Need to replace Dell
After over 2 yrs of hell with Dell and MS, considering Apple...either 17" IMAC or new Power Mac G4. I spend 4-6 hours on PC daily and use Excel, Word, and Internet extensively....i.e., much multi-tasking. The Dell will not handle multi-tasking ...plus had to replace motherboard, hard drive, and video card.
My major question....is the Power Mac for more business application work? I hate to spend more time screwing around with a PC...faults, drivers, blue screens, etc. Most of the discussions involve video editing, music, scientific as opposed to business.
My major question....is the Power Mac for more business application work? I hate to spend more time screwing around with a PC...faults, drivers, blue screens, etc. Most of the discussions involve video editing, music, scientific as opposed to business.
Comments
A dual 500MHz is faster than a single 1GHz in multitasking, because the system is more balanced. Multitasking on a dual machine in OS X is great. Your programs will take a much smaller speed hit when multiple applications are running.
[ 08-20-2002: Message edited by: Son of Pismo ]</p>
<strong>My major question....is the Power Mac for more business application work? I hate to spend more time screwing around with a PC...faults, drivers, blue screens, etc. Most of the discussions involve video editing, music, scientific as opposed to business.</strong><hr></blockquote>
PowerMac is for adding more HDs and more PCI cards, changing the internal cd drives, changing the AGP graphics card. Also, you need to purchase a monitor with it. With the iMac, you get two choices, the 17" or the 15", because they are attached to the computer.
Also, there are some differences with the included software. the iMac comes with AppleWorks and encylcopaedia. the powermac comes with more proffesional stuff.
PowerMac = Power and Expandability
iMac= No monitor cords and less expandability
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hope this helps
<strong>My major question....is the Power Mac for more business application work?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Although others may disagree with me, I feel that little distinction needs to be made between the various consumer and "prosumer" targeted Macintosh systems. As with PCs, the only variables are price, performance and expansion capability.
The PowerMac line is targeted at the type of person who needs a machine with room for additional drives and expansion cards. These are machines typically used by creative professionals, programmers and scientists.
The consumer models have much less expansion capability and tend to trail in performace. That said, they also tend to benefit from really cool industrial design and are somewhat less expensive than the PowerMac line.
In my experience, most businesses that use Macs for business applications like Office and FileMaker tend to buy the consumer models. You'll see a lot of iMacs in dentists offices, resteraunts, video stores, and other small businesses.
as for buying a monitor, odds are you wouldn't have to buy a monitor with the new powermac anyway, you can always reuse the monitor from your Dell. (although i might get shot for saying that here)
if you're near an Apple store, i'd stop by and take a look at their hardware and see what you like more. i use both platforms all the time, and can honestly say that outside of some games, i never use my PC for anything at home anymore. (i use one at work for some print drivers that aren't quite ready yet in OSX, although 10.2 is supposed to take care of that)
if you have any other questions, feel free to flesh out your original statement.
-alcimedes
<strong>If you do lots of multitasking, you'll want a dual processor G4. Just look at this benchmark:
A dual 500MHz is faster than a single 1GHz in multitasking, because the system is more balanced. Multitasking on a dual machine in OS X is great. Your programs will take a much smaller speed hit when multiple applications are running.
[ 08-20-2002: Message edited by: Son of Pismo ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
<strong>If you do lots of multitasking, you'll want a dual processor G4. Just look at this benchmark:
A dual 500MHz is faster than a single 1GHz in multitasking, because the system is more balanced. Multitasking on a dual machine in OS X is great. Your programs will take a much smaller speed hit when multiple applications are running.
[ 08-20-2002: Message edited by: Son of Pismo ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
Thanks for the response...I am leaning to your suggestions since some of my applications in Excel involve large worksheets; macros for sorting,file transfers, etc.; and function
commands PLUS I would be using Word, checking E-mail, and using Internet during the same time periods. My concern on IMAC would be upgrading!
<strong>If I were in your position I'd go for an iMac.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I second that opinion. Web-surfing and spreadsheets REALLY aren't that intensive, and you'll love the silence that the iMac provides, not to mention its small form factor, and its screen's ability to swivel anywhere you like.
Screw the towers, and get yourself a 17" iMac.
Granted, I never recommend anyone to buy a new system, but for business-type apps there is no need for the fastest processor(s)
[ 08-21-2002: Message edited by: progmac ]</p>
While upgrading anything besides the RAM and drives is pretty much impossible, the same is the case with my powerbook, and I've managed doing graphic design production for a few years without hurting too much. And I can't imagine how even the 17" iMac compares to the lowly 400mhz G3 and Rage128 graphics in my laptop.
The all-in-one convenience of the iMac, and that huge, wide, screen are what does it for me. You could move it around much more easily than the tower, and getting a comparably sized display would jack up the price abit above that of the iMac. Yeah, you won't be able to throw in a new video card, or fill up some PCI slots, but for what you do, it doesn't seem like that would be a problem.
And it is just plain cool, yes?
ciao,
michael