[mediahound]

I seem to be subsisting on my 800MHZ Quicksilver G4 and am wondering if it would make more sense for me to wait for the Intel based Macs to come out or buy a G5 now? There is certainly nothing I can't do right now on my G4, it's just a bit slow sometimes. I only do home type stuff and photos, no fancy animation or music. I sorta feel like my processor is equivalent to a lot of the 867 MHZ Powerbooks that are in cirulation and will be 'current' until the Intel Macs come out. Any opinions?

[wtmcgee]

You'll be waiting about a year and a half ... maybe more ... if you wait for the Intel - based powermacs.

[mediahound]

I thought it was supposed to be in 2006?

[production_coordinator]

IMHO, I wouldn't hold off waiting for the CPU upgrade. By the time you want to upgrade your PowerMac, Apple will have successfully transitioned to x86, the software companies will be releasing applications specifically optimized for OS X on x86 and the bugs [if there are any] will be ironed out with the new hardware.

If the switch was just around the corner, I might say hold off, but it could be few years before we really see the advantage to switching CPUs.

[mediahound]

if i'm doing ok with my current machine and will probably be fine (there's nothing I can't run) for another year or even 2 years on it (although it's slow) why not wait for the Intel ones to come out before spending money now on something I know will be outdated sooner rather than later?

[osxisfun]

if you are not using slots you could buy an intel mini in the spring to hold you over... then sell it or give it to mom or dad when you are ready ot buy the intel powermac.

[Lateralus]

Originally Posted by mediahound

I thought it was supposed to be in 2006?

The transition *starts* in Summer '06 and will be finished by the end of 2007. And it is starting on the consumer end. The Power Macs aren't going Intel until 2007.

[robby818]

Originally Posted by mediahound

I seem to be subsisting on my 800MHZ Quicksilver G4 and am wondering if it would make more sense for me to wait for the Intel based Macs to come out or buy a G5 now? There is certainly nothing I can't do right now on my G4, it's just a bit slow sometimes. I only do home type stuff and photos, no fancy animation or music. I sorta feel like my processor is equivalent to a lot of the 867 MHZ Powerbooks that are in cirulation and will be 'current' until the Intel Macs come out. Any opinions?

If you do upgrade, consider a refurbished power mac. on the apple site you'll find a dual 1.8 power mac for $1500. that would be a big step up in performance from your current system.

the great thing about macs is that they hold their value well. i sold a quicksilver 733 for around $800 on ebay right before i bought my dual 2.0 g5 two years ago.

[osxisfun]

or late 2006.

[Lateralus]

No...

[osxisfun]

Yep.



Conroe is a coming (see recent intel conf.)

[Lateralus]

And? Might wanna take a peak at IBM's roadmap, it is a bit more impressive than Intel's on the desktop side.

Meh. It's everybody in the industry and Apple vs you on this, so enjoy the fight.

[asthma]

wait youll be glad you did! i think that the whole intell switch will be for the better. why u ask? think of all the new doors it will open for mac we might see more compatibilety with graphics cards, more games, and it will probably be easier to overclock, not to forget longer compatibilty as in it will be apples number one computer. maybe im just retarded or maybe im a genius who knows?

[John O'Shaughnessy]

If you "need" a new Mac now, get a new Mac now. If there is no pressing need, and you'd like an Intel based Mac, then wait. Everyone seems to have their own interpretation of the Intel Mac timeline, but based on what I've read, I'd expect the first Intel Macs next summer. Indications are that it would be a consumer Mac, such as an iBook or iMac. I'd expect the PowerMacs to be the last of the line to be transitioned to Intel. Also, think about applications you use. If your vendors aren't fast out of the shoot with their applications, you could be waiting 6-12 months beyond the introduction of the Intel Macs before a Universal Binary version of your favorite application is available. In that case, you won't see improved performance from your applications for a while, even after you get a new Mac.

Personally, I've decided to get a new G5 PowerMac this month. If I were waiting for an Intel PowerMac, I don't think I'd see additional "value" from it until mid-late 2007, and I don't want to wait that long for a new machine, even though my Dual 1GHz G4 is humming along just fine.

John

[RevEvs]

"There is certainly nothing I can't do right now on my G4"

so basically you just want a new toy