Purchase Advice.
via Yahoo/AAPL (thanks to Rodgr Rafter)
>>"I am beginning to look seriously at a mac for my next puter,"<<
>raku2,
It's really a no brainer, as the G3 will do anything you want, better and more reliably than the pentium IIs. It also will maintain it's resale value and upgradability much longer than the Wintels.
If you are ready to buy one now, go for a 233 mHz G3. The higher cost for the 266 and 300 mHz machines isn't really worth it, since you'll be upgrading, along with everyone else, in a year to the 400 mHz AltiVecs. Those could give us a 5 or 6 fold increase in power over the current models. Consider that...
Buy your G3 build-to-order at the Apple store, and be sure to get a DVD player, instead of the CD. Stick to 32 Meg of memory, and upgrade via third party if you ever need more (Apple charges too much for additional memory and other luxuries.) In general, hold off on upgrades and options until you have a specific use for them in mind. You can always get cards cheap via mail order.
I believe Apple is still offereing Virtual PC for free if you buy it in the near future. You should get it if you have much invested in Windows software.
If you aren't intending to buy a computer for a couple months, then you should wait until early August (Monday the 2nd?) for the iMac to debut. I expect all the G3s will drop in price at that time. Demand seems to be strong enough that we won't see a price cut before then.
If you are looking more towards early 1999 for that next purchase, then you should wait for AltiVec. Once that hits, personal computing will become a radically different kind of experience. (Not available on Wintel).
Anyone else with opinions on the smart way to buy a Mac?
Go AAPL.
Rodg.< |
