Good time to buy?

Hate to burst your bubble but 32 bit will not be out of the game until there are fully functional versions of operating systems that support the 64 bit features. Not to mention software that has to be developed around it. It is going to be many years before 64 bit is the standard and 32 bit is old news.

Along the lines of buying a notebook... I just bought my 4780, and it should be arriving this week. There really never is a "good time" to buy unless there is a certain product that is selling for less that might decrease the cost of the entire laptop. This doesn't really affect it by that much though, and just because in 2 months from now my $2,000 4780 might cost $1,900 doesn't mean it would have been a "better time" to buy in 2 months. There will be other laptops that are better that cost $2,000 at that time, so why would it matter?

I concur.

When is the time to buy? When you decide you need one. I do not expect 64-bit software to become mainstream for a couple of yrs, and by then, you will be thinking...I should really get a new machine.

Now, instead of looking at that as a deciding factor to wait/not to wait...maybe ask yourself, "These new chips also have larger cache sizes, ect, should I wait?" That can be answered by what you plan to do with your new machine over the next couple of years.

I disagree. I'm betting 64 bit will sweep. Maybe 1 year, maybe 2 at the most. The reason is a lot of big users have been sitting on replacement for the past couple years of a down economy. With tight budgets and smaller demand, they've been making do. Why do you think the tech stocks are so flat? Nobody is buying. That plus they all know there is a coming revolution, a multirevolution, with PCI Express, BTX, 64 bit, DDR2, SATA 2, etc. There's a lot of stuff happening in the next 12 months. They've been waiting. And I don't mean the server stuff, I mean the stuff on the desks. As the economy improves, there will be more demand and most of what they have is now three, four, five years old. More in many cases.

However, that's why I would not buy anything right now. I intend to wait 8 to 12 months. I don't like buying the bleeding edge, the industry is relying too much on the consumer doing their beta testing these days. But I don't mind being on the second wave. Even if you don't want the new stuff, there is going to be a flood of old tech on the market at bargain prices. New, used, whatever.

But it is true, other than during times of major changes, not just one or two items but sweeping changes that coincide, you should base your decision on what you need. Sure, maybe move your date about a couple of weeks either way, but not more than that. Otherwise you fall into the waiting for the perfect machine for less game. The idea is to be using it, not wishing your were.