Okay, so -- here's the deal:

1) Two and a half years ago (or thereabouts) I bought a shiny new iBook G4. It was my firstest laptop and my firstest Mac and we quickly developed an inappropriate bond of pure love. I did, however, keep my languishing old PC desktop because it has some software I need that doesn't run on Mac OS. However, it is dusty and stanky and I would like to unload it as soon as I can.

2) Because I use this iBook exclusively, for both work and play, it is old beyond its years. The Y key is trying to flee the keyboard entirely, the battery hatch is crotchety and flighty, and lately the iBook's PMU has been an utter arse -- I've had to reset it three times and the newest charming symptom is that the computer won't 'wake up' from sleep. Instead, it goes unresponsive and plays dead, so I have to reboot it over and over. The iBook's hard drive is laughably tiny (60GB -- "THERE ARE IPODS WITH BIGGER HDS!" my brother shouts) and its processor doesn't do a great job of keeping up with everything I'd like it to do. (I don't blame Apple for any of this, mind you -- for a laptop, the iBook is getting up in years and I have used the shit out of this thing and it's generally been marvelous. It's just getting oooold.) Clearly, I needed to shell out for a proper PowerBook in the first place instead of trying to get this little economy model to behave like a workhorse. However, I could barely afford this one at the time, so... *shrug*.

3) I have a wee bit of money saved up from my hectic working autumn season and I'm thinking I can afford a new computer. Keeping in mind that new Macs now can run PC software (and I can thusly actually rid myself of the old PC finally), I'm a bit flummoxed as to what I should do. Should I get a second Mac, a desktop version? For less than a new MacBook Pro (which is the new workhorse laptop) I could get more processor power, a bigger HD, and the new Leopard platform which will let me run my old PC software. Or should I just replace my little iBook? Again, I can't afford a MacBook Pro, so I'd be stuck with another econo model laptop trying to do the duties of a workhorse -- but I'd only have one computer and it'd be simpler to manage files, etc.

(The MacBook Air isn't an option, as it really wouldn't work without a lot of peripheral crap like USB ethernet ports and a USB SuperDrive, and it's too expensive anyway and grr - Apple, could you be ANY MORE ANNOYING WITH YOUR SHINY NEW PRETTIES? Sigh.)

The price difference isn't huge between the two options, only about $50. I can't reasonably expect to have enough money to buy a new laptop to replace the iBook for another year at least, maybe longer, so buying an iMac would mean living with the sad little iBook for a while yet. On the other hand, having a second machine would mean I could take a bit of pressure off the iBook, transferring files and some less-used programs off its beleaguered HD. I also have a USB 500GB external HD I could permanently hook up to the new iMac and have tons of file space to spare there.

[Poll #1135828]