Can I get a Mac?

I am a well established windows user. I have no real problems with windows but I am intrigued by macs - I love the design and I have played with one for a little while and found the UI excellent. I am looking to buy a notebook but I only realistically have £800 - £1000 to spend. I have no qualms buying a used/refurbished unit.

I do not understand the hardware differences between macs and pcs. For instance, why buy an apple notebook that runs at 800mhz when I can get a 2ghz pc notebook?

I will not really be using the mac to play games (apart from Uplink of course!) but it will be used for office work and web browsing in the main. It must be able to network with my home PC running XP Pro. If possible, I would like a CD-RW drive....a DVD Drive is a second priorty.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks,

FieldDoc said:

I am a well established windows user. I have no real problems with windows but I am intrigued by macs - I love the design and I have played with one for a little while and found the UI excellent. I am looking to buy a notebook but I only realistically have £800 - £1000 to spend. I have no qualms buying a used/refurbished unit.

I do not understand the hardware differences between macs and pcs. For instance, why buy an apple notebook that runs at 800mhz when I can get a 2ghz pc notebook?

I will not really be using the mac to play games (apart from Uplink of course!) but it will be used for office work and web browsing in the main. It must be able to network with my home PC running XP Pro. If possible, I would like a CD-RW drive....a DVD Drive is a second priorty.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks,

Click to expand...

Yeh, you can get a Mac! I think Jobs stated taht the PowerBooks are the fastest notebooks in the world... not sure. Mac's work with PCs with no probloems...
I'll look around.

FieldDoc said:

I am a well established windows user. I have no real problems with windows but I am intrigued by macs - I love the design and I have played with one for a little while and found the UI excellent. I am looking to buy a notebook but I only realistically have £800 - £1000 to spend. I have no qualms buying a used/refurbished unit.

I do not understand the hardware differences between macs and pcs. For instance, why buy an apple notebook that runs at 800mhz when I can get a 2ghz pc notebook?

I will not really be using the mac to play games (apart from Uplink of course!) but it will be used for office work and web browsing in the main. It must be able to network with my home PC running XP Pro. If possible, I would like a CD-RW drive....a DVD Drive is a second priorty.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks,

Click to expand...

Im not sure of the conversion rates but if i recall correctly the pound is worth more than a dollar, and ibooks go for around $1000 - 1500 USD. The main hardware difference between mac and PC is that everything in a mac is designed with other parts in mind. A pc, is usually designed for whatever is cheapest. A 800 mhz mac is more comparable to a 1.8Ghz P4, than an 800mhz P3. I have a 1Ghz Powerbook and it can do stuff faster than my PC at work.

Macs really arent designed to play games, so office work and web-browsing are optimal things for an ibook. If you wanted a little more power, you could step up to the Powerbook, but then the prices go up as well. I have my mac connected right now to 2 windows machines, windows xp and server 2003, both sharing files, and printers, as well as 2 linux machines which act as file servers as well. Compatibility on the mac platform can not be beat.

If I remember Correctly, the ibook has a combo-drive option which allows you to get a CD-RW/DVD as a standard feature.

I think i addressed everything, if you have any other questions just ask.

Should I be worried about getting a Mac powered by the G3 chip?

I ask as there are now 2 newer chips out on the market. I don't want to spend what is, to me, a lot of money on a computer that won't be able to run apps quickly on the mac. For instance will an 800mhz ibook with 256-384mb of RAM be able to run the newest OS (Panther??). I like having several apps open at one time (e.g. word processor, media player and web browser). Is the ibook going to b able to provide this for me?

I don't really intend to use it for gaming (apart from perhaps Civilisation or something similar). Also, what is a 12.1" screen like to use?

I have thought about this same question. Apple has stated ( and there are references here somewhere ) that they will NOT adopt the G5 into their PowerBooks. They are trying to still work with Motorola for their laptop products.

As far as the difference between a G3 and a G4, I couldn't tell you. But there are people on these boards that have G3 iBook's and could care less that they are not G4's. I, being a computer geek, would have to have a PowerBook, with a G4. But as far as performance goes, I don't think their is a huge difference between them. I think mainly it is bus speed and processor speed.

Just looked it up... Basically if you get the 800 MHz iBook, you are getting the exact same thing as an 800 MHz iMac. Except one has a G3 and one has a G4. All the specs of the board and memory, etc, are the same. Quickly browsing their site, there isn't too much mention of G3's there. There is some difference in the cache sizes and levels, but that isn't hugely relevant unless you are doing extremely number intensive projects ( like compiling or gaming ).

In comparison, You've got the G4 Powerbook 15" at $2000, and the G3 iBook 15" at $1500. Is the $500 worth it? I think so.

Here's some good info. Don't buy extra RAM from Apple. It is very expensive. You can get the same RAM for sometimes half the price. And I DEFINITELY recommend maxing out your RAM on any computer you buy.

Well, at 800 MHz, it's faster than this iMac... and G3 dosen't have a velocity engine...
But don't get fooled by the name 'G3'. The G3 is a real good chip. Screw what Apple says about 2 newer chips... They just want your money. *sigh* It's kinda true too...
But the G3 ain't leaving iBooks any time soon. And IBM is working on a new G3 at about 1 GHz, which might be revaled at MacWorld or something... If you want that you can wait.

I appreciate all the advice guys.

I am still torn however between the ibook and the powerbook (note that I have now decided that I definitely want a Mac!). I really shouldn't splash out on the powerbook as even the 12" is out of my price range but I could just stretch to it. I do intend to game a little (not too any great extent) and I doubt that I will be doing any tasks such as video editing (since I don't have a camcorder!). My concern is that this needs to last me until I qualify as a Dr (just shy of 2 years) and I don't want to pay a lot of dosh on a system that will drag from the outset.

I don't know of any refurbish sellers in the UK (probably are some though) but John Lewis seem to be a good place to buy new.

The 12" Powerbook gets really hot btw, I read it in a review and went to JL to check it out and they were right, the base was hot enough to give a nasty burn. The guy in the shop did point out that they are powered from the mains and are on all day but my best guess is that the graphics chip is probably the main cause and they heat up within only a few minutes (it uses the Nvidia MX440 IIRC and the one in my PC has a huge fan to cool it down).

Personally I'm holding off buying portable just yet as I'm saving for a twin 2G G5 system in September.

Have you looked for any second hand ones on ebay?

Amen-Moses

Emrys said:

I have thought about this same question. Apple has stated ( and there are references here somewhere ) that they will NOT adopt the G5 into their PowerBooks. They are trying to still work with Motorola for their laptop products.

As far as the difference between a G3 and a G4, I couldn't tell you. But there are people on these boards that have G3 iBook's and could care less that they are not G4's. I, being a computer geek, would have to have a PowerBook, with a G4. But as far as performance goes, I don't think their is a huge difference between them. I think mainly it is bus speed and processor speed.

Just looked it up... Basically if you get the 800 MHz iBook, you are getting the exact same thing as an 800 MHz iMac. Except one has a G3 and one has a G4. All the specs of the board and memory, etc, are the same. Quickly browsing their site, there isn't too much mention of G3's there. There is some difference in the cache sizes and levels, but that isn't hugely relevant unless you are doing extremely number intensive projects ( like compiling or gaming ).

Click to expand...

The only significant difference between the G3 and G4 that I know of is that the G4 is faster in programs which utilize the Alti-Vec technology. So all you need to worry about is bus speed, processor speed, and how much RAM you have!

Yes, I have an 800 G3 iBook and I love it. I'm a strong supporter of the G3, it's an awesome chip. I think like Jazz said, the only thing that would make the G4 faster are those programs that use Altivec but other than that, the G3 rocks. All the new ones are built by IBM which is working on a 1 ghz model and also I've heard, a model with an altivec unit. I think the G5 is superior of course to the G3, but I don't really think the G4 is really superior to the G3 except for Altivec.

Some extra thoughts:

/ I bought an iBook 800Mhz, 12" and it works absolutely fine.
The max screenresolution is 1024x768, but that's also the case with the 14" version, so you won't get any more information on your screen when buying that one...

/ I notice that in the mac community it's less about who has the machine with the largest amount of RAM or the highest processor-speed etc...
And, unless you're into the 3D business or something who needs more than let's say 2 Gigaherz processorspeed anyway?

I don't think it about who has the biggest gun, but can you get the work done.

Thanks guys for all your help so far. I am almost certain now that I am going to stretch for the 12.1" Powerbook. I have a couple of questions though,

1. Can I plug my current 17" PC monitor to the Powerbook to give it a larger display when at home?

2. How real is the 'heat issue'. I have heard conflicting reports.

3. How much is a realistic amount of RAM...will the standard 256Mb suffice or do I need to dig even deeper into my wallet?

4. Is there any hint as to the time frame for when Panther is to be released (I don't want to have to pay £80 for the upgrade if I could get it either pre-installed)

5. I'm from the UK. Does anyone know if you can get discounts through your University?

6. How come the 12" PB is $1599 (£999) from the US apple store whereas we on the UK apple store we have to fork out £1299 ($2078). I thought the PB was made in Taiwan!!!!

7. What's the rough delivery time to the UK from the apple store?

That'll do for now

1. Yeah, I think so... mgiht need teh DVI-VGA adapter (comes with the PowerMacs as standard not sure about the iBook)

2. not a clue as i dont have one

3. As above, although i reckon 512 would be a good amount to last for a while, you can get the 256Mb option from apple then get a 512Mb from crucial.com (£50ish i think)

4. Could be a month, could be 4 months

5. Yes you can, either speak to your course tutor or goto apple.com/uk/education (i think) its also in the store area (down right hand side)

6. Not sure, I am looking at buying a G4 PowerMac from jigsaw24.com

7. A week I think

FieldDoc said:

2. How real is the 'heat issue'. I have heard conflicting reports.

Click to expand...

I have the original G4 TI powerbook. When I do some compute intensive, then my powerbook get very warm/hot. Normally this happens when I am using iMovie coverting a movie to a Quicktime movie, or Final Cut Pro when I do some rendering. The internal fan kick in, and cools it down. Under normal use, I would wear pants, when using in your lap.

Thanks,

I still can't get over the fact that it costs $479 USD more to buy the 12" PB in the UK from the apple store. Thats 29.96% more!! We have to pay VAT (17.5%) but still, that's ridiculous.....especially since apples are hardly light on the wallet!

I've heard that a lot of people are really weirded out by their international pricing. True, it only makes sense in the case that they're trying to keep internationals from giving them money (buying their stuff). Does anyone have a real reason for which they charge rediculously for non-US customers?

Also, there's an adaptor you can buy for like USD$20 (or maybe more like $30, in your case ) to hook a Mac up to a VGA monitor. I've noticed that on the back of my iMac, there are a number of ports, but none of them have pins. I think that, while that means I've gotta buy the **** adaptor, it's pretty cool that nothing on the back is just exposed, sensitive electronics.

Well, they cost more because they change components of their computers. It costs money to change from the usual American models. Why do they change it? No idea! Aside from power consumption allocation to adapt to different electricity wattage and such.

Something else about the difference between powerbooks and ibooks. The screen of the powerbook is definately of a much higher quality. You can practically look at it from any angle (and still see clearly what it displays .

FieldDoc said:

Should I be worried about getting a Mac powered by the G3 chip?

I ask as there are now 2 newer chips out on the market. I don't want to spend what is, to me, a lot of money on a computer that won't be able to run apps quickly on the mac. For instance will an 800mhz ibook with 256-384mb of RAM be able to run the newest OS (Panther??). I like having several apps open at one time (e.g. word processor, media player and web browser). Is the ibook going to b able to provide this for me?

I don't really intend to use it for gaming (apart from perhaps Civilisation or something similar). Also, what is a 12.1" screen like to use?

Click to expand...

I switched last May to an Ibook 900 12". Worth every penny and well does a lot of thing better then a PC. I love it.

On the Ibook (But not on Powerbooks) you have Applewords: which include a word processors where you can open any .doc document and save it back to .doc or rtf or pdf. I really had no need for MS Office Mac edition with the new appleworks.

Panther will work fine on an Ibook. Webbrowser media player, all there. Just buy the combo and not the cd-rom only. You will love to burn on a mac.

That said I published on my little blog some info on why some people shouldn't switch to a mac.

I wish I could say that mac is for all but...is for someone who loves computers first and secondly is not bother with a rock solid machine who doesn't need you to dig into it and change every piece of hardware.