[crawl]

Hi everyone. I've decided that I really want to give OS X a try after growing tired of XP and Microsoft in general. I've been trying to run Suse Linux for a while, but while Linux is a great server OS I just can't feel quite at home with it for a desktop computer.

Right now I have a P3 1Ghz XP machine, a P2 Linux box and a nice 20 inch CRT. I'm looking to buy a Mac and use it as my primary desktop, but I'll keep the other two around for compatibilty and testing. My main use for a computer is general web / email plus some web design and such. No gaming, heavy graphics or anything of that nature.

I've narrowed my choices to the following (EDU pricing):

iBook
• 256MB DDR266 SDRAM (built-in)
• 60GB Ultra ATA drive
• Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• 1.2GHz PowerPC G4
• 12-inch TFT XGA display
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32MB DDR video memory
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Bluetooth Module
Subtotal $1,061.00

iMac
• 256MB DDR400 SDRAM - 1 DIMM
• 80GB Serial ATA drive
• Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• 1.6GHz PowerPC G5
• 17-inch widescreen LCD
• NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra w/64MB video memory
Subtotal $1,199.00

PowerMac
• 256MB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 2x128
• 80GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
• Combo (CD-RW/DVD-ROM)
• 1.8GHz PowerPC G5
• ATI Radeon 9600 XT w/128MB DDR SDRAM
• 56k V.92 modem.
Subtotal $1,304.00

My budget is really around $1000 but I can stretch it (obviously ). I like the idea of having a notebook, but my guess is that I'll rarely use it mobile so I'm just not sure about the slower processing speed. Running a lower resolution on my 20 inch monitor won't be great either. The iMac looks really nice, and saving the desk space would be great, but I need to continue running the other two PC's so without the ability to input video I'm not sure it's practical. I certainly don't want two monitors on my desk. I've consider trying to use remote desktop or VNC but I don't know how great the performance is (I do have 100mb home network). The PowerMac looks like my best choice, but it's really a little too much money, and for some reason I keep being drawn back to the iBook. I will plan to upgrade the ram on any of these to 512 or 1GB.

My biggest problem is I haven't used a Mac in about 8 years, so I'm not familair with the OS or the latest processors. I went to a computer store and clicked around a bit but that just isn't enough time to really see the difference in the hardware performance. I know this type of questions is asked often here (I've searched!) but any advice would really be appreciated.

-Paul

[MARINEOSX]

well crawl i will tell you what when i got my first mac it was because there was so much i could do and how easy the new os was any of those will do great for what you want and i know what you meen as far as trying to decide what i wanted to get when i did buy it i got an imac 800mhz 60gig 256mb flat panel. I love it to this day i have upgraded my os everytime because it gets better and better the funny thing is that when i got out of bootcamp i got my ibook and i am sitting on it right now with a wirless router so that i can go anywhere in my house and my imac is sitting right next to me. I feel like my laptop is a new part of me and that is scary. lol. but i try to find an excuse to take it with me and try to find new things to with it and to it i never thought i would use it this much. plus you can upgrade the ibook a little more than you can the imac at least with mine that is how it is. i would love a power mac for doing some animation but as you said $$$$$$$$$$.

on that note you can always try one out and befor te return period is up exchange it for the other i would try the ibook first and see how it does for you it might suprise you. And hey if it doesnt exchange it for the other mac.

and as far as getting use to the os it took me about 4 hours to learn alot of the short cuts and to get use to the iterface. and now when i have to use windows and the application fails like 3 times and freezes or is just plain slow it makes me happy i have my mac.

[iPoder]

No matter which one you choose, it will be a great computer for your needs.

Make sure that you check out this thread regarding purchasing Apple notebook (iBook, PowerBook) with $150 rebate from Amazon.

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=233547

Good lucks.

[A Ghost Is Born]

I am really satsified with my 1.2GHz G4 iBook (w/768MB of RAM, 30GB HDD). It's very peppy with the RAM increase. The 256MB of RAM that comes standard isn't enough for most of the cool iLife apps that I use as well as some of the other software that I use. If you want to be mobile, then go with the iBook. The iBook is my first notebook and I take it everywhere with me! Today while waiting at the doctor's office, I was surfing the web. Many times at class I am taking notes (or surfing the net. Shhh! ) The wireless router has given me exactly what I want, mobile net access. I have worked on projects while in bed, on the porch, in the kitchen, dining room, etc. If not the iMac is a better value for an intermediate user considering the monitor is included as well as being much cooler. If you are going to run high end apps (video editing, gaming, etc.) you may want to consider the PowerMac.

[crawl]

Thanks for your input everyone. Today I went to the Compusa store and tried some different models. I really don't think the iMac is right for me, so I'm down to the iBook and PowerMac. I made the mistake of comparing speed between an iBook and PowerMac, and then realized the PowerMac was a dual 1.8. They didn't have any of the single processor machines yet so I couldn't test one out.

I'm leaning toward starting with the iBook and trying to use it for a while as my desktop machine, and then assuming I like it as much as I think I will I'll buy a G5 PowerMac later.

I did take a look at that Amazon deal, which I would really jump on if I could upgrade the HD with that offer. I have my CD collection riped into iTunes on my PC (about 25 GB) and will want to move it to the Mac so that 30 GB drive just won't cut it!

[A Ghost Is Born]

Originally posted by crawl:
Thanks for your input everyone. Today I went to the Compusa store and tried some different models. I really don't think the iMac is right for me, so I'm down to the iBook and PowerMac. I made the mistake of comparing speed between an iBook and PowerMac, and then realized the PowerMac was a dual 1.8. They didn't have any of the single processor machines yet so I couldn't test one out.

I'm leaning toward starting with the iBook and trying to use it for a while as my desktop machine, and then assuming I like it as much as I think I will I'll buy a G5 PowerMac later.

I did take a look at that Amazon deal, which I would really jump on if I could upgrade the HD with that offer. I have my CD collection riped into iTunes on my PC (about 25 GB) and will want to move it to the Mac so that 30 GB drive just won't cut it!

It's very likely that the notebook may become your primary computer because you will take it with you everywhere. If that's the case the extra storage would be important. The only suggestion I have is to get an iPod because it doubles as an external harddrive as well as an mp3 player. That's what I am doing. i have 30GB HD (about 10GBs is used up with OS 9 & X and the rest that comes on the computer) a 20GB for $300 may do the trick or 40GB for $400.

Are you a student OR can you enroll yourself somewhere where you can be a student. Just get some sort of student ID is all you need. I know several people who have done this and never actually signed up for classes. All they did was enroll in the school, not the classes. The discount that Apple would give you on the iBook is nice because you can surpass the iPod by upgrading your HDD.

[crawl]

Actually, the wife works for the school district so she can order at the edu price. The total for the iBook with bluetooth, the 60 GB drive, and edu discount is $1061, which isn't too bad. I already have 54G wifi at the house as well so the built in Airport will be terrific.

I have one of the new 4G 40 GB iPods. I have to admit I installed iTunes about 2 months ago and really liked how easy it was to use versus MusicMatch. That got me interested in Apple and a few weeks later I was buying the iPod. Here I am about 3 weeks later picking out a computer. This stuff is like crack or something

[MARINEOSX]

crack is right! LMAO I am addicted to just doing anything I can with mine. That is why i had to upgrade my ram even more. LOL

[A Ghost Is Born]

I don't see any reason not to get an ibook then.

[Voch]

Portability is great. Also consider which forum you're asking this in.

Seriously, if you don't need the super-number-crunching speed of a G5 the iBook is excellent. Base the purchase on what you plan to do with the machine.

Voch

[JCT]

I also agree with the iBook and your config sounds good. Be sure to add some RAM (if you can swing an additional 512 MB RAM that would be great).

I just thought I would toss out a "warning" first ...here's my trajectory:

Nov 2003:

Me: Dedicated PC-only, long term self-builder. 5 PCs in the house + 2 PC laptops No Macs! Had tried OS 9 and didn't like it. Macs = yuck. Did own a 2G 10GB Ipod, actually very fond of it ...hmmmm.

Dec 2003:

Had to configure a new iBook for work to run a piece of equipment. Dreading it for a week ...hey, not too bad. Boy, the wireless setup is easy. And OS X is kinda nice. What a pleasure to have UNIX under the hood. After playing around with it for awhile .... made the big decision: time to buy a 12" Powerbook and see what this Apple deal was all about.

And then the floodgates opened..................

Fast forward to today:

October 2004:

My fire-breathing self-built P4 3.06 GHz PC workstation is *gone*. In it's place is a new Dual 2.5 GHz G5 with a Raptor boot drive, a Hitachi 250 GB HD, 2 160 GB Maxtors in an external case in RAID0 for Photoshop scratch hooked up to a new 23" Cinema Screen and my Sony Artisan, it's got 5 GB of RAM and an M-Audio 2496 Audio card. Next to it is a souped-up G4 Cube (my first powermac) ...now a headless fileserver. My husband has my 12" PB, I have a Rev C 17" PB and my teenage daughter has a new iBook (and an iPod mini for acing her finals). My 2G Ipod is now a 4G .

So, I think agree with the iPod = crack statement .

Good luck and if your house is one day overrun with Macs, don't say I didn't warn you. .

regards,

JT

[power142]

LMAO, JCT

My story isn't so far removed, only got OSX experience at work. Not a single PC left at home now

[crawl]

Humm.. I'm afraid I could be on your path, JCT, and I haven't bought the first computer yet!

I'm planning to go to the Apple store in town tomorrow to play with these two machines first hand. I think what is confusing to me is I know that if I buy the iBook and like the OS as well as I think I will, I'll be wanting a desktop asap but I won't have the money to spend.

Some of the problem is my desk is already maxed out with monitor, kb, mouse printer, cable modem, wifi router, usb hub, etc. Once I place the notebook up here too I won't have room for any paperwork. With the desktop machines I can keep them on the floor like I have both now.

Ultimately, I think I'll wind up with a Power Mac and an iBook within a year. If I buy an iBook now it means a used Power Mac later, but I keep thinking I would prefer to have a new Power Mac and a used iBook for occasional use. I sure hope tomorrow I leave the Apple store with a gut feeling of what to do since I've wasted a week reading and staring at the Apple Store webpage..

[A Ghost Is Born]

I can see myself getting into a low end dual g5 powermac this time next year when I am wrapping up my student teaching and getting ready to head into the classroom.

[LukeGX]

I wouldn't get the iBook first. Save the money and get a Powermac G5.
You said the main use of your computer will be "web / email plus some web design".
I use a 21" screen for similar things and I also have a 12" iBook. Belive me, the low resolution and small screen size of the iBook will become annoying.

The Powermac will display on your current 20" screen, it will be much faster then the iBook (even just navigating the OS) and it will be much more future proof. It is easier to upgrade RAM, hard drives and graphics cards and you can add PCI cards as well.

I use a vnc between my iBook, windows and G3 machines. It is extremely slow over a 100mb network.

[NYK Ace]

why not get a KMV (i think thats what its called) switch to use 1 monitor, i mouse, and one keyboard between multiple machines

thats what i do at home

windows pc / iBook hooked up to 19" CRT

a simple keystroke and you switch to the next machine with no loss of speed! you can even share a printer

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....p;type=product

there are cheaper ones too if that one is too much $$

[jamil5454]

My G4 1.2 iBook is plenty fast enough for web design, photo editing, moderate gaming, programming, and light 3d modeling. The only place my iBook has felt "slow" is when I was resizing clips in iMovie. Just make sure you get enough RAM. A 512 stick would be nice but a 1gb stick would be even better. The only drawback to the iBook is the 1024x768 resolution, but that seems to be enough for everything but the most complicated programs. Although maybe I'm less demanding with computers than everyone else. My iBook is about as fast as my AthlonXP 1800 for Photoshop and web design. I can imagine how a dual G5 would fly though.

[crawl]

Thanks everyone for all the feedback, it really has been helpful.

I went yesterday to the Apple store in town, but sadly they didn't have a single processor G5 for me to demo. I did get to spend about an hour going back and forth between different machines to get a bit more familair with the OS and speed difference. I used one of the new 1.8 iMac as a similar replacement, speedwise, to the SP 1.8 Power Mac.

My original plan was to sell the Compaq notebook I have now on ebay, which would have come within a few hundred bucks of paying for an iBook. This is the main reason I was focusing on an iBook for a replacement so I'd still have the option or portability when needed.

The wife and I discussed the different options on the drive home, and she bought into the idea of investing now in a Power Mac without selling the Compaq notebook, and perhaps next year we'd sell the notebook and buy an iBook then. This is the best circumstance, so I can use the Mac has our main system but still have a machine with Windows on it (for now) and portability as well.

Now I just have to make a final decision on upgrades etc and get this thing ordered next week. I can't wait.

I was really impressed with the iBook, and I know one is in the near future as well. It's a great little machine, and makes our current notebook look a bit cheap even though it only a year old and cost about the same amount when it was new.

[MARINEOSX]

You are welcome from all of us and enjoy your new mac when you get it.