Just switched - so how long do you hold onto a Mac?

I've just bought myself a Mac Mini Solo (because I am a cheap **** and I've been planning a Mac switch for the last 5 years) to replace a temporary P3-550 running Windows XP.

How long do people tend to hold onto their Mac kit?

I tend to end up with a new PC every 6-9 months thanks to the ever-increasing operating system and software bloat.

Is my Mac Mini likely to last a good 2 years worth of Apple OS upgrades?

i think @ least 4 years.........

Good Question.

From what I have heard from other mac users, i honestly think a mac can be used for at least 4 years depending on what kind of user you are. I am still using Mac OS X Panther with no strong desire to upgrade to Tiger anytime soon. I am almost going on 2 years with my ibook and I am by no means a mac fanatic but have been very pleased with the OS X operating system b/c it's running smoother and faster than when I first bought it b/c of the updates. I basically do word processing, internet surfing, and use the ILife programs so I am not really a power user but I do use my computer @ least 2-3 hours a day minimum.

I have both of my Mac's running OS X 10.4.7 Tiger.. My PowerBook is just over 4 years old, and my PowerMac is about 7 years old. Both run 10.4 great! Now, if you plan on doing some extreme graphical/video/audio work, I'd suggest upgrading your Mac every 2-3 years... now this will depend on future technology developement, but that's what I foresee in the future. If you're just farting around on the Net, MSN, email, word processing, etc, then just stick with what youv'e got, it should serve you well for many, many years to come.

My guess is that you will want to upgrade FAST. Once you settle into Mac OS X, and realize how superior it is, you will want a beefier machine than a Mini Solo. Just my guess - I admit that I am a "performance".

I like to upgrade every 2-3 years.

It keeps me up to date on OS and hard development and you can still get a decent price for your old machine on the 'bay.

Example: I sold my iBook after 2 years for 650€. Originally I paid 1050€ for it.
It enabled me to upgrade to a macbook for 980€.
So the upgrade only cost me 330€ overall.

I'm a power user on a PC to be honest, but I'm trying to "sit down and do some work" without worrying about the OS or hardware.

I'm using Fireworks MX, Pages, Mail, iCal, MYOB, TextWrangler with a local MySQL and PHP installation. Nothing much more. Seems quite responsive although I think some more RAM would be advantageous. It's smoother than the equivalent windows kit. FWMX is a bit slow but that's because it's using Rosetta

Would another 512Mb stick of RAM give it any noticeable kick up the bottom? I'm worried about breaking it when upgrading though. The wife wouldn't like that!

I also notice that Apple kit doesn't depreciate as much as PC kit. For example I just sold my £900 Toshiba M50 for £350 after only 9 months

Edit: I'm also looking at porting some of the software I've written in C#/.Net to Mac via Cocoa / Objective C if I get some time so I'll be using XCode in the future.

I use it until I need a new one.
Could be two years... could be 4... could be 6 or longer.
So long as the computer I have still works and does what I need it to, then I don't see the point in "upgrading" for the sake of "upgrading". :black:

TheMonkey said:

I'm a power user on a PC to be honest,

Would another 512Mb stick of RAM give it any noticeable kick up the bottom? I'm worried about breaking it when upgrading though. The wife wouldn't like that!
.

Click to expand...

Yep: RAM will definitely make a difference if you currently have the stock 512 MB in there...

If you're a "serious" power user, I'd consider adding a gig, which would bring you up to 1,25GB (the stock mini has 2x 256MB).

It is a bit tricky to install RAM in the mini, so consider investing in having it installed for you.

If you do want to diy, check out the guide here:
http://www.applefritter.com/Mac_Mini_Take_Apart_Guide

That's what I followed to learn how to do it...

I want my iMac til I marry. And then I'll give it to my wife. That's in about 5-10 years.

yogi said:

I want my iMac til I marry. And then I'll give it to my wife. That's in about 5-10 years.

Click to expand...

My wife has already stolen mine

Yeah, me & my girlfriend now have matching Macbooks... she was always pinching the iBook...

i still use my 4 year old book all the time and i use my one year old powermac daily, just for reference for you
-chris