Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PowerBook, Surveys and Polls
Changing PowerBooks Before the Intel
I say we change our calendar so that year 0 lands on the Great PPC to Intel Changeover!In any case, in the continuing days of the year 1 B.I. (Before Intel), I'm continuing to wonder how many of you will upgrade to a PPC-based Mac. I'm a habitual new computer owner. Usually every 6 months to a year, I get rid of my computer, selling personal ones on eBay or reallocating work ones to other people, and upgrade to a new one. I've had my current little 12-inch Powerbook for a little over a year now, and I've just decided to do away with my ultra-small lifestyle. I'm getting a 15-inch Powerbook fully tricked out. It's on its way, and I, in preparation, have begun the GDM (Great Data Migration), cleaning out the old data, storing what needs to be stored in a box in the corner of the room, and loading all the rest on DVDs and external HDs to help ferry them across the analog river to their new home in my new 15-inch PowerBook.
In any case, while musing about this transition this morning, I was suddenly struck with a thought: "Ye gods!" I exclaimed. I thought, "I've done exactly what I said no one would do. I've bought a new Power-PC based Apple machine before the Great PPC to Intel Changeover!" Anyone else out there experience this epiphany? Are you planning on holding out on your desire to get a new computer until after Intel?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
apainter said 11:57AM on 9-06-2005
I bought a new 14" iBook a few weeks ago. Intel is coming and it'll be nice but if your in the market for a machine right now who could pass up the machines coming out right now.
Besides having a modern PPC machine might be a good way to hurdle over the Intel speed bumps until the software and hardware works all it's bugs out and you can get a nice Rev B Intel Mac.
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Calman said 11:59AM on 9-06-2005
I did exactly the same thing.
I've been holding out for a new Powerbook 15" for 3 years now, and finally went out and bought one 3 weeks ago.
The hardware is still the nicest stuff out there, and the processor it is built on does not matter now and will not for at least another couple of years.
I'm fairly certain that by the time I am ready to do an upgrade, all the appllications will still be availabe on my PPC Powerbook anyway.
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Jchc said 12:05PM on 9-06-2005
I'm in the same boat, I want to invest in PB 17 incher but I'm hesitant due to all this intel talk. Granted I'm just kid in the mac game (been a PC man for a while), but still this intel stuff makes me want to wait. Advice welcomed from any of you mac sages.
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Eric J said 12:07PM on 9-06-2005
The conversion to Intel chips will take just under two years. You can count on PPC support for another two years after that (Adobe & Co. aren't going to leave millions of G5 owners flapping in the breeze). So PPC Macs are still a safe bet.
I'm planning on waiting, since my Powerbook is relatively new, but if higher-dpi Powerbooks got released this month, I'd get one... oh yeah.
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Sean said 12:12PM on 9-06-2005
I bought 2. First was a 15" Powerbook. Second was the top-line Mac Mini with 1GB RAM. I'm a happy customer. I figure a new computer under a grand is fine for a 12-18 month purchase.
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Justin said 12:18PM on 9-06-2005
I'm waiting to see what (if anything) happens in Paris this month before deciding. My 1GHZ TiBook has seen a lot of use and has become rather ragged along the edges. Since I don't think it's realistic to expect Intel PowerBooks in the next six months (I think 12 months is closer to the mark, given Yonah's timeframe), I'll probably end up upgrading to a new 15" G4 PowerBook before the transition.
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Brian Ketelsen said 12:32PM on 9-06-2005
I bought a new Ultimate Powerbook last week, and couldn't be happier. I don't need a notebook next year, or when Apple finally ships intel based Powerbooks. I need one now. So I bought one now. And it is a piece of engineering brilliance (my first Powerbook, can you tell?).
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John said 12:38PM on 9-06-2005
I think that existing mac owners (like myself) are _more_likely_ to upgrade before Intel. I have a 15" PB 500MHz Ti that is due for an upgrade and will probably upgrade to a new 15" PB this fall. I'm actually trying to time it s.t. I get the last PPC based 15" PB _before_ the Intel change. My reason is that my sw library is all PPC based and I'd rather run native than emulated - plus, the sw transition will likely take 2 years so PPC will allow me to ride through that transition.
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Dylan said 12:39PM on 9-06-2005
I would have no problem buying a new PPC Mac. If Apple does a PB revision with that new PPC chip and it gets appreciably better battery life then I'll replace my 15" PB with it. A higher res 17" screen might also convince me to upgrade though I'm not sure I want a laptop that big. I'm comfortable with the resolution of the current 15".
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Poncho said 12:41PM on 9-06-2005
I won't be upgrading anytime soon, got me a monster PowerMac G5 four months ago that should last me for at least three years. By that time, I'll be quite happy to buy a shiny new Intel-based "PowerMac G6" (What IS Apple going to call the Intel version of the PowerMac, surely the 'Power' in PowerMac indicates 'PowerPC'?).
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MikeV said 12:42PM on 9-06-2005
Well, I did... I'm a relative Mac newbie (a little over a year with a 15" Powerbook), but I finally got to the point that I wanted to get rid of Windows at home - I deal with it enough at work. Now I'd love to go out and buy a Dual G5, but the money just isn't at hand right now, so I went and bought a Mac mini to hold me over until next year when the (hopefully a little cheaper) Intel-based Mac's find their way to market. I figure for the investment, it's a good little machine that can still find plenty of use, even after moving up next year.
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the Hamster said 12:43PM on 9-06-2005
Looks like the Paris Expo might be a dud, now that there will be no KeyNote by his Steveness, or anyone else for that matter.
I am in the process of "flipping" old hardware for new at the moment. I just sold two old IBM ThinkPads and am going the iBook route at the end of the month. I am thinking 12" for super portable computing. Plus only diving in a grand right now means it won't hurt so much to dive into the Intel offerings 18 months from now.
Personally I believe it is a safer bet to stick with PPC right now until all the software I use is moved over natively to run on Intel procs and software vendors figure out some way to allow existing licenses to be used with the new binaries.
Either way I don't see a reason to wait up to 2 years to get a new computer.
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Matt said 12:52PM on 9-06-2005
I also did the same. I've had a 12 in powerbook for about 18 months and just bought dual 2ghz G5. If you need a new machine, you need a new machine. Who can wait 12-24 months to purchase? 24 months from now I'll be replacing the G5!
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Shaun said 1:14PM on 9-06-2005
It's going to take Adobe, Microsoft, Macromedia etc a long time to transition their applications as most of them aren't in Cocoa and some aren't in XCode either. Adobe use Code Warrior. The Intel chips aren't quick enough that running PPC apps under emulation will be acceptable for the major CPU intensive apps and anything with AltiVec like Photoshop filters will suck.
I've got apps written in Carbon that I can almost guarantee will not be ported quickly but I depend on them so shifting to Intel would be commercial suicide for me. For instance, all my accounts are done in MYOB. Chances of that being ported to Carbon - slim. Alternatives - non-existent for now. Cognito I guess might port their app.
I'm waiting for OSX 10.5, native apps (which would tie in with upgrade purchases anyway) and the second round of Intel based Macs. For a laptop - Merom based as Yonah is a bit weak IMHO. For a desktop - who knows as the only chips faster than dual G5 are currently server class according to Intel.
If you need a Mac now, a PPC based Mac will see you through the rocky road of the transition with relatively no pain compared to the issues Intel based early adopters are going to iron out ahead of us. Commercially, it makes more sense. If you're a home Mac user then maybe you can live with the issues.
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Edward said 1:31PM on 9-06-2005
I'm waiting for the final PPC Powerbooks to come out. I can easily ride out 2.5 years. I'm used to adding a new machine every year, but this isn't too bad. I'll just draw my attention to other gadgets in my line-up. I truly hope something happens at Paris, cause if it doesn't, I'm getting on the next day.
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Mikhail Esteves said 1:32PM on 9-06-2005
I figured we'll have support long enough and went ahead with buying a 15" PB. This is the very first Mac I'll own! It's on it's way and I'm quite sure I won't regret it.
Besides, even if I manage to have the PB long after Apple drops support for PPC, I should only try finding a Mac die-hard to see this "antique" to!
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John Laur said 1:43PM on 9-06-2005
IMO the problem with buying a powerbook now is not that it's a PPC, but that it's not a G5. I own a nearly top of the line 15" 1.5GHz G4 PB and I can't do a lot that I'd really like to with it because it's not a G5. In particular, working with HDV video and H.263 is next to impossible. Unfortunately much of apple's own 'bundled-with-the-os' software is getting away from the G4 requirement-wise. Yes, it's still a fast little machine but compared to a dual G5 it still feels like a slug.
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Paul Wren said 2:15PM on 9-06-2005
I wanted to respond to the migration part of your post. I used to do what you are descibing, i.e., cleaning up my data, making backups, and preparing for a data migration. But the most recent clean installs on Macs (starting with Panther) prompt you during initial boot to copy all your crap over from your other computer, mounting the old machine in FireWire hard disk mode.
It's painless, and brings EVERYTHING, even all that stuff hidden away in your various library folders. From now on, this is how I will migrate from one PB to the next.
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ipod nano said 2:48PM on 9-06-2005
check the link on ipod nano
New player possibly going to be announced tommorrow with good mock up
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Jason said 2:51PM on 9-06-2005
A year can be a very, very long time. I am also a habitual upgrader and usually have new systems once or twice per year. Buying a new Powerbook now is sensible for me because by the time Intel systems are out and inevitable bugs are worked out, I'll be very ready to upgrade again. I forsee two Powerbook purchases this month - an upgraded 12" for my fiancee and a 15" for me!
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