Comments on: The Never-ending Dilemma: Upgrade Your Old Mac or Get a New System? http://gigaom.com/2009/10/08/the-never-ending-dilemma-upgrade-your-old-mac-or-get-a-new-system/ Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:31:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Dan http://gigaom.com/2009/10/08/the-never-ending-dilemma-upgrade-your-old-mac-or-get-a-new-system/#comment-358728 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:01:36 +0000 http://theappleblog.com/?p=33551#comment-358728 Hi,

I got a G5 Powerbook with 1.25Gb of ram memory, running MAC OSX 10.3.9. = Main computer paid close to 4000$ (back when it was new).

I also use a PC that is about 1 year older running Windows XP. = Secondary computer paid about 1500$ (one year before my PowerBook).

On the MAC, I can’t upgrade to the “latest” versions of the softwares like msn, AdiumX, firefox, now I’m blocked from Myspace, can’t upgrade Flash Players,… and the list goes on. 2 years ago, I was ready to by an IPOD, willing to pay the 300$+ bucks for it. But I needed to upgrade my OS to 10.4.1… spend another 80- to 150$ just for the OS upgrade? So an IPOD + OS upgrade = 400$+ ?

http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=browserunsupported
It’s a web site!!! Not some kind of fancy software.

To top things off, was using Adium X, up to less than a week ago and then “my version” isn’t compatible with the MSN protocol. “Adium : Our protocol is not supported by the server”. And the newest “Adium” doesn’t work on 10.3.9… oh boy.

On my PC tower, using a “primitive Windows XP” I can upgrade to newer versions of anything I need. Hey I can even use the latest IPODS without the need to upgrade my computer or OS.

The point is, now I’m thinking of changing computers and the thought of trying the new Windows 7 sounds like good news… since I can still use Windows XP software on it and will probably use Windows 7 for a long time. How long will the new OSX last me for? Will I be stuck 5-6-7 years down the road with a perfectly running computer, but won’t be able to run “new” applications and will be forced to change computers again and spend another 3-4 grand?

Quite annoying.

A soon to be EX Mac user
Dan

]]> By: Pico RG http://gigaom.com/2009/10/08/the-never-ending-dilemma-upgrade-your-old-mac-or-get-a-new-system/#comment-358727 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:32:05 +0000 http://theappleblog.com/?p=33551#comment-358727 I would go for get a new system becouse the first will not work if you want to get some updates.
But doesn’t this include better Personal computer memory?

]]> By: Kendall Tawes http://gigaom.com/2009/10/08/the-never-ending-dilemma-upgrade-your-old-mac-or-get-a-new-system/#comment-358726 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:55:08 +0000 http://theappleblog.com/?p=33551#comment-358726 Ditto

]]> By: Charles W. Moore http://gigaom.com/2009/10/08/the-never-ending-dilemma-upgrade-your-old-mac-or-get-a-new-system/#comment-358725 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:50:14 +0000 http://theappleblog.com/?p=33551#comment-358725 Hi sevenfish;

Regrettably not.

DayStar did market G4 upgrades up to 3 GHz I think for the Aluminum PowerBooks for a short time about three years ago, but they didn’t sell well enough to continue with. A used or refurb. Intel MacBook would still blow the G4 into the weeds performance wise, and that killed the PowerBook processor upgrade market.

CM

]]> By: sevenfish http://gigaom.com/2009/10/08/the-never-ending-dilemma-upgrade-your-old-mac-or-get-a-new-system/#comment-358724 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:47:09 +0000 http://theappleblog.com/?p=33551#comment-358724 I’d love to upgrade my 5 year old Ti-Book. I’ve maxed out the RAM and have a much larger drive but need a processor upgrade. Do any exist for this machine?

]]> By: Adam Jackson http://gigaom.com/2009/10/08/the-never-ending-dilemma-upgrade-your-old-mac-or-get-a-new-system/#comment-358723 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:28:37 +0000 http://theappleblog.com/?p=33551#comment-358723 Mmmm. Ferrari!

I’ll get around to looking up the numbers I’ve been selling Macs since my first iBook 600Mhz G3 back in 2001.

The resale value is awesome w/ AppleCare and if you include some kind of case and keyboard protector. It means no scratches but well worth the time you take to not scratch it up.

Basically, I’m paying $250 every 6 months for the latest Mac. It’s kind of like a rental fee. Do I need a 3ghz MBP w/ 8Gbs of ram? Nope but when they’re updated to 3.5Ghz, I’ll just upgrade.

]]> By: mike sanders http://gigaom.com/2009/10/08/the-never-ending-dilemma-upgrade-your-old-mac-or-get-a-new-system/#comment-358722 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:16:27 +0000 http://theappleblog.com/?p=33551#comment-358722 I think adam has it right the high resale value is often overlooked in price comparisons with PCs (who buys a used PC?).
I am the marketers dream the early adopter just gotta have the latest, having an extended family I have the excuse and the power (being the grandpa) to hand the machines down so it really works very well.
There is nothing like opening the box on a new Mac except perhaps opening the door of a brand new Ferrari.

]]> By: Jim http://gigaom.com/2009/10/08/the-never-ending-dilemma-upgrade-your-old-mac-or-get-a-new-system/#comment-358721 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:34:51 +0000 http://theappleblog.com/?p=33551#comment-358721 I had a MacBook 500mhz G3 that just now died on me. I rarely used it, but I certainly got my money out of it and then some. I’ve had a MacPro since they were introduced. Just added another internal HD and upgraded to 11GB RAM. I see no reason I can’t get another 2 or more years out of it. I also just got a 13″ MBP when they were announced – LOVE IT! I can see it lasting for at least another 2 years for my writing and web graphics duty.

I’ve never been an “upgrade” type of person. It’s one thing to toss RAM into a tower to improve performance. But when performance is bad enough that you’re thinking about a processor/video card upgrade – I find that you’re probably a candidate for a new machine anyway.

]]> By: Charles http://gigaom.com/2009/10/08/the-never-ending-dilemma-upgrade-your-old-mac-or-get-a-new-system/#comment-358720 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:17:45 +0000 http://theappleblog.com/?p=33551#comment-358720 What a timely article, I am currently facing this very dilemma! I’m using a two year old MacBookPro3,1 – the first batch to use the Santa Rosa chipset and it is still serving me well. I have upgraded the RAM to 4Gb and the HD to 320GB 7200 rpm. I have an SD card reader in the ExpressCard slot, so it is very nearly functionally equivalent to what I could buy new.

While writing this post it just occurred to me what my benchmark is… as long as it continues to play World of Warcraft with good performance, I’ll keep it!

;-)

]]> By: Adam Jackson http://gigaom.com/2009/10/08/the-never-ending-dilemma-upgrade-your-old-mac-or-get-a-new-system/#comment-358719 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:55:12 +0000 http://theappleblog.com/?p=33551#comment-358719 I never keep a machine more than 6 months. No I’m not rich, only bring in around 45K a year w/ $1600 rent (yeah I live in San Francisco) but I can usually sell my laptops for 92% of what I paid for them. 85% is the average though.

I should write a blog post soon about getting the most for your Mac on eBay cause people just don’t believe that I get such great resale value for Macs.

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