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Dakkon · Aug 5, 2005, 02:16 AM

First off, I'm in the us navy, and in about a year we will be going on a 6 month deployment… when I was in college I had a wallstreet pb. And I really enjoyed that laptop. I recently bought an ipod, and I use with my windows based machine.. so bascily my question is.. for games/dvd/ programming c++.. or php..and online cd based classes. should I think about buying a G4 based machine, or wait until apple makes the switch over to X86, with the windows compatibility and x86.. I use to have a copy of virtual windows so i do know that is an option.

Oh yeah, size and battery life is an issue sense I am in the sub community..

probably get a 12" what ever.

What would you guys recommend.. buy it in the semi near future, or wait a while?

ecsherwo · Aug 5, 2005, 06:16 AM

First off, thank you for serving our country!!

in regards to your questions, IMHO I say it depends, the gaming could be a serius issue if that is very important to you, as there are nowhere near as many games for macs, and it would not be possible to run any serious game through a virtual machine. Also most cd-based clases I have taken have all been Windows programs to install, but I am sure those would run smooth under a virtual PC as they are not very intensive. Your other interests should be no problem.

As for waiting, the new ibooks just came out and I think it will be at least a year before any new intel based *books are out, but that is just speculation. Good luck!

Randman · Aug 5, 2005, 06:39 AM

I'd consider getting an iBook 12 right now, if I were you. You can get more ram than a PB12 (1.5GB vs 1.25GB), the battery life is better (consider a second battery though only the PB15s and 17s let you hot swop the battery) and the performance will be pretty close. Plus, the price is decent (get the military discount and it's almost the price as an edu version). If you're taking classes, see if you can get a little extra shaved off.

Then when the Mactels come out, you could always upgrade or get a desktop machine when you're grounded again.

Agent69 · Aug 5, 2005, 06:51 AM

I think that I would spring for the 12" Powerbook; I simply do not like the material Apple is currently using for the case of the iBook. (I don't know when it happened but it is certainly different than the case material that was used for my old 500mhz Dual USB ice-Book.) Plus, the 12" PB has a faster CPU, HDD, FSB, more VRAM, and monitor spanning built in.

But that is just my opinion. I could be wrong.

hypnognosis · Aug 5, 2005, 09:32 AM

I think randman had a good idea. Right now I wouldn't spend a large sum of cash on a PB. Currently apple has a bit of a crux. The PB although heavy in features is lacking in battery power, and cpu performance; the iBook is also critically approaching the PB's in performance. When the MacTel's are finally released we will most likely see a more than significant increase in performance and possibly features out of the Centrino-esque designs out of apple with a more apparent contrast between chips used in ibooks and PB's.

In addition I would not be too inclined to bring along a 3,000 quid powerbook upon a boat where it might be damaged. When I went out for some pointless endeavour during the War on Terror (yes, what I was ordered to do was the biggest waste of time and money I have ever seen in my entire life (e.g. my mission, not the war, that is still debateable) ) I brought along my old Inspiron 7000 (400Mhz PII) to do programming/simulations instead of anything I truely valued. Assuming that your a single Ensign or LT JG (sorry I don't know the correct acronym) with large sums of discresionable income this course of action will give you a reasonable mac, an ibook, that can play WoW, Warcraft 3, et. al. (probably not doom 3 or anything however), and still have sufficient funds in a few years for a top-of-the-line MacTel. I would invest in upgrading the ram on the ibook to 1.5GB though using a 3rd party 1GB stick (apple's memory upgrade prices are a bit unreasonable).

Good Luck and take care

Apple1 · Aug 7, 2005, 12:14 PM

Ok, i need to know what MacTel is, because i just bought a 17' pb and nw theres going to be a new one?

fibroptikl · Aug 7, 2005, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by Apple1

Ok, i need to know what MacTel is, because i just bought a 17' pb and nw theres going to be a new one?

Apple is switching from IBM / Motorola processors to Intel Processors.

MacTel is just the word saying "Mac with an Intel CPU"

Apple1 · Aug 8, 2005, 05:31 AM

Holy crap! nobody mentioned that to me, when are they switching?

buffalolee · Aug 8, 2005, 08:51 AM

In 2 years. When the next version of Mac OS X is coming out. When they switch, they will still support the PowerPC CPUs for a few years after that. By that time, it would be time to get a new Powerbook anyways.

Apple1 · Aug 10, 2005, 11:55 AM

ok, and most people say that macs dont need anti virus or firewalls or spywares scans, is that true? because i see firewall softwares, anti virus softwares and so on, on the apple website for sale. o, and does the powerbook have a mic inside it?

mishakim · Aug 10, 2005, 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by Apple1

ok, and most people say that macs dont need anti virus or firewalls or spywares scans, is that true? because i see firewall softwares, anti virus softwares and so on, on the apple website for sale. o, and does the powerbook have a mic inside it?

There are currently no viruses or spyware that target macs, so software to guard against them isn't as neccessary as on PCs. Many people encourage scanning for viruses anyway, but I've never been convinced of the need - even though macs can spread PC viruses via email, you'd have to do it on purpose. Of course, if you're running office, macro viruses are still a possibility, and scanners will catch them. Firewalls are a good idea, and there's a very basic one built-in to the OS (under Sharing preferences).

and yes, the powerbook has a built-in mic.

As for the OP, I'd say wait as long as you can, but not for anything specific, just to take advantage of any incremental upgrades or price breaks that come along. If nothing else, they'll probably up the ram like they just did with the Mini to keep the old hardware selling. I wouldn't expect MacTels until right before you ship out at the earliest, and wouldn't recommend taking a first-gen product along anyway. If you need a new machine now, get one now, but if it's for your tour, wait.