[Walker]

I'm in a bind. I currently live in South Dakota, U.S.A. However, on Dec. 29th, my family and I are taking a trip to Australia. We will stay in Australia for the entire year of 2005 before we return to the U.S.A.. I currently own a 15" DVI G4 667 powerbook, but have been planning on upgrading before this trip (actually I was going to let the kids use it for chatting with their friends back home). I had hoped that Apple would release the next Powerbook revision in November, but now it looks like they will wait until after we head down under.

I am torn whether I should bite the bullet now and purchase a powerbook (I'm leaning toward the 12" model because of it's portability), or should I wait until after we move, and see if the MacWorld expo will bring us a new revision. I really didn't want to purchase the powerbook in Australia because I've heard the prices are quite a bit higher and I don't believe there will be any local computer support where we will be living (in the Apollo Bay, Victoria area). Also, I've heard that the small graphics card in the 12" powerbook isn't optimal for Tiger. I'd really hate myself if Apple's next powerbook revision contains a 12" powerbook that has a faster processor, upgradable video card, and larger hard drive (and it comes out 3 weeks after I purchased my already outdated powerbook).

Why, oh why couldn't have apple followed their general trend and released a powerbook before Christmas?!.

Any advice?

thanks,

lw

[JKT]

First of all, why not visit the Australian apple store online to see how prices really do compare? With the US dollar being so pathetically weak at the moment, it might not be as bad as you think. Be aware that other stores probably include the tax in the quoted price whereas the US store generally doesn't. I don't know what the % is in Australia, but if it is anything like Europe or the UK, it could be as high as 20%.

Secondly, what are the laws on tax exemption if you were to buy it in Aus? As a foreign national you may find that you can claim back any tax on the purchase which could make it a lot cheaper/equivalent to buying it in the US.

Alternatively, why can't you purchase it in the US and have it shipped to you in Australia (e.g. by a friend) - however, you may get hit by import duties doing this.

One thing is certain - there definitely will not be any updates prior to the new year.

[urrl78]

Forget the kids; I had a 667 DVI; it is a super cool, quiet and sweet machine. I would keep it until the new Powerbooks arrive then let the kids have the 667 DVI. This advice is from someone who now has a 1.5 Ghz 17". Come to think of it I would probably buy a cheapo PC for the kids and not upgrade till I return to the states then sell the DVI. I am such a penny pincher...

[Voch]

I'm still chugging along with my TiBook 667/DVI. I haven't seen a seriously compelling reason to upgrade myself but I don't do much that is RAM-intensive or processor-intensive (the new 'Books have a higher RAM ceiling and, of course, faster CPUs and video chips). I have been tempted by the latest inexpensive iBooks but have held my ground.

I'm likely just going get myself an upgrade when my AppleCare is up in February 2006 unless something compelling comes along or I accidentally run it over with my car or something. This is the longest I've ever gone without upgrading my Mac...

Voch

[molala]

Tax in Australia is 10%. I don't remember the prices being much higher than US prices, and they have done price drops with changes in currency rates. There are Apple Centres in Melbourne, and other authorized resellers. I've gotten good service from Next Byte in the past (nextbyte.com.au).

[adamberti]

While prices do seem higher in non-US countries, I do know that prices are adjusted when new models come out.

I purchased a the 1 GHz TiBook with a superdrive when it came out, and it was damn expensive, over 4 grand. When apple released the Aluminum PowerBooks and the CDN dollar had gained significantly vs the US dollar, prices were adjusted - way down. Same with the iPod I bought, and same with the new iPod revisions. So if there is a new Product announced in January, and the currency rates have changed significantly, you can expect the price to change in Australia too.

[Walker]

Thanks for the replies. You've all given me more to think about.

One thing I forgot to mention is that I'll be using iSight for video conferencing and I've heard that the 667 powerbook is just barely above the minimum requirements for this need. Also, if I purchased the laptop now, I would be able to transfer all my files from my main computer (my quicksilver).

I guess I'm leaning toward purchasing the laptop before we leave. But boy am I going to hate myself after the expo.

lw

[HasanDaddy]

Usually I would tell you to BUY NOW

however...... we are talking a G5 upgrade here (possibly)

wait

Keep in mind though ---- the G5 PB is probably going to have some BACKORDERED shipping delays

while it 'could' be announced in January, it would likely not ship out until Febuary or March..... maybe even April

If you can hold off that long, then get a G5

[im_noahselby]

Originally posted by Walker:
Also, I've heard that the small graphics card in the 12" powerbook isn't optimal for Tiger.

The 12" PB's 64MB graphics card won't be optimal for Tiger? This is news to me...

The current 12" PB is a sweet machine. It's a waiting game from here on out. If I were in your shoes though, I'd pick up a 12" PB before you move to Australia. Their prices are ridiculously high over there, from what I've heard.

Another thing you need to ask yourself: Do you really want to buy a G5 PowerBook, revison "a"? There are bound to be things that need to be worked out. A revision "b" or even "c" PowerBook sounds far more appealing, at least to me. If Apple does indeed have G5 PowerBooks ready at MacWorld, it will be by the skin of their teeth. G4 PowerBook updates are still far more likely.

I think it would be unreasonable to expect anything more than a slight boost to the graphics card in the next 12" PB, certainly nothing more than 64MB (which is the same graphics memory in the current 12" PB's).

Good luck with your decision. Think it through. It's not an easy decision to make, but only you can decide whats best for you in the end.

Noah

[PER3]

With a weak US dollar, you're going to use up a lot more greenbacks buying in Australia as it takes quite some time for currency fluctuations to filter through. Check out the Apple page for Australia (as someone mentioned).

On the other hand, you can still get an education discount there and you get your 10% sales tax back when you leave the country.

[JKT]

Originally posted by im_noahselby:
The 12" PB's 64MB graphics card won't be optimal for Tiger? This is news to me...

From what I understand about the "Motion" style graphics (via Core Image) that are going to be available in Tiger, the more RAM your vid card has, the better. Your 64MB may be adequate or good, but they aren't going to be optimal. Also, the power available to you will also depend a lot on the features (such as pixel and vertex shading capabilities) that the card is capable of.

Quote from Apple:

The performance gains and features supported by Core Image ultimately depend on the graphics card. Graphics cards capable of pixel-level programming deliver the best performance. But Core Image automatically scales as appropriate for systems with older graphics cards, for compatibility with any Tiger-compatible Mac.

[MasonMcD]

Originally posted by JKT:
From what I understand about the "Motion" style graphics (via Core Image) that are going to be available in Tiger, the more RAM your vid card has, the better. Your 64MB may be adequate or good, but they aren't going to be optimal. Also, the power available to you will also depend a lot on the features (such as pixel and vertex shading capabilities) that the card is capable of.

Quote from Apple:

The performance gains and features supported by Core Image ultimately depend on the graphics card. Graphics cards capable of pixel-level programming deliver the best performance. But Core Image automatically scales as appropriate for systems with older graphics cards, for compatibility with any Tiger-compatible Mac.

But you left out the information on the cards. The 12" has a Tiger-supported card. All the card needs is pixel-level programability, which is not related to beefiness or VRAM, but the newer chip designs:

Supported graphics cards:


ATI Radeon 9800 XT
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
ATI Radeon 9600 XT
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra
NVIDIA GeForceFX Go 5200
NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 Ultra

These cards are available in today�s PowerBooks, Power Mac G5s and both the 17-inch and 20-inch iMac.

[Eug Wanker]

Buy a 1.2 GHz iBook 12" for the year, and then get a G5 PowerBook when you get back.