 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Mac Forum / General / Portable Macs / October 2005Time to move on? (400MHz TiBook)
Hello, I need your help making a decision. My 400MHz Titanium Powerbook (40GB 5400RPM drive and 768 MB RAM) needs a new motherboard and optical drive. The cost is apparently $430. Question is: is it worth it? Or, should I look to get a newer portable? Or, wait, or.... The PB has been a second computer in our house for some time. We have a dual 1.8 G5 PowerMac with a 20inch Apple display for our primary machine. That's where I do FinalCut Pro work, etc. The PB was primarily so my wife and I could surf at the same time, so I could do some work somewhere other than the basement, or so we could take movies for the kids on trips. It hasn't been essential for some time. So, the situation hasn't changed much, the only thing is that I may need to have some portability for some part time work (Word, Excel, Keynote, HTML, maybe FinalCut Exress); but that's neither certain nor pressing. What to do? I could sell the PB (maybe) on eBay and see if anyone wants to give me anything for it. I could do the repair and keep it. I could do the repair and sell it. Aside from keeping it, I could buy a refurb PowerBook: I've been looking at either a 1.33MHz or 1.5MHz refurb 12-inch, either $999 or $1299. Or, I could wait to see what the new Intel-based PBs bring, pricewise. Given my needs, what would you recommend? Is it time to move on? Will Keynote 2.0 be too taxing for the 400MHz TiBook, if I end up doing a lot of work there? Thanks!!!! Todd > Hello, > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > What to do? I could sell the PB (maybe) on eBay and see if anyone > wants to give me anything for it. Parts will likely bring you more than the entire unit, since it's not working. BUt then, you have to take it apart. > I could do the repair and keep it. I > could do the repair and sell it. Don't mess with the repair if you're going to sell it. You'll only lose money. > Aside from keeping it, I could buy a > refurb PowerBook: I've been looking at either a 1.33MHz or 1.5MHz refurb > 12-inch, either $999 or $1299. If you're looking at a 12", consider the iBook as well: almost the same spec at a lower price. Unless you need dual-monitors (yes, there's a hack, I know) the iBook typically delivers better bang for the buck than the 12" PB. Were it me, I'd either buy a new PowerBook 15" now, or wait until the Intel machines come out. The new PowerBook 15" represents a noticeable (though not necessarily worthwhile) upgrade from the previous spec, but the 12" got nothing. If you're willing to consider an iBook, the 12" has been good value for the money for some time, particularly compared to the 12" PB. These remarks are entirely off-the-cuff, and may be in error. I welcome corrections, made politely. As always, YMMV.  SignatureLater, John johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu 'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk. > Were it me, I'd either buy a new PowerBook 15" now, or wait until the > Intel machines come out. Any idea when the new intel PowerBooks are due to come out? In article <hal.i.burton-79B417.10435423102005@comcast.dca.giganews.com>, > > Were it me, I'd either buy a new PowerBook 15" now, or wait until the > > Intel machines come out. > > Any idea when the new intel PowerBooks are due to come out? Nope, though they say "next year" some time. I would be hesitant to buy that first version. The 15" is pretty sweet right now, and waiting is probably not going to get you anything. Buy now. SignatureRoss Winn Freelance Geek & RPG.net Columnist In article <ross_winn-5587E7.10520423102005@news-server1.tampabay.rr.com>, > In article > <hal.i.burton-79B417.10435423102005@comcast.dca.giganews.com>, [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > that first version. The 15" is pretty sweet right now, and waiting is > probably not going to get you anything. Thanks, that's the sort of guidance I was looking for. Entity F. Todd Wilson spoke thus: > I need your help making a decision. My 400MHz Titanium Powerbook > (40GB 5400RPM drive and 768 MB RAM) needs a new motherboard and optical > drive. The cost is apparently $430. > > Question is: is it worth it? No. 400MHz is on the margin of usability already. If you were a do-it-yourselfer you could pick up the parts on eBay for $80 and the damage would be minimal. Sell it on eBay and you might get $100. -- Gnarlie http://Gnarlodious.com/Entities/Computer/Cube/ > Sell it on eBay and you might get $100. Sell the parts on eBay and you will definitely get more than $100. The screen alone will get you over $100. The RAM perhaps $60. The Hard Disk will net about $40+, and if there is an airport card you can get another $100 for that. In all about $200-300, and that is not including any other bit you can sell (keyboard, battery, casing). I would sell the parts as mentioned (there is an excellent take apart guide at www.pbfixit.com) and then buy the 12" iBook. You get 3x the speed, same amount of storage space, and can add an extra 512MB of RAM from Crucial all for quite cheap. Good luck! |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.