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Dell Switcher · Feb 19, 2003, 09:14 AM

Oh the challenges to switch...first I was vacillating between fully loaded HP and iMac 17, then starting comparing the iMac 17 with Power Mac G4 Dual 1.25GHz. Most of time spent with computers (about 8-10 hrs daily)involves extensive multi-tasking involving being on the Internet at the same time on two ISP's (AOL and Road Runner); heavy business apps especially Excel and Word; AIM; and CD burning both audio and data backup. I track stocks, news, and weather on continuous basis as it impacts investments and small business.

My first question is would the new iMac 17 with 1G RAM be sufficient for my needs?

or second, do I need to go to the Power Mac 1.25? Because I have very good monitor (Trinitron), the difference in costs betweem iMac 17 and Power Mac is about $450 for the comparable configuration.

BUT, one issue concerning the Power Mac is the NOISE...some of the forum threads indicate that the noise level of the new Power Mac's is better...my office is kept fairly cool but my hearing is more senstive than normal

HELP???????????

OreoCookie · Feb 19, 2003, 09:36 AM

I'd go for the PowerMac. Definitely a lot faster and more expandable.

If you are sensitive to noise, check them out yourself, there is no other way of telling the difference. (E. g. I have portable Macs since 1998, so I am very sensitive to noise.)

HeyAndy · 09:46 AM

I just faced the same decision (though not a switcher, just upgrading). I went with the dual 1.25 PowerMac. Though the 17" iMac is very nice and quite tempting, I doubt it will come close to the Powermac in terms of speed. I, too have a decent VGA monitor already (and may eventually go for a 20" cinema display). I think the fan nose issue is a little overblown -- I've read several posts that say the fans don't really go up to the high nose levels much at all. If the east coast wasn't blanketed in snow, I'd probably have mine already and be able to tell you my own experience. Oh well, tackling my dog in 3-foot snow drifts is a fun way to pass the time.

I can add that at work we've got a dual 867 and a dual 1ghz from the August update and haven't had any fan noise issues (aside from a few seconds at startup - but with osX I rarely shut down)

Thain Esh Kelch · Feb 19, 2003, 09:54 AM

Most of time spent with computers (about 8-10 hrs daily)involves extensive multi-tasking involving being on the Internet at the same time on two ISP's (AOL and Road Runner); heavy business apps especially Excel and Word; AIM; and CD burning both audio and data backup. I track stocks, news, and weather on continuous basis as it impacts investments and small business.

Well... I wouldent call that very intensive opperations, so the iMac would certainly suit your needs.

But of course, on long term base, the powermac is a much better choice, as it certainly has a lot more power...

Dell Switcher · Feb 19, 2003, 10:35 AM

Originally posted by Thain Esh Kelch:
Well... I wouldent call that very intensive opperations, so the iMac would certainly suit your needs.

But of course, on long term base, the powermac is a much better choice, as it certainly has a lot more power...

I agree that my computer may not be classified as "intensive"; however, MS (both Win 98 and XP) have trouble with all my multi-tasking so that often the PC becomes sluggish (even worse with Win 98 with shutdowns)...hope the iMac or PM will solve that problem????????

Commodus · Feb 19, 2003, 01:38 PM

The big thing you need to worry about with a Mac in your situation is memory - the more you have, the bappier OS X will be with multitasking. 512 MB or up should handle what you do nicely, but if you're concerned about having as much as possible the PowerMac would be the only choice (as it can have up to 2 GB, versus the iMac's 1).

I do agree that you'd probably be happier using a PowerMac and your existing display. The noise shouldn't be enough to cause annoyances (from what I've heard). The iMac is indeed very quiet, though!

businezguy · Feb 19, 2003, 02:05 PM

Hey Dell,

I am a switcher myself, and I too am very demanding with the use of my computer. I used to have an Athlon 500 with 128 megs of ram running Windows 2000 and multitasking could get pretty sluggish.

I went with a Powermac Dual 1 ghz with 256 megs of RAM. First off, while I was impressed with the speed of my Powermac, I found that when I ran a lot of applications it would begin to run pretty slow. When I upgraded to 1.25 gigs of RAM, my Powermac became MUCH faster and smoother. In multitasking, it was the best computer I have evern seen (and I have seen many fast pcs doing multitasking).

I would recommend the Powermac. It is an incredible multitasker, and you will need an incredible amount of RAM if you multitask as much as I do. Keep this in mind; Mac OS X in a RAM hog, and there will come a point in time when you will NEED two gigs of RAM. In my case, with the multitasking I do, that seems to be sooner rather then later.

Go with the Powermac, it gives you more headroom and expandibility. Also, go with a MINIMUM of one gig of ram.

Dell Switcher · Feb 19, 2003, 02:39 PM

Originally posted by businezguy:
Hey Dell,

I am a switcher myself, and I too am very demanding with the use of my computer. I used to have an Athlon 500 with 128 megs of ram running Windows 2000 and multitasking could get pretty sluggish.

I went with a Powermac Dual 1 ghz with 256 megs of RAM. First off, while I was impressed with the speed of my Powermac, I found that when I ran a lot of applications it would begin to run pretty slow. When I upgraded to 1.25 gigs of RAM, my Powermac became MUCH faster and smoother. In multitasking, it was the best computer I have evern seen (and I have seen many fast pcs doing multitasking).

I would recommend the Powermac. It is an incredible multitasker, and you will need an incredible amount of RAM if you multitask as much as I do. Keep this in mind; Mac OS X in a RAM hog, and there will come a point in time when you will NEED two gigs of RAM. In my case, with the multitasking I do, that seems to be sooner rather then later.

Go with the Powermac, it gives you more headroom and expandibility. Also, go with a MINIMUM of one gig of ram.

Assume by your member name, you use business apps as I do...I tested HP 2.53 with 512MHz RAM with OS XP and it was slow pulling up many apps...not any faster than my 800MHz P3 with 256 RDDRAM...my problem is that Resources become tied up with constant multi-tasking and then comes freezes, blue screens, page faults, etc. Leaning toward Power Mac with 1G RAM but need faster CDRW than Combo Drive...any suggestions? Also, about sound card similar quality to SB Live (not fancy)???

CatOne · Feb 19, 2003, 06:49 PM

Originally posted by Dell Switcher:
I agree that my computer may not be classified as "intensive"; however, MS (both Win 98 and XP) have trouble with all my multi-tasking so that often the PC becomes sluggish (even worse with Win 98 with shutdowns)...hope the iMac or PM will solve that problem????????

Realistically, that sounds a lot like you don't have enough memory in your machine. Make sure you have 512 MB (256 is probably sufficient, but it's cheap these days) and that shouldn't be a problem on any machine faster than 700 MHz, be it Mac *or* PC. Most PCs these days are woefully undersupplied with RAM.

Dell Switcher · Feb 19, 2003, 10:29 PM

Originally posted by CatOne:
Realistically, that sounds a lot like you don't have enough memory in your machine. Make sure you have 512 MB (256 is probably sufficient, but it's cheap these days) and that shouldn't be a problem on any machine faster than 700 MHz, be it Mac *or* PC. Most PCs these days are woefully undersupplied with RAM.

I agree that more RAM would probably help but when added RAM from 128 to 256, I still had similar problems with Resources when multi-tasking. I am just fed up with MS and do want to switch even with MS takeover of VPC

Sophie · 10:59 PM

From what i have learned windows 2000 needs at least 256MB to be tolerable, 384MB is better and 512MB should be ok for most office applications.

I have an ibook and have found that osx is quite needy of memory too. I think the advice that either one of the iMac and Powermac would work for you. With the PowerMac it is easy to add a second harddrive as the iMac is more closed for upgrades.

docholiday · Feb 19, 2003, 11:18 PM

Originally posted by Dell Switcher:
Leaning toward Power Mac with 1G RAM but need faster CDRW than Combo Drive...any suggestions? Also, about sound card similar quality to SB Live (not fancy)???

The Dual PM is the way to go with the multitasking that you want to do.

Need a fast burner? I don't know whether price is an issue, but I've heard the LaCie 52x24x52x Firewire drive is very decent.
http://www.lacie.com/products/produc...TOKEN=26308523

Need a good soundcard? Go with M-Audio Revolution 7.1.
http://www.m-audio.net/products/cons...tion_page1.php

Superchicken · Feb 19, 2003, 11:42 PM

Honestly I'd go with the Dual 1.25
It won't be any noiser than the HP you were looking at probably, and it's more upgradeable, and you won't have to worry at all in a few years when you still need to run new versions of your current apps and stuff. I would deffinately go with the power mac, unless you think your needs will never change and you are terrified of putting in a new hard drive.

If at all you wanna be able to fiddle inside the machine get the power mac.