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davidflas · Feb 8, 2005, 08:06 PM

I have $1500USD firm to buy a new or used Mac that I will use mainly for hobbyist level photo work in Photoshop. (touching up images from my Nikon D70) I will also do some light gaming, e-mail, MS Office, surfing the net..etc.. What would you do if you were in my situation?

PS I am dying to play Doom3, I know that if I want to play it on a $1500 computer, I should by a PC.. but I hate windows!

Krusty · Feb 8, 2005, 08:16 PM

17" 1.8ghz iMac G5 is $1299 for an Apple Certified reconditioned unit. 1gb stick of ram is < $200.

I can't think of another "turn-key" desktop solution that would be better than that and would include a hefty amount of ram, a g5, a Core Image ready graphics card and the easiest upgrade path outside the power macs (RAM, HD, etc). Not to mention the same warranty as new

PurpleGiant · Feb 8, 2005, 08:26 PM

The Krustyburger has it right.

Xeo · Feb 8, 2005, 08:26 PM

^^^ what he said

brapper · Feb 8, 2005, 08:35 PM

indubitably. ^

FulcrumPilot · Feb 8, 2005, 08:49 PM

ditto

davidflas · Feb 8, 2005, 08:49 PM

A refurb iMac would be great if it wasn't for sales tax.... with the take it comes out to $1406. I can buy a brand new one from Amazon for $1495 and then send in their $100 rebate taking the price down to $1395.. not leaving enough left over for RAM or an airport card.. but I think it is the best way to go.. I should have also mentioned that a superdrive is vital too...

Xeo · Feb 8, 2005, 09:01 PM

Originally posted by davidflas:
A refurb iMac would be great if it wasn't for sales tax.... with the take it comes out to $1406. I can buy a brand new one from Amazon for $1495 and then send in their $100 rebate taking the price down to $1395.. not leaving enough left over for RAM or an airport card.. but I think it is the best way to go.. I should have also mentioned that a superdrive is vital too...

Well with your keen math skills, you've found the better deal, going with Amazon. However that means you have to wait 6 weeks for the rebate but if that's not a problem then go for it. The one on Amazon has a superdrive so really you are in good shape. Does the iMac G5 have an open RAM slot? You could get away with spending the rebate $100 on a 512 stick of ram. That'll put you pretty good for almost anything unless you have specific needs for more RAM.

Mafia · Feb 8, 2005, 09:04 PM

what xeo said.

FulcrumPilot · Feb 8, 2005, 09:18 PM

Xeo's got brio.

davidflas · Feb 8, 2005, 09:26 PM

Sounds like Xeo was getting a bit snotty with me... I wasn't trying to be a jerk.. just looking at all my options

FulcrumPilot · Feb 8, 2005, 09:32 PM

Originally posted by davidflas:
Sounds like Xeo was getting a bit snotty with me... I wasn't trying to be a jerk.. just looking at all my options

WTF? I thought he had a crush on you there for a bit!

Xeo · Feb 8, 2005, 09:33 PM

Originally posted by davidflas:
Sounds like Xeo was getting a bit snotty with me... I wasn't trying to be a jerk.. just looking at all my options

What? No, I was only joking around with the "keen math" part but I was completely serious about you finding the better deal. You should go with Amazon if you can afford the 6 week wait on the return.

davidflas · Feb 8, 2005, 09:54 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
What? No, I was only joking around with the "keen math" part but I was completely serious about you finding the better deal. You should go with Amazon if you can afford the 6 week wait on the return.

I actually agree with you, I'll probably buy the reconditioned iMac from Apple, maybe I'll get some extra RAM or bluetooth for free.. I read on these forums that sometimes Apple sends out refurbs with higher than advertised specs..

Mafia · Feb 8, 2005, 09:59 PM

Originally posted by davidflas:
I actually agree with you, I'll probably buy the reconditioned iMac from Apple, maybe I'll get some extra RAM or bluetooth for free.. I read on these forums that sometimes Apple sends out refurbs with higher than advertised specs..

i wouldn't count on it but that would be sweet.

davidflas · Feb 8, 2005, 10:08 PM

Originally posted by Mafia:
i wouldn't count on it but that would be sweet.

Yeah, I won't count on it.. but it would be nice

MilkmanDan · Feb 9, 2005, 12:25 AM

What they all said.

Cubeoid · Feb 9, 2005, 12:27 AM

My opinion and/or advice is equal and/or similar to any and/or all of the above opinions and/or pieces of advice.

DeathMan · Feb 9, 2005, 01:36 AM

Originally posted by Krusty:
17" 1.8ghz iMac G5 is $1299 for an Apple Certified reconditioned unit. 1gb stick of ram is < $200.

I can't think of another "turn-key" desktop solution that would be better than that and would include a hefty amount of ram, a g5, a Core Image ready graphics card and the easiest upgrade path outside the power macs (RAM, HD, etc). Not to mention the same warranty as new

Don't mind if I do!

macintologist · Feb 9, 2005, 05:06 AM

Don't listen to them. Get an eMac instead of the iMac. It is faster, cheaper and more portable.

PurpleGiant · Feb 9, 2005, 05:23 AM

Originally posted by macintologist:
Don't listen to them. Get an eMac instead of the iMac. It is faster, cheaper and more portable.

eMac vs iMac:

[x] Cheaper
[ ] Faster
[ ] More Portable

Krusty · Feb 9, 2005, 06:38 AM

Originally posted by macintologist:
Don't listen to them. Get an eMac instead of the iMac. It is faster, cheaper and more portable.

The eMac was a better deal 8 months ago before the iMac G5 intro (which is exactly why I have one sitting on my desk right now). At the time, it WAS slightly faster than the iMac G4 for a ton less. Now ? the eMac is approaching the end of its cycle (and perhaps the end of its life), its slower than the G5, has a smaller monitor, isn't built for easy hard drive upgrades, and has an ambiguous graphics card when it comes to Core Image. *disclaimer: I've read rumors that Apple has recently removed is its specs regarding Core Image. Speculation is that they are working on bringing the 32mb 9200 gpu which is in several recent mac models into the Core Image fold (eMac, iBook, mini, etc).

But, yes... for slightly less than $1500 including all taxes and shipping, you can trick out an emac pretty well. Here's mine:
eMac 1.25/SD/internal BT/1.5 gb ram (512 BTO + 1gb 3rd party)/ 160gb Seagate hard drive. Cost me about $1490 including all. If davidflas really wants AE, he could drop the 512mb BTO upgrade that costs $75 and substitute AE.

Having said all that: davidflas, seriously .. If I were you I'd go sign up for a temp agency and work 2 days, or add a couple hours where you work, or sell something and get the extra $100 you need. I love my eMac but its not the best way to spend $1500 right now

villalobos · Feb 9, 2005, 06:43 AM

How about a refurb G5 Tower for 1199 (with a much faster HD than the iMac)? You could find a nice screen (not from Apple though) for $250, and have a few options on term of upgrades later if you so wish.

mitchell_pgh · Feb 9, 2005, 07:23 AM

I would beg someone with an educational discount to buy it for you.

Or simply pick a referbed lower end machine and buy the ram separate.

mitchell_pgh · Feb 9, 2005, 07:26 AM

I also really like the low end G5 option. At least then you could upgrade it with an additional HD later on. My G4 tower has two and I'm going to be adding another here soon.

Randman · Feb 9, 2005, 07:45 AM

Don't skimp on ram.

davidflas · Feb 9, 2005, 08:05 AM

Originally posted by villalobos:
How about a refurb G5 Tower for 1199 (with a much faster HD than the iMac)? You could find a nice screen (not from Apple though) for $250, and have a few options on term of upgrades later if you so wish.

I did some thinking about that option $1199 + tax = 1297 so I'd have $203 left to buy a display

I also looked at a new low-end G5 with the edu discount since I'm a college student right now $1349 + tax = $1460 and no display

The refurb iMac seems to be the best choice.. any other suggestions?

macintologist · Feb 9, 2005, 08:08 AM

I would go for the Powermac. When I bought my iMac G4 almost 3 years ago, it was kickass. 800mhz! Superdrive! 32MB video card!

But now it sucks, and if I had bought a Powermac I could have upgraded the video card or other things.

villalobos · Feb 9, 2005, 10:11 AM

Originally posted by PurpleGiant:
eMac vs iMac:

[x] Cheaper
[ ] Faster
[ ] More Portable

hmmmm

http://www.macintouch.com/perfpack/comparison.html

dav · Feb 9, 2005, 10:56 AM

Originally posted by davidflas:
I actually agree with you, I'll probably buy the reconditioned iMac from Apple, maybe I'll get some extra RAM or bluetooth for free.. I read on these forums that sometimes Apple sends out refurbs with higher than advertised specs..

i bought a refurb dual 2ghz g5 in october. i got lucky - it came with a 9600xt and a 250gb hd.

turtle777 · Feb 9, 2005, 11:16 AM

Originally posted by MilkmanDan:
What they all said.

What ANYONE in the Lounge EVAR said...

-t

villalobos · Feb 9, 2005, 11:32 AM

well maybe there is the solution for you.
Straight from Macnn home page.

Refurb 17-inch iMac G4 at Apple Store
Apple has added a refurbished 17-inch flat-panel iMac G4 to its refurbished inventory at the Apple Store. The 1.25GHz previous-generation iMac is $1,100 and includes 256MB of RAM, an 80GB drive, and a SuperDrive. (In contrast, a 17-inch 1.6GHz iMac G5 is also $1,100, but only includes a Combo drive). In addition, Apple has added a single processor 1.8GHz Power Mac G5 (256MB/80GB/SuperDrive) for $1,300 and a dual-2GHz (512MB/160GB/SuperDrive) for $2,100. Apple continues to offer a refurbished version of the AirPort Express Base Station (with AirTunes) for $100, a 24 percent discount from normal pricing. (We noted several other models yesterday, many of which were sold out.)

$1100 AND SD.

Mastrap · Feb 9, 2005, 01:16 PM

Originally posted by davidflas:
I read on these forums that sometimes Apple sends out refurbs with higher than advertised specs..

My 12" refurb PB came with a SuperDrive instead of the Combo it was advertised with. Bonus

Superchicken · Feb 10, 2005, 11:10 AM

If you're only a hobbiest the iMac is the perfect comp for you. If you're a prosumer who likes to get into any and every apsect of his comp then the PM is best for you. Honestly I think my next desktop will be either a Mac mini or a Power Mac...

Xeo · Feb 10, 2005, 11:15 AM

I guess a mini plus monitor would be good, but not a G5.

Steve Bosell · Feb 10, 2005, 11:31 AM

Doom 3 would run like crap on a FX5200, 9600xt w/128 absolute minimum

davidflas · Feb 10, 2005, 08:39 PM

I have to admit that I've been tempted by this pc:

http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=1306543 If only I didn't dread windows xp so much...

I've also been thinking about a refurb 1.33Ghz 12" powerbook.. I could use it as a portable photo studio...

Superchicken · Feb 10, 2005, 11:37 PM

In regards to the 12 inch PB, I love mine, but I would never do pro photo work on this screen... the 15 or 17 inchers sure... but... not this. The proc is fine but the screen is... fine for normal stuff but not really exceptional for graphics. If you don't need a laptop I'd go with the iMac.