[drummaman1]

Hello,

I would like to have a Mac, but right now the current stuff, while the best, is currently out of price range for me. I could buy a Mac Mini, but I have some PCI cards that I would like to use from my old machine (M-Audio Audiophile 2496 and SATA) so, I am thinking of buying a PM G4, because of the expansion possibilities, and the lower price. Plus, I keep saying to myself that I will enjoy a Mac, and this is the best way, I think. I will not have spent too much to start, and if I don't like it, I can upgrade it a bit and ebay it.

Is it worth buying a PowerMac G4? I would like to use Tiger, and I hope to have money for a brand new machine by the time Leopard comes out.

Which one is the better buy? the dual 1.25 or the dual 1.42??

Should I max the RAM? Or would 1GB RAM suffice for most tasks?

Should I save up a touch more for a G5, not bothering with the G4?

I am trying to this without putting myself into serious debt, so...no Mac Pro...not yet.

Thanks!

[hookem2oo7]

are your PCI cards compatible with Macs? That could influence your decision.

[iMacfan]

For us to help you, it would help a great deal to say what you really need this machine to do. Speed? Multiple HDs? Quiet?

David

[drummaman1]

Ok...

my plan is to do some recording with the machine. Nothing ultra pro. I would like SATA because the machine runs much faster.

Outside of that, some audio editing (recording from vinyl to mac and editing/fixing the tracks) along with some light game play (nintendo emulators and such).

CD - DVD burning
internet and mail stuff

Appleworks or Microsoft Office?

Music composition/notation (Sibelius)

that's all I can think of directly.

AFAIK, the PCI cards I plan to have in the machine are compatible. No issues there...I hope.

I do know the G4's are notorious for fan noise...is it as bad as ppl have said it is?

[PowerPc = Pwnage]

Its funny, I have a friend, mike, who said exactly this, " I think a powerMac g4 would be perfect for me, I want to be able to expand it, and start out cheap incase I don't like it, I will search online forums." About a week ago..

[SciFrog]

I might sell a loaded PM 1.25 dual. PM me...

[SierraDragon]

Originally Posted by drummaman1 

...I am thinking of buying a PM G4, because of the expansion possibilities, and the lower price. Plus, I keep saying to myself that I will enjoy a Mac, and this is the best way, I think. I will not have spent too much to start, and if I don't like it, I can upgrade it a bit...

G4s are two major generations behind now. Words like "expansion" and "upgrade" are really not applicable. E.g. RAM is critically limited on all G4s and to a lesser extent on the low end G5s.

If you want a G4 the best DP G4s are dirt cheap now because applications have moved on, and running them on G4s is becoming extremely limiting or impossible.

A G4 could be a good experience if and only if you are fully aware of and accept certain limitations:

• You must plan on running 2004/2005 versions of the OS and of applications, not upgrading. Even though some apps upgrade ok, once you start upgrading you can get into a hardware catch-22.

• You will remain satisfied with the box as you build it today, and do not hypothesize future expansion. Adding CPU upgrades and the like to boxes two generations back is like plugging holes in a swiss cheese; e.g. RAM, bus speeds, etc. remain limiting no matter what.

• You will remain satisfied with your existing peripheral devices, and realize that when they fail your only option may be to find similar old replacements via eBay.

• Your legacy box will become increasingly susceptible to security vulnerabilities, because no entity will be investing time and effort keeping defunct hardware/OS/apps secure.

All that said, if you do accept those realities a loaded DP G4 could be a fine deal. I am still (marginally) using Photoshop CS2 on such a box, and although it has been inappropriate for pro use for a year, it is still very much usable. So long as you do not change app versions you could get a year or two more of good cunsumer use. In fact, when I get an 8 GB RAM Mac Pro in January the G4 will continue use as a server and scanner box.

G4s are old enough now that some moving components (hard drives and fans) may be starting to fail. It is best to buy from a source where you are fairly confident that someone is not just selling because they have heard the telltale noise changes of failing hardware.

I have a 3400c Powerbook that still works fine and just ordered a C2D Macbook Pro that ultimately will replace my Dad's still-working G3 Powerbook. It is apps and connectivity issues that have rendered those two fully working laptops pretty much useless.

-Allen Wicks

[slpdLoad]

That is a perfectly capable machine for your purposes, and I don't see why you should hesitate at all if you're gonna buy a Mac Pro when Leopard comes out (early-mid 2007).

• You must plan on running 2004/2005 versions of the OS and of applications, not upgrading. Even though some apps upgrade ok, once you start upgrading you can get into a hardware catch-22.

• Your legacy box will become increasingly susceptible to security vulnerabilities, because no entity will be investing time and effort keeping defunct hardware/OS/apps secure.

I disagree about these two points. Yes, it is two generations behind, technically, but it's also a very fast dual-cpu machine. You can run Tiger and Leopard on that box with no problems. I know of a lot of people (even one recording studio) who do the same things you want to with lesser G4s.
I think it's a very capable machine to get you started with Macs.

Cheers

- slpdLoad (Uses a 1 Ghz PowerBook G4 for Adobe Creative Suite, Aperture, Garageband, Final Cut Express, Sound Studio, etc...

[IceEnclosure]

Nothin' wrong with a G4.

"Increasingly susceptible to security vulnerabilities"??

2004-2005 versions of the OS and Apps???

I do just fine with my G4. 10.4.8 rocks on my machine.

[holstien]

Originally Posted by SierraDragon 

• You must plan on running 2004/2005 versions of the OS and of applications, not upgrading. Even though some apps upgrade ok, once you start upgrading you can get into a hardware catch-22.
....
• You will remain satisfied with the box as you build it today, and do not hypothesize future expansion. Adding CPU upgrades and the like to boxes two generations back is like plugging holes in a swiss cheese; e.g. RAM, bus speeds, etc. remain limiting no matter what.
...
• Your legacy box will become increasingly susceptible to security vulnerabilities, because no entity will be investing time and effort keeping defunct hardware/OS/apps secure.

All G4s can install the current version of OS X (10.4.8).

My QS 933 seems operate just fine. For what you are doing, somethings may be sorta slow.... GIMP and Audacity have a clunky feelnow and then. However, each successive version of OS X has ran more responsively than the previous version.

MS office runs fine. Moderate games run fine. (Seem to be CPU limited on a Radeon 9800).

Adding somewhere above 512 megs will probably a good idea if the machine is bare bones.

Macs (and most PCs) typically can deal with new software and hardware for about 8 years after they were made. In the last 4 years or so it becomes evident that they aren't new anymore.

Thus, I think that either 10.5 or 10.6 will be the last PPC version of OS X.

A g4 might be a nice hold over while you wait for Apple to work the bugs out of their x86 implementation, and for the price of used apple x86 hardware to come down.

[drummaman1]

Thanks for the replies.

I think the g4 is a non apple store best bet now. When Leopard comes out, software and hardware for PPC is being phased out very quickly. Because they are updating and developing at this fast rate, it is becoming useless buying older generation macs outright, or at all.

If I don't make a decision within the next 6 months, I may be better off buying an Intel mini or Imac, and leaving peripherals to my Windows machine.

[Mac Write]

I have a DP 1.25GHZ G4 1.75GB RAM R9800Pro 256MB 3HD's, Pioneer 16x DVD±R DL+Combo Drive, iSight and am running the latest versions of everything just fine. Even Aperture (hacked) runs decently. I am aiming for a new Mac in Q1 2008 (providing I can figure out how to get the money). 10.5 Could be the end of the road for the G4 OS wise and 10.6 for the G5.