When to replace my mac

brazilianwax

Having a drawn out row with OH (IT consultant who hates mac).

I have a 15" Powerbook G4 (which he bought me :rolleyes:) which is just over 4 years old.

I've gone through the OS X upgrades as they've come out.

One of the memory sticks stopped being read about 3 years ago, but this was okay. I replaced the main battery about 2 years ago. About 6 months ago I replaced the 80GB harddrive for a 250GB one , and replaced the memory sticks with 2x 1gb sticks (only one gets read) with no problems. Well, except that the contacts on the trackpad went a bit dodgy, but nothing major.

About 3 months ago I dropped it, and bent it Still worked, but I couldn't shut it without risking major damage to the screen . So I took it all apart and bashed the case back out with a hammer, got it as straight as I could and put it back together again. I pimped the light up apple too so now it's lilac

Was amazed it was still okay. Then a couple of weeks later the trackpad died completely, but a £30 laser mouse has sorted that out.

So it looks like its been through the wars, but is still functioning, as long as I use the seperate mouse.

In the last week it's switched off without warning several times. When I switch on again it's 1/1/1970. Research leads me to believe that the main battery pack is worn out, and the internal PRAM battery needs replacing too.

Without these replacements I can't use the laptop without being plugged in, which defeats the object somewhat.

A new genuine main battery will cost around £100. I don't know how much a new PRAM battery would be because I can't find anyone in the UK selling them. I expect it would be in the region of £50-70, plus then I have to open it all up again etc. **sigh** It's also running quite slow and doesn't like several things being open at once.

I'm of the "fix it till it can't be fixed no more" school, but it's getting annoying now that things keep going on it.

Anyway, I study part time and am entitled to education discount (only for 1 more year) - this would give me 8% off a new macbook pro. Quidco would give me another 6% back. At the moment they're giving £95 rebates if you buy a new nano at the same time. So I could get the better spec MBP (same memory but 2gb ram) plus a 16gb nano for less than the education cost of the MBP. (Upgrade to 4gb ram might be worth it but need to research that first).

I think I should take advantage of it (and possibly sell the powerbook and/or nano) but he's moaning about replacing it when it doesn't need it.

At the end of the day it's my choice about what I spend my money on, but I'm a libra and can't make a decision one way or another. So advice please!

inamabilis

If you do decide to replace hold off for a little while - rumours of new mb and mbps around the corner (if we're lucky hopefully before the back to school promo finishes) and there's also a printer rebate that you can have as well as the nano rebate.

brazilianwax

Ooh, thanks!

Freddie_Snowbits

You could always dump OH and get a mac as settlement!

isofa

Definitely wait until Oct, Apple are almost certainly to launch some new MacBooks, and then the currently models will be discounted. They have already launched a raft of new iPods, and next up usually are the laptops, they were last updated in Feb this year and are due for a refresh.

It's still a decent machine sorting out the battery will help, I'm not sure their laptops have a PRAM battery like the desktops, I think they just use the main battery for the clock and settings (but I'm not 100% sure!)
Definitely make the most of the education discount (and for any software you might need, such as the expensive suites from Adobe), also try third party authorised dealers like MacWarehouse, or Jigsaw they may give better edu. discounts. They have dedicated education sales teams.

If you are going to upgrade the RAM avoid Apple, it's always overpriced, get the best value laptop, and then upgrade the RAM at Crucial.

I have an 8 year old Powerbook G3 which is still working fine.

I used both Macs and PCs daily, and as you like your Mac and obviously have the software you need, I'd definitely recommend you stick with Apple.

My vote would be, wait until the new models are released, they buy a heavily discounted just replaced older model. Or also look at the refurb store on Apple's website.

brazilianwax

Thanks isofa. 14th Oct seems to be a key date according to several mac-related sites.

Would be fab if that was the case - it's my birthday on the 13th, and it would still be in time for the deals.

Keeping it all crossed now!

I think OH is coming around to the idea - he 'suggested' that 'if' I do get a new one, 'we' could use the old one as a music server

almillar

Ya all very useful advice above. Mid October is the strong rumour. I take it when you say education store you're talking about the further education store, which you can only access from a university network, and has bigger discounts than the normal edu store? Certainly have a look if that suits you, but then maybe without Quidco etc it doesn't work out as well for what you want. A PRAM battery for it is cheap to buy but probably difficult to replace. I've replaced the HDD on my 17" PBook, and if you can do that you can probably go a wee bit extra and do the battery, though I don't know what type it is.
Thing is, it looks like this poor computer has taken a lot of abuse, and you've worked hard on fixing it up. I think you've used up 8 of the 9 lives. Stick it on eBay, describe it well and take good photos, and you may be pleasantly surprised by the number of bids you get. Put the old hard drive back in too, you'll be throwing away a 250gb drive in it. Good luck!

nomoneytoday

The newer ones may be out in October, but the educational free ipod deal ends. Sorry to add choices to your decision, but it's the free ipod nano vs newer machine vs same machine for less money in the outlet centre...

brazilianwax

almillar wrote: »

Ya all very useful advice above. Mid October is the strong rumour. I take it when you say education store you're talking about the further education store, which you can only access from a university network, and has bigger discounts than the normal edu store? Certainly have a look if that suits you, but then maybe without Quidco etc it doesn't work out as well for what you want. A PRAM battery for it is cheap to buy but probably difficult to replace. I've replaced the HDD on my 17" PBook, and if you can do that you can probably go a wee bit extra and do the battery, though I don't know what type it is.
Thing is, it looks like this poor computer has taken a lot of abuse, and you've worked hard on fixing it up. I think you've used up 8 of the 9 lives. Stick it on eBay, describe it well and take good photos, and you may be pleasantly surprised by the number of bids you get. Put the old hard drive back in too, you'll be throwing away a 250gb drive in it. Good luck!

As I'm a distance learner, I would have to make a special trip to uni just to get on their network - not worth the hassle really. I'd rather do it from home on the normal education store (8% discount) plus 6% quidco

I did always intend to look after my laptop, and it's still a fantastic machine. Think I'll hang onto it and keep it as a music server (it's a pain when OH wants to steal it to make a playlist and then connect it to the amp - means I can't work!)

There's still plenty of space on the harddrive to copy all the millions of CDs onto it.

Just need to decide when to buy the new one now!

brazilianwax

nomoneytoday wrote: »

The newer ones may be out in October, but the educational free ipod deal ends. Sorry to add choices to your decision, but it's the free ipod nano vs newer machine vs same machine for less money in the outlet centre...

Hmmmmmm

The ipod offer is on till the 31st, so if the new ones come out on 14th, I'll have time

oneandonlyboy

brazilianwax wrote: »

As I'm a distance learner, I would have to make a special trip to uni just to get on their network - not worth the hassle really. I'd rather do it from home on the normal education store (8% discount) plus 6% quidco

I did always intend to look after my laptop, and it's still a fantastic machine. Think I'll hang onto it and keep it as a music server (it's a pain when OH wants to steal it to make a playlist and then connect it to the amp - means I can't work!)

There's still plenty of space on the harddrive to copy all the millions of CDs onto it.

Just need to decide when to buy the new one now!

If your a distance learner you might be about to use your uni's web cache which would allow you to visit the online apple education site, as thats what i use when im at home to order things from apple