[awcopus]

So, assuming the leak was authentic, we now have a few days to get our ducks in a row about the best buying strategy for a new desktop.

Typically, the day Apple announces new desktop hardware, there are immediate price drops on current Macs at places like MacMall and MacZone (et al ad finitum).

Of course, the new Macs present a far more radical departure from the current Macs, so it seems initially like an absurd idea to buy the current versions just as these radical new ones are released.

But then again, the new Macs represent a radical new departure. No doubt Apple is making the right move here, but let's take a moment to reflect on the first round of Apple's last "radical departure" desktop machines. That Mac was literally called "Yikes". It was the G4 desktop released at Seybold in September, oh so many years ago. It was on the market for about 4 months before it was replaced with the G4 (AGP) series of desktops, which was more refined and more advanced in many ways.

Everybody here wants a new kickass Mac that's orders of magnitude faster than the current Macs, but nobody here wants a Yikes. So, the question arises, what is the smart move?

I bought a Quicksilver 933 last year the moment that the first mirror-drive Macs were released. I got it for $1499, a bonafide deal for a Mac that had been priced $500 higher the day before. Two to three days later, these Macs were all gone. They evaporated. That's going to happen again in about three days.

ENVISION THIS: If the specs are true, the next round of Macs include only one duallie, and let's just say it's going to cost approximately $3000 out of the gate. Furthermore, the current Macs will probably go on a fire sale dropping in price approximately $500 from their current levels.

Which means that a dual 1.25 may sell for <gulp> $1500 and a dual 1.42MHz for $2100? Yeah, okay, there will be a mid-range G5 selling for about $2000 (in theory) and it may be faster in most tasks than a Dual 1.25....but it will be a single processor computer, which anyone who has used a dual will tell you is simply not the same thing. Add to which, the single processor machine is an unproven radical departure from what we use now. There will be bugs, some will be fixable, others will be a permanent part of the machine and may be ... well, it's unknown how disruptive such bugs may prove to be.

So, what is the smart move for a pro looking to get more power soon? Radical speed improvements are not worth instability, and that is a huge variable for video editors like me looking at using their next machine as the centerpiece of a revamped editing setup.

Tonight I will probably count dual 2GHz machines jumping over a P4 Dell as I drift off to sleep...but come Monday, the post-price cut value proposition of the current duallies, in light of their market-tested stability/reliability with my main software apps (FCP4, Photoshop, Cleaner), may make me dip my toes into the past and defer plunging into the future until the refined G5s emerge.

I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do. I did, in fact, take a risk on the first generation G3s (266 MHz) and they proved to be ROCK solid, terrific performers.

What do you think the Smart Move is? Whatever you think, it's a terrific time to be a Mac user, isn't it? What a huge year 2003 is proving to be!

[action]

i'm in the same boat as you are. i have a 933 and a 500 cube at home.

i sold my 667 ti just a few weeks ago in anticipation of this.

i hope and pray a 970 lap is available in the next two months. i would get a laptop first and use my 933 basically as a storage case for my 4 hardrives, then get a g5 tower in the next 6 to 8 months when the revision b's comeout.

i'm not going to get a g4 even if it is a duallie. i just don't think it's that big of an upgrade. the 933 is fast enough for everything except video rendering.

if no laptop is available in 2-3 months then i will get whatever the g5 fastest tower is at that time.

i will be at the apple soho around noon mon if you want to meet up.

chung lee

www.chunglee.com

[Superchicken]

Buy the low end 970, ultimately you pay a bit more and risk a bit more, but you get unquestionably more speed, and a lota fun.

[jcadam]

I have a MDD DP 867 G4 and an iBook 600.

The iBook may be due for replacement first. I'll just wait and see.

I could replace them both with a 17" Dual G5 PowerBook
All depends.....

I am at least waiting for rev. B PowerMac G5s. Possibly even the PPC 980. My MDD is still perfectly adequate for what I do. It will still be on Monday. The iBook on the other hand, is slow......

[awcopus]

I've got the 933, plus a Cube (450) and iBook (600).

All of these machines are too slow.

I can't imagine upgrading to a PowerBook until the 970s come along. The Cube is on its way to becoming an MP3 server. The 933 serves a purpose that it is not quite suited for: video editing. Gets job done, but it sure takes the quick out of Quicksilver when it's doing it.

The problem is, I never upgraded to the dual 1.42 because when I tried it out at Apple Stores I was always underwhelmed by its performance. I don't think that buying that machine for less money is going to make me feel that much happier with it...unless while I'm using it I'm reading reports of people who are struggling with FCP4 constantly crashing on the first-gen 970s....but my gut (read: I have no rational basis for saying this whatsoever) is telling me that I'm more likely to read that people who once owned the 1.42 can't believe how much faster their new Dual 2GHz machine is, "...and so stable....



With Apple releasing its very first 970-based machines, and with Panther, its first 64-bit compliant OS coming in a couple of months, it is simply too much to hope for to believe that this transitional period would be the ideal time to buy in. Especially given the nature of my work with FCP4, where stability is as essential as speed.

Maybe the 1.25GHz machine hits the sweet spot at $1499, though it has the unfortunate affliction of being sans SuperDrive (I could remedy that).

Will continue to rack my brain over these and other things as I review the sacred text on that leaked GIF throughout the weekend. Going to LMAO if Apple releases nothing on Monday but one feature preview after another of Panther.

[wilsonX]

Tough decision. I'm going to an apple store on Monday...this is all s very exciting. I'm trying to make up my mind as much as possible before I go into that store. I sold my 733 superdrive (digital audio) in preparation for this moment.

I have been seriously considering getting a laptop, which one is still up for grabs right now. I could go with a 15in Tibook 1ghz SD if they go for less than 2000.00 but what if the current 17in lapzilla goes for sub 2850.00? And what if there's a 15 ALbook for $2500.ish? hmm?

Then I have to think-wow, those 970 specs are sweeeet! Yet the truth of the first post is hard to get around. Even these sweet 970 towers are gonna be discounted when the rev B's come in with all the problems worked out. So what to do, what to do...

(Nice to have these problems...ain't it?)

[tanhauser]

No offense guys but do you realize that you're all making plans for something which hasn't even been announced? Sure, I hope the rumors are true, but perhaps it would be best to just wait and see what happens come Monday.

Regarding the Yikes/Sawtooth issue... that was a very particular case. If you remember, when Steve Jobs first announced the G4s way back when... he mentioned in particular that the low end model, the first to be released (400 Mhz) would have a different mother board with PCI graphics. In other words, Apple was forthcoming about this right from the get go, so that was a particular case.

If -and this is a big if- Apple announced something on Monday, we'll just have to wait and see what Jobs says, if he introduces new machines without any special comments (like the Yikes case), I don't see the reason to 'wait' for a 'more stable' revision. That is if you want to buy one...

F

[awcopus]

First of all, wilsonX, it's incredibly terrific to have problems like these. I'm thrilled to be a Mac user. Positively glowing. Warm fuzzies everywhere, Muslims and Jews getting along, cats and dogs signing peace accords, yadda yadda yadda. The view from up here is beautiful, and the clouds haven't even completely cleared yet. Imagine what we'll see from this new peak on Monday!

As for the reason to start thinking this through now, Tanhauser, it's all about being prepared. A buying strategy that accounts for available options is only good for as long as the options are available. And history shows that the old models pretty much sell through within a matter of 2-3 days of new models being introduced.

Let's look at the current situation.

1. We've got a 64-bit hardware architecture debuting months before a radical OS upgrade necessary to take advantage of it.

2. We have signs that the only dual-cpu machines that will be offered by Apple on Monday will be the old 1.2 and 1.4, and the new 2.0 (availability likely delayed).

3. The 1.2 and 1.4 are stable, but obsolete, incapable of supporting the processor-intensive advances in 10.3. On the other hand, the costs of adding RAM to them should be lower than RAM costs associated with the new machines.

4. The 2.0 duallie is a wildcard with all of the right numbers in all of the right places. But how well will it play on gameday? How stable will it run FCP4 on "Smeagol"....and then 10.3....nobody knows. I'm confident in Apple, of course. But this is going to be the high-end machine. Would you bet $3500 that this machine will run 10.3 and FCP4 in a rock-solid manner?

Lots to consider. Time is short. Pulse-pounding suspense, all of this. LOVE IT!