Community Discussions

Hey Guys that have Macs,
Well, as you know, I use a 2 year old 1 gig G4 "lamp style" 17" imac..........plan on using it for years to come........love the look, etc.
I bought my middle son a new 12" powerbook with superdrive, etc, at the time.....for college. He is a graphic arts person.

Well, he now is thinking that he may soon be in need of an upgrade.......his 12" powerbook is only 30 gigs, etc.  He says that now that he has two years of college under his belt, that he finds himself not needing the portability of a powerbook as much as he thought......never takes it to classes, etc, so he is now thinking about a new G5 imac.

At the same time, his dad....(Me).....has been really thinking about getting a new ibook or powerbook, so I have something to take to work, teaching, and have wireless at home.

My youngest son has also wanted his own computer, because he and I are always wanting to get on this one at the same time. This G4imac already has a big hard drive, good processor and a lot of ram, as well  as a superdrive.....all things he needs for his video work.

So............If I get the college boy a new G5 imac with a lot of Ram, etc,etc.............I'll  take his 2 year old powerbook, slap an airport extreme card in it, buy a new Airport express wifi setup for the house.............
I'll be then using MY OWN computer, freeing up the G4 imac for my youngest son, (but me still retaining ownership, etc, ) and my college boy will have a new computer to last him well into graduation.........

It would be great to surf the web from anywhere in the house...and work......

Now I'm thinking that I'll wait until "Tiger day"....perhaps as early as April 15th. Then I'll get a free Tiger OS with the new imac.....when Panther came out they gave 10% off, although the educational discount is around the same amount.  The rumors are saying that they are soon doubling the ram up to 512...(although he says he will need about a gig of ram), a CPU bump up of up to 2 gig.........free tiger, and maybe 10% off.

I also thought that if I had all my music on my itunes on the powerbook, perhaps I'll trade in the 20 gig ipod for the new ipod shuffle......but I'm not sure about that.

What do you mac guys think??

I'll be happy with my own laptop....college boy will be happy with a new G5 imac, youngest boy will be happy not having to share the G4 imac with Dad as much anymore......

Frank D.

That sounds like a good plan to me.  Wireless is a great advantage with a powerful computer.  Please explain to me a little more what "Tiger Day" is.  I'm hoping to get a free OS without buying the computer.      I just don't think that's how it works.  

Hey AJace,
Sorry......Tiger day is the first day that Apple sells their newest operating system....this time called "Tiger".
Apple says that Tiger wil be the last brand new OS for Mac for awhile......
Last year, they came out with "Panther". The morning of it's release, there were over 400 people waiting in line at the Apple store. I know. I was one of them.
When Apple comes out with a new OS, it is an event.
Windows has been talking about their next "Big" OS system.........called "Longhorn"...but it just keeps being delayed and dummied down, and is still many months away.
Panther, and even more now, Tiger, is years ahead of Windows Longhorn..........and it is more then just talk.

Many mac users will joyfully buy Tiger, but since I seem to be in the position of having to buy a new Mac anyway, I might as well wait a few weeks and get Tiger with it without having to pay extra for it.

I don't know why Apple code names their OS X operating upgrades names of cats, they just do. Perhaps Tiger will be the last one for awhile because they are running out of cool cat names......although being a C.S. Lewis fan, I'm fond of "Lion"..............

Must be Tom P. and the apple gang aren't reading the community forum.....

Frank D.

Frank:

I was traveling this week so I didn't have too much time to check out the forum.

As long as the iMac has the horsepower for the graphic arts courses you son will definitely appreciate the screen space.  Working with 12 inches of screen is not fun.  Giving everyone their own mac shows you are a great dad.  My 6 year old spends so much time on his iMac I could not imagine what it would be like with only one computer in the house.  It is a good idea to have Tiger packaged with the computer to save some money.  Since you are getting a consumer mac they usually throw in Quicken and some other programs which may also be newer than you currently have.

As for the iPod shuffle I view this as a second iPod and not a primary one.  I am looking at getting one to take on trips since my photo iPod is too expensive to risk damage or theft. 

I hate portable computers.  Small screen, small keyboard, no mouse, not a great value for the money spent, tough to upgrade.  The only reason I see to have one is if you need to travel.  30 gig is tiny by today's standards.  Between music, photos and software I have 68 gig on my 120 gig hard drive.  If this will be your primary computer you need to be sure there is enough storage space.

Sounds like a good plan and if you can live with the portable everyone should be happy.

Thanks Tom!
I'm not sure how I will like taking his powerbook...but he needs to upgrade anyway, and I appreciate his realizing that he has not needed the portability.  With his small powerbook, he did have another 17" monitor from our old windows computer that he also used at school...he is used to using both screens, which is something you cannot do with the new G5 imacs.....so he will have to get used to one screen, albeit a bigger one.

I have a 20 gig ipod......I love it, but noticed that I am having a bit of trouble with an "every once in awhile" loss of sound from one earbud....it is not the earbuds or the music.  I have the ipod applecare.....the apple store told me they will  gladly replace it with a new 20 gig......but I cannot upgrade to what you have.  Perhaps I shoulld just live with it.....it only happens once in awhile......wait until they perhaps stop making the 20 gig.....they would have to replace it with a nicer one maybe?   Or maybe i'll just get it replaced with a new one, sell it on ebay.......buy a shuffle and use the powerbook as my main stash of music.....or buy what you have, a nice 30 gig photo.....although I do like to use my iTrip in the car......plus I have three different cases for it.....so perhaps the shuffle is not a good idea, but boy, is it cool..........We'll see.

If I don't like the powerbook......that will be determined on weather I can still find a wifi connection at work.....I could give it to son # 3........that would also free up our "main" computer for mainly me then.......either way, all should be happy.........

I'm currently bidding on Airport extreme cards and Airport express set ups in preparation for "the big transition"

Frank D.