[alligator]

I just switched from a 1.7 GHz Dell to a 1.8 GHz G5. Of course, I don't have it yet. Someone tell me I did the right thing. I plan on using it for home video editing.

Just how fast will it be??????

[AssassyN]

Welcome to the MacNN boards & escp. the Mac universe!!!

You've made the best possible choice! You'll adore your Mac, escp. compared to a Dell! Excellent choice for home movie editing and such...no one knows exactly just HOW fast these beasts will be as they've not yet been released for benchmarking, but rest assured you'll have one of the coolest rigs on the planet! CONGRATS!

[jay999]

Originally posted by alligator:
I just switched from a 1.7 GHz Dell to a 1.8 GHz G5. Of course, I don't have it yet. Someone tell me I did the right thing. I plan on using it for home video editing.

Just how fast will it be??????

This is a joke right? If not stop with the lame ass posts!

[Axo1ot1]

For video editing Mac is the only way to go.

[CubeBoy]

You did the right thing, there, are your happy?

Naw I'm just kidding, welcome to our forums, I can tell you right now that your new purchase is going to be a heck of alot faster than a 1.7 GHz Dell.

[JustinD]

Well you ordered it right? So you did SOMEthing. I mean, I sure hope you wouldn't drop that kind of money without first making sure it would be the right decision for your needs... =)

[Hi I'm Ben]

I bought a G5 and when I got it home it exploded. When I took it back to apple they spit on me and called me names. They said I plugged into the wall the wrong way and that I was the dumbest person they've ever met.

When I finally saved up enuogh and bought my dell it worked so well that girls started noticing me again and my college GPA went up 3 points.

[alligator]

Geez, don't be so hard on a guy. The last time I used a mac was 10 years ago. Of course I did the research, but I don't have that first-hand experience. There's only so much knowledge you can get by "trying out" a computer (G4) in a store for 20 minutes. Plus, I don't know the history of speed increases in a mac the way I do with a PC. For example, I can easily tell you that a speed increase from 1.7 to 2.0 GHz can make a noticable difference. What I can't tell yet is whether the speed of a 1.8 GHZ G5 is the same or faster than a 1.7 GHz Dell. I'm guessing its faster, but what do I have to compare my PC against - just the 20 minute experience I had in the Apple store.

I thought it would be great for video editing, and I hope I'm not wrong. I know what my PC will do, but I have to rely on the advice of others and salespeople for this mac! Nobody I know edits video on a mac.

So I take offense that this is a "lame ass post." Spending $3k for a G5 and screen wasn't something I took lightly.

If this is the type of "community" I can expect from mac users, well then, thanks for the warning.

[Hi I'm Ben]

Don't be frightened by a few lame people. Everyone community has their share. The good news is... if you hate your mac they have a wonderful resale value.

But Macs are great, i'd have a higher end mac if I had the bucks.

Originally posted by alligator:
Geez, don't be so hard on a guy. The last time I used a mac was 10 years ago. Of course I did the research, but I don't have that first-hand experience. There's only so much knowledge you can get by "trying out" a computer (G4) in a store for 20 minutes. Plus, I don't know the history of speed increases in a mac the way I do with a PC. For example, I can easily tell you that a speed increase from 1.7 to 2.0 GHz can make a noticable difference. What I can't tell yet is whether the speed of a 1.8 GHZ G5 is the same or faster than a 1.7 GHz Dell. I'm guessing its faster, but what do I have to compare my PC against - just the 20 minute experience I had in the Apple store.

I thought it would be great for video editing, and I hope I'm not wrong. I know what my PC will do, but I have to rely on the advice of others and salespeople for this mac! Nobody I know edits video on a mac.

So I take offense that this is a "lame ass post." Spending $3k for a G5 and screen wasn't something I took lightly.

If this is the type of "community" I can expect from mac users, well then, thanks for the warning.

[Axo1ot1]

Originally posted by alligator:
Geez, don't be so hard on a guy. The last time I used a mac was 10 years ago. Of course I did the research, but I don't have that first-hand experience. There's only so much knowledge you can get by "trying out" a computer (G4) in a store for 20 minutes. Plus, I don't know the history of speed increases in a mac the way I do with a PC. For example, I can easily tell you that a speed increase from 1.7 to 2.0 GHz can make a noticable difference. What I can't tell yet is whether the speed of a 1.8 GHZ G5 is the same or faster than a 1.7 GHz Dell. I'm guessing its faster, but what do I have to compare my PC against - just the 20 minute experience I had in the Apple store.

I thought it would be great for video editing, and I hope I'm not wrong. I know what my PC will do, but I have to rely on the advice of others and salespeople for this mac! Nobody I know edits video on a mac.

RE: Speed

Speed is a relative thing. The GHz are important, but not as important as Intel would have you think. The G5s have monster system architecture. Rendering etc. will blow you away. When it comes down to processing power, it will beat the pants off your Dell and many PCs with higher clock speeds. The interface might be a different story. Of course as you get more familiar with it the more efficient you will get, but Apple went for a beautiful, powerful and graphically adept GUI. I'd say windows sacrifices in all three of these areas for speed. Window resizing and scrolling might strike you as being laggy, but try dragging a partially transparent sticky with a partially movie file playing in it. A totally useless ability, but this type of thing would bring other OSs to their knees. As Macs get faster and Apple refines OS X the speed issue will disappear. Panther (Mac OS 10.3) is supposed to be bunches faster.

RE: Video Editing

Macs are really outstanding for video editing. Anyone that believes PCs can compete as you scale up to more professional formats is a moron. You will probably be working with DV, and iMovie 3, Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro 4 are all best-in-class NLEs. They trump any competition on the PC side. You DEFINITELY made the right choice as far as video is concerned.

[zigzag]

You did the right thing. I've never edited on a PC but doing it on a Mac is a very positive experience (not that sh*t doesn't happen, but overall). The G5 should make it an even more positive experience.

I was just remarking to a friend yesterday that as upset as I get about the occasional glitch (e.g. the initial release of iMovie3), I'm in awe of what Apple has enabled me to do on a relatively inexpensive computer.

[alligator]

Great to hear it. I'm really looking forward to it, and the features that FCE will bring. I'm switching from Vegas on the PC.

[alligator]

By the way, I have done the research on FCE and the differences between that and Vegas, and I still went with FCE because of the look and feel. For some reason, I was just more comfortable with the interface. The difference in features is not that much of a big deal to me.

[Commodus]

The 1.8 GHz G5 will be faster than the 1.7 GHz Dell, even by pessimistic standards. Even moreso than the G4, the G5 (PowerPC 970, if you visit IBM's PowerPC site) is designed for efficiency over raw clock speed. The claim that it's a floating-point math "monster" isn't unfounded from the reports I've seen beyond Apple's benchmarks.

Probably the more important bit is the bandwidth. From the generation of Pentium 4 you have, you would probably be running a 400 MHz (100x4) processor bus and relatively inefficient memory (either Rambus or PC133 memory). A 1.8 GHz G5 has a 900 MHz (450x2) bus and dual-channel DDR400 memory (literally the fastest on the market that you can use without overclocking your system). In short: the G5 has massive bandwidth, which is very useful when you're manipulating large files - such as, say, videos!

Just remember that you may want to upgrade to OS X 10.3 when it comes out late this year. That's the version which is REALLY optimized for the G5 (and improves the speed on older Macs, too) and will have at least a few nice features that you might want to have, like Expose and iChat AV.

[alligator]

Ahh, thanks for the information. I really don't know much about OS X, and am completely unfamiliar with mac OS upgrades. I'll learn as I go.

Thanks.

[alien]

Originally posted by alligator:
Ahh, thanks for the information. I really don't know much about OS X, and am completely unfamiliar with mac OS upgrades. I'll learn as I go.

Thanks.

Apple has one major update each year, the cost is typically $129. Several minor (free) updates follows after the major version. So Jaguar is 10.2, and the current version is 10.2.6. 10.3 aka Panther will come before the end of this year.

Actually, those minor updates typically come as 50MB downloads, so if you haven't got it already, consider a broadband connection for that G5. Apple also issues updates to some of it's core technologies and iApps in between the OS X updates.

[DeathMan]

In the mac world, it is totally fine to skip an upgrade (since they're somewhat frequent for many), but in my experience, I look forward with glee (yes, glee) and anticipation, with credit card in hand.

You see, Timmy, in the mac world, we actually get features and improvments with the paid upgrades. I dont' know what its like with windows, cause my friend who runs windows has 2000, and isn't moving away from that any time soon. I guess XP just doesn't float his boat?

Also, Vegas sucks. Premeire sucks. iMovie is better than Vegas, and you should know that FCP is awesome. And when I say awesome, I mean totally sweet. It really is. FCE is basically FCP without batch capture, and all the pro codecs that MiniDV editors won't use.

I'm surprised that you don't know many people who edit video on a mac. I don't really take people too seriously if they're on a PC. Maybe if they're using Avid and some sweet hardware upgrades...

Anyway, I envy you your G5. You'll have the first hardware competitive system apple has issued in quite some time.

And people are cussing you cause they're jealous. But hey, who wouldn't be.

[Superchicken]

you picked an awsome machine, it should scream though even pro DV editing.

A Dual 2Ghz G5, beats a Dual 3Ghz P4 Xeon, so if we give the Xeon a slight handicap becuase it might not be as good at SMP (symetric multitasking) that means a 2Ghz G5 would still have to be at least as fast as a 2.8Ghz P4. Estimating of course, essentially you end up with a machine that, a conservative estimate would put you competting with a 2.6-2.7Ghz P4.
Of course, that's in tasks where if I understand what I've read right, doesn't even heavily use the Altivec/VMX unit on the G5.

And since all Mac OS X video apps worth their salt take advantage of the VMX unit, you will be INCREDIBLY happy with your Mac as far as speed goes.

Now let me also say a few more things. Configuring a DV camcorder with a Mac is MUCH easier, then setting one up on a PC, at least so I hear
Most likely if you have any decent camera you should be able to plug it in without having to search around for drivers and all that other crap.

The first thing you will notice however, is the difference in the interface with the Power Mac, Mac OS X is not windows, forget the hoops windows made you jump through. You may hit a few snags if you think the Mac should work like a PC, remember there's a reason we dont' run windows
If you get confused with anything, you should check out the OS X forum, and you will receive prompt help with any issues. You will find some incredibly inteligent and helpful people on the forum... then again you will also find some sarcastic boardering on rude users who arn't as helpful

Enjoy thew new Power Mac though, you won't be disappointed... and if for some reason you are a freak and don't like it, I would be happy to PM you my adress and you can ship it to me and I will enjoy your huggable new power mac

[Stephane]

I use to own a pc. As a (now) pro graphic designer, I have been owning a Mac for 4 years and will never go back : even on my G4 which was struck at low clock speed when the rest of the wintel world gained Ghzs, video editing and graphic design was always performed faster than on my PC at nearly half the clock speed. On mac os X, the interface is less distracting and obtrusive than on Windows and I think all creative pros want to keep things like that.

As for the G5, forget the clock speed, the power of this gig resides in the rest of its architecture : 8 slots of ram to a (temporary) maximum of 8 GB, pro connectivity (FireWire800, USB 2, ethernet), monstrous front side bus and hypertransport connectivity across the motherboard... All of this removed all bottlenecks in the management of the information by the processor (are 3,2Ghz really a must if you need more clock cycles than a G4 or G5 to do the same calculations ?)


Also even old G4 and now the new G5, with their Altivec unit are a the best for video compression, I don't think any other brand beat them at the task...

On a side note, I tested Panther (os X 10.3) : on an external 2"5 3200 rpm drive linked to my 550 Mhz 512 MB TiBook and its nearly 30 % faster than my current OS X 10.2 !! I can't imagine what it will be on a G5

[jay999]

Originally posted by alligator:
Geez, don't be so hard on a guy. The last time I used a mac was 10 years ago. Of course I did the research, but I don't have that first-hand experience. There's only so much knowledge you can get by "trying out" a computer (G4) in a store for 20 minutes. Plus, I don't know the history of speed increases in a mac the way I do with a PC. For example, I can easily tell you that a speed increase from 1.7 to 2.0 GHz can make a noticable difference. What I can't tell yet is whether the speed of a 1.8 GHZ G5 is the same or faster than a 1.7 GHz Dell. I'm guessing its faster, but what do I have to compare my PC against - just the 20 minute experience I had in the Apple store.

I thought it would be great for video editing, and I hope I'm not wrong. I know what my PC will do, but I have to rely on the advice of others and salespeople for this mac! Nobody I know edits video on a mac.

So I take offense that this is a "lame ass post." Spending $3k for a G5 and screen wasn't something I took lightly.

If this is the type of "community" I can expect from mac users, well then, thanks for the warning.

Why would you get the G5 if you werent already told it was fast? Anyway im just sick of the weak lame ass uninformative speculative crap that has infested these forums for a while ... this might be a perfectly ok post but in the lounge. im sure I would get some here here's but nobody who knows anything would read past the first few posts. and another thing ... youll find too many mac humpers in here that are blind to the fact that another platform is a viable choice and at least up until the G5 a very superior choice.

j

[alligator]

jay999 - go away. You are not wanted here anymore. I posted here because this was a forum titled "Power Mac" and a G5 is just that. For your information, I LIKE the speculation, and wanted to see what people thought.

Your "contribution" here is a waste of good electrons. Stop.

[saru boy]

Originally posted by jay999:
Why would you get the G5 if you werent already told it was fast? Anyway im just sick of the weak lame ass uninformative speculative crap that has infested these forums for a while ... this might be a perfectly ok post but in the lounge. im sure I would get some here here's but nobody who knows anything would read past the first few posts. and another thing ... youll find too many mac humpers in here that are blind to the fact that another platform is a viable choice and at least up until the G5 a very superior choice.

j

I'd have to agree. It's pointless to compare a new computer (and with the G5, a computer so new it isn't even shipping yet) with a 1.7Ghz P4. Pretty much any new computer you buy will be faster.

The point should be that for the money you coughed up, is the 1.8Ghz G5 faster than similarly priced Intel/AMD offerings? How much is a 1.8Ghz G5? $2400? For $2400 you can put together a pretty darn quick 3.2Ghz P4 or a dual AMD Athlon system (and you won't have to wait 2 months to get it either). Whether a 1.8Ghz G5 is faster than these systems is anyone's guess, seeing as how no one actually has a G5 yet.

Then again, a P4 or Athlon box won't run OSX so if that's important for you, then you made a good choice going with the G5. If speed is your only concern, then perhaps it would have been wiser to wait until the G5s are actually out and tested before putting down your money.

Lastly, it's rather childish to tell jay999 to go away. If you don't agree with his opinion, then fine, that's your right to do so. It doesn't mean that he shouldn't have the right to say it.

[DBvader]

i switched from a 2000+ to a dual 867 G4, and i think i made the right decision. you have a G5! Things i noticed when i switched: ui is less responsive in the mac os (not the case in panther, so you dont have to worry about it), games run poorly (despite similar or better hardware), mac programs are a lot better than PC programs. For everything that isnt a game, i would expect your G5 to be faster. my Dual 867 runs applications and stuff just as fast as my PC, but they are both fairly fast.

check out launchbar. its probably the coolest app out there. to launch any application you can simply type command (apple)-space and the first few letters of the program and it will launch. so if i press comman-space war, warcraft 3 will launch. whats great is that with this program, you can take out all the dock shortcuts, and leave only whats running (clears clutter) and you dont have to go to the applications folder to launch apps. i reccomend checking it out when your G5 gets to you.

[Commodus]

DBvader:

Actually, if Apple's game benchmark is to be believed (they have a PDF which shows the methodology - it seems reliable), a dual 2.0 GHz G5 can beat out a 3 GHz P4 (and almost certainly the 3.2 as well) by a substantial margin. A 1.8 GHz G5 with the same video card as uts PC counterpart would at least be competitive with that 3 GHz system, since Quake 3 and some other games don't use multiple processors nearly as much as other apps.

Everyone else:

Alligator deserves a kind welcome to the Mac community no matter what. Responding with snarky questions isn't the way to do it. Welcome to the Mac community, alligator, and hopefully your stay will be a long one.

[ASIMO]

The MacNN welcoming committee is like gang initiation committee.

[Mount My Floppy]

Hey alligator, You will have to come back and let us know what you think about the speeds of the two. I`m mildly interested in knowing from some one using the both of them for real work what they think. No benchmarks or any of that crap, I wanna know which one feels faster. Oh yeah and don`t try and resize a window in OS X, Our super computers have not mastered this feature yet.

[alligator]

Thanks guys. Stuff like this is good to know. I feel comfortable in my decision, but without anyone around me (at work or at home) using a mac, I really have nobody to ask these questions to other than people online.

Thanks!

[ASIMO]

Originally posted by Mount My Floppy:
...Oh yeah and don`t try and resize a window in OS X, Our super computers have not mastered this feature yet.

Okay, seriously, now. No hyperboles. No drama queen antics.

Is resizing windows the hallmark of a system? And what is so bad about OS X's resizing? So it's choppy on older systems. Do you really, really care that much about it? Hell, I don't care that my XP machine chops a little, too. Actually, XP doesn't chop, it flickers, which I find more annoying than chopping. But I digress...

...What the hell were we talking about anyway?

[Superchicken]

Why do we have so many trolls in this topic? The PM forum is generally free of trolls... well... at least not these ones