Tough Time Deciding which Mac I want

My ISP got busy and messed up and I clicked the button

Lots of MLB problems with the eMacs (we've replaced a lot of eMac logic boards in the last 12 months). iBooks also have historically had MLB issues. iMac DV's weak point is the PAV board.

Cubes and Pismos are both easy to work on, although Cube parts can be difficult to find. Both models have decent track records.

Hey,

Apple has made a lot of computers but there are a few that rise above the rest and the Pismo is one of them. I'm on mine now and I've had it for years and never had a lick of trouble with it. Nice warm screen, sleek design, and totally dependable. I also have an IceBook and I use the Pismo more often.

My 2¢

William
www.williamahearn.com

i'd say get the pismo too. i have the wallstreet, but knowing its similarities to the pismo and how easy they both are to upgrade, i highly reccomend the pismo. with it being so easy to modift, you'll easily be able to add enough ram and hard drive space to make it usable, and there are plenty of optical drives that will fit the drive sled.

if you were ever to consider the emac, i say get one of the older ones. i have one of the orignal 700mhz models, and i have never had a problem with it. the later models might be a different story, but mine's 5 years old and still running strong.

I can't vouch for the quality of the original eMac motherboard over later revisions, but I know the *other* components in the computer are higher quality (the speakers, for one) than the later revisions.

I like quite a few of those machines. if you need a laptop get the pismo, I've heard pretty good things about them for years. If you want a desktop, I'd recommend the cube. quite a few cube owners are fanatical, and alot of them are running like 1.8ghz g4's with hacked radeon 9800s. If you want to see a little of their community, go to cubeowner.com . Good luck with your decision!

I think I'm sold on the pismo to me I like the case and the you can't get that expandablity in an iBook.

Well I haven't owned all the Macs you've described, but I can offer some advice on a few. I would have to say newer is better for the most part though. I have a 1.25GHz eMac and in the past 4 years the only issue has been the combo drive kicking the bucket. Easy and cheap to upgrade, so that really wasn't a big deal. The eMac also has one of the best CRT displays I have ever used. Very crip, bright and big compared to the iMac G3. I also own a 600MHz iMac DV. I only recently got it, but I am impressed. I like the look and its pretty zippy compared to my 450MHz Powermac. If you were to get an iMac DV, I would say getting a 700 or 600MHz model is a must. The G3 is quite old now, and you really are gonna want the best there is to offer. Same advice goes for getting the iBook. Those early ones may look just like the newer, but go for at least 700MHz. My mom has an 800MHz G3 and it works great. Also fast like the iMac. I've never owned a Cube, but I too would like one just for the sake of saying I have one. Its still only 400-500MHz though, and unless you plan on shelling out the bucks for a processor upgrade, I would advise against having one as your main computer. The good news is the Cube is very upgradable when it comes to hard drive, RAM, optical drive, and even the video card. I've never had a Pismo, but I have a Wallstreet. I've heard the Pismo is 10x better and faster, and if its true, maybe get a 500MHz model. If its anything like the Wallstreet, I would say forget it.

well of course the pismo is better than the wallstreet. the only comparison i was making was expandability.

might i add the ibook is horrible as stated by others. i have two and both are a living hell. the g3 has been gutted since its gpu fried, and both computers have dead batteries (the g4 started showing signs of battery death after only a year).

i'd like a cube too, but i have far too many computers to bother getting one yet.

As I've mentioned in other threads, I have found seven iMac DV's on the side of the road waiting for the garbage man in just the past year and a half. All but one had a bad PAV. That one simply had a bad harddrive, so I fixed up the machine and thought I'd sell it after I tested it out for awhile. It's PAV went bad after four days of testing. This has led me to believe that those iMacs at this point should be avoided. I don't think I could even, in clear conscience, sell a working one, expecting it might crap out on the buyer soon after the sale. Perhaps, if it is maintained in the proper environment the bad PAV plague is avoided, but I wouldn't risk any time and money on one.