Switch timing

[genesurgeon]

Hi all. Newby here.

Apologies in advance if this has all been asked/said before.

Long term PC user, seduced by the 12" PB, got one, love it and am now hooked on iPod! Dabbling with.Mac (frustrated by work firewall) and thinking of full switch.

What I really don't like about PC (apart from bluescreen of death etc) is the bloody fan noise. Don't play games, really only email, Word, Excel and Powerpoint (lots). And web surfing. So, shouldn't need all bells and whistles machine, just something quiet and reliable.

This leads on to the questions - thinking of 1G 17" iMac,

1. Is it really that quiet?

2. Notice that web pages slow to load onto PB, is Panther + Safari better?

3. Is this a good time to buy an iMac, or wait a couple of months for USB 2 (have a few things that need it) and, dare I say it, a bit more RAM/speed per $$?

No concerns re software/PC compatibility as more than happy with Powerbook and OSX.

Of course there is always something better around the corner, but I am a little bit frustrated by the speed limitations of the G4 PB. Mind you, if the iMac is unlikely to change much in the foreseeable future...(the PC is about to expire!)

Hope I got the right forum, thanks in advance for advice,

Cheers

 

[TheWitePony]

I was in your boat not too long ago, only I was in the market for a powerbook. I got tierd of the waiting game, so I bought a 15" powerbook and I couldn't be happier. It does everything I need from office, internet, plus full X11 support (which is really nice because half the computers at my university are sun or linux stations). I had been saving for a laptop all summer and really trying to weigh all my needs/wants. This is what it boiled down for me.

1. I want a laptop.
2. I want a laptop by August (school time)
3. I want a Mac, my first .
4. Speed is not the biggest issue cause I have a nice desktop, and the Tibook is fast enough for me.

And so I find myself with a 15" Tibook, and I am in bliss....

I'm sorry, I just realized I probly didn't answer your question. Oh well, happy shopping!!

 

[arn]

Re: Switch timing

Originally posted by genesurgeon

1. Is it really that quiet?

2. Notice that web pages slow to load onto PB, is Panther + Safari better?

3. Is this a good time to buy an iMac, or wait a couple of months for USB 2 (have a few things that need it) and, dare I say it, a bit more RAM/speed per $$?

I'm not sure about the sound... but I think the iMac is very quiet. Never heard anyone complain.

As for web load speed. I'm not sure what your point of reference. Website load speeds on my iBook -- which is a slower machine -- seems fine. One thing to note is that more RAM is better for OS X. RAM is relatively cheap at this point -- so maxing out ram is very doable, and you get a significant performance boost all around. Less swapping.

As for the time to buy an iMac. It depends on how soon you need it. The iMac is definitely nearing the end of it's life cycle

https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

However... the next revision isn't sounding like it's going to be dramatic. Prob just bumped G4. If you have the Powerbook already, it might be easier to wait.

arn