mac book - worth it?

[Black Sheep]

a friend has offered me a macbook G4 (about 3 years old) running OSX Tiger and 512 ram, can't remember the hard drive size but seemed reasonable.

just wanting it to be able to do work on when not at home (got an iMac) using photoshop, dreamweaver etc so doesn't need to be all singing all dancing, just wondering if its worth £300

 

[Auntie Helen]

Sounds like a pretty decent price to me but I'm a bit out of the loop on current pricing so can't be sure.

 

[phil_hg_uk]

You may want to read this http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/06/apple_ends_g4_support/

Apple have announced the G4 as end of life so getting an intel one would be a better bet.

Phil.

 

[Black Sheep]

true, but at twice the price for a re-furbished unit to get me through final project and being able to take work with me while doing that, it may well be the best plan to take my friends and use that, relegating it to menial tasks such as e-mail, web browsing, typing and dvd playing after the hand in date of my final project.

if money allows and it is needed then i'll be getting something more powerful (although the imac I'm currently using to type this will suffice) and by then i hope to not be worrying about things like this for work since the IT department of wherever i'm working would sort it

 

[alecstilleyedye]

I've got one as a spare (they refuse to die) and I wouldn't personally buy one for £300.

Maybe £150. If the processor is 1.0 GHz or 1.25 it's already pushing it if you want to do more than read emails and look at a few HTML pages.

pish and tish. i've got a 1ghz g4 emac that runs photoshop and final cut no problem, even with leopard onboard.

 

[Black Sheep]

the person who currently owns it bought it new and uses it day in day out for photoshop and web design without any problems and it meets the minimum software requirements for a newer version of adobe than i've got.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

if it's three years old it's not remotely elderly by mac standards. i had a g3 powerbook that i got second hand that nearly lived to see ten years (it was obviously well used before i took it to australia in a rucksack). i actually have a powerbook 180 that works if you boot it from a floppy…

 

[phil_hg_uk]

If it does what you want then go for it, I would try to get it a bit cheaper than that though.

I am just always aware than when Apple announce products as end of life it can be difficult to get anything for them very soon after, also remember that the price is probably going to take a dive in the near future as a result.

Phil

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Alecs, it's not pish and tosh on a G4 1GHz machine - specially with 512 RAM. It's pushing it and you'd not be able to do any heavy work on it. I like the machines, but they're way past it now. I'm writing this on a 1 GHzG4 iBook and it's OK, but I know I'l be in trouble next time I want to look at a video and have PS (even doing nowt) in the background. £300 sounds a lot to me.

I've got a G3 iBook as well, but I wouldn't want to use it much.

tbh if it's going to be doing heavy work an imac or desktop might be a better buy.

 

[Black Sheep]

What is the spec?

of the machine? not sure, think its a powerbook G4 but that, and the 512ram is all i can remember at the mo.

 

[Black Sheep]

indeed the Intel would be quicker, but having a 2gig intel iMac with 1gig 667mhz of ram sat on my desk, i don't really see the need for an intel laptop

would be running CS2 since that is what i've got and didn't think CS4 was out yet - must have missed that launch.

as i said originally, i'm wanting it so that if i go visit my parents i don't have to down tools for the weekend, I know i've got to be away for three weeks at easter, again i don't want to down tools then either. and would like to be able to take work in progress into uni with me when i go to see my advisor. something i'm sure it is capable of.

£300 is a stretched budget for me since i'm meant to be saving all i can since "we're gonna be skint when we're married" according to my fiancee

 

[Black Sheep]

but syncronisation between the two machines will be easier than with windows and mac

this is besides the hatred i have of windows and its tendency to go belly up at the most inconvenient time. I do have problems switching between the two from time to time when working in uni.

i'd also rather be using exactly the same software on both, hence planning to use CS2

 

[oscar]

Why pay £300 pounds for a second hand note book, notebooks do have a shelf life ie parts and processers tend to ware out and get slower (like washing machines) you can get a new laptop for less than £200, are you doing this cause he's a friend,
Rule of law-never buy or load from or to freinds.

I don't mean to be harsh or rude but you can do alot better and for less money. Does it have to be a mac because vista and xp laptops are cheap pluss you can buy a basic laptop and run leoperd/linux and umberto? on them (see youtube) done this on my old xp. Try acer

 

[johnnyh]

I am always amused by the silly value Mac-ites will put on old stuff... cause it's a got a bit of fruit on it.


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZGIn9bpALo&NR=1


http://www.theonion.com/content/video/apple_introduces_revolutionary go to 1 min 40! says it all

 

[Black Sheep]

I don't mean to be harsh or rude but you can do alot better and for less money. Does it have to be a mac because vista and xp laptops are cheap pluss you can buy a basic laptop and run leoperd/linux and umberto? on them (see youtube) done this on my old xp. Try acer

yes, it needs to be a mac for compatability on other things and remove the faff of transferring things across between platforms (i've got an XP desktop that i gave up networking with the mac after various people tried for me) i could indeed get an acer quite cheap, but after watching my fiancee's die slowly over the course of the year and having spent lots of time resuscitating it (its two years old) i'm not convinced.