Preserved Topic: Dual 500MHz PowerPC G4

Ok, I think this is the third time Im submitting this post. Grr. For some reason after I hit submit topic its not showing up. I thought maybe there was too many posts in the Ozone forum so I archieved a few, hopefully that helped. If you see this topic 3 times or so just delete that last two ... thanks.

So, if you don't know yet Im planning on buying a new mac. I don't think Ill get it until around Christmas time but I might get it sooner. Most of you use computers for about the same reasons I do. This is basically why Im asking you guys about macs. I can read all the articles in the world but I would rather hear from people who are doing the same thing as me and have experience on them. Just bare with me while I ask a few questions. For starters, this is what Im looking to buy ...

• Dual 500MHz PowerPC G4 - 2x1MB L2 cache
• 256MB SDRAM - 1 DIMM
• 40GB Ultra ATA drive
• Apple Studio Display (17"/16" VIS)
• DVD-RAM drive with DVD-Video
• RADEON card - 32MB DDR-RAM
• Apple Pro Keyboard
• Mac OS

Thats what Im looking to buy, the subtotal comes out to (yikes) $4,098.00. Before I actually go out and spend that sorta money, and thats a lot for a 17 year old kid, I wanna just get some info. Bare with me...

• How does the Dual 500MHz processor stack up to a single Pentium III processor? Do two processesors at decent speeds work better then a single one at a very high speed? Im lost on this.
• I was planning on getting the Apple Studio Display (17"/16" VIS). For the extra $500 would the 15" flat screen be better or worse? I dont really want that small of a monitor but if the flat screen is that much better Ill go with it.
• Should I spend the extra money and update the memory?
• Whats the differences between Mac OS 9 and X? What should I look to get? Is the full version of OS X even out yet?
• Besides Mac OS, do these computers come with ANY software? I dont mind spending the money for the computer but it looks like Im going to hafta buy all no programs huh?

Another thing is I was thinking of paying by the month, $98.35. Is this a good idea? bad idea? doesnt matter? Let me know. Im buying this computer on my own and its about the first thing Ive ever bought on my own so I dont wanna waste this type of money.

Please give me whatever info you guys can. Ive spent that last week reading different articles but they can only tell you so much. Feel free to contact me through ICQ or email. Thanks a lot!

Jestah
ieJestah@hotmail.com
ICQ - 77252449

[This message has been edited by Jestah (edited 25-09-2000).]

Geez, I forgot some of the accessories(sp?) that I wanted.

• Apple Pro Mouse - Im not sure if it comes with the G4. It didnt say so Ill assume for arguments sake that I need it.
• SoundSticks (- Harman Kardon) - they look so awesome. Does anyone actually know the differences between these and the Harman Kardon iSub (iMac Subwoofer)?
  
  Info for speakers.

eh, thats about it. Mikey mentioned in another topic about adding PC monitors to a G4. Is this possible?

well first off.... since you're buying this computer by yourself, i'd say it's ludicrous to spend that much money for what you're getting. within a day or two i'm going to post the specs of the new computer i'm going to be building so i can get some input, but regardless it'd smoke that computer in a lot of areas.. and for only 3000$.

nevertheless, i myself wouldn't mind a dual g4. so let's take a look at that computer, okay?

the cpu set up is sweet, though you really can't say how fast that is in terms of pc mhz ratings. two cpus is a nice system because the computer can divide up work between the two, as long as the operating system is written properly (which it is for macs).

that's not enough memory. 512 or more...

i don't think that's enough harddrive space either, but i'm looking at 115gigs for myself right now... now that i think of it, i've got 20gigs right now and i've never filled it. but i only do photoshop.. no games, programs, or mp3s.

that display sucks. 17 inches? good god.. that's ridiculous for that amount of money. and no, i wouldn't consider the 15" flat screen either. if i were you, i'd order the g4 without a monitor and buy a sony or iiyama 19" monitor. trust me on that one... the monitor is your most important component, because that's what you have to stare at all day.

i'm glad to see they've got the radeon cards in the g4s now, they're sweet as hell.

and mac osX will be on the computer, at least that's what i'm assuming... that's kind of cool to look at and shit, but i'm not sure... whatever, nevermind. okay, well mas os9 is probably going to be more established and stable, my guess would be professionals in the graphics industry are going to stay with 9 and not upgrade to X...

i'm not sure about additional software..

and finally, don't do payments. for the love of god, if you can avoid them, don't do them!!!

okay, that's all i can think of for now... analog would be a good person to talk about concerning g4s.. he'll probably see the topic later today, so just hang in there.

cheers.mikey.milker

Thanks for the response Mikey. I get everything your saying and I just finished reading Weadah's post concerning pretty much the same topic where you talked abou the PC monitors and I think thats the direction Im going to go in. Why exactly should I avoid paying in payments? Do I get charged more or something?

hehe... well no matter what the exact components are with the new computer, you're going to be one happy person.

as for payments, you just end up paying a lot more because they charge you interest. i'm not really sure, but i'd guess you'd end up paying about 1000$ more because of payments. how many months did they say you had to pay the 98.35$ for?

cheers.mikey.milker

Hm, well the $98.35 is over a 60 month period, which I do not want to do. Thats simply too long for me.

They also have:
48 mths $114.74
36 mths $143.43
24 mths $200.80

There all kinda long for me but the thing thats going to make me pay EVERYTHING up front is the APR between 14.9% and 26.9% Thats just ridculous. Id rather pay the $4000 up front in December when Im planning on getting the computer, get a shit load of software with the money I would have been spending on intrest and hopefully by then Id be somewhat underway with my freelance webdesign.

Id still appreciate any comments on the computer though ... keep 'em comming!
Thanks

$4000 ???? yikes... makes me feel a little depressed.... I built myself a pc for $459..

I think I am missing the picture here! <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/frown.gif">

sigh

$4000 seems a lot for what you're getting here. If you have the time and the paticence try rading a book on how to build your own mac. Think about it it's more practical. You know what you're putting into it, and you don't pay for anything that you don't want. Also when your needs increse (They will before you know it) you will be able to upgrade it without paying for labor.

I don't want to bash what you want, i'm just putting in my 2 cents. As for the dual processor, I think that would be better then one fast processor, because as Mikey said if your OS is configured correctly it splits up the tasks.

Think long and hard about this, it's your money and it would suck to pump $4000 into a computer that will not meet your needs.

[b]Drive it like you stole it!b]

Jestah, I've been using macs since 1986 and I think I can give you some useful advice regarding this purchase. First of all, hopefully by December Apple is going to have some G4s running faster than 500mhz. I do not know for sure, but they will probably offer some single CPU models as well.

The situation right now is this: for an application to take advantage of the 2nd processor on a G4, it has to be written to take advantage of the 2nd processor. Photoshop is certainly accelerated for this. So are a few 3d packages (I believe LightWave) and probably AfterEffects. A dual g4-500 is going to pretty much rip up your average PC in photoshop. It does however depend on what you're working with.

As for memory, buy as little installed as possible, Apple really rips you off on memory prices. For photoshop work, I find that 256 is decent as long as you don't work with too many large files at once (things start to get slow at 3000x3000 px =) My recommendation would be to try for 512 meg if you can find a good deal on it.

Apple is not particularly cheap when it comes to hard drives either, before you buy you should check with them to see what manufacturer/model they are using, and probably just get the smallest one. Then I would buy a nice IBM/Seagate/Maxtor ATA drive and use that for all my photoshop work, relegating the stock drive for non-performance stuff.

Although the studio display is a great monitor, for $500 you can certainly do better. As mikey said, get a normal 19" monitor, like one of those FD-400s from Sony, even an OptiQuest/ViewSonic would be alright (but try to have a look at it before you buy).

The optical mouse is included with the system, as is the new keyboard (but where is the power key? that's so lame) For speakers, the HK sticks look pretty cool, I haven't actually heard how they sound, but I'd imagine they're pretty nice.

*whew* have I left anything out?



[This message has been edited by analog (edited 26-09-2000).]

testing....

[want to see rest of analog's post]

cheers.mikey.milker

Is anyone else having a problem seeing the bottom of posts? Its been happening in this topic as well as a few choice others and its really getting me mad. Im gonna start throwing people in a minute...