About to buy a G5 imac. But which one? Need advice.

reganregan
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I'm a web designer/flash animator who is about to purchase a G5 imac. But which one? I'm flip floppin more than John Kerry.



imac 17" 160HD/AE/BT keyboard & mouse $1,649.00

imac 20" 160HD/AE/BT keyboard & mouse $ 1,959.00



there is a $310 difference between getting the 17" or the 20" imac.



They both have identical specs. The ONLY physical difference is the screen size. So I have to ask myself, is that extra space worth the extra money? As someone getting into web design & Flash animation...will I regret it later if I go with the 17"? Or will 17" be more than enough?



If I go with the 17" I can use the $300 I save and get 1 gig of ram from Crucial.com.



But I can always upgrade ram. I can never upgrade screen size.



So this is my dilemma. Which size to get.



Oh...also...to all you web designers/flash animators out there. What in your opinion is the minimum amount of ram to do what you do effectively?



Thanks for all the feedback.



Regan
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    auroraaurora Posts: 1,142member
    wait for the next revision 20" you are paying a lot for fx5200 and maybe it will be gone in a few months.
  • Reply 2 of 27
    baron von smileybaron von smiley Posts: 60member
    I agree. Wait for the revision. If nothing else, wait until it comes standard with iLife 05 and save yourself some cash.
  • Reply 3 of 27
    reganregan Posts: 474member
    doesnt it come with ilife 05 right now?
  • Reply 4 of 27
    cubitcubit Posts: 846member
    The vets will always tell you to wait for the next revision. I rarely do, often pay more for less in the long stream of time, BUT I have my macs on my desk, or on my lap, or in my study and get all kinds of things done while they are waiting for Apple to make the next one better.



    What matters is what you want to do with your new toy/tool/friend. I do suggest, though, that you go for the largest screen you can, as the work space is very much worth the investment. Memory, too, is another category where more is better, though Apple does charge quite a bit more for theirs installed than you can find similar configurations elsewhere. However, you have to install it or get someone else to do it. If your order direct from Apple and or have one BTO, it may pay in convenience to get the max for your machine. I still use my Cube (G4^3 500 1.5 GB RAM every day, and I upgraded the memory quite easily myself?actually enjoyed ths sliding in and out of the shell--but when contemplated cracking open the iMac G4 flat-panel, I let them put it in the max for me. (Unfortunatly, I was a very early adopter so that one is just a 15" screen and 768MB, but it is very useable and its configuation is great for my work at my office. The new iMac G5 may be easy to upgrade, I've not done it, but if you can go for it would be my advice.
  • Reply 5 of 27
    squashsquash Posts: 332member
    regan also if you look at the online apple store and hit the red tag sale link on the right halfway down they have the 20" imac for like 1700 or so. Yeah yeah it's reconditioned, but it saves you that money and they have warranties. Just a thought for you.
  • Reply 6 of 27
    auroraaurora Posts: 1,142member
    Wait for better then fx5200 whatever they use and tiger. thats worth waiting for in my view then you will have a up to date machine.
  • Reply 7 of 27
    reganregan Posts: 474member
    yeah, but how long before tiger is released? Steve keeps saying first half of 05. But that could be at WWDC in June or July.



    I definately can't wait that long.
  • Reply 8 of 27
    piotpiot Posts: 1,346member
    [QUOTE]Originally posted by regan

    So I have to ask myself, is that extra space worth the extra money?[QUOTE]



    YES!!



    Nearly half a million extra juicy pixels. Just gorgeous. Can you tell that I've got the 20 inch?.



    I also design in Flash and I can tell you seriously that you can never have too much screen real estate. As the average screen size grows so does the browser space that clients want to utilise. Who designs for 640 x 480 anymore? One day 800 x 600 will be a minority too.



    If you want to save some money, don't bother with bluetooth. The mouse is heavy and requires a bit of trial and error to find the best surface/mat. Plus it's getting a bit annoying replacing batteries every 3 or 4 weeks.



    Enjoy.
  • Reply 9 of 27
    reganregan Posts: 474member
    hey piot thanks!



    I am definately getting the 20" now.



    Thats funny you should mention the bluetooth. I was going to get the BT keyboard and mouse.



    Question about the mouse....does it use that infared light? Or is it use the old rolling ball thingy?



    Just curious.
  • Reply 10 of 27
    messiahmessiah Posts: 1,689member
    I think the 20" is a good choice!



    As a web designer you'll need all the screen real estate that you can get your hands for all those pesky palettes. You should also be able to cover the difference in cost in no time.



    I rarely advise waiting for the next revision when it's a Mac for business use. As somebody else has pointed out above, it's far more productive to have the thing sitting on your desk generating income. Every hour you wait is a billable-hour lost.



    Remember to send us some pics!
  • Reply 11 of 27
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by regan



    Question about the mouse....does it use that infared light? Or is it use the old rolling ball thingy?



    Just curious.



    They still make mice with balls? Yeah, it's optical.
  • Reply 12 of 27
    reganregan Posts: 474member
    Lol..I had no idea. I've been using laptops for so long now, I haven't touched a mouse in years.
  • Reply 13 of 27
    thebeaglebeaglethebeaglebeagle Posts: 45member
    Don't wait. The iMac is not going to see any major improvements for at least three or four months.



    Definitely get the 20. It is more than worth the $300. It's a steal.



    The iMac 20", in my opinion, is the best buy in the Mac line right now, all things considered.
  • Reply 14 of 27
    mortigi tempomortigi tempo Posts: 107member
    ++ 20"



    As well as the extra space, the quality of the display is noticeably better than the 17" which is obviously important if your designing on it. The brightness, colour reproduction and viewing angles are considerably bettter.
  • Reply 15 of 27
    gargar Posts: 1,201member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by thebeaglebeagle

    [snipperdesnipsnipsnip]

    The iMac 20", in my opinion, is the best buy in the Mac line right now, all things considered.



    hands down. i love this machine
  • Reply 16 of 27
    wiffmasterwiffmaster Posts: 9member
    Just out of curiosity, when will the imacs start shipping with ilife 05 preinstalled? At the moment the website still says ilife 04? Hurry up Apple, I want to buy my imac! I asked the guy at the UK Apple store, and he didn't seems to even know what ilife was!
  • Reply 17 of 27
    cubitcubit Posts: 846member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Wiffmaster

    Just out of curiosity, when will the imacs start shipping with ilife 05 preinstalled? At the moment the website still says ilife 04? Hurry up Apple, I want to buy my imac! I asked the guy at the UK Apple store, and he didn't seems to even know what ilife was!



    Wiff... Perhaps he doesn't have one! A Life that is...
  • Reply 18 of 27
    thebeaglebeaglethebeaglebeagle Posts: 45member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Wiffmaster

    Just out of curiosity, when will the imacs start shipping with ilife 05 preinstalled?



    I've talked to Apple 3 times about this.

    Basically: They can not/will not guarentee iLife '05 on machines until late February! Many machines in stock in various places around the world will still be sold with iLife '04.



    So, you might as well order your Mac now.



    The one exception seems to be Mac Mini, which isn't shipping with anything BUT iLife '05. That's the experience of a local business here in Vermont that has ordered a few Mac Minis, anyway.



    The "Up-to-date" program will allow you to buy iLife '05 for $20 if you bought a new Mac or a copy of iLife '04 between December something and March something. There's a page explaining how to do this at Apple's site.



    I ordered a PowerMac last thursday. I expect it to ship with iLife '04... but since I added a custom hard drive and a better Graphics card maybe they'll have iLife '05 on it. I look forward to finding out, and I hope I'm not out $20.



    -d
  • Reply 19 of 27
    auroraaurora Posts: 1,142member
    Getting one now without ilife 5 ,Tiger, and better GPU is a mistake. just my 2 cents. A few months from now you will have a old machine,old OS,old64MB video and Apple seems to be updating hardware only once a year these days. My 2cents.
  • Reply 20 of 27
    thebeaglebeaglethebeaglebeagle Posts: 45member
    Aurora's point is good.

    But when you need a machine, you need a machine.

    If I had to pay full price for my PowerMac, I probably would have waited for the next update... which is overdue but shows no sign of coming. I got a good deal, and I really need to get work done on it before spring.



    iLife '05 can be had for $20 for any new iMac. That's less than dinner and a movie.



    The iMacs, for their low GPU, is still an incredibly great machine at a great price-point. You can play all of the newest games and edit movies on it... you just won't be able to play the newest games of 2006. :-)



    Waiting for Tiger is going to be a three month wait, at the least. I love Panther and will upgrade to Tiger in 2006 after its been digested by the Mac community.



    I maintain that buying a 20" iMac is an awesome thing to do right now.



    -beagle, providing free advertising for Apple

    :-)
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