Quote:
Originally Posted by chetandren
Same problem here. But I do have an old obsolete G5 Mac
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Wow a museum piece!
I had a G5 iMac from 2005 to 2012.
In 2012, is WAS obsolete.
We just replaced my Mom's Mac Mini, it was about 7 years-old and desperately slow. Now she got a newer Mini with an SSD drive, and it's a world of difference: she can now use the latest OS X and Safari versions and enjoy a much faster machine.
Since you have an iMac, I guess you will want to remain in the Apple ecosystem.
I used to have an iMac G5 too, I got rid of it in 2012 and back then it was already getting old. I can't imagine how you can still use one and manage to do something with it. I replaced mine with another iMac (quad-core i5), which I still have after 5 years and still works just fine. We use it as our "home server" (contains all our files and media, backed up on 2 external drives, has a printer, etc.) and I use it when I need the larger screen (it's a 20in) like for movie editing, graphic works, etc.
My personal computer is a MacBook Pro (2 years old).
My daughter has an identical MacBook (for College)
My wife has an iPad Air (for Facebook and Pinterest, mainly!)
Each of us have iPhones, and we have an Apple TV 2.
My employer provides me with a iPad Mini for work.
As you can see, we're all Apple (I've had Macs since they exist).
You basically have 3 options:
-a newer iMac
-a laptop
-a tablet
If you like the iMac, compared to your old G5 the current iMacs (or even older ones like mine) will blow you away in term of performance and usability.
A laptop is interesting because of the portability. Even at home, it can be nice to lay down on the couch with the laptop and not having to sit in front of a desk to surf FGRV at night! However they are more expensive than desktops for the same performance level, they don't offer as much connectivity (ports), and there is a
battery you need to keep charged and that will loose performance over time.
I'm not really a tablet guy. They work ok, my wife likes hers, my employer forces me to use one, so I'm familiar with IOS, but for what I'm doing a tablet will never replace a laptop. I need a real keyboard and file management. I grew up with Macs, and as good as it might be, IOS is far from OS X.
I think a tablet makes a good "2nd computer" at home, which is basically how my wife uses hers. It's basically a portable internet station.
Coming from an old G5, you don't necessarily have to look at the current offer from Apple to upgrade. You can look at a 2-3 year old Mac and it will not be much different from the current ones.
However I wouldn't buy a used laptop, unless maybe if I knew the seller personally. Laptops get carried along everywhere, and sometimes have a hard life.
If you can, get a Mac with an SSD (solid state drive). SSDs will make you Mac WAY faster. My laptop has an SSD (perfect for a laptop, no moving parts) and a dual core i5 chip. For most tasks, it is much faster than my quad-core i5 iMac which has a traditional hard disk. The only times the iMac beats the Macbook is for processor intensive tasks like movie encoding.
2008 Casita Spirit Deluxe
I keep that for music files, and the occasional word processing chore. With current upgrades in technology, the tablets seem to last about 2-3 years. Beats the cost of a new lap top. 
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