Met up with a friend today who may be in the market for a new computer after 16 years! Yep! He hasn't used his Mac Plus since the day he left biz school. Of course, I suggested a new Mac but he's a bit hesitant about the cost.

He needs it for websurfing, email, and word processing. Of course, a Wintel machine can do the trick but I get the feeling that it would be a @#$% sight easier for me to help him along if he got a Mac. And he's like almost new to computers after all of this time...mwahahaha!!!

16 years and he's hesitant about the cost?

Well hell, why not just steer him into a used computer? I mean a lampshade iMac would probably take him another 10 years-and gee, that would only run a couple of hundred.

Yeah, get him a starter Mac. Even an eMac would do what he wants just fine, and then he can upgrade. Also, the refurb AL iMacs were just reduced at the Apple Store, or Amazon with a rebate ought to be a pretty good deal.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Hrmmm...maybe I'd just sell him my G4 933? Nahhhh...it would mean rushing my MBP purchase and I'm not financially ready just yet.

I guess a used Mac might be best for him...never occurred to me because there's an Apple Store just 15 minutes' walk from me.

Be careful with selling him on a used Mac, unless it is an Intel model. As much as no one here wants to admit it, the G3s are end of life, G4s are nearly there, and G5s were pretty much denied the opportunity to live. I'm guessing that there will be 1 more OS upgrade that will support PPC, and it will be G5 only. Application support will likely be slim too. In theory Universal Binaries should help with that. My main concern is that if this guy expects the computer to last another 10 years, at least get him onto the same platform that is currently in use, don't push him towards an already obsolete platform.

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Quote
ztirffritz
Be careful with selling him on a used Mac, unless it is an Intel model. As much as no one here wants to admit it, the G3s are end of life, G4s are nearly there, and G5s were pretty much denied the opportunity to live. I'm guessing that there will be 1 more OS upgrade that will support PPC, and it will be G5 only. Application support will likely be slim too. In theory Universal Binaries should help with that. My main concern is that if this guy expects the computer to last another 10 years, at least get him onto the same platform that is currently in use, don't push him towards an already obsolete platform.

Agreed. The cheap refurb iMacs are the way to go. Sometimes the white models pop up for $799, but the current $999 deal for the Aluminum iMac is pretty decent, and the new ones run fine with only 1GB of RAM. The students Microsoft Office package for $120 from Amazon is the only software he'll need other than iLife, which is built-in.

Ok, I'll see if he's willing to spring for a refurb iMac. Only problem is that it will come in the mail rather than just grabbing one off the shelf. Thanks all!