[Tiresias]

In other words, how long do you keep a computer before getting a new one? (I'm thinking particularly of laptops here—being portable, with wear-and-tear, and all that).

I'm trying to convince my wife I need a new MacBook.

I've got a 11" PowerBook G4 SuperDrive I bought about a year and a half ago.

• No magnetic adaptor.
• No inbuilt camera.
• Only 80 GB.*

* Not enough now that iTunes sell movies.



I want to buy the new 17" MacBook Pro.

Is it too soon? Is she right? Am I being unreasonable? How often do you upgrade?

This should really be a poll, but, oh well.

[OldManMac]

I used to buy a new one every two years or so, but my current iMac is over 4 years old (Aug. 2002), and still works very well for my needs (although the Superdrive is slow by today's standards), so I'll probably keep it another year or so. I just sold my 1.33 Ghz iBook G4, which i bought in July 2005, because I no longer need a portable.

Unless you need a portable, you'd get more bang for your buck in a new iMac.

[kmkkid]

I try to buy one whenever I have the funds/credit to do so. It's literally a cycle of buying a computer, paying it off then buying another. I usually give my old computers away when I buy the new one cause I really can't be bothered trying to sell them on ebay. So I'd say a new one every 1-1 1/2 years.


I'll probably buy a new iMac when it has another major overhaul on the innards, and I just bought this one last July.

[mduell]

When I need a new one.

Which lately has been 1.5 years, 3 years, and 4 years.

[turtle777]

I'm still using my 500 MHz iBook (Dual USB), purchased in 2001. I also have a Mac mini G4 1.42 GHz.
Can't justify spending the money on a new Mac right now, although I would like to get an iMac.

-t

[Gossamer]

I've bought computers:
-PM 7100 in Summer '98
-iMac DV in Fall '00
-iBook G4 in Winter '04
-Built PC in Summer '06

It's basically when I get enough money to buy a new one. I almost bought a MBP last month but decided not to at the last minute. Which is good because I ended up having to shell out a bunch to fix my car.
If I hadn't ruined my iBook's screen in a bike accident, I'd still be using that daily, but now it's connected to my TV/receiver via s-video.

[iMOTOR]

I'm still using my 1ghz 12 inch PowerBook I bought sept. 03. I would have bought a MBP the second they came out if Apple had introduced a 12inch model. So it looks like I will keep my trusty PowerBook for as long as it lives. As for my 20inch core duo iMac, it runs Final Cut Pro pretty well so I see no reason to upgrade in the near future.

[Railroader]

Aug. 15th, 1998 iMac Rev. a
May 2001 Pismo
Jan. 2004 eMac
June 2006 MacBook

so... between 2-3 years for me.

[flyordiedays]

I also buy as funds allow, but my current one is a 12" G4 that I bought used in July, which was made in February.

[climber]

Desktop 5+
Notebook 3+

[climber]

What would be the oldest mac capable of actually posting on this board?

[Tenacious Dyl]

More than one a year. 10 in the last 6 years, about half bought/traded Used:
iMac G3, 3 Powermac G3's (B&W), iBook G3, iMac G4, Powermac G4 (Sawtooth), Powerbook G4, 2 G5 Towers, Macbook Pro

[Chuckit]

I buy a new computer when my old one either breaks or is insufficient to reasonably do something I need to do. That would be anywhere from two to five years in general. In your case, it sounds like your objections would be much more cheaply solved with an external drive (or a replacement internal drive) and a USB webcam.

But hey, if you've got $3000 burning a hole in your pocket, knock yourself out. I just know I don't.

[volcano]

May 2005 - 20" iMac G5
August 2005 - 12" iBook G4
October 2006 - 15" MacBook Pro

In my stupidity, I sold my 12" iBook locally in February/March 2006, thinking that the new iBooks (MacBooks) would be just around the corner. Well, as most of you know, they weren't released until June of that year, and by then I had spent a good amount of that money I had saved from the sale of the laptop, so I couldn't afford a MacBook when it was released. Not only that, but I soon found out what a bad idea it was to sell my laptop: the portability was needed, and it was harder than hell to show clients my work, bring my work on flash drives to class and hope the PCs/Macs would open everything okay in Photoshop/Illustrator with the correct fonts, etc. I decided to get power AND portability, so when school began last semester, I decided I was going to sell my iMac and apply that money towards the purchase of a 15" MBP. I did, and now I couldn't be happier with my Core 2 Duo MBP

I upgrade as I see fit. Honestly, if I had done what I had originally planned last year and purchased a MacBook when they came out, I would be happy to still be using my iMac G5. It was a rock-solid machine that worked flawlessly.

[Big Mac]

Most recently, I have upgraded every six to seven years. The shortest amount of time between upgrades for me has been four years (Quadra 650 to Power Mac 8600). Since my 8600 was my main desktop for seven years, I expect my G5 - the greatest Mac ever - to last at least a decade.

[Jawbone54]

I used a 1 GHz G4 iBook for about two years, then bought a G4 PowerBook 1.67 GHz with an 80 GB hard drive, which I've had for over a year now.

If I had the money, I'd like to buy a 20" iMac for the house and some light graphics work, and get a MacBook for the road, writing, school, and web-browsing.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I buy a new computer when my old one either breaks or is insufficient to reasonably do something I need to do. That would be anywhere from two to five years in general. In your case, it sounds like your objections would be much more cheaply solved with an external drive (or a replacement internal drive) and a USB webcam.

But hey, if you've got $3000 burning a hole in your pocket, knock yourself out. I just know I don't.

I already have 70 GB of movies on an external.

My problem is most of what's now taking up my harddisk is music, which I want on iTunes.

Problem: I am a classical music freak, and have the complete works of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven on CD. If I rip all this, it is going to take up about 50 GB.

I already have about 28 GB in iTunes, and iTunes is getting sluggish.

Presently, I have 13 GB free out of 80. Not enough.

Oh, and I don't have $3,000 cash burning a hole in my pocket. Money is an object, so long as my wife selfishly insists on eating 3 meals a day.

[jebjeb]

What about just putting a new, larger drive in your PowerBook? Of course a new machine will be better in many areas though.

As for your question:

- 1999 - G3 PowerMac
- 2001 - G4 Powerbook
- 2005 - Quad G5 PowerMac (still have)
- 2006 - MacBookPro (still have)
- 2006 - Mac Mini (still have)
- 2006 - Mac Mini (still have)

I buy when I have a need. And due to multiple needs, there is no "standard" single machine upgrade cycle.

[Peter]

every 9 months or so...

[ajprice]

1996 - Performa 6400/200
2001 - PowerMac G4/867

I'm due a new one, lol.

[Judge_Fire]

Originally Posted by climber 

What would be the oldest mac capable of actually posting on this board?

The original, maybe. A Mac Plus (1986) looks easier. See this article.

For a browser, I'd just telnet over to a server and run Lynx, a text-based one. But an actual browser might well be available for System 6.

[andreas_g4]

I buy a new Mac approx. every year, sometimes a bit earlier, sometimes a bit later. I almost never buy top of the line, though. (iBooks, iMacs, low-end PowerBooks, Mac mini, MacBook (current))

[Kevin]

I had my blueberry G3 tower for 4 years.

So far 3 on the G4 tower.

[slpdLoad]

I first wait until funds allow, then put that money aside, and buy when I need something more powerful.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Most recently, I have upgraded every six to seven years. The shortest amount of time between upgrades for me has been four years (Quadra 650 to Power Mac 8600). Since my 8600 was my main desktop for seven years, I expect my G5 - the greatest Mac ever - to last at least a decade.

8600 = One of the best Macs in history.

[Kevin]

I have an old 8600 in my office on a second desk that I use sometimes for printing various jobs I don't want to deal with on my computer. Still runs great.

You can sorta see it here in this old pic that was taken like 2 years ago (Notice the HA HA guy. It said "HA HA, YOU ARE DESIGNING THE ADS FOR THE SETTING!")

[ort888]

I had the same problem you did. I bought an old G4 Quicksilver from my work and slapped a huge hard drive in there.

Final cost to me was around $400, and now I have a nice second computer.

I like having my iTunes computer be a non-laptop... because I can leave it on 24/7 to download podcasts and what-not. My laptop is usually asleep.

[Scifience]

I buy a new computer (not necessarily a Mac) about every four to six months. I'm counting new servers in this figure as these are not for a company I work for, but for my own use.

Desktops only, probably every nine months to a year.

Yes, I spend way too much money on this stuff. Go buy my shareware and help support my addiction.

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

Every 2 years

1.5 years to go 'till new Mac

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Scifience 

Go buy my shareware and help support my addiction.

No offense but I can get the same features for free.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Scifience 

I buy a new computer (not necessarily a Mac) about every four to six months. I'm counting new servers in this figure as these are not for a company I work for, but for my own use.

Desktops only, probably every nine months to a year.

Yes, I spend way too much money on this stuff. Go buy my shareware and help support my addiction.

What on earth do you do for a living, sell cocaine to Paris Hilton?

[nonhuman]

I'm currently using the original dual 2.0 GHz G5 PowerMac. With 1.5 GB RAM, and just over 1 TB of HD space it's more than adequate for everything I want to do with it (though I'm constantly running out of HD and needing to burn things to DVD, I'll probably have to get another eSATA PCI card and throw on another TB or so of storage in the near future). I've had it for a little over 2 years now, and don't see any reason that I would be replacing it any time soon. I expect to have it for another 2-3 years minimum.

I've also got a black MacBook that I bought last summer because my G5 was in storage for a couple months and I needed a computer. I pretty much never use it except when we want to watch a movie in bed or are traveling, so am considering getting rid of it.

[mdc]

February 2003 - November 2003. 12" iBook G3 800mhz.
January 2004 - May 2004. 12" PowerBook G4 1ghz. (sold it because I found a refurbished 15")
May 2004 - November 2005. 15" Powerbook 1.25ghz.
May 2005 - November 2005. 17" iMac. (sold it because I didn't like having 2 computers).
November 2005 - Now. 17" 1.67ghz PowerBook. My current computer which I will replace later this year.

[Scifience]

Originally Posted by Kevin 

No offense but I can get the same features for free.

I realize that. Everything can be done via the terminal / dev tools if one knows what they are doing. But I packaged it up in a nice little GUI for the people who otherwise wouldn't know what to do or who would be afraid to try it.

Originally Posted by Chuckit

What on earth do you do for a living, sell cocaine to Paris Hilton?

I'm a student, actually. But I do Internet marketing in my spare time. And no, not spam. I buy sponsored listings on search engines for different products using affiliate links and get a comission when people buy things. I also sell webhosting (including to that archenemy of MacNN). Anyone need a server? That, and the shareware mentioned above.

[medicineman]

Most husband purchases have a WAF. (Wife Approval Factor) That involves neither a logical nor concensus argument. Each encounter requires different tactics. Your mileage may differ.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Scifience 

I realize that. Everything can be done via the terminal / dev tools if one knows what they are doing. But I packaged it up in a nice little GUI for the people who otherwise wouldn't know what to do or who would be afraid to try it.

Yeah they make GUI tools that does this for free. That is what I was referring to.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by medicineman 

Most husband purchases have a WAF. (Wife Approval Factor) That involves neither a logical nor concensus argument. Each encounter requires different tactics. Your mileage may differ.

I would say depends on the wife. I don't think I would marry a gal that required me ask her permission how to spend money I earned.

Of course this taking for granted all the bills and everything are taken care of.

There are people who spend money they don't have.

[Scifience]

Originally Posted by Kevin 

Yeah they make GUI tools that does this for free. That is what I was referring to.

As far as I knew, SafariSpeed was the only GUI tool that disabled the page loading delay. There are a ton of tools that do the debug menu, Aqua interface, etc. I think Safari Enhancer does the favorite icons as well.

(Not that it matters, but I was the first to do the Aqua thing *years* ago, two days after Safari came out. Anyone remember Safari Aquafier and the stupid .pkg installer? Over 150,000 downloads, though.)

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

My main desktop computer I usually replace every 2-3 years. My current dual G5 has been around the longest at 3.5 years and I have no real urge to upgrade it yet as it is pretty loaded with RAM and storage. I have a 20" LCD on it which I do find much to small though and will replace it with at 30" when apple releases the new wave of em hopefully with iSights.

I haven't really decided if my next upgrade will be another tower though. They are great but I don't need the PCI slots or internal storage. I just need tons of RAM and CPU which kinda forces me to get a tower.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I buy a new computer when my old one either breaks or is insufficient to reasonably do something I need to do. That would be anywhere from two to five years in general.

This is basically my upgrade path. Except I have yet to have anything break.

I bought my first iMac as an "experience". Pure Windows guy before that.
I bought the Pismo for firewire and portability.
I bought my eMac for video editing and DVD burning.
I bought the MacBook for portability and USB2.

[OreoCookie]

21 December 1987: Commodore Amiga 500 with 14" screen (1084)
I remember when it was delivered. Best. Xmas. Present. Ever. It was years ahead of its time
1994: PC (AMD 486 DX-40, overclocked to 50 MHz, graphics accelerator -- a brand-new feature)
What a disappointment. They forgot to include Windows 3.1 when they delivered my machine. I was staring at DOS prompts for two weeks.
late 1998/early 1999: PowerBook G3 Kanga (when ebay was still cheap )
With the exception of the small screen, this machine ruled. 96 MB RAM, 5 GB of harddrive, much more than desktops had at that time.
2001: iBook G3 500, soon succeeded by an iBook G3 600, 14" (replacement unit by Apple)
I bought this machine because I fell in love with OS X. Although OS X felt like swimming through molasses on that machine, especially 10.0.3 which was included.
December 2002: iBook G3 800 (640 MB RAM, 30 --> 80 GB harddrive)
The unlucky machine. I was on my fourth motherboard when the voltage regulator died. Apart from that, it was the first machine that could handle OS X (in particular its QE-capable graphics card compensated for the lack in processing power).
August 2005: PowerBook G4 1.25 (temporary replacement for the iBook)
My department borrowed it to me when my iBook broke down.
March 2006: ProBook (2 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 100 GB harddrive)
This is my current work machine. I've had some problems with it, I'll probably get a new battery soon, but it's fast. FAST fast. But I'm still very satisfied, it's a great machine that came with a remote control, a webcam and a virtual coffee maker
January 2009: My next purchase is when I finish my PhD (my current machine is not really my own, it's owned by my department); it'll likely be a ProBook again (probably 15"), unless Apple releases another mobile Mac that catches my interest.

[mdc]

I'm stuck wondering whether to get a MacBook Pro 17" or a MacBook with a 20 or 23" Apple Monitor.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

I use a Quicksilver G4 867Mhz with some hard drive/DVD-R/sound card upgrades...but that's still a 2001 machine.

Before that I had a dual-500MHz G4, a 450Mhz G4, a 400MHz G3 iMac, and a Umax dual-225MHz s900. Those were all fairly close together, but after this machine...well, I went to university. Such funds are better spent on alcohol.

I hope to get a MacBook Pro 15" this summer sometime...or whenever they upgrade it again, basically. I want to get a Dell 24" or 30" screen and make it my college-student media centre, but whether I'll have enough moola for that is anyone's guess.

greg

[Cold Warrior]

I get one every 3-4 years, depending on what's on the market and if I need more horsepower for computer work. Right now I see little over the next 5 years that would compel an upgrade from my new C2D. I am comfortable with consumer digital photography and limited, consumer-level DV import/edit/export stuff.

[wolfen]

I think people who buy new computers every year or two are out of their minds. I see it as a groupthink, social coercion thing. Very few people absolutely need the latest and greatest -- but their egoes do.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally Posted by wolfen 

I think people who buy new computers every year or two are out of their minds. I see it as a groupthink, social coercion thing. Very few people absolutely need the latest and greatest -- but their egoes do.

When times mean money it is usually cheaper to upgrade often.

[TomR]

Bought my first Mac, a USB G3 500mhz ibook in 2001...STILL works great!
Bought this G4 mini nearly 2 years ago. Runs 24/7. I LOVE IT.
Bought A 1.83 Macbook last year. Didn't NEED it but wanted a laptop. Had the random shutdown issue but the last firmware update seemed to fix that.

Tom

[SeSawaya]

every 10 months.

[MaxPower2k3]

First Mac: 12" PowerBook 867 (Just about 4 years ago-- Feb. '03) - Still Have
Second Mac: 20" iMac G5 2.0GHz ALS (May '05) - Sold
Current Mac: Mac Pro 2.66 (September '06)

So, a little over a year to a year and a half between computers now. The Mac Pro should last me a bit longer, though... this thing is a beast.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker 

When times mean money it is usually cheaper to upgrade often.

Most people time does not = money at home. I believe that is what he was referring to.

Having said that, home users upgrade faster than most businesses.

Even when they don't need it.

LET them. These are the sheeple that keep Apple in business.