[bourgeoisie]

i have a G3 ibook i bought a few years ago, but my dad still has his gateway and i'd love to see him switch to a mac, especially since i'm finally getting him interested in the power of itunes.

basic specs of his system:
P4 1.5ghz
256mb ram
win xp pro
nvidia geforce2
20gb hd

my dad is very much a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of guy, so on the mac side what should i be looking for to achieve comparable computing power? i had in mind a g4 imac, or possibly a dual g4 450mhz pm? obviously things like ram come into play big time here, i've just never really understood the correlation between speeds on a mac vs pc.

last question, is the gateway worth anything? i certainly wouldn't pay a penny for it since it's a pc and i'm a devout mac user now, but what's the going rate for a system like this?

additional relevant info is always helpful!

[bourgeoisie]

ps. money is an issue here, like i said, his attitude is "ain't broke, don't fix" so it'll be tough enough to convince him to switch, especially if there's a sizeable amount of money involved.

[mduell]

A 1.5Ghz P4 is about the same as a 1Ghz G4 or dual 800Mhz G4.

eBay says the 1.5Ghz P4 Gateway is worth $100 - $200, depending on what you include with it.

If he wants iTunes he could always run it on his Gateway...

[Will C]

Despite being a Mac fan myself I'm sort of with your Dad on this. If he is happy enough with his PC and it works OK for him, don't pressurize him. He'll be ready to switch when he is ready.

I'd also like my Dad to get a Mac - he almost bought an iMac several years back when iMovie first came out - but like many people he decided to stick with what he knew.

However, I think what Mark has stated is basically correct.

[Will C]

sorry, duplicate post (I'm sure I only clicked once...)

[bourgeoisie]

good points, and thanks for the info. i guess for the time being i'll just have to start saving for another mac for myself. i've always loved the g4 imacs...the new ones are kind of ugly when compared side by side. imo, of course

[Tomchu]

A Mac Mini would be right up his alley. They're affordable, and would still kick the sh*t out of that P4 system.