[The Placid Casual]

Needed for graphic design work and to run a small business from... Money is an issue, but so is ensuring the machine will be the best bang for my money and as future proof as it can be.

Buying this week.

Help!

[GoGoReggieXPowars]

What's B/T? Voted dual 1.8, you can always get a burner another time.

[The Placid Casual]

Originally posted by GoGoReggieXPowars:
What's B/T? Voted dual 1.8, you can always get a burner another time.

B/T = Bluetooth.

Thanks for voting, I guess it is becoming clearer which direction the forum thinks I should go!

[angelmb]

Aimed to graphic design?, I think that a Dual G4 MDD will be enought, from Dual 867 to Dual 1,25 GHz. You can save money and get a good display, Eizo, LaCie...

Anyone?

[Turias]

By "run a business" do you mean "run a webserver/database" or "e-mail customers"?

[eddiecatflap]

..dualie 1.8 w/ 20" is exc vfm

[The Placid Casual]

When I say run a 'business', I mean that I will be doing the graphic design for a publishing company that runs a national magazine, 32 smaller 40 page publications that come out every 2 months and a new book!

The company is actually run by my mother, and I used to do all the graphics stuff a few years ago, but gave up in 1999 to do my degree... She has a new venture starting, and has asked me to come back on board and sort everything out. She has had to let her previous designers go as they weren't cutting the mustard... I have kept up to date with things, but kit wise I have not had to do 'mission critical' stuff for a while.

All the database and admin work is being done on some 2800+ AMD PCs, and the Web stuff is being served form my Dual 450 box.

Screen wise, I already have a 17" Apple LCD which should be fine, if a bit limiting. I also have a nice 21" CRT here if the going gets too tough.

Graphics wise; I will be running the usual suspects like photoshop, indesign, illustrator, Quark, and acrobat to typeset and create artwork for pretty much everything!

Other stuff; I will be keeping all the customers artwork, ads, graphics etc as well as all my designs and proofs etc.

Accounts; MYOB.

I intend on putting another hard drive (or 2 if I go for the G4) in the machine and keeping everything backed up on that as well as to CD-RW, and also on an external USB 2 Lacie hard drive.

All this as well as email

Thing is, I used to do all this on my Dual 867 box with a few hard drives in it, but even then, with it packed full of RAM, I wasn't really happy, as I *love* multitasking and can have stacks of windows and apps open together...

I am kind of dubious about a G5 due to the lack of internal storage and optical drives, but again am unsure about a G4 as they are hardly future proof even though they do have the storage I need... A tough one to be sure.

I look at the G5 and think, I could update the gfx when I want, I could add some larger SATA drives in there, and I won't lose that much cash in a few years when I want to upgrade.

I look at a G4 and think that it could do the job, but for the same price, or for an extra few hundred I could have a nice quick G5 box...

Hmmm.

I keep repeating the mantra to myself that it will be worth it in the end!

[Lateralus]

I say the Dual G4.

But of course the thread will fill with G5 fanboys soon, so I had might as well just say the Dual G5.

[The Placid Casual]

Originally posted by PowerMacMan:
I say the Dual G4.

But of course the thread will fill with G5 fanboys soon, so I had might as well just say the Dual G5.

Cool, I respect your opinion.

Why the G4?

[GoGoReggieXPowars]

Originally posted by The Placid Casual:
I keep repeating the mantra to myself that it will be worth it in the end!

The best machine I could afford at the time I bought my last computer was the G4/400. It's lasted me 3 years and has survived a number of upgrades over the years. I'm looking to replace it in the next few months, and will only buy the best machine I can afford. It's all in maxing out what you have, rather than worrying about what's around the corner, IMO. Getting a current machine is the best way to maximize your investment, since you're right in the middle of the curve instead of at the end.

[Leonard]

Originally posted by The Placid Casual:
Cool, I respect your opinion.

Why the G4?

I said a Dual G4 too since money seems to be a concern. All the machines you listed willl do the job. The Dual G5 1.8 would of course do the job in the least amount of time. If you had a Single G5 1.8 in the list, I might be tempted to select that. It should be cheaper than a Dual G5 1.8, do the job just as well as a Dual G4 1.25, and give you all the modern features of the G5. I'm still biased against the Single G5 1.6.

[Lateralus]

Originally posted by The Placid Casual:
Cool, I respect your opinion.

Why the G4?

1) If your choice is to be between the 1.6 and the Dualie, I believe you will find that OS X runs much more smoothly on the Dualie, as would many applications.

2) I am not fond of the G5 case. I know, I am alone on this. I just feel that the MDD G4 case looks much more refined and sleek.

3) Speaking of refinement, the Dual G4 is a refined final generation product. The G5 is not.

4) I like the internal expandability. If I had the choice between going with a computer the size of an Antec server that had only one optical drive bay and only two HDD bays vs. a case with a much smaller foot print that had twice the drive capacity, I would go with the later.

5) Did I mention that the MDD just looks a hell of a lot cooler?

[scottiB]

I voted for the 2x1.8 G5, but after reading your posts would like to change to the G4. For the reasons that PMMan stated (case appearance notwithstanding).

[DeathToWindows]

DP1.8 G5 - it'll last you MUCH longer... and the bus speed is insane.

[angelmb]

Originally posted by PowerMacMan:

2) I am not fond of the G5 case. I know, I am alone on this. I just feel that the MDD G4 case looks much more refined and sleek.

5) Did I mention that the MDD just looks a hell of a lot cooler?

you are not alone man!