Going High End Requires Some Adjusting

Charles W. Moore – 2001.04.01

It had to happen, what with Dan Knight getting a new TiBook and retiring his Umax SuperMac S900. Dan sets the tone of things for the now-former Low End Mac, being the founder, publisher, editor, and all, and there is nothing “low end” about a titanium G4 PowerBook.

When Dan got his TiBook and quit his erstwhile day job, the writing was on the wall. It was inevitable that he would be taking the site upmarket, so to speak.

The change in focus will involve some adjustment, however, and I’m trying to gauge where I fit in the new scheme of things. I mean, my 26 month old, 233 MHz WallStreet PowerBook is hardly “high end.” Of course, it’s not really “low end” either – sort of betwixt and between.

Lately I have been seriously considering upgrading to a new system, which I suppose is now very timely, but my motif has always tended to the lower end even in a new computer context. For example, my LC 520 was the most modest iteration of the 500 series all-in-ones, although it does have a nicer monitor than the 580.

My PowerBook 5300 was an entry-level grayscale model purchased just after the 5300 was discontinued. The WallStreet is just one notch above the bottom rung in its model family, acing out only the cacheless 233 MHz model with the passive matrix display.

Looking ahead, I have been thinking seriously about replacing the WallStreet with one of the US$1,299 450 MHz Cubes – the most modest version of that model, although the Cube is hardly a “low-end” machine in any configuration. However, in order to write authoritatively for High End Mac, perhaps I ought to set my sights on a 500 MHz unit with the CD-RW drive and a big RAM upgrade.

Or maybe I should follow Dan’s example and get a TiBook, which is the other Mac on my short list.

Of course, moving upmarket will involve some budgetary adjustments as well as attitude adjustments. High end computer doesn’t come cheap.

Now, how much longer will a have to save up in order to buy the more expensive Cube or a TiBook? Let’s see. It’s April 1st….