Purchase Dilemma

[DrStrangelove]

A few of you may recall that last week I was going to go out and buy the Core Solo Mac Mini for the "other" (read: wife and kids) users in my home. Our daughter, then our son, got really sick and the trip never worked out. Next thing I knew I was traveling again for business and it simply didn't happen.

So I go to the Apple Store today to make the purchase and I see something on the "returned and restocked" table. A 12" iBook G4 marked down to $699. Plus it had 1.5Gig of ram.

My dilemma is obvious. Do I still get the intel Core Solo Mac Mini for $599 or do I go for the G4 that is portable with more ram for $100 more. I'm thinking I can still put the external 20" on it with full keyboard/mouse.

Being new to Mac, I'm wondering how these two machines compare and what any of you might be inclined to do in this scenario. I currently have a laptop that is refreshed every two years from work, but it's a Dell and there is SLIGHT interest in being able to take the Mac mobile should it come down to the G4. But I don't want to sacrifice performance for mobility either.

Thoughts?

 

[zap2]

intel Solo Mac Mini will be faster for everyday things, as long as its all universal Apps. Anything using Rosata will be slower then the iBook.

I would go iBook becuz for a sick kid it might be nice being Apple to use a Computer in bed or something

 

[jefhatfield]

both are good options for a good price

how much do you really need portability?

i have had two laptops and over several years, and i found i rarely took them out...i could have got much more bang for the buck in a desktop machine(s)

 

[danny_w]

The only problem that I would have with the iBook would be the screen; it only has a VGA output, and by default you can only mirror the internal and external monitors and they must be at the same resolution (max 1024x768). You can use a hack to get around this, but I don't know if I would use it.

 

[Mord]

the hack is problem and risk free.

 

[count chocula]

hmmm, thats a really good deal for a nice ibook. but on the other hand, now is a bad time to buy a power pc mac. the 1.5 gb ram wont make a big difference in activities like email and instant messaging. will they be using it for anything else? as for sick kids, if you have a wireless keyboard and mouse it would be easy to lie in bed and use the computer. i say mac mini.

 

[DrStrangelove]

intel Solo Mac Mini will be faster for everyday things, as long as its all universal Apps. Anything using Rosata will be slower then the iBook.

I would go iBook becuz for a sick kid it might be nice being Apple to use a Computer in bed or something

Sick kids are just about to turn 3 yrs old and 1 yr old. No computing from bed yet. But good thoughts. Thanks.

 

[DrStrangelove]

both are good options for a good price

how much do you really need portability?

i have had two laptops and over several years, and i found i rarely took them out...i could have got much more bang for the buck in a desktop machine(s)

That's the thing-- right now portability would be a NICE thing to have but not a necessity. I already have a fairly up-to-date notebook (albeit a Dell running windows).

I would never carry two laptops when traveling (one for work and one for play)-- but I could see myself doing MY writing in bed or taking it on vacation.

Having said all of that, I think I'm leaning toward the mini and perhaps a more powerful notebook down the road. But, yeah, it IS a nice deal. The manager told me that he doubts it will sit on that table beyond tomorrow and I should act fast if I want it.

 

[DrStrangelove]

the hack is problem and risk free.

Is the hack simply for resolution or extended desktop as well?

 

[jefhatfield]

hmmm, thats a really good deal for a nice ibook. but on the other hand, now is a bad time to buy a power pc mac. .

what??

i have an intel dual core 2.0 ghz imac,
a ppc G3 ibook,
a ppc dual 500 mhz G4 power mac,
and a ppc G3 power mac,

...and on many tasks, it makes no real difference...internet, email, word processing, spreadsheet, basic photoshop stuff, etc

and on non native intel processor stuff, the ppc computers i have are faster

ppc is not apple's future, but it is by no means dead...don't believe the intel hype and while they are not bad machines, they won't feel any different than many prior ppc machines

of course i don't do heavy duty photoshop via multiple layers on 100 MB files, digital video editing in real time, and hard core scientific modeling, so it's hard to judge, but how many of you people do, and how many users do those things in general not addicted to computing (like many on this website)?

i would much rather have a dual G5 power mac with a gig of ram instead of a maxed out mac book pro or intel imac with maximum ram because the dual and quad G5 power mac line is still apple's most powerful machine out there

 

[jefhatfield]

whie laptops are good, use them on a desk in a proper chair

computing on the couch, floor, outdoors, or in bed like i did with my two laptops exclusively for 4 1/2 years really messed up my back...it's way too easy, without a chair and desk, to fall into a really bad posture

some will not even use a laptop on a desk because the posture in the most optimal postition is still not as good as a desktop with large keyboard and large, slightly raised (eye level) crt or lcd monitor

 

[lamina]

How old are the kids? Young (12 or younger) kids = damaged laptop. Depending on the kids of course.

Id go with the Mini, it'll be a faster and more practical solution.

 

[danny_w]

I bought my mini (my first Mac) early last year and beat myself up for months wondering if I should have gotten an iBook instead for the occasional times that I might need a laptop. I finally came to the conclusion that an iBook (for me at least) would not have been a good substitute for a desktop because of the vga output and the limited resolution; a powerbook would have been different, but they were totally out of my price range. I recently bought a 15" pb (I got it used at a very good price) to replace my mini, but it took me a year to do so. Either one would be a great purchase, but the mini might be better if you are needing a desktop.