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TheMosco · May 19, 2004, 09:14 PM

So i want a powerbook for college as a secondary computer but I don't start college until september. I graduate from hs this sunday and my parents are willing to let me get one now as long as my brother approves. I really want to have one for this summer.

� 1.5GHz PowerPC G4 with 128MB Graphics Memory
� 512MB DDR333 SDRAM - 2x256 SO-DIMMs
� 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 4200 rpm
� SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
� Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
� AirPort Extreme Card
� 15.2-inch TFT Display

Subtotal $2,344.00

Normally I would probably wait, but since this wont be my main computer I don't have to worry as much about longevity. I doubt the next revisions will be G5s, and They probably wouldn't be out until november at the earliest anyway. So I am thinking I should buy one now. My only other option would be to bring only my pc to college, and wait on the powerbook but I don't know how long i can go without a mac.

any recommendations?

Lateralus · May 19, 2004, 09:21 PM

I don't see much point in waiting until September. The PowerBooks were just released, and if Apple's PowerBook update cycle for the past few years continues, another revision wont come out until near November or December.

So by all means, buy now, it is a great time to. I don't think you'll be disappointed. The current PowerBooks are fantastic machines.

BrunoBruin · May 19, 2004, 09:26 PM

The PowerBooks were just revised a month ago and it's highly unlikely they will see any changes for at least six months, possibly longer. The next revision very well might be a G5, but it also very well might not see the light of day until January, shipping some time after that.

Before buying anything, though, you should check with the computer store at the college you'll be attending. They often have package deals for incoming students that have lower pricing because they've bought in quantity, or that include extras like AppleCare or upgraded RAM. It's always worth asking, although you probably wouldn't get the PowerBook until you get to campus.

TheMosco · May 19, 2004, 10:35 PM

Regrettably, they don't appear to have any special deals on mac stuff, if I was buying a dell they do, but who wants a dell?

Very re-assuring that both you agree I should get one now because I REALLY REALLY want one now. My brother is away on business in NJ, so I will have to wait until friday to talk to him.

My last new mac was a MDD dual 867 that I bought 2 octobers ago. Its been a while since i have had they pleasure of opening that new mac box.

Ryan1524 · May 19, 2004, 11:12 PM

i'm in this very same situation. and i've decided i'll buy as soon as possible, and that would be June. even if new PBs are announced at WWDC, they probably won't be shipping for 1-2 months, which means around late august or september. and even once they do, it's a RevA machine with a new chip, no less. i wouldn't wanna be jumping into that, especially this being my one and only machine for univ.

James L · May 19, 2004, 11:23 PM

Buy now, but drop the extra bucks (not much) and get the faster Hard Drive too. The cost is minimal, the difference in some apps is noticable, and if you are going to spend the $$$ now go big.

Make sure you get the educational discount too!

SplijinX · May 20, 2004, 09:15 AM

Don't prices generally drop after a couple of months? I remember that the price on my Rev A 12" dropped a couple hundred 3-4 months after I bought it, which wasn't too long after it first came out.

If this is the case it might be worth the wait since it won't be your only computer and you've got your MDD to hold you over.

typoon · May 20, 2004, 12:38 PM

Order from the Apple Store online. My friend going to Yale just got his Powerbook. He got the 80 gig HD BTO with Combo Drive. 3rd party RAM for just under 1600.

If you order online from Apple using the EDU discount it will be much less expensive.

Your second option would be to wait til you get to college, then go to an Apple retail Store and show them Collge ID and Drivers license and get it from them.

rglenn · May 20, 2004, 12:42 PM

You can get the educational discount from a retail store, like in a mall? Cool!

Any idea if Canadian students can get the same deal at a USian Apple Store?

typoon · May 20, 2004, 12:47 PM

Originally posted by rglenn:
You can get the educational discount from a retail store, like in a mall? Cool!

Any idea if Canadian students can get the same deal at a USian Apple Store?

You should be able to. If you get it from an Apple reseller you might still need to show ID. If they don't do EDU discount then I would order it onine. You don't need to prove you are a student.

TheMosco · May 20, 2004, 01:07 PM

Originally posted by typoon:
Order from the Apple Store online. My friend going to Yale just got his Powerbook. He got the 80 gig HD BTO with Combo Drive. 3rd party RAM for just under 1600.

If you order online from Apple using the EDU discount it will be much less expensive.

Your second option would be to wait til you get to college, then go to an Apple retail Store and show them Collge ID and Drivers license and get it from them.

That price i noted above was with the edu discount. Looks like I have to wait one more day before I can order it.

How long do BTO machines usually take?

typoon · May 20, 2004, 01:36 PM

Originally posted by TheMosco:
That price i noted above was with the edu discount. Looks like I have to wait one more day before I can order it.

How long do BTO machines usually take?

I would order it with the standard 256 Megs of RAM then get the other 256 from a 3rd party vendor. It'll save you a couple of hundred dollars

TheMosco · May 20, 2004, 02:05 PM

Originally posted by typoon:
I would order it with the standard 256 Megs of RAM then get the other 256 from a 3rd party vendor. It'll save you a couple of hundred dollars

You can't BTO that on that model.

typoon · May 20, 2004, 02:20 PM

Originally posted by TheMosco:
You can't BTO that on that model.

oh my bad.

madmacgames · May 20, 2004, 02:30 PM

Well lets just assume the next powerbooks are the G5's. In my opinion, you would be much better off with a 2nd or 3rd revision AL G4 book than with a 1st revision G5. Inevitably the 1st revisions will have some problems (probably minor problems) that will then get ironed out in the 2nd revisions.

On the length of time, I guess it depends on the time of year, but last September 26th I ordered a 2nd revision 12" powerbook at the apple online EDU store and it shipped out of Taiwan on October 1st and arrived at my door October 3rd.

TheMosco · May 20, 2004, 02:33 PM

Originally posted by typoon:
oh my bad.

I wish i could because I am probably going to be buying a 512MB chip for it so that means I will have an extra 256Mb chip.

James L · May 20, 2004, 02:43 PM

Originally posted by rglenn:
You can get the educational discount from a retail store, like in a mall? Cool!

Any idea if Canadian students can get the same deal at a USian Apple Store?

When it comes to the online stores... no. For example, as a Canadian you cannot, for example, buy a refurbed PB off the US store. They will not accept a Visa coming from out of the US, will not ship outside of the US, and will not ship to a post office box. You would need a US Credit Card and a valid US address to ship to.

If you want to get a PB with an educational discount in Canada (I have done this before) then you need to either use the online store at Apple Canada's website or order through your univeristy or college. I don't know about the 3rd party online stores.

Cheers!

rglenn · May 20, 2004, 03:51 PM

I was more referring to the retail stores (specifically, the one in Walden Galleria). This is purely for the "walking out the door and subsequently playing with it" factor, as opposed to the "order it and wait a week in nervous anticipation while the company sees a massive increase in FedEx hits" effect.

(And my University's bookstore wants far too much markup, without actually having any in stock. Bummer.)

cybermat · May 20, 2004, 11:51 PM

If you don't need it right away, you might want to wait till July or August to get one. Apple might offer some kind of back to school deal on top of your educational discount. I got my 15" in September last year and I got the everything you need for school package which includes the computer, 10gig Ipod and a printer plus $450 CDN rebate. I ended up paying $99 CDN for the Ipod and the printer was free. This was on top of the educational discount that I got from my computer. I am not sure if Apple will offer a similar deal this year, but it's worth considering before you buy. Beside, by that time, there should be some new powerbook rumors of the upcoming revision and we will all have a better gauge on the release date of the next revision.

rglenn · May 21, 2004, 12:01 AM

Interesting... did that offer apply to all models?

cybermat · May 21, 2004, 12:09 AM

Originally posted by rglenn:
Interesting... did that offer apply to all models?

The offer was only valid for the powerbook which included the new models that came out in September last year.

jstein · May 21, 2004, 12:41 AM

Mosco my man, go for it. Why wait? The " win win" move for you is to go for your powerbook now. If something happens to go wrong, you will know before school starts and can have all the reapairs or even a new shipped to you. Plus by the time school starts, you can have all your personal "tweaks" in place. Also, do not forget if you get it now by the time school starts, maybe you can get a few other things for yourself. Since the purchase of the powerbook by then would have died down in the mind of your parents

.

There is no sense in waiting, the whole upgrade situation can be messy. The G5 powerbook is not here yet. When it does arrive there will be the typical problems of a Rev A release and remember this will not by a typical Rev A we jump into a whole new processor whew!

Keep us posted on your decision and I hope to hear how you are enjoying your new powerbook soon......

TheMosco · May 21, 2004, 02:39 PM

One last question, my brother thinks I should go with the 12 inch possibly because of the size difference. It says that it might be important when you have to use a small desk, or need room because of alot of books, I am wondering if you think the added portability of the 12 inch out weighs the loss in features and speed that would be gained by the 15 inch.

nagromme · May 21, 2004, 02:55 PM

I always advice that people wait--either for new models, or special promos/pricing. But summer's not that long, and a revolutionary new PB G5 isn't likely until the fall or later--even winter. So you have to ask yourself if your use of the 'Book over the summer is worth it. Keep in mind that it might be nice to have your new system all set up and comfortable before school starts.

15" vs. 12" is personal. Look at both. The 15 will perform better--especially for games. The 15" has a brighter, amazing screen. I love my 15" and wouldn't trade it. Desk space is hardly a concern.

BUT portability is. The 15" doesn't seem big--but wow, that 12" is small! VERY portable and handy. If you can tolerate the smaller/dimmer screen, and the loss of some speed, it's worth thinking about. Cheaper, too!

And BE SURE TO GET EDUCATION PRICING. Students pay $200 or so less for PowerBooks! A lot of software has education pricing too--not through Apple, necessarily, just their own deals.

Enjoy your new 'Book.

TheMosco · May 21, 2004, 03:12 PM

Originally posted by nagromme:
I always advice that people wait--either for new models, or special promos/pricing. But summer's not that long, and a revolutionary new PB G5 isn't likely until the fall or later--even winter. So you have to ask yourself if your use of the 'Book over the summer is worth it. Keep in mind that it might be nice to have your new system all set up and comfortable before school starts.

15" vs. 12" is personal. Look at both. The 15 will perform better--especially for games. The 15" has a brighter, amazing screen. I love my 15" and wouldn't trade it. Desk space is hardly a concern.

BUT portability is. The 15" doesn't seem big--but wow, that 12" is small! VERY portable and handy. If you can tolerate the smaller/dimmer screen, and the loss of some speed, it's worth thinking about. Cheaper, too!

And BE SURE TO GET EDUCATION PRICING. Students pay $200 or so less for PowerBooks! A lot of software has education pricing too--not through Apple, necessarily, just their own deals.

Enjoy your new 'Book.

One of the reasons That I would like to get a powerbook befor esummer is because right now I have my MDD and my athlon system running basically all day and as summer creeps up its getting hotter and hotter in here with 2 machines running. I need my pc to being running because its an MCE system and I use my mac alot so i need that on so it would be nice t have a laptop to keep the heat down in the room.

I have used the 15inch alot and I don't find it too big at all, i actually find the 12 inch too small for my tastes. I am happy with the 15 inch, but i didn't know if the 12 would be easier to handle in a school atmosphere. I would rather have the backlight keyboard, the 1.5 Ghz g4, firewire 2, better graphics, bigger screen, etc than a smaller computer.

rglenn · May 21, 2004, 03:17 PM

Research shows that last year's iPod deal started May 30th.

So do like me, and wait 9 days, while your hand starts idly tapping out your CC number on the number pad...

TheMosco · May 21, 2004, 03:24 PM

I already have a 20 gig ipod and a nice printer so i don't really have to worry about that.

amazing · May 21, 2004, 04:33 PM

Originally posted by TheMosco:
I already have a 20 gig ipod and a nice printer so i don't really have to worry about that.

Well, the idea would be to get the freebies (or rebates) and then sell them off so you defray some of your costs.

Get the 12", because you know you're going to be seriously interested in the G5 laptop (though it's always best to bypass the rev A model, witness the 15" AlPB). If you lay out less money now you'll have a better argument for upgrading next year. If money's no object then you can disregard this...

You should wait at least until WWDC, not that there'll be any laptop announcements, but Tiger is on for demo, not news about when it will ship, but you'll have a better idea as to when it'll come with the laptop and how much it will be. Do you wanna pay $130 or so (do you think Apple will put it out for free??) in just a little over a month?

TheMosco · May 21, 2004, 04:47 PM

not really worried about the tiger thing. I wouldn't say that money isn't an issue but I figure in a year or 2 if i want to buy another laptop, I can sell what i have then and get a student ADC account and use my one time purchase which really should save me a lot of money.

� 1.5GHz PowerPC G4 with 128MB Graphics Memory
� 512MB DDR333 SDRAM - 2x256 SO-DIMMs
� 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400 rpm
� SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
� Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
� AirPort Extreme Card
� 15.2-inch TFT Display

Subtotal $2,389.0

thats what i plan on getting and that includes the edu discount.

chipchen · May 21, 2004, 04:58 PM

buy it now.

no revised powerbooks til probably real late in the year, if not next year.

you've got an ipod, so no deals to think about.

get it for the summer fun!

TheMosco · May 21, 2004, 09:42 PM

I bought it.

� 1.5GHz PowerPC G4 with 128MB Graphics Memory
� 512MB DDR333 SDRAM - 2x256 SO-DIMMs
� 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400 rpm
� SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
� Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
� AirPort Extreme Card
� 15.2-inch TFT Display

Subtotal $2,389.00

plus 5 percent tax(ugh) but its coming. I can't wait.

Lateralus · May 21, 2004, 09:54 PM

Congratulations man!

You're gonna turn to mush when you take it out of the box.

TheMosco · May 21, 2004, 09:57 PM

I have already turned to mush and all I have done so far is order it.

but now i have to sell my powermac which is kinda sad. Its been a good machine.

jstein · May 21, 2004, 10:02 PM

Originally posted by TheMosco:
I have already turned to mush and all I have done so far is order it.

but now i have to sell my powermac which is kinda sad. Its been a good machine.

Congrats on your new powerbook!

rglenn · May 22, 2004, 07:22 AM

Originally posted by TheMosco:
plus 5 percent tax(ugh) but its coming. I can't wait.

5%? Try Canada. 7% federal tax plus 8% provincial tax.

That's why I'm only getting the 12"

amazing · May 22, 2004, 10:14 AM

Originally posted by rglenn:
5%? Try Canada. 7% federal tax plus 8% provincial tax.

That's why I'm only getting the 12"

What happens if you do mail-order in Canada? For example, I believe that smalldog.com will ship to you, and I don't believe they'd charge tax? Also, you can do a CTO thru smalldog, with a small delay for prep time.

Seems like that's worth a phone call??

TheMosco · May 22, 2004, 11:06 AM

Originally posted by rglenn:
5%? Try Canada. 7% federal tax plus 8% provincial tax.

That's why I'm only getting the 12"

hmmm, free healthcare or 15 inch powerbook? free healthcare or 15 inch powerbook? ah screw free healthcare, i want the 15inch powerbook. 15 percent tax is rough.

cybermat · May 22, 2004, 02:02 PM

Yeah it sucks to be Canadian when it comes to taxation.

Congratulations on your purchase. The powerbooks are great. I have the previous generation 15" and I love it. Too bad, I can't seem to justify to upgrade to the newest generation.

Cheers

Nebagakid · May 23, 2004, 10:33 AM

Originally posted by cybermat:
Yeah it sucks to be Canadian

oh dear....

yeah, i am waiting till the end of August... because, I am just hoping and wishing that Apple decides to pull a PB G5 out of its ass.

todrain · May 23, 2004, 10:46 AM

Originally posted by Nebagakid:
oh dear....

yeah, i am waiting till the end of August... because, I am just hoping and wishing that Apple decides to pull a PB G5 out of its ass.

I figure that when the next revision rolls around, the 1.5s will be maybe $500 less than today, so I might pick up one then to replace my TI. (If it should be a G5, the discount might get even steeper... when the G4s came out, the Pismos dropped like $800 or so)

Ryan1524 · May 23, 2004, 05:04 PM

speaking of discounts, i'm planning to take advantage of the ADC discount. it's about 20%, and the above setup with a 1DIMM 512 MB add up to about CAD$2836 that's a very very good price me thinks and that's with the membership cost included. and besides, the 99USD membership cost will pay for itself when i get free previews of the upcoming OSs as a member of the 'developer' community.

i was planning on saving it till i'm close to graduation to buy some crazy mac setup (some crazy powermac G7 with multiple 30"displays or something..) but then i thought it's better to use it now. who knows what'll happen in 4 years and if the time will be right to get that setup. the discount might actually pass unused.

what do you think? good decision?

TheMosco · May 24, 2004, 11:57 AM

It shipped, its funny that it says that it was shipped from:

F/G Distribution Center
Elk Grove, Ca 95758

but fedex tracking has it leaving Shanghai, CN.

sbc · May 24, 2004, 12:27 PM

Does anyone honestly expect a PB G5 to be out by January '05?

garson · May 24, 2004, 08:23 PM

I was in the same situation as you Mosco, and I bought the Powerbook. Couldn't be happier. Mine was shipped from Shanghai too heh. FedEx flew it all around the place... Shanghai > Alaska > Winnipeg > Tennessee > and then finally Vancouver.

I wish I went with the 5400 RPM drive though... the 4800 feels a little slow.

TheMosco · May 24, 2004, 09:53 PM

Originally posted by garson:
I was in the same situation as you Mosco, and I bought the Powerbook. Couldn't be happier. Mine was shipped from Shanghai too heh. FedEx flew it all around the place... Shanghai > Alaska > Winnipeg > Tennessee > and then finally Vancouver.

I wish I went with the 5400 RPM drive though... the 4800 feels a little slow.

how long did all that take?

garson · May 24, 2004, 11:04 PM

Originally posted by TheMosco:
how long did all that take?

less than a week!

TheMosco · May 27, 2004, 10:36 AM

Its here!! and NO dead pixels!!!

AppleCello · May 27, 2004, 11:50 AM

Originally posted by TheMosco:
Its here!! and NO dead pixels!!!

mine didnt have dead pixels either. than 15 developed. so i had the screen replaced. No dead pixels again! now i have a ton again. I will get around to having it replaced again, but for the moment (im in france) its more hassle than its worth. maybe i will wait right until before apple care expires in 2 years. That way i will have a new, bright screen right at the end of warranty.

P

TheMosco · May 27, 2004, 06:17 PM

this is bs, my semicolon key doesn't work right. I have to press it in a weird way to make it work. would the apple store fix that or would they have to send it in?

Phrixus · May 27, 2004, 07:14 PM

I have a question...

What is WWDC? And why is it so important to wait for?

I live on a small Island that lies between England and France and I am sure neither of those countries has that on the calendar... we dont!!