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Mr. Bump · Oct 31, 2002, 02:23 PM

Sorry - this must be the most asked question on these forums.

Am selling my Pismo and Ti400 for a desktop system. I am in no hurry and would defintiely wait to see if a 19" LCD is out soon but should I hang on until Jan '03 for a Power Mac or go for the Dual 867 now?

And a suggestion - how about some kind of indicator to show whether you think you should but now or wait. Something like a traffic light with red for wait, amber for proceed with caution and green for buy now. You could have this at the top of the Power Mac, Power Book, iBook and iMac & eMac pages as a quick guide to whether to buy or wait.

eddiecatflap · Oct 31, 2002, 05:49 PM

..one BIG limitation of the Jan macs will be they won't boot in 9.

..and for some stuff that's still grate...ie: loading a firmware update..you have to boot in 9 ..

..dp867 is a bargain !

..i'm getting one soon.

Skypat · Nov 1, 2002, 11:53 AM

Hi

I asked myself the same question 1 month ago and bought the dual 867. I had a G4 Cube 500 before. I must say I am very pleased with my mac. It is fast (I will double my RAM next week = 512 MB it should be even faster) and ver expandable. I hope to buy a new screen when I have the cash

The only real problem is noise, but I almost got used to it.

I don't think you will find a dual processor at that price next year ...

I would recommend it. Fast, stable, expandable ... coo computer ! I hope to keep it for many years !

derekn · Nov 2, 2002, 06:48 PM

The best advice is to see if you need it now. Look at what Apple has to offer currently, if it fits your needs and you need it, get it. If not, wait and see what happens down the road.

Personal bias though, get the DDR 867.

I got one and I love it, I went from a Beige G3 though. They are good systems, you really can't beat the dual processors.

CIA · Nov 2, 2002, 08:46 PM

I went with a Dual 800 off ebay over a new Dual 867. I thought the performance difference would be minor, but the cost of upgrades would be cheaper. I managed to get a Dual 800, 1.5 gigs of RAM, 160gigs of HD space and a gforce3 video card as an added bonus for less then a current DP867. This machine is running 10.2.1.
NOW, the only reason I bring this up is because my good friend bought a windtunnel DP867, only 768megs of RAM, and some WD Special Edition Hard drives. We are both editing in FCP on our machines. I must admit, his machine "feels" faster. Noticably so. (his has the gforce4MX card in it)
This is not based on any benchmarks, but just my general user exp. with his machine over mine.
But I DO like the fact that my DP800 is not as loud. I don't know if this will effect your decision. If I were you, I would hold off for the next 2 months and get a current model when they are retired or a new one when they ship.

superfula · Nov 3, 2002, 06:55 PM

WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT. The current PM line is rediculous. There isn't a good deal in the lot. Whatever is coming up next has to be much better than these....things. Way overpriced for little difference compared to the Quicksilvers. Look around at some of the Mac online stores (macmall, macconnection,etc) for deals on Quicksilvers. Or if you are comfortable, on ebay as well. Right now, like the man said, the dual 800 and dual gig can be found for great deals.

idyll · Nov 3, 2002, 10:42 PM

I think the current prices are a steal, for me at least. I have not been able to afford a mac until now, and now that I got a Dual 867 I'm quite pleased. My first mac =)

And it's plenty fast. It's up to you if you want to wait or buy now. I bought now and I plan on using this machine for the next two+ years.

Brien · Nov 4, 2002, 11:01 PM

Wait till after MWSF, in case new models come out, or prices drop (or both).

xtro · Nov 5, 2002, 01:38 AM

I think it's retarded to wait on a PowerMac purchase right now. I'd be shocked if they do anything to it at MWSF. Christ, it was just updated.

Buy it, use it, love it. The dual 867 is a GREAT DEAL.

proaudio101 · Nov 5, 2002, 01:42 AM

Well I must say, that the current line of macs are very bad. Look at all these bad reviews, from real users.

http://discussions.info.apple.com/[email protected]

http://discussions.info.apple.com/[email protected]

http://discussions.info.apple.com/[email protected]

http://discussions.info.apple.com/[email protected]

thats just a handful of the many users who are having bad time with the new apples. If I were you, I would wait, because apple has ripped off alot of people, and they are very mad.

eddiecatflap · Nov 5, 2002, 03:39 AM

..are you a pc troll or something?

..apple have NOT ripped off their customers.

..you should be careful what you write , matey boy.

jpoprock · Nov 5, 2002, 12:11 PM

I don't think that Apple as "ripped" anyone off. But I do feel that let some things out the door that they shouldn't have. There are tons of people out there who could care less about the noise issue, and even more that could care less about the weird PCI/Noisy Audio issue. But *I* care because I plan to use my new machine w/ Pro Tools LE, and right now, it's a major issue. Most involved are getting their MOBO's replaced. Apperantly Apple understimated the amount of power needed to power such a PCI card. It hasn't been verified that the new mobo fixes the problem. Hopefully soon. But in a recording environment, a noisy box is NOT a good thing. And for us Pro Tools LE users, it's impossible to put our machines in a different room because the maximum cable lenth allowed for THIS unit is only about 5 ft. I can't remember the exact length. Apperantly it's because the PCI card powers the break out 001 box, and they couldn't make it any longer than they did because the unit wouldn't work. So, I'm stuck w/ my box being in the same room.

I'm in the market for a new machine, but I don't think I'm comfortable buying right now. PTLE is due to go OSX by the end of the year, but I'm sure that it will be buggy for a while. And the problem is, Apple won't support OS9 on any new machine leaving the factory after January 21st I think. So, I either buy a new machine now and deal w/ the problems, buy a used machine now and not have the "newest architecture" for the future, or just wait until sometime next year for the new FIXED machines to come out and hope that Pro Tools for OSX works great. I'm all for leaving OS9 forever if that is the case. I only use 9 for Pro Tools. I think it's too soon for Apple to pull the plug on OS9. Most companies are supporting OSX, but not all.

Jason

Cindy74 · Nov 5, 2002, 01:18 PM

I dont do video (I do graphics) so some of the problems that people mention are not a factor with me. What is a factor is being able to boot into OS 9. I dont like the fact that Apple is taking that away.

I think the pricing on the 867 is a great deal. That is what I did and I have been happy with the machine. The noise bothered me a little at first but I have gotten used to it and it has gotten quieter as the bearings have broken in. Also, I have it sitting on a table behind my monitor which deflects the noise nicely.

proaudio101 · Nov 5, 2002, 01:24 PM

yes, you tell all these people at digi that apple didnt hurt their business.

http://duc.digidesign.com/cgi-bin/ub...;f=24;t=014451

183 posts of people going back and forth between apple and 3rd party companies, each blaming each other for the crashes.

and still, people just dont know if the problem has been fixed, but apple has said , there is no problem....

xtro · Nov 5, 2002, 01:28 PM

Originally posted by eddiecatflap:
..are you a pc troll or something?

..apple have NOT ripped off their customers.

..you should be careful what you write , matey boy.

Yes, proaudio101 is nothing but a pathetic troll. You cannot argue with such people. Once you start arguing with a child, you have lost.

The thing to remember here is that the people who do have problems are going to complain. Here and at the Apple discussion boards. I didn't bother to go there and say how much I LOVED my dual 533 or my last PowerBook... what you see on those boards are the people with problems. They are a small minority, but it seems to be the other way around - but how many HAPPY customers are going to bother going over there to say so?

Take it with a grain of salt. And take proaudio101's posts with a.... ah, just ignore them. They're useless.

eddiecatflap · Nov 5, 2002, 02:01 PM

..yes , well i've used macs for the last 10 years and i think they're bloody grate...any probs have been ironed out very easily, the hardware and the software always impresses me.

..has proaudio used xp ? it's crap...real rubbish.

..and the hardware is pretty rough on the pc side too , no wonder people build their own !

Long live the mac , long live macnn , long live steve jobs.

Put that in yer pc pipe and smoke it !

eddiecatflap · Nov 5, 2002, 02:05 PM

..that link that pcaudio put up is for the os-9 prob , it doesn''t occur in x.

jpoprock · Nov 5, 2002, 03:07 PM

Sure a windoze machine, in regards to raw speed, is REALLY fast. Faster than a Macs a lot of times (the new PC's that is). But you can't just go buy a Dell and expect it to work with Pro Tools LE. You really have to BUILD a machine, make sure the Bios is up to date, make sure the IRQ settings are right, makes sure that EVERYTHING is in order before it works. W/ a Mac, usually you just plug it in and GO. This new MDD G4 has some bug's, but as with anything Apple, it'll get worked out. The reason everyone loves the last Quicksilvers is because Apple got ALL the bugs worked and made a killer machine. The new MDD's will eventually be awesome. However, I suspect that Apple will faze them out very quickly, building upon the design.

For me, I've never really taken the Mac speed or lack thereof into consideration. They work, and they're always fast enough. For me, it's all about what is INSPIRING. Mac's look cool, act cool, and just plain ARE cool. It inspires me to be creative, and makes it easy for me to do what I want to do.

There is nothing I can do on a Mac, that I can't do on a PC. In fact, I can maybe do a bit more on a PC technically. But as an artist, does that PC inspire me?? Hell no. Does my kick ass G4? You bet it does.

Viva La Mac!

Jason

proaudio101 · Nov 5, 2002, 03:10 PM

yes, talk down os 9 all you want, but there is no support for audio appz in OS X!!! So we are forced with OS 9, but yet everything works fine in XP, so I dont think its rubish.

Cindy74 · Nov 5, 2002, 03:23 PM

Originally posted by proaudio101:
yes, talk down os 9 all you want, but there is no support for audio appz in OS X!!! So we are forced with OS 9, but yet everything works fine in XP, so I dont think its rubish.

Yup! A troll is a troll and an A hole....oops, sorry

proaudio101 · Nov 5, 2002, 05:10 PM

yeah, so I guess all the audio pros will be left out when the new g4's dont boot in OS 9. Thats just plain and simple, giving the audio users the doo-doo end of the stick, knowing damn well, there are no stable audio appz that work in OS X.

Mr. Bump · Nov 6, 2002, 04:53 PM

Whoa! Leave you kids alone for a minute and you start fighting!

Thanks to Apple, my choice has become much more complicated - those GHz TiBooks looks SOOOO good. I have until Jan to decide but damn if those holes in my pockest aren't getting burned bigger and bigger!

Roll on MWSF!

xtro · Nov 6, 2002, 09:35 PM

I think proaudio101's mom's panties are jamming up his air vents, causing the fans to kick into overdrive.

Keep it to the bedroom.

proaudio101 · Nov 6, 2002, 10:26 PM

yes, its funny how you can laugh at the way we all spent over $2000 for a computer thats claimed to be "high end", but in real life, we have just been ripped off, because soon apple will come out with a new model, and phaze out these models real quick.....

eddiecatflap · Nov 7, 2002, 03:48 AM

..i wish you'd drop dead.

xtro · Nov 7, 2002, 01:20 PM

This reminds me of my favorite Violent Femmes song...

DIE MOTHER****ER DIE

Oh wait, that was dance

Ah, nevermind.

proaudio101 · Nov 7, 2002, 01:52 PM

well, why is the anger all directed towards me? Am I the one who sold you a high end thousand $$ apple computer, thats anything but high end?

Like I said, expect new models in january, and these to get phazed out....but he, thats apple for you.

InterfaceGuy · 08:56 PM

Originally posted by proaudio101:
well, why is the anger all directed towards me? Am I the one who sold you a high end thousand $$ apple computer, thats anything but high end?

Like I said, expect new models in january, and these to get phazed out....but he, thats apple for you.

The new PowerMacs have been out for 3 months on the 13th. I won't expect to see another PowerMac until at least February. The iMac will be the baby at MWSF.

Edit: I, of course, have no objection to Apple releasing updated G4s in January. I'm glad that Apple keeps their product line fresh twice a year. I purchased a dual 867 today, haven't even hooked it up yet. Thats upgrading from my 733. I'm so excited!