[Chris]

I'm in the market for a PowerMac.

I'm switching from a now defunct PC laptop, and want to buy a Mac desktop. The main use will be RAW photo processing (BTW I am drooling over the newly announced Aperture software). I am not a professional, but a serious amateur. I am concerned about longevity, and it seems to me now is a good time to make the switch.

I want a computer that I will be still be able to use at least 3 years from now with 12 Mpx RAW images. I am also interested in making animation movies.

I am thinking of getting the new Dual-core 2GHz.

My questions are:
- is there any reason I should get the Dual-core 2.3GHz instead?
- should I get ECC RAM for it?
- should I get the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 for it? Is it something I could upgrade later and stick with the 6600 for now?

And a stupid question to finish (told you, I'm new here):
Is it possible to add a dual-core to make it a quad? Guess not...

Thanks a lot!

[Weezer]

if youre going to spend $500 on Aperture, I think it is silly to get anything but the quad.

[KarenE]

Speaking of buying advice...

The 2.7 Dual single core machine is still available and is priced at $2800 vs the 2.3 Dual core single processor at $2500 ... another possibility might be a referb mid range dual...

I buy pro machines for the long term about once every 4ish years (my Quicksilver G4 is 4 years old now). After about 4 years I then pass the machine onto someone else in the family for lighter use as we need two working computers. Right now the older machine is is about 8 years old and really does need replacing as it's still OS 9 and i would not even think about upgrading it for Tiger...

So for the long hall, given the coming intel switch coming, which of those would be the most cost effective solution?

My old G4 is still serviceable... maybe we should limp along until the new Intel machines come out to guarantee longer term software support?

Any feed back would be appreciated.

Thanks,

- karen