$6,000 Budgeted for New Mac w/ display
The new year has opened up a few opportunities. I have about 6k CND, or about 5k USD, to spend on a complete system w/ monitor. I do everything web and print also I would love to be able to play games at more than min settings. Anything I buy will be an improvement from my revA 12" PB w/ 17"CRT.
I require:
Airport Card
Bluetooth module
and Apple care
Apple displays look to be expensive so I'm not totally sold on going totally Apple.
should I buy RAM from another dealer?
thanks in advance, and spend wisely.
flick.
I require:
Airport Card
Bluetooth module
and Apple care
Apple displays look to be expensive so I'm not totally sold on going totally Apple.
should I buy RAM from another dealer?
thanks in advance, and spend wisely.
flick.
Comments
? 512MB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 2x256
? 160GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
? ATI Radeon 9600 XT w/128MB DDR SDRAM
? Apple Cinema HD Display (23" flat panel)
? AirPort Extreme Card
? 56k V.92 internal modem
? 8x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
? Apple Keyboard & Apple Mouse - U.S. English
? Mac OS X - U.S. English
? APP for Power Mac (w/ or w/o display) - Enrollment Kit
* 23 inch cinema hd display
Subtotal $4,876.00 usd
add some ram after market with the rest of your budget, shoot for 2 gigs+, imho
The configuration a_greer lists will run you $6936 CDN, or $7421 with GST. (you're in Calgary, right?)
If you can swing an Edu purchase, that goes down to $6394, or $6841 with tax. Still $800 over budget and you haven't even brought your RAM up to a respectable level.
The dual 1.8 is $700 cheaper. That's a boat-load of RAM right there.
You could get a dual 1.8, upgrade only the video card (hell, $70 for a 128MB card over a 64MB, no brainer), and add the BT module and AirPort Extreme card, and add in an Apple 20" display, and you'd be at $5236, or $5600 with tax. That leaves you $400 to buy some RAM.
I don't think it's worth it to buy a larger HD, as you can pretty much buy yourself an extra drive for the money Apple wants to just upgrade the stock one.
Same with RAM - you can buy a 512MB chip from Crucial for the cost of just upgrading your 2x128 to 2x256 from Apple. Might as well just buy RAM elsewhere and try to get a few bucks for the 128s on eBay. Or you could even just tuck them away in case you ever need them to double check a possible RAM problem some day.
BTW, if you buy this through the Edu store, you'd save $600. That then leaves you a grand for RAM or an extra HD. From what I hear, it's easier than you think.
Oh, and of course you can also save $800 or more by buying a really nice CRT instead of even the 20" Apple display. I think you have to try pretty hard to spend $1000 on a CRT these days.
Originally posted by a_greer
? Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5
? 512MB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 2x256
? 160GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
? ATI Radeon 9600 XT w/128MB DDR SDRAM
? Apple Cinema HD Display (23" flat panel)
? AirPort Extreme Card
? 56k V.92 internal modem
? 8x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
? Apple Keyboard & Apple Mouse - U.S. English
? Mac OS X - U.S. English
? APP for Power Mac (w/ or w/o display) - Enrollment Kit
* 23 inch cinema hd display
Subtotal $4,876.00 usd
add some ram after market with the rest of your budget, shoot for 2 gigs+, imho
nice, but you forgot an aiport express or extreme base station. and i think he could "get by" with a 20" display. the 20 inch looks small in apple stores but is plenty big. drop the modem--30 bucks is 30 bucks. (if you get an airport extreme base station it has a modem port anyways, and you would be connecting to that wirelessy). definitely try to get 2GB of ram. i wouldnt go for a 1.8 G5.
Originally posted by ipodandimac
nice, but you forgot an aiport express or extreme base station. and i think he could "get by" with a 20" display. the 20 inch looks small in apple stores but is plenty big. drop the modem--30 bucks is 30 bucks. (if you get an airport extreme base station it has a modem port anyways, and you would be connecting to that wirelessy). definitely try to get 2GB of ram. i wouldnt go for a 1.8 G5.
Actually I already have the Airpoet Extreme Base Station AND the Express I just need the Card.. What 1.8 are you talking about dual or single?
flick.
Originally posted by ipodandimac
nice, but you forgot an aiport express or extreme base station. and i think he could "get by" with a 20" display. the 20 inch looks small in apple stores but is plenty big. drop the modem--30 bucks is 30 bucks. (if you get an airport extreme base station it has a modem port anyways, and you would be connecting to that wirelessy). definitely try to get 2GB of ram. i wouldnt go for a 1.8 G5.
FUCK AIRPORT! get a linksys g router for ~$50...use the balance for ...whatever the hell you want!
express is cool - wireless optical audio and all, but the base station is a joke
Originally posted by Flick Justice
Actually I already have the Airpoet Extreme Base Station AND the Express I just need the Card.. What 1.8 are you talking about dual or single?
flick.
dual... well, i kinda take back my earlier comment. if you get loads of ram, then you could get by with the dual 1.8. if you arent gonna get much ram, i wouldnt settle for less than the 2.5.
Originally posted by ipodandimac
dual... well, i kinda take back my earlier comment. if you get loads of ram, then you could get by with the dual 1.8. if you arent gonna get much ram, i wouldnt settle for less than the 2.5.
why do you say that? is the 18 dual not much of a speed increase?
is the 2.5 THAT much better?
flick.
I would go DP 2.5/BT/AEC/250GB/9600 or 9800XT/56K. The price difference for the 160GB-250GB is good. You only have one extra HD bay, so I would get the biggest HD you can from Apple, or you could get the smallest HD and get a Western Digital Rapter 10K 74GB drive. This will really improve preformance. Then use the drive from Apple as a scratch drive, and get a FW800 drive as your Data drive. You will really like the performance.
Originally posted by Flick Justice
why do you say that? is the 18 dual not much of a speed increase?
is the 2.5 THAT much better?
flick.
The reason I recomended the dual 2.0 was because it has 8 gigs max ram and pci-x, the speed bump of 10ish percent is cool but not the only consideration
Originally posted by Mac Write
Yes the 2.5 is a big performance increase over the DP1.8. Not only is each CPU 700mhz faster, but the system bus is 350mhz faster for each processor. Maybe get that with a CRT 21" Display. You can always upgrade the display later, invest in the tower to get the most performance you can afford. For ram go to your local PC builder and ask for Kingston Value RAM it's good quality at half the price of the other Kingston RAM, unless RAM performance if critical to you, then go for the best.
I would go DP 2.5/BT/AEC/250GB/9600 or 9800XT/56K. The price difference for the 160GB-250GB is good. You only have one extra HD bay, so I would get the biggest HD you can from Apple, or you could get the smallest HD and get a Western Digital Rapter 10K 74GB drive. This will really improve preformance. Then use the drive from Apple as a scratch drive, and get a FW800 drive as your Data drive. You will really like the performance.
Wow very well done!
here is what I priced out:
Dual 2.5GHz PowerPC G5
¥ 2GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 4x512 (is it cheaper to buy RAM else where?)
¥ 250GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm ( HD space isn't a big problem as I back up often)
¥ ATI Radeon 9800 XT w/256MB DDR SDRAM ( a guy has to ply games you know)
¥ AirPort Extreme Card
¥ Bluetooth Module
¥ 8x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) ( i have this on my "12 pb so I'm wondering if I shouldn't just save money here)
¥ Apple Keyboard & Apple Mouse - U.S. English(after market keyboard maybe?)
¥ Mac OS X - U.S. English
¥ APP for Power Mac (w/ or w/o display) - Enrollment Kit
As for monitor I'm kinda stuck here..
I was looking at "21 CRTs the prices vary greatly and well I'm no Tech guy so i don't know what to buy here... I have to admit I really love the Apply LCDs if not only for the look but thats a bad reason to buy a monitor..
Do you have any favorites?
flick.
I'm also considering grabbing a CRT after looking around a bit today. Hell, you could grab 2 nice high end Viewsonic 19" CRTs for half of the cost of a 20" Apple LCD.
BTW, I'd keep that 8x SuperDrive... I don't think you want to be relying on your slow SD in the PowerBook for backups, or burning multiple copies of work projects.
What's up with the crippled DVD functionality of so many Apple products?
1gb of RAM (Anything more doesn't give that much more oomph - u probs wont use it)
2x250gb SATA hard drives
nVidia geForce 6800 GT DLL w/256mb of Memory
Apple Cinema Display 20" Flat Panel
Play around with the the other options if u like.
TOTAL = $4773USD
My $00.02AUD
Make sure you get flat screen CRT's. Wont be much more expensive, and definatly worth it in nthe long run.
Make sure your pixel pusher is up to the task though - for someone in your price range, dont bother with the older radeons - get a nvidia 6800 Gt DLL.
Forget the CRTs. They can only hurt your eyes. Get an LCD, a good one. It doesn't have to come from Apple. Shopping around can get you a very good 23" widescreen panel from HP for about 1500 USD. 19" panels are ridiculously cheap too. Yes, they're square, and don't go past 1280x1024, but they're fast (16ms), have digital and analogue input, and for the price of one Apple 20", you can have two hig quality 19" units.
Forget CRT's. LCD's can be calibrated for color critical work too. You don't need the latest whiz bang video card or fastest machine available for print and web work (the price-performance ratio invariably suffers out at the bleeding edge. Spend money on the part of the machine you interact with most -- the display. Keep the rest for stuff like properly priced third party RAM and HDDs, or Tim Horton's, beer, cheesburgers, rent...
Originally posted by Matsu
You do web and print work, yes?
Forget the CRTs. They can only hurt your eyes. Get an LCD, a good one. It doesn't have to come from Apple. Shopping around can get you a very good 23" widescreen panel from HP for about 1500 USD. 19" panels are ridiculously cheap too. Yes, they're square, and don't go past 1280x1024, but they're fast (16ms), have digital and analogue input, and for the price of one Apple 20", you can have two hig quality 19" units.
Forget CRT's. LCD's can be calibrated for color critical work too. You don't need the latest whiz bang video card or fastest machine available for print and web work (the price-performance ratio invariably suffers out at the bleeding edge. Spend money on the part of the machine you interact with most -- the display. Keep the rest for stuff like properly priced third party RAM and HDDs, or Tim Horton's, beer, cheesburgers, rent...
In the past I have done mostly Web and multi media, but latley i have found myself doing way more print.. Usually I'm working on a few things at once so I have Adobe, usually PS Illy and Indesign, and Macromedia, dreamweaver fireworks and very rarely flash, open at once. this is where the RAM issue comes in, do you really think that 1 gig is enough I'm tempted to just pack as much as I can in. but if I won't really notice I'll save the money to get that third nipple removed.. or move it to the monitor.. So Back to LCD, I do play games and have been sad lately cause my PB "12 has just become slow and won't run any of the newer games at anythign more than the min, am I going to enjoy the quality with an LCD in this dpeartment? are the new apple displays fast enough?
I think I'm back to the 2.5 Gig (maybe we'll see a speed increase in january but I really don't care).
flick.
20" - all these have same panel
Dell 2001FP / Benq FP2091 / Viewsonic VP201b
20" widescreen - same panel as 20" ACD
Dell 2005FPW
23" widescreen - both have same panel as 23" ACD
HP L2335 / Benq FP231W
If you ask me, dual 20" might be the ticket. If you go with the Dells (rebranded Benq), you'll pay about $1300 for two. The Benq and Viewsonic look better and cost more. In the 20" widescreen department, the 2005FPW has had some quality issues.
OTOH the Benq FP231W costs the same as HP L2335 but looks better, cost should be in same ballpark with 20" ACD. The 23" Benq is my choice number two.
All of these displays are fast enough for gaming.
Originally posted by Flick Justice
So Back to LCD, I do play games and have been sad lately cause my PB "12 has just become slow and won't run any of the newer games at anythign more than the min, am I going to enjoy the quality with an LCD in this dpeartment? are the new apple displays fast enough?
The new Apple displays should be fast enough, but as Matsu said they're overpriced. It's a shame that Dell doesn't have the 2005fpw available in Canada (or not that I saw as of last week)... it's a great monitor for about half the price of the 20" ACD.
Most decent LCD's now should be pretty high quality and just fine for gaming.
Originally posted by Gon
No reason to pay the premium for Apple displays. In flatscreens you have
20" - all these have same panel
Dell 2001FP / Benq FP2091 / Viewsonic VP201b
20" widescreen - same panel as 20" ACD
Dell 2005FPW
23" widescreen - both have same panel as 23" ACD
HP L2335 / Benq FP231W
If you ask me, dual 20" might be the ticket. If you go with the Dells (rebranded Benq), you'll pay about $1300 for two. The Benq and Viewsonic look better and cost more. In the 20" widescreen department, the 2005FPW has had some quality issues.
OTOH the Benq FP231W costs the same as HP L2335 but looks better, cost should be in same ballpark with 20" ACD. The 23" Benq is my choice number two.
All of these displays are fast enough for gaming.
thanks for this info!
I went and bought two Benq 20" LCDs they are really well priced!
here is the box I'm thinking of getting.
Power Mac G5 Dual 2GHz
Part Number: Z0AB
Bluetooth Module
160GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5
8x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
2GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 4x512
AirPort Extreme Card
Mac OS X - U.S. English
Accessory kit
ATI Radeon 9800 XT w/256MB DDR SDRAM
Apple Keyboard & Apple Mouse - U.S. English
About the ram were online can I buy it? and is it much less than apple?
you all have been really helpful
flick.