Nonetheless, if you need it now, buy it now - it will still run the PPC version of everything next year.

normworld · June 6, 2005 4:22PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Blackcat

Well, my fiancee was about to buy her first Mac after a week of virus hell in XP (*with* 2 virus checkers running!), but now she sees no point.

"Wasn't the point of a Mac it isn't a PC? Now they are."

I won't buy a new Mac this year now either, I need to see how Rosetta performs first.

I think Apple just killed a lot of sales.

This announcement just killed my planned purchase. Was all set after OS 14.2 or OS 14.3 to buy the top of the line iMac. Now I' m going to wait.

normworld · June 6, 2005 4:25PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Normworld

This announcement just killed my planned purchase. Was all set after OS 14.2 or OS 14.3 to buy the top of the line iMac. Now I' m going to wait.

Sorry about that. Meant Os 10.4.2 or OS 10.4.3

onyx-pb · June 6, 2005 4:31PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Xool

If you need a new machine, now is the time to buy. No machines will be shipping with intel under the hood for a while, and even when some are they will likely be alongside PPC Macs. At this point, x86 isn't a reason alone to postpone your purchase, in fact waiting may be a waste... unless you're willing to wait for over a year.

Either you want a Mac and Mac OS X or not. My bet is that x86 under the hood won't help until we see Leopard. It may not hurt, but its not a reason to wait. The machines in 2 years will trump current machines no matter what CPU is inside.

I'd leave it a few weeks... keep checking the refurb section of the apple store, I think a few people maybe returning recently delivered macs as DOA (or missing manual or some other excuse), you might pick up a bargin.

I completely agree with Xool, if you want Mac/OSX... just do it. todays machines will still be running in 2 years time (my daily use machines are all circa 2000/2001 except... my macMini which is my Television!).

carson o'genic · June 6, 2005 4:31PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Xool

If you need a new machine, now is the time to buy. No machines will be shipping with intel under the hood for a while, and even when some are they will likely be alongside PPC Macs. At this point, x86 isn't a reason alone to postpone your purchase, in fact waiting may be a waste... unless you're willing to wait for over a year.

Either you want a Mac and Mac OS X or not. My bet is that x86 under the hood won't help until we see Leopard. It may not hurt, but its not a reason to wait. The machines in 2 years will trump current machines no matter what CPU is inside.

I want everyone to read this post again. We all know that Macs 1 year from now would be better and somehow different in the technology they use, whether it is Intel chips or PPC. So they are going to be a little more different than the usual evolution. This has nothing to do with current buying trends. Maybe a month before next WWDC if they still haven't been released you may consider waiting. IF you are waiting fro a year or more than you either don't need a new computer or your just being silly.

Buy when you need. Buy when you need. Buy when you need. Buy when you need. Buy when you need. Buy when you need. Buy when you need. Buy when you need....

unixguru · June 6, 2005 4:40PM

Well I'm certainly not going to be buying anything in the near future. I was going to buy a Powerbook and my girlfriend was going to buy my iBook G3. The problem we're going to have here is that while there is a binary translator to go from PPC to x86, there isn't one going the other way. So if you have a PPC machine now, in a few years, you probably won't be able to get software compiled for it. With the M68K to PPC transition, there were FAT binaries available for a while, but after a few years, developers stopped compiling for M68K, and so if you had one of those machines, it was no good anymore.

carson o'genic · June 6, 2005 4:46PM

Quote:

Originally posted by unixguru

... but after a few years, developers stopped compiling for M68K, and so if you had one of those machines, it was no good anymore.

Somehow I don't beleive that an old iBook will be your best choice for running new software in a few years from now, Intel or no Intel.

I use most of my Macs for about 5 to 7 years, but I really don't expect the latest and greatest software to run on my Mac "WELL" for more than 3 or 4 years.

d.j. adequate · June 6, 2005 4:50PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Carson O'Genic

Buy when you need. Buy when you need. Buy when you need. Buy when you need. Buy when you need. Buy when you need. Buy when you need. Buy when you need....

That's usually my advice, but this time I think it is wrong. Apple just announced that they are orphaning this whole architecture in 18 months. I've been sucked in too many times by promises of support into the future and fast emulation. If you have even a decent Mac, I can't see not waiting till this time next year and seeing how things play out.

Ask how many people that bought Yikes machines if they wished they had waited six months. This seems comparable.

tetzel1517 · June 6, 2005 4:52PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Blackcat

Well, my fiancee was about to buy her first Mac after a week of virus hell in XP (*with* 2 virus checkers running!), but now she sees no point.

"Wasn't the point of a Mac it isn't a PC? Now they are."

No, no they're not. Security against viruses has absolutely nothing to do with processors. It's all about the OS, and OS X will still be the most secure consumer OS out there.

I have been planning on buying a G5 iMac within the next couple months, and I still plan on doing so, now that I've read everything over. It seems Apple is doing what it can to make sure PPC owners aren't left in the dust, and I don't use any of the kinds of applications that are more likely to suffer problems due to the transition.

alliancep.s.i · June 6, 2005 4:53PM

i want a mac mini, have the cash FINALLY and now what do i do? I wanted to get it to start using this summer. are we better off buying it now with the old processor or wait for the intels

mike peel · June 6, 2005 4:54PM

It seems to me that the x86 changeover is just going to be the CPU changing - there'll be no difference between apps on either PPC or x86, except mebbe in terms of a little speed (which could arguably go either way). They'll probably keep pretty much the same product designs etc., just changing the CPU. One day iMacs will use PPC, the next x86. It sounds like they haven't ruled out continuing using PPC if they start running faster, so mixed CPUs in product lines may start appearing.

I can't see Apple dropping support for PPC any time in the near future, and if they eventually do so most macs out there will be x86's. And at that point it'll be the equivalent of not being able to run Mac OS X on Lisa's.

So I'll echo the "buy it when you need it" statement. Technology always moves on; if you wait longer, then you will get more bang for your buck, but you can't use it now...

aurora · June 6, 2005 4:55PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alliancep.s.i

i want a mac mini, have the cash FINALLY and now what do i do? I wanted to get it to start using this summer. are we better off buying it now with the old processor or wait for the intels

Mac Mini is nice my wifey has one but if you want Juice.... what do you want style or power?

alliancep.s.i · June 6, 2005 5:09PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Aurora

Mac Mini is nice my wifey has one but if you want Juice.... what do you want style or power?

its pretty much the only mac i can afford so it's fine. i will put it through a lot however

The "To Buy or Not to Buy" Official Thread (merged)

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