What should I get?

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jd11193jd11193
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I'm looking to replace my pc with a sub $450 mac. I've been looking at the iMac g5, the iBook G4 or the eMac. I honestly don't know which to chose. I know that the eMac is really cheap, but I also like the portability of the iBook.

What do you think I should do?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    Marvinmarvin Posts: 15,579moderator
    I don't recommend getting a pre-intel Mac. I would wait until the MacWorld expo in 4 weeks to see what new hardware there is.



    The current Mini is $599 - look for refurbs in the Apple store to get cheaper ones with a full warranty.



    If you can stretch to $599 and there is a new Mini, I would recommend it because it should have the Nvidia graphics chips and will be much more worthwhile than an old G4 machine.



    The performance difference between the G4 and the Intel is huge. The Core Duos have two processors cores vs one in the G4s so it's at least double the speed. Plus they run Windows so if you have any stuff from your PC that you'd like to run, it's easier to make the transition.
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  • Reply 2 of 11
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,185member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    ...The Core Duos have two processors cores vs one in the G4s so it's at least double the speed...



    Well, that's not quite how it works

    They are considerably faster though. Certainly enough to make them much, much more desirable.



    But a G4 Powerbook or iBook is going to be half the price of a similar Intel Mac. And the G4 is still a very capable machine if you have no plan/need to run Windows on it. (I'd also limit yourself to 1Ghz or faster in a G4.)
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  • Reply 3 of 11
    jd11193jd11193 Posts: 6member
    I think that a G5 or G4 processor should be pretty good because i already have a pc and dont really have a need for windows. i think that the ibook g4 is what im going to get but can it still browse the web fairly quickly (like youtube) or should i try to save for a powerbook g4 or macbook for that kind of use
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  • Reply 4 of 11
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,185member
    The iBook G4 will handle video just fine ... including .h264



    I use a 1.5 Ghz G4 Powerbook, and with a couple plugins (Perian and Flip4Mac) I can't recall the last time I ran across a website that didn't work in Safari. (Thinking mainly of embedded video and Flash.)



    In fact, $450 would get you MY Powerbook .... though you'd need a new ($100) battery to make it truly portable... the current battery is only good for about 10 minutes unplugged.
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  • Reply 5 of 11
    brax.jbrax.j Posts: 29member
    Is this going to be your main machine?
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  • Reply 6 of 11
    jd11193jd11193 Posts: 6member
    yeah I think ill try to use it as my main machine if i can
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  • Reply 7 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Get an Intel Mac. The PPC macs are probably fast enough for most things -- indeed I still have an iMac G5 2.1GHz that does everything I need to do pretty well -- but nonetheless I still plan on getting an Intel Mac fairly soon. There are a lot of things the Intel Macs can do that the PPC macs cannot, and the list just keeps growing.
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  • Reply 8 of 11
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jd11193 View Post


    I'm looking to replace my pc with a sub $450 mac. I've been looking at the iMac g5, the iBook G4 or the eMac. I honestly don't know which to chose. I know that the eMac is really cheap, but I also like the portability of the iBook.

    What do you think I should do?



    Are you going to keep your existing monitor? You could get a 2nd hand Mac Mini (Intel) off eBay.
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  • Reply 9 of 11
    jd11193jd11193 Posts: 6member
    I think I will keep my current monitor
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  • Reply 10 of 11
    clairejrclairejr Posts: 18member
    I agree that an Intel Mac is a better idea, not just because of the speed difference. Reports from Apple indicate that the next major revision of Mac OS X (Snow Leopard), due out sometime in the next 6-9 months, won't run on a PPC Mac. Basically, Apple seems to be abandoning the old PPC users, so it's better not to buy a computer that will become somewhat obsolete in the near future.



    I have a PPC Mini and an Intel Mini and they both work well with Leopard, but the old PPC is incredibly slow with Time Machine. Also, some critical third-party software, like Flash, is not fully compatible with the PPC Mac. For example, I can no longer watch CBS news programs in full-screen on the PPC Mini because the latest version of Flash (the version used by CBS) is not available for the PPC. So, if you want to keep the computer for more than a year or two, I'd agree fully with the recommendation to go with an Intel Mac.



    Claire
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  • Reply 11 of 11
    rezwitsrezwits Posts: 922member
    Definitely wait till around January 25th, after all the guys that re-up every year clean out there systems, and look for eBay...
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