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Fyre4ce · Jul 23, 2003, 03:41 AM

So I will soon be entering my third year of higher education. I currently have a Pismo which turned 3 this May. It has served me well, and has no major problems. I have upgraded it a bit along the way:

400 MHz G3
512 MB RAM
IBM 40GNX HD (40 GB, 5400 RPM)
AirPort card
Mac OS 9.2
everything else stock

I am thinking the time to upgrade to OS X is coming soon. My OS right now is on the fritz and I need to reinstall, so I figured it might be a good time to upgrade ($69). But, my machine is already slow and the added burden of OS X is not one I want to deal with. There are two CPU upgrades available from PowerLogix (a G4/500 and a G3/900) and I'd almost certainly get one to go along. Additionally, I could get more RAM (to 768 MB for around $100) and also an internal combo drive for about $350 although I'd probably end up getting an external FireWire CD-RW instead to save money.

Which CPU is better for OS X? The G4 is a little cheaper than the G3 ($300 vs. $350) but I'd probably get whichever one is faster overall. Also, how is 512 MB for X? Do I want more like 768 MB or 1 GB?

As an alternative, I can get a brand new, stripped down dual 2 GHz G5 system with a combo drive, AirPort Extreme, and a 17" flat CRT for under $2800. Not a bad deal.

So, a Pismo makeover for around $500, or a completely new system for around $3000, or both? Tough decision. I have about three weeks to make it.

Regarding finances, every dollar I spend will be a dollar I'll have to borrow for school in about a month. So I could "afford" pretty much any system I want - it would just mean more loans. My loans, up to a point, don't start to accumulate interest until after I graduate, which is nice.

So, what do you all think?

icruise · Jul 23, 2003, 04:54 AM

I know that some people are happy with their upgrades, but I had a LOT of trouble with my NewerTech upgrade, and in the end I definitely wished that I had spent the money on getting a new system instead. Your choice of spending a few hundred on pismo upgrades or $2800 on a G5 seems a little odd, though. Have you considered one of the 12" powerbooks or something as a kind of middle-ground choice? Sell the pismo, apply the money you would have spent on the upgrades as well and you would have most of cost of the powerbook covered. It will be a much better performer than an upgraded Pismo would ever be (much better video, etc), and it will be a new machine with warranty. Just a thought.

MacNZ · Jul 23, 2003, 04:57 AM

Kia ora,

I am a student in New Zealand and am a long time Pismo owner like you. I find my upgraded machine, running OSX 10.2.6 has plenty of life left for what I use it for. I spend a lot of time browsing academic sites using airport and broadband. Obviously the Pismo is still good for that stuff. As for working in Macromedia Studio MX and Office v.X-- the machine is certainly very useable. I don't higher end apps but I don't think the machine would do too well with them. Some experts may have a better idea. The biggest weakness if you do get into higher end stuff will be the graphics card of course.

I got the G4 upgrade about a year ago and my machine has certainly been good enough for my student needs. I would recommend getting the G3/900 upgrade if you decided on keeping the Pismo though. Even without Altivec the much faster clock rate of the G3 should mean it is faster or at least as good for most tasks. It should be faster for iTunes encoding (I think someone mentioned that in an earlier forum) and general work.

As for memory-- I have 576MB in my machine and it is enough for me. I would probably see how it goes and you can always add more if you need it later. For CD-RW-- if you are a techno-expert you may be able to create yourself an expansion drive for much cheaper than the shop ones. Check out the review section of MacNN for details. Otherwise, yeah a firewire drive will be FAST and not too expensive. I use a Lacie external drive and it works ok.

The bottom line is that if you upgrade the Pismo you are spending $350 compared with $1300 for a new machine. If the upgraded machine does enough then you save a bundle and can spend it on college parties or even put it towards a future desktop purchase etc etc. ('

'). You also have to be happy with the whole upgrade process. It involves sending in the processor card I think for the G3!? For the G4 upgrade I sent in my machine. I had no probs but you may be a bit wary of it. Maybe you can get a copy of OSX when 10.3 comes out.

Enjoy college!

bamburg dunes · Jul 23, 2003, 05:10 AM

My little Pismo is still doing sterling service, 10.2.6 runs pretty happily on it, and Panther just flies.
I'm runnign mostly graphics software too, like Photoshop, flash and so on, and it's pretty much capable of handling them.
I'm about to upgrade too, basically cause I need lots more storage, and a faster system for video work, so I'm probably gonna go for a dualie G5. I'll hold on to the Pismo since it's a cracker of a powerbook.

rjenkinson · Jul 23, 2003, 05:27 AM

ask yourself, which machine do you want to be using in two years time?

-r.

Fyre4ce · Jul 23, 2003, 01:55 PM

Originally posted by Icruise:
I know that some people are happy with their upgrades, but I had a LOT of trouble with my NewerTech upgrade, and in the end I definitely wished that I had spent the money on getting a new system instead. Your choice of spending a few hundred on pismo upgrades or $2800 on a G5 seems a little odd, though. Have you considered one of the 12" powerbooks or something as a kind of middle-ground choice? Sell the pismo, apply the money you would have spent on the upgrades as well and you would have most of cost of the powerbook covered. It will be a much better performer than an upgraded Pismo would ever be (much better video, etc), and it will be a new machine with warranty. Just a thought.

Well, the thing is, if I buy a new machine, I wanted it to be a desktop so I can keep my Pismo and use it as a "satellite" machine, so to speak. I can carry it around to meetings and classes and the library and have wireless access to all my files, but then when I'm home I have all the advantages of a powerful, expandable desktop. I think the two would compliment each other very well.

That said, I can get a brand new 12" PowerBook for under $1500 including a AirPort Extreme card. Not a bad deal. By the looks of eBay, I can get $600-$800 for my machine, which means the upgrade would cost me $700-$900. Hmm, that's worth considering. Just the price of the CPU upgrade, the internal combo drive, and OS X puts the upgrade price at almost $800.

Fyre4ce · Jul 23, 2003, 02:24 PM

Originally posted by rjenkinson:
ask yourself, which machine do you want to be using in two years time?

-r.

Well, that's the reason I'd get the dual 2 GHz G5 - because I think per dollar it will have the most staying power. And obviously I'd rather be G5, but it costs a lot more. See, my ultimate plan is to get both a laptop and a desktop, as described in my original post. I bought the Pismo way back with the intent of it lasting a very long time (and it has). And I was hoping that sometime in the future a really powerful desktop would be released that would have lots of future potential (which has happened) and that I could get that desktop and keep the pismo as a satellite machine. But now that I can upgrade to a 12" PowerBook for only a little more than the cost of a makeover for the Pismo maybe I should do that instead and wait for the desktop. I don't know. It'll be a tough decision.

sailin74 · Jul 23, 2003, 02:57 PM

In the same boat here. G3 Pismo with 512MB RAM running OS 10.2.6. It's a bit on the slow side, but I'm really curious at what Jaguar will do to it. One thing is for sure, I'm not buying anything until Jaguar starts shipping with the boxes. Don't want to pay 20$ or 129$ later.

I'm seriously considering the G3 900MHz upgrade. Don't forget the cost of a new monitor when thinking about the Dualie G5. I bought a Dual 1.25 GHz G4, just the other week, but ended up returning it for the diesling fan noise. I think I'd miss the ability to just grab the PowerBook and run. Eventhough my Pismo spends 90% of it's time on my desk tied to my 18in LCD.

I wish there was a way for those that are saying "Jaguar is faster on a Pismo" to quantify it. I'm really tempted to take the 450$ I would have spent to upgrade the OS and processor, sell Pismo on e-Bay and get a 12" PB G4. That way I'd lose the external CD burner, and get a more current machine. Always tough decisions, but I'm not doing anything till either Jag comes out, or it's bundled with new machines.

Who knows what magic date Apple will pick for free upgrades to Jaguar will be. I can't believe sales don't drop off when they announce a new OS, and don't say "All computers ordered from today on, will upgrade for $20.00"

-Jason

Fyre4ce · Jul 23, 2003, 06:08 PM

Originally posted by sailin74:
In the same boat here. G3 Pismo with 512MB RAM running OS 10.2.6. It's a bit on the slow side, but I'm really curious at what Jaguar will do to it. One thing is for sure, I'm not buying anything until Jaguar starts shipping with the boxes. Don't want to pay 20$ or 129$ later.

I'm seriously considering the G3 900MHz upgrade. Don't forget the cost of a new monitor when thinking about the Dualie G5. I bought a Dual 1.25 GHz G4, just the other week, but ended up returning it for the diesling fan noise. I think I'd miss the ability to just grab the PowerBook and run. Eventhough my Pismo spends 90% of it's time on my desk tied to my 18in LCD.

I wish there was a way for those that are saying "Jaguar is faster on a Pismo" to quantify it. I'm really tempted to take the 450$ I would have spent to upgrade the OS and processor, sell Pismo on e-Bay and get a 12" PB G4. That way I'd lose the external CD burner, and get a more current machine. Always tough decisions, but I'm not doing anything till either Jag comes out, or it's bundled with new machines.

Who knows what magic date Apple will pick for free upgrades to Jaguar will be. I can't believe sales don't drop off when they announce a new OS, and don't say "All computers ordered from today on, will upgrade for $20.00"

-Jason

I thought "Jaguar" is the same thing as OS X v10.2.x. And isn't it out now?

seanyepez · Jul 23, 2003, 06:59 PM

I haven't posted here for a long time.

I don't think you should upgrade your Pismo. They still sell for at least $700 on eBay. Sell your Pismo, and use that money to buy a 12-inch PowerBook G4 or an iBook.

The Pismo is a dated design. Even if you upgrade it, you will still have to deal with its antiquated video chipset.

Mskr · Jul 23, 2003, 07:28 PM

I guess I have to agree with most people on here. My wife has a 1st gen, 400 MHz PowerBook, and it's ATI Rage 128 card. The only problem with the machine is that it doesn't take advantage of Quartz Extreme, so some of the 'bells & whistles' of the OS aren't as smooth, etc. If I could, I would buy her a new 15" PowerBook rather than have her deal with some of the sub-par performance even for her academic work. But, really, when all's said & done, her 400 MHz G4 runs Jaguar pretty well, and with only 384 MB of memory, does a lot better than I expected. I do wish that I could upgrade it like a Pismo, though, to give it some legs.

But, my 12" PowerBook runs rings around her machine...

Fyre4ce · 03:59 PM

Well, I think I've pretty much decided - if it's between upgrading the Pismo and buying a new 12" PowerBook, I'll get the 12". Faster processor, faster bus, nicer screen, smaller and lighter, better video card, AirPort Extreme. The Pismo, for its time, has a ton more upgrade potential: removable CPU card, CardBus slot, expansion bay, up to 1 GB ram, easily accessable HD... but the 12's standard features are better than I could upgrade the Pismo to in most cases. The RAM is one major concern. There's no reason in three years I should go down in RAM capacity. But I've never used the CardBus slot and it doesn't make financial sense to get expansion bay drives. I think I should just get the 12" and expect to not keep it as long. Maybe 2 years instead of 3+. In 2 years time I will probably have graduated and hopefully have a steady income which I can then use to get a more high-end macine.

That said, I would really like to wait for a new update to the 12". The RAM is one thing that really bugs me. Can they please just go to two slots? Also a speed bump would be nice, and how about a better bus? The last generation of G4 desktop had a 167 MHz bus - possible in the PowerBook?

icruise · Jul 24, 2003, 04:04 PM

It would be nice to have more RAM capacity, but I find 640MB to be adequate for me, and I do quite a bit with my machine. Plus, the 1GB chips are going to be coming down in price, so sooner or later you will be able to get 1152MB in there...

sailin74 · Jul 24, 2003, 06:52 PM

Originally posted by Fyre4ce:
I thought "Jaguar" is the same thing as OS X v10.2.x. And isn't it out now?

I was having a brain dead moment... Yes, I meant to say Panther. My bust. I just can't imagine buying a computer right now, knowing that I'm going to get to spend 129$ in a couple months. I know I don't HAVE to, but I'd like to have the latest and greatest....

I'm with ya, I'm getting closer to just making the leap and getting a new machine.

-Jason

Fyre4ce · Jul 24, 2003, 09:21 PM

So, let me see if I understand this correctly:

-it's generally assumed that Apple will make a PowerBook update soon

-it's also assumed that they will release Panther (OS X v10.3) simultaneously

-it's also assumed that when Apple releases Panther they will immediately include it on all shipping models

-it's NOT clear whether or not Apple will update all three PowerBook models, or just the 15"

Is that accurate? If that's so, it would be worth waiting for the PowerBook update EVEN IF they don't update the 12" model (the one I'm after) because I'd get the new OS.

I think I'll wait.

icruise · Jul 24, 2003, 09:40 PM

It's up to you how long you can wait to get a new computer. Panther has nothing to do with the release of a new model of the powerbooks, though, and I fully expect there to be an update before Panther comes out "at the end of the year."