New Dilemma

[calvinyoon]

Life just got tougher as I saw the new Powerbooks. Not only are they much better than before, but they are a bit cheaper as well. Therefore, I am now debating on whether I should get a Powerbook (preferrably a 15") or a Mac Mini.

Some pros and cons of each:

Powerbooks - portable, no need to buy accessories / bit expensive with APP

Mac Mini - small, cheap! / not portable (the actual Mac Mini is portable but the monitor, keyboard, etc), extra accessories needed

I don't know which is the better buy. Obviously I do not want to spend too much money, but would a cheap first Mac Mini be better than an expensive yet beautiful Powerbook or vice versa?

Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Photo Monkey]

The only thing that the Mac mini is better at is, well, nothing. If you can afford the PowerBook, then buy that. There is no competition at all, the PowerBook out-does the Mac mini in every field.

[Ben2004uk]

Other option is ibook - cheaper than powerbook but still portable etc.....if you can afford a powerbook tho i would get that.... Depends on your budget

Also depends on what you want - be it a portable machine or desktop.....If you want desktop then what about an Imac ??

[Rudy]

depends how much money you want to spend and if u care about portability

[Xer34]

Uhh, how much are you looking to spend and what are you going to do on it? Details man, details. :huh:

[2Negative]

I agree with photo monkey...if you have the money go for the power book you will be happier with it in the long run. Look at me, I was about to purchase a mac mini (my first mac) but then I decided to purchase what I really wanted a power mac. Yeah it was like twice the amount of a mac mini, but I think in the long run I will be happy with my decision. So get what you want, not what is cheaper....of course within your price range.

[Ben2004uk]

I priced up a sweet power mac today.

? Dual 2.5GHz PowerPC G5

? 4GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 4x1GB

? 2x250GB Serial ATA

? DVD-R/CD-RW

? NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL 256MB, 2xDVI

? Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

? Gigabit Ethernet PCI-X Card

? Bluetooth Module

? AirPort Extreme Card

? Bluetooth module + Apple Wireless Keyboard & Mouse

? Mac OS X

? One FireWire 800 port

? Two FireWire 400 ports

? Three USB 2.0 ports

Subtotal: ?5,030:o3 ( With student discount :o )

A nice system - could have gone for dual 30" and 8gb but I thought that was a bit too much.... You never know, one day:Dwhen its worth about ?1000 :D )

I'm very bored at the moment. Need to learn java/bluej for uni coursework (4week deadline, 60 hours of work) but i can't be arsed. Thats why my posts have almost doubled today....................oh well - 12 days to my ibook hopefully......

[Detroit]

I priced up a sweet power mac today.

? Dual 2.5GHz PowerPC G5

? 4GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 4x1GB

? 2x250GB Serial ATA

? DVD-R/CD-RW

? NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL 256MB, 2xDVI

? Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

? Gigabit Ethernet PCI-X Card

? Bluetooth Module

? AirPort Extreme Card

? Bluetooth module + Apple Wireless Keyboard & Mouse

? Mac OS X

? One FireWire 800 port

? Two FireWire 400 ports

? Three USB 2.0 ports

Subtotal: ?5,030.63&n:op; ( With student discount :o )

A nice system - could have gone for dual 30" and 8gb but I thought that was a bit too much....  You never know, one day:Dwhen its worth about ?1000 :D )

I'm very bored at the moment.  Need to learn java/bluej for uni coursework (4week deadline, 60 hours of work) but i can't be arsed.  Thats why my posts have almost doubled today....................oh well - 12 days to my ibook hopefully......

585391556[/snapback]

Wah, so did you buy that or just for fun?

[Ben2004uk]

Just for fun, want to see how much it would cost

anyway i'm a student who is ?400 overdrawn - need to wait a while for that bad boy

[2Negative]

Yeah, I would say so :D . I can't wait to get mine. It should be here on wednesday or thursday. Yay!!!

[Rudy]

im thinking of selling my mac mini in the summer and getting a power mac or i might keep the mac mini for my gf and sell my pc and get a powermac

[2Negative]

Sounds like you got it planned out Rudy. If I really dig my powermac, I figure in a year or so I will get my wife a powerbook (if she likes the power mac) and possibly move away from windows totally. BTW Rudy I would be having fits if my mac wasn't coming in until the 15th, I can barely wait the 3 more days for my power mac. I did get my iwork '05 and APP today, how is that for a teaser???

[Ben2004uk]

3 days!!! I have to wait 12 more days for a ibook ive already been waiting 15 days for (from order)!!!! I'm going crazy!!!! Bet it won't come with ilife 05 aswell :'(

I might send a email to customer service asking why I need to wait so long......its not like its a new product

[2Negative]

3 days!!! I have to wait 12 more days for a ibook ive already been waiting 15 days for (from order)!!!! I'm going crazy!!!!  Bet it won't come with ilife 05 aswell :'(

585392889[/snapback]

Ben2004uk, my power mac is coming with iLife '04. You get a "coupon" to get iLife '05 for $19.00 US, that you must then send off to Apple and wait again to get '05. That was the only thing that irritated me about my power mac purchase. I don't know what they will give you with your iBook.

That sucks that you have to wait that long, I feel your pain. Hope it all works out for you.

[Rudy]

Sounds like you got it planned out Rudy.  If I really dig my powermac, I figure in a year or so I will get my wife a powerbook (if she likes the power mac) and possibly move away from windows totally.  BTW Rudy I would be having fits if my mac wasn't coming in until the 15th, I can barely wait the 3 more days for my power mac.  I did get my iwork '05 and APP today, how is that for a teaser???

585392655[/snapback]

i am not very happy about it :( i made my order on Jan 15th :angry: its like 31 days

[2Negative]

Man, that is horrible.