suggestions for setting up a media lab
I volunteer with the Houston Independnt Media Center [houston.indymedia.org]. We have had an office space for a few months now, it currently has various old pcs running debian. We applied for a technology grant, and regardless of if we get it we will probably soon do some sort of fund raising effort to fill our office with new computers. The computers will be used for many different things... workshops about online publishing, light to moderate audio and video editing, and we also have a couple hardcore video people who sometimes do work for national documentary projects.
The office probably has space for 8 to 11 machines. Let's say that we have 8k USD to spend. What should we buy? My general leaning is for a fleet of eMacs: nice all in one design is more difficult to steal (well, easier to lock up anyway) or break, more durable than the lcd imacs with their chrome arms, more than enough features and power than what we need for 90% of what we do, and awesome bang for the buck. I figured that after the next speed/feature bump, the future bottom of the line eMac will be a seriously sweet price point.
Or maybe my thinking is all wrong. You see, I've been using a pismo g3 400 for 4 years, and quite honestly, the fastest computer I've ever used, even though I'm a mac-head and a programmer, is the g4 400 at work. Maybe we don't need all the power of the eMac, since 80% of their use will be for web browsing and text editing, and also some audio? Would we be better off getting a dual g5 for the video-heads and a fleet of g3 imac refurbs? Does anyone have any experience with audio apps on say a g3 500?
Thanks!
The office probably has space for 8 to 11 machines. Let's say that we have 8k USD to spend. What should we buy? My general leaning is for a fleet of eMacs: nice all in one design is more difficult to steal (well, easier to lock up anyway) or break, more durable than the lcd imacs with their chrome arms, more than enough features and power than what we need for 90% of what we do, and awesome bang for the buck. I figured that after the next speed/feature bump, the future bottom of the line eMac will be a seriously sweet price point.
Or maybe my thinking is all wrong. You see, I've been using a pismo g3 400 for 4 years, and quite honestly, the fastest computer I've ever used, even though I'm a mac-head and a programmer, is the g4 400 at work. Maybe we don't need all the power of the eMac, since 80% of their use will be for web browsing and text editing, and also some audio? Would we be better off getting a dual g5 for the video-heads and a fleet of g3 imac refurbs? Does anyone have any experience with audio apps on say a g3 500?
Thanks!
Comments
Originally posted by fahlman
What applications are going to be used on the computers? If video stuff is being done you'll want a computer with a G4 or G5 processor because the application will most likely take advantage of the processor's Velocity Engine (AltiVec). Also, if you have an $8,000 budget to buy eight Macs to replace a collection of PCs running Debian then you're going to need new software too, I assume?
good points. that was just an example number, software will certainly be accounted for when we make the lab.
most of the time the computers will be used for viewing and editing text and web files. i know that g4s and g5s will be better for audio and video... but these are going to be ameteurs doing small pieces, so i guess i wanted to hear from people who had experience with audio and video apps on g3s to see if they would be usable enough, or if g3 vs g4 is like night and day even for simple projects.