advice: imac 20 inch or Powermac G5 1,6
Hi, i want to buy a mac, having a XP computer at the moment, but i'm a little unsure what to buy!
I narrowed it down to a imac 20 inch or a Powermac G5 1,6 .
Is there anybody that owns a G5 1,6 who can tell me if this computer brings value for money?
I'm hoping for suggestions and advice because i can't make up my mind!
Thank You all for helping out!!
I narrowed it down to a imac 20 inch or a Powermac G5 1,6 .
Is there anybody that owns a G5 1,6 who can tell me if this computer brings value for money?
I'm hoping for suggestions and advice because i can't make up my mind!
Thank You all for helping out!!
Comments
(besides, you'll get better respones there anyway)
Originally posted by hea8
Hi, i want to buy a mac, having a XP computer at the moment, but i'm a little unsure what to buy!
I narrowed it down to a imac 20 inch or a Powermac G5 1,6 .
Is there anybody that owns a G5 1,6 who can tell me if this computer brings value for money?
I'm hoping for suggestions and advice because i can't make up my mind!
Thank You all for helping out!!
20" iMac or G5 1.6 do not offer good performance per dollar.
As for value for money? It is down to you as to what you value.
But if its between those two systems I'd get a G5 1.6 with 19"LCD monitor (Samsung brand or something)... this should end up being cheaper than the iMac and twice as powerfull (at least) and when the G5 goes out of date u can still use the 19" LCD monitor for a G6 or whatever. Performance per dollar wise Id get a G5 dual 1.8 with above mentioned monitor... its just a matter of how much value you are willing to pay for.
Cheers!
BTW I own a G5 1.6 - its my first Mac.
edit: I forgot to mention that in January 2k4 there will be a big mac expo and there are expected to be price / performance changes for the better so if you can hold on, wait for this show to finish and then plan your purchase... either way a G5 with a seperate monitor will be a better ($ for performance) purchase than an iMac.
expectations? And you wrote that it is twice as fast as a imac G4 1,25 is that treu? I have a windows AMD 1900+ 1,6 will i notice a difference or is the speed the same as my AMD PC? Did You switch from windows to OS X and how do You manage?
Thanks for Your patience!!
Marcel (and all my best wishes for the New Year)
Really though I am going to need more background on what you are going to be doing with it to make an educated suggestion.
iMac = Dead end machine. Can't upgrade the video card. Only thing you can put in is RAM
PowerMac = More "future proof" since you can upgrade and expand
Originally posted by hea8
@ Lain / thanks, can you tell me if the G5 1,6 lives up to your
expectations? And you wrote that it is twice as fast as a imac G4 1,25 is that treu? I have a windows AMD 1900+ 1,6 will i notice a difference or is the speed the same as my AMD PC? Did You switch from windows to OS X and how do You manage?
Thanks for Your patience!!
Marcel (and all my best wishes for the New Year)
The G5 1.6 is roughly the same speed as a G4 dual 1.25. So twice the processor, twice the speed I recon. Check out some benchmarks @ www.macspeedzone.com
Dont forget that you can upgrade the various components inside the G5, in an iMac you can only add RAM to a maximum of 1gb.
I can not see any diff in speed between my work P4 2Ghz and my Mac. It depends what you use it for ofcourse. I use it for Internet / MP3 listening / Games and Graphic Design.
Even my home P3 1Ghz gives the Mac a run for its money, considering the price difference.
After about 2 months I am beggining to appreciate OSX more and more. It took me about a day or two to get used to the minor interface differences between the two OSes and about a week or two to be able to quickly set my mind back to WinXP mode when I am at work or using my other home machine.
Like Luca said, you can swap the SuperDrive (DVD & CD Burner) for a ComboDrive (DVD Reader and CD Burner) to save US$200 which you can use for that LCD monitor and extra RAM, I (and others) suggest that you add more RAM as the 256mb it's supplied with makes the computer start and stop a lot. I have 1.25Gb in my machine and it works smoothly.
Originally posted by hea8
? what do You mean ?
The person is refering to the Mac expo in Janurary, where Apple usualy makes hardware releases and changes and price ammendments.
edit: I forgot to mention, that Apple has a habbit of changing their prices/hardware every 6 monthsish without prior warning. The above mentioned show is the closest thing you gonna get to a warning. I was an unfortunate victim of this and had I brought my G5 5 days later I would have saved about 10%.