[boomerdang]

I'm kind of new to macs, at least powerbooks-- I was thinking about buying a refurb from apple, specifically the 12" powerbook they have for $1,199. I'm hoping to pick one up before school starts in sept but was wondering if anyone on this board thought that after wwdc powerbook prices would go down. If anyone has noticed a pattern in price drops after these events, I'd appreciate it.
thx,
billy

[Zeeb]

Originally Posted by boomerdang

I'm kind of new to macs, at least powerbooks-- I was thinking about buying a refurb from apple, specifically the 12" powerbook they have for $1,199. I'm hoping to pick one up before school starts in sept but was wondering if anyone on this board thought that after wwdc powerbook prices would go down. If anyone has noticed a pattern in price drops after these events, I'd appreciate it.
thx,
billy

I wouldn't even spend $900 for a refurbished powerbook at this point. Apple is focusing almost entirely on their new intel architecture as are developers. If you're on a budget get a cheap Macbook. It's faster than the powerbook you are considering. If you must get a new powerbook, there are tons of deals out there that will only get better the longer you can wait--just plan on replacing your computer in a year.

[stwain2003]

Get a MacBook! You won't be disappointed 2 y ears down the road when the PowerBook isn't even supported by Apple's new software anymore. The MacBook will last you through everything Intel. You won't regreat it. And heck! It's 100 dollars cheaper!

[mBurns]

The PPC architecture will be supported years down the road. If you follow Apple's old history of chip switching, they usually support the chips for 5 years.

[Zeeb]

Originally Posted by mBurns

The PPC architecture will be supported years down the road. If you follow Apple's old history of chip switching, they usually support the chips for 5 years.

Yes, but what does "supported" mean? I recently bought a game that was in universal binary --which means it could conceivably run on both powerpc and intel based machines. However, the only powerpc chip it could run on is a high end G5. The game would sputter and die on a G4. Unless you want to carry a powermac around with you(already discontinued as of yesterday by the way) then you should go with an intel machine.

I expect the same type "universal" support for other applications as well(non-games). These applications will run on G5 macs, but many will likely never run on G4's--which is the chip in the powerbook you are considering. The only bright side is that leopard will likely run on a newer G4.

It's just my opinion, but don't buy a Power PC mac unless you've got money to throw around and plan on replacing your computer sooner rather than later.

[boomerdang]

Yeah I was thinking about a macbook originally-- but later I decided what I needed was some thing that's dependable and portable for school. I want some thing I can do research on and burn some cds. I thought that meant the last generation of powerbooks instead of the first generation of macbooks. What do you all think?
billy

[glhart]

My wife is using an old iMac (CRT) with OS 9. She's very happy with it, it works perfectly, and she doesn't want to upgrade. These machines last a LONG time, and if you're a normal user, you don't need to buy a something new every year or two. If you get the last generation Powerbook, you'll probably be able to use it for many years. Of course, you won't be able to play the latest games. By the way, my wife's iMac does run Tiger, and pretty well. But she doesn't like it. Her portable is a clamshell iBook, and that also works perfectly. It also runs Tiger (though she uses OS 9). Actually, there are some great programs for OS 9 -- especially Nisus. Obviously, you can't run these on Intel chips.

[Zeeb]

Originally Posted by boomerdang

Yeah I was thinking about a macbook originally-- but later I decided what I needed was some thing that's dependable and portable for school. I want some thing I can do research on and burn some cds. I thought that meant the last generation of powerbooks instead of the first generation of macbooks. What do you all think?
billy

I'm not sure why you would consider a Powerbook more reliable than a Macbook. In any case everyone I've known with a Macbook has loved it. Some have even traded in a Macbook Pro to get one.

If don't plan to do demanding stuff, a Powerbook should be fine for awhile-and I'm not saying they aren't good computers. It's just your original plan to buy a 12 inch PB for *gasp* $1200 is not advisable.

It's as if you're buying a new TV, and you've decided to purchase a 19 inch tube set over a 32 inch LCD TV for the same price. The 19 inch tube might be just fine, but did you get the best value?