macbook pro Longevity?

Curious as to folks experiences with the macbook pro's. I have been on Dell laptops for years (via work). I find that they last roughly 2 years prior to having some major either screen / and or motherboard issue. My last one was on its 3rd motherboard after only 2 years before we finally tossed it in favor of a new machine.

My other option is the IMAC. I am curious as to folks experiences comparing the two on:

1. Longevity
2. Quality
3. Upgradeability


Any input greatly appreciated as I can't seem to find anything on the web when googling macbook longevity, lifespan, or other such searches.

Well the MBP's and Intel iMac's have been out for less than a year so it's impossible right now to give a definitive answer.

I have a PowerBook G4 that I bought in July of 2003 and it is still in perfect working condition and used daily and I haven't had any issues with my iMac G5 in almost 2 years of use.

I have never had an imac so i can't comment, but with the macbook pro they have not been out more then a year yet so nobody can comment on how long they will last.

The powerbook however lasted a long time, it lasted for years and years and I guess if you go by that the macbook pro will last for a long time aswell. I would say though because the fact that the macbook pros have had issues in the past that they will not last as long as the powerbooks, atleast this revision, but future revisions will last as long as the powerbooks did as soon as they get back on their game.

Thanks.....

I understand laptops generally tend to last less long than desktops - although the imac almost looks like a laptop on a stick. So - I didn't know if there were other differences I should be aware of. Its nice to work in bed - or on the sofa... but I so worry about buying a laptop because of issues like:

poor upgradeability
battery issues
etc.

Plus you get so much larger a screen on the imac. I'm really torn cause for the same $ you get much more in the imac speed / power wise.

I have to decide soon because I already promised my sister my old mac mini. (old - 50 days old...)

The difference in price is $500 for two equivalently outfitted machines whereby I seem to bet a better video card in the imac, a 4 inch larger scrren, and the same everything else.

With the macbookpro I get mobility....

However, my past laptop experience says - your home server is going on year 7 - you've never had a laptop for longer than 2 years... hmmmmm

Here are my prices for a 20" fill in the blank with 3 gig memory and faster processor (2.33 ghz) from the apple store online (all with 2.33 ghz chip and 3 gig memory and 256mb video cards)

Macbook Pro - $3,793
Mac Desktop with 20" screen $4,634
imac with 20" scrren $2803
imac with 24" screen $3293

It is essentially a toss up on the imac with 24" screen versus the macbook pro (which seems a wee pricey for a notebook - I mean - does it really cost another 1000 to fold an imac screen over a keyboard?

Hey - I just saw you can get a macbook 12" g4 for only 349 on the store? Will that run Tiger??

tommyz said:

Hey - I just saw you can get a macbook 12" g4 for only 349 on the store? Will that run Tiger??

Click to expand...

No, that's the Applecare plan. Applecare plans do not run Tiger.

You sure it was a Macbook G4? I thought they changed the Ibook to macbook and powerbook to macbook pro when they changed from powerpc cpu's to intels.

From the way I see it, regarding longevity.. It all comes down to how you treat your machine.. A laptop can last longer than a desktop and vice versa, it's all in how you treat it.. If you're like me who tends to "baby" everything, then it'll last as long as you basically want it to. I bought a used G4 Ti Powerbook last October, it had bad hardware, but since that stuff was replaced, it performs like the day it was released by Apple.. It has even take some critical hits and still functions the same... Like I said, it's all in how you treat something to determine how long it was last... Look at cars for instance...

I bought my lapintosh this past Aug. It is a late 2003/ early 2004 G4 and it still works perfectly. The only think that sucks about it is its battery life sucks; I just got that resolved today though. My new (free ) battery came in from apple today. Like punk said, it all matter in how you take care of it.

You mentioned something about upgradability before... You can upgrade a laptop just as easliy (just got to be creative).

Upgrading ram - isn't too bad (at least on the iBooks).
Upgrading the hdd - buy an external one.
Bigger monitor - buy one and hook the lapintosh up to it.
VRAM - when you buy your laptop get a realy good card! Probally the only thing you can't upgrade.

You just got to think - do you want to be able to go to the library, coffee shop, park, your car, the bus, etc. and still be able to do your work and connect to the Internet?

It isn't just about how much care you have for the machine, it has also to do with what do you do with your computer.
Games usually are the ones that requiere more and more power, in case of a laptop this is bad because they usually ask for better video cards or more video memory. Think about the kind of games you want/like to play. A hardcore gamer will upgrade his/her computer every year, this will reduce the life of a laptop or even a desktop, it won't matter if it is a PC or a Mac.
Media files are also important, the best example here is the jump from TV quality to DVD quality to HD quality. If you have a digital camera with 4mp and you just shoot in JPEG, but suddenly you go to 12mp and RAW it will affect your machine's performance. Mac's in general age better in this case, all you have to do is add RAM, they may be slower but they get the job done. Windows seems to be faster, but as the files get bigger it crashes a lot.
The version of the programs you use are also important. Photoshop, for example, they release an upgrade every year, with more and more options. This new features usually require more power. I used Photoshop CS in my iBook and now i'm using CS2, it takes a little more to load, but the performance is similar, for the kind of things i do with it, i can't really say there is an important difference. From my experience with PCs this difference tends to be bigger.

Today i spoke with a guy who still uses one of those black PowerBooks with OS9, he has taken good care of it and it looks great, he doesn't need an upgrade, it still works great (for him). My brother's desktop used to be an AMD Athlon 2800, all that is left from the orginal configuration is the case, in about a year he had to upgrade in order to play the games he wanted to play. I got my iBook on March 2005 and it is still working great for me, i was thinking about changing it at the end of the year, but it still works for me, and it will be my primary machine for at least one year more.

I hope this gives you a different perspective to make your choice.

Well - though I appreciate the comment its how you treat the machine... I can assure you that I am not overly hard on them. What I'm discussing is laptop construction where everything is often soldered onto the motherboard - less upgradeable etc. And, yes - I travel roughly 3 days a week so it is often in a laptop bag - in airplanes, etc. I do not believe myself to be more hard than anyone else on the machine. In the final analysis I've decided to go with the imac. New question - will follow as a new post.