teenager and the intel switch

[rye9]

Here's the deal. Im 15 yrs old and there is one laptop for my family of 4 to share. I have everything a teen guy could want. I have an ipod, digital camera, all that stuff. I had no idea what i wanted this year 4 christmas. Then, i saw the iBooks when i first got my ipod and have fallen into the "halo effect". So, i plan to save up money and get a 12 in iBook. But, should I wait a month for the Intel ones or not? If one was to weigh out pros and cons of each, which would be better? I would use one for web surfing, ichat, MS office, and itunes. I think it would be best to get the last rev. PPC for stability issues. Is this correct? Or will Intel ones be much better? They might be cooler and a tad faster, but will there be anything new? Also, I hear that Yonah processors will be used for now and then really good processors called Merom will be used later. So wouldnt it be smart to wait a couple months for merom for everyone out there waiting for intel ibooks? Also, will leapord be compatible with PPC processors? Sry 4 all the questions but I would be very appreciative if they could all be answered.

 

[macbaseball]

I'd wait. Even if the new Intel iBooks come out, you still can get the last PPC revision at a discounted price. That way you can hear reviews on the intel ones, and the reports are bad, just get the old one. I have a feeling that there won't be very many problems, but that's just my gut feeling. I know a lot of other people around here would disagree with me.

 

[Veritas&Equitas]

So wouldnt it be smart to wait a couple months for merom for everyone out there waiting for intel ibooks?

Jesus. I wish some people would just read the other threads when asking every 2 hours "Should I wait for the Intel switch, or buy now?!?!?"

Bottom line, WAIT. Should I say it again? I think so. WAAAIIITTTT. It's only a month away. In addition, the Merom cpu's won't be out 'til at least the Rev. B at the earliest, which isn't expected until at least next Sept., not "a couple of months" after the release of the Yonah.

Again. TO ANYONE CONTEMPLATING BUYING A POWERBOOK FROM TODAY ONWARDS, WAIT FOR MWSF FOR HEAVEN'S SAKES AND STOP POSTING A NEW THREAD EVERY 3 HOURS.

Phew. I feel better now.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Buy it now -- right away -- you'll get a good machine, and Steve needs the cash-flow for the holidays.

Plus just think! (I have produced the following as a multiple-choice form to save time in January when we're all so busy)

If the Intel machine comes out in January, you have the incredible opportunity to become one of the
[] 12 [] 45 [] 103
thread starters who will
[] whine [] complain [] howl in outrage
that Apple brought out a new machine which
[] outperformed [] underpriced [] devalued
or [] otherwise made your formerly wonderful new machine now a pile of steaming excrement,
and was a personal attack against
[] yourself [] your family [] your former faith in Apple [] some unspecified law, somewhere, surely, or [] the free enterprise system,
and the further fact that Apple will not
[] refund your money [] pay you the difference [] give you a 60G iPod in compensation
merely because you
[] bought the machine more than 10 days prior [] opened [] built to order [] scratched [] dropped and/or [] engraved it
means you'll
[] never buy an Apple again [] yell at an Apple Store Manager untill you turn blue [] want the rest of us to join a petition [] start a class action lawsuit [] leave MacRumors forever.

As you might guess, we grizzled veterans of MacRumors have weathered new product introductions (and rumored new product introductions, and stealth new product introductions, and even fictional new product introductions) a few times before. The bottom line is -- nobody knows except Apple, and they ain't telling.

PS: Did I get everything covered?

 

[mashinhead]

even with the performance decrease of using PPC apps on rosetta, will the intel based laptops be significantly faster than the current g4's. cos i don't see new software really coming out for at least a year.

 

[CanadaRAM]

even with the performance decrease of using PPC apps on rosetta, will the intel based laptops be significantly faster than the current g4's. cos i don't see new software really coming out for at least a year.

Impossible to answer. Depends on the quality of Rosetta, the exact nature of the particular application and the design and performance of the Mac-tel machine. All unknown variables.

 

[Sun Baked]

If you don't really play games all that much, buy the PPC iBook. Since the majority of the regular apps will support both machines.

If you do play a bunch of games, wait ... the x86 will make a world of difference in game play.

 

[G5Unit]

Yeh I have the same problem I want to get my 17 year old sis an iBook but I want to get her the intel iBook. But I'm not sure cause it'll be a first rev.

 

[generik]

Again. TO ANYONE CONTEMPLATING BUYING A POWERBOOK FROM TODAY ONWARDS, WAIT FOR MWSF FOR HEAVEN'S SAKES AND STOP POSTING A NEW THREAD EVERY 3 HOURS.

Phew. I feel better now.

What about PowerMacs? Do you think they will bump the entire series to quadcore when the PBs go dual?

Doesn't make sense to have a desktop only slightly cheaper than a dualcore laptop of similar specs..