A week or so ago I had performed some maintenance on the Mac using Onyx which required me to reboot the machine. Fine, no biggie. So when I go to reboot a little while later, nothing happens. Nothing. No chime. No hardrive activity (aside from in turning on with the power)… nothing. After several attempts to start it and get it going, it was obvious it just wasn’t going to work. So, I closed the lid and went to bed (a bit annoyed and frusterated).
<p>When I got up the next morning and pushed the button, _“Hhhmmmmmmm”. I got the chime. It booted up like usual and everything was working fine. I chalked it up as somethat Onyx had done and left it at that. Until…</p>
<p>Today when I got off work, I was using the ‘puter while conducting some (eh hem) “business.” When the time came in which I needed 2 hands, I closed the lid and <em>“SNAP!”</em> The left hinge broke. Crap. Oh well, as long as I can close the lid, it will still work. Still, I was concerned about the hinge so I turned the Mac off and went out to the garage to get some small screwdrivers so I could investigate, “<em>maybe it could be fixed</em>” I thought. Turns out, no. It’s completely busted. In fact, whilst futzing with it, a small piece fell off. Sigh. Oh well, lets put it back together.</p>
<p>I put the screws back in and tried to force the screen to <em>somewhat</em> go back the way it should be. I hit the power button and guess what? That’s right. <span class="caps">NOTHING</span>! I did the three finger salute about a dozen times and turned it completely off about the same number of times, but still, nothing. Now I’m thinking, “<em>Great. Just what I needed; to spend money on a new ‘puter</em>.”</p>
<p>I let is set for a while then tried several more times. This time, I was getting the chime, but it still wasn’t actually booting. Every so often, it would start to chime, then short out and/or the chime would get really loud and distored. That can’t be good. Eventually, the damn thing booted (obviously, since I’m writing this post).</p>
<p>Even though it appears to working fine, I’m still concerned that my Mac is limping along like a senior citizen with a walker. So, ever since the first time it acted up, I started thinking about a replacement and I’m really torn at this point. I work all day on a Wintel desktop (not by choice) and I feel more productive on a desktop. At the same time, I can’t really afford a new G5 desktop (since I’d have to buy a monitor as well). I could get a new iMac, but even then, it’s going to run me closer to $2k. I just can’t spend that much.</p>
<p>So, that only leaves me with one other option. Get a Wintel machine. Not the ideal replacement, but cheap. I see Dell’s with reasonable specs for around $800 with a 17” <span class="caps">LCD</span> monitor. So, certainly, for less than $1k, I can pick up a relatively nice desktop and <span class="caps">LCD</span> monitor.</p>
<p>I hate to <b><span class="caps">NOT</span></b> buy an Apple, but I just can’t justify it anymore. Most of the work I’m doing these days is web development. The days of design went bye-bye when I started at <a href="http://www.autobytel.com">Autobytel</a> so Photoshop work is minimal. Besides that, with the new browsers and <span class="caps">CSS</span>, I find myself using less images in my layouts. And, lets face it, a text editor is a text editor. I can use just about any text editor to get my work done. I’ve tried just about all of them (<a href="http://www.vim.org">Vim</a> , <a href="http://www.barebones.com">BBEdit</a>, <a href="http://www.codingmonkeys.de/subethaedit/">SubEthaEdit</a>, <a href="http://smultron.sourceforge.net/">Smultron</a>, <a href="http://www.jedit.org/">jEdit</a>, <a href="http://www.html-kit.com"><span class="caps">HTML</span>-Kit</a>, <a href="http://www.zend.com"><span class="caps">ZDE</span></a>, <a href="http://www.macromedia.com">Coldfusion Studio</a> and a handful others).... what to do. How about a pros and cons list… ok.</p>
<p><b><span class="caps">CONS</span></b> (Buying an x86 machine)</p>
<p>+ All my drives are formatted as <span class="caps">HFS</span>+ so I’d have to figure that one out
+ All my photos are in iPhoto and the directory structure is not favorable + If I don’t use Windows (e.g. Linux) I can’t use iTunes + It’s not a Mac + I’d have a barcode stamped on my forehead that would distinguish me from the rest of the windows zombies.
<p><b><span class="caps">PROS</span></b></p>
<p>+ I don’t <em>have</em> to run Windows
+ Apple is soon to release Mac OS X for x86 since they’re going to start using Intel chips + Someone has already got OS X (Tiger) running on x86 + I don’t have to run Windows + Hardware is cheap
<p>I don’t know what to do. It wouldn’t be too terribly hard to get all my data over to a new filesystem (especially with Linux since they actually have <span class="caps">HFS</span> support, at least, they used to). At this point, the toughest part would be convincing my wife that I need another computer :)</p>
I guess I could get a Mac mini…
One word: Linux.
Linux has come a long way. Its got just about all the software you’d ever need (I think…).
Currently, I’m running…(counting)…three machines under Linux that is one Mandrake and two VectorLinux. Everything works well – I like a windows manager called Fluxbox. Its very minimal, simple and easily customizable. I’m still having problems using a web application that I use for work under Linux – maybe its a Java problem? Or maybe the page uses ActiveX? I dont know.?
Sorry to hear about your Mac. Macs are great! I would sure like to buy one. The newer G5′s look really cool.
I still can’t believe they are going to release OS X for intel machines… After all this marketing about how great the power pc platform is…
I have enough experience with Linux between the old days of running LinuxPPC on my beige G3 and Gentoo on an old PC I used to have. I guess my biggest concern is getting music (and whatever elese) to and from the wife’s iPod… I guess if they can install LInux on an iPod, I can probably manage the music. I guess if worst comes to worse, I have a dual boot system and run iTunes under Windows. The photos I’m not too concerned about and I use IMAP mail, so I don’t have to copy any emails over…
Now, do I get a 64bit machine, or stick with the much more supported 32bit?
I’m not sure if I’d go 64bit just yet…seems like most of the 64 bit guys run Gentoo…
Found this cheap at tigerdirect…kinda makes me think I should get one…
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1487649&Sku=C460-1022%20Q
Nonetheless, after a few googles it seems there is plenty of work going on for your ipod and itunes…
I guess the other area that is weak is all of the video thats on the net… So much of it is windows media – I cant get a lot of it to play…
I think that a G5 would really be the way to go…Linus Torvalds is running one (with Linux of course)…
I’m still amazed at what I can do with an older system paired with Vectorlinux. I’ve got a Pentium III 500 that runs like a champ and is more solid than my wifes machine running XP. Most people these days are buying a computer that has power far beyond their reach or interest. I’ve been working on getting a tiny 486 laptop with 8 megs of ram up and running. Once its working it will be able to do everything that the average consumer demands.
Less is more.
Easy there Mies ;)
Thanks for the link, BTW… it’s now close to 2AM and I have to be in Aliso Viejo by 8 :-\ But, yeah, cheap setup… I priced that with some basics and a 19" LCD for arond $850 (see, this is where more is better).
I had an old PC not too long ago… PIII 450 I think. Tried a couple of distros (Redhat and Gentoo) on it, ended up selling it the C’s co-worker (with Win2k).
Oh, and… nice Pug!
Yeah – we think our pug is cute. We are getting another soon!
What do you have for a Mac anyhow? I’ve got a couple that are sitting around in parts, maybe I have the hinges that you need.
Well, I’ve got a 15" G4/1GHz. It’s about 2.5 years old… don’t know if it’s a Ti or Alum version. I’m not sure it can be fixed that easily. The screen actually broke apart from the hinge (a piece even fell out of the screen). Also, I think something is up with the motherboard anyway. I don’t dare retart the machine as I’m not sure if it will boot. Sometimes I get the chime, sometimes not, sometimes the chime starts and cuts out half way through. It’s quite odd. I’ve never seen this happen on a mac before. I suspect a loose/worn connection on the motherboard someplace either due to excessive heat or something. Once the machine is running, there’s no issues whatsoever. It runs like a champ. Although, it seems that it’s running a little slower these days.. but maybe that’s just a perception issue ;)
You guys hear of the big Apple release on Sept. 7?
Some say its an ipod/cell phone.
I’ve hear others say ipod+video…
Any thoughts?
Yeah…I’m pretty sure it’s an Cell phone with iTunes(or some such thing). I believe the FCC just approved a phone from Motorola (and I think Nokia will follow suit shortly). I could be wrong, who knows… an iPod Video doesn’t seem like it’s a far stretch from the iPod Photo really. Personally, an iPod Video would prove more use than a phone that plays MP3s.
I don’t know…it always seems like these ‘do it all’ devices leave something to be desired. They often do everything but are poor at doing everything. I bought an HP printer. It faxed, printed, copied, scanned etc…It ended up in the garbage. It did everything but nothing well.
I’m not sure I’d have much use for a cell phone w/ iTunes. I keep eyeing the PSP – but I don’t like the idea of supporting proprietary file formats. I guess its impossible not to…
Have you seen this device?
http://www.archos.com/products/av_700/index.html
Pretty cool – I’m not sure I’d use it – and it aint cheap.
I agree 100%. The all-in-one approach is going to hit a brick wall soon. There’s a fine line between being useful and being a waste of time. When I was researching new cell phones recently,I totally got caught up in the "I want a camera phone that plays MP3s and can store tons of data that has Bluetooth and WiFi" craze. It’s horrible. You kind of have to think what the main purpose of the gadget is. It’s a cell phone first. Does it perform well as a phone? If not, then you’re buying an MP3 player/digital camera that drops calls on a regular basis. Jack of all trades, master of nothing.
The mini DVR is a pretty cool idea. A co-worker of mine has the smaller version of the AV700. I can’t see myself spending that kind of money on a gadget like that…but I still think it would prove it’s use. You could store a large collection of DVDs on that thing saving you from ruining them from daily use (I hear a lot of parents talking about burning backup copies of child movies so the originals don’t get damaged).
Enough rambling for tonight…
Well, is this your machine: http://www.pbfixit.com/Guide/33.15.0.html
or is it this one: http://www.pbfixit.com/Guide/54.2.0.html
Click through either guide for full-color photos. If it’s the first model, you may be in luck. I’ve got hinges, I’ve got a display. No motherboard, but from the description you are giving it doesn’t sound like that’s a problem (my mobo is shot – symptoms include sleep of death, random crashing, etc). You sound like you’ve got a short someplace, and not a serious one (in my humble, non-professional, opinion)
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