I am due for a new computer at home. My PB G4 is 4 years old now and long over due for replacement. I have the money for a new iMac but can't bring myself to buy it just yet.

You see I am currently building a Media room under my house with an attached "Office" that is at the rear of the room, 2 steps higher than the media room and separated by a half wall. I want it to be a kind of "control room" for the media room. As such I am going to have the iMac as the media centre & hub of my AV equipment.

There in lies my dilemma. I am not going to be finished until probably February next year and with the "iTV" on the horizon and HD DVD/Blu-Ray support etc imminent there is a very good chance, I think that something may happen that will greatly enhance one of the primary functions of my computer. I know that most of what I have said will be available as software upgrades or separate devices but at least built in High Def optical will not.

Now in the past I have given advice to others saying don't wait because there will always be something around the corner. But I am having trouble following my own advice. The PowerBook is very slow and driving me crazy but I do have a Quad 2.5 G5 with 2gig RAM and dual 23" cinema screens at work, so it's not as if I am starved for a speed fix or anything.

My head is spinning trying to make up my mind and I guess I'm just after some encouragement, advice or abuse to help push me one way or the other.
What should I do?

EDIT: Spelling, I was to distraught to spell correctly.

i think wait til jan... you know stevie always springs something apon us at the big conferences. Sound like a really aweet set up though! you can come and remodel my "entertainment hub" (read loungeroom) when i am a billionaire!

This may not help - have you seen the crazy price nextbyte are sell refrubished macs for - check it out

http://www.nextbyte.com.au/nb_clearance_sale.html


I think i have helpped then sell close to 3 of those $999 macbooks this morning

24inch imac for $2400 hhmmmm

I should declare my prejudices up front. I am never an early adopter, unless there is a really compelling reason to do so (with a few exceptions, such as digital TV).

iTV will need to connect to a 'puter. Have you seen the cost of blu-ray drives? Remember, even if you have the drive, you will need to have the content and the means to adequately display it, both of which will cost big bikies, at least for early adopters.

the future is always further away than it seems, and streaming high dig content around a house is still a while away, at least for a reasonable cost.

sao

Thanks, the content is the big one I know "I am going to have to buy all 6 Star Wars episodes all over again". But I do have a high def 1080P projector and a HDMI switching reciever to plug the iMac into via DVI-HDMI adapter so that part is not an issue.

Piss weak reason not to upgrade no 1.
Leopard has not been released.

oh and MacWorld is less than 2 months away...
if you buy a new mac...(Im trying to paint worst case scenario to help you out)
I assume it will be BTO. then it wiill take 2 weeks to get to you.
then you will be to busy with christmas prep and family and then its NY and then you have a hangover and then its macworld...

If you wait until next year - you could get iLife 07 + Leopard + Core (to the power of n) All in one box. I felt horrible when my dad brought his Rev. A iMac G5 when tiger came out 4months later.

If you buy an iMac before February next year a little baby bunny, a puppy and a kitten will all DIE.

There you go, that should be enough incentive.

I think HD DVD and Blu-Ray are likely to flop. iPods, iTV and downloads may well kill them before they get off the ground. Too expensive, too DRM-crippled, too late. The age of the disc is passing and if you invest in dead end technology like that you will simply be throwing money away. The quality of current DVD is more than good enough for almost everyone, the volume of content available on it is huge, even digital TV is more likely to succeed through the multi-channeling it permits than the unwanted wonders of HD images (despite our government's donkey-like refusal to face the facts). The future may well turn out to be in smaller portable screens and internet downloadable programming (e.g. iPods + WiFi) rather than huge HD digital screens feeding on Blu-Ray discs.

Good point, when you look at it like that.

Oh, and Feeze, I don't care so much about the bunny and the kitten. But if any Puppies have to die I'll be a mite upset.

people those prices at NextByte are insane - arn't they?

buy a cheap macbook now to get you through to January!!!

They are good prices yes, but unfortunatly I need a "built to order" I could buy and install additional RAM and a bigger HDD but it's the Graphics card that is the problem. I'm going to need all the grunt I can get, my screen is 3.5 meters wide!

Yeah, but the cool thing is that they will die in a 3-way Fight to the DEATH!!!

gah. i'd snaffle one of those imacs if i wasn't almost christmas present buying time :-(