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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > Should I bother with a G5?

Should I bother with a G5?
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hagheid
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Oct 5, 2004, 09:57 PM
 
Resident in Scotland (where every pounds's a prisoner!!) I've had a Q/Silver Dual 1Ghz with 22" Cinema Display for a couple of years & apart from a spate of k/panics (Canon drivers!) I've been more than happy with the performance.
My family are on holiday in Florida as I write & my wife 'phoned tonight to tell me the prices of G5's from the US Apple Store.
Is the G5 a worthwhile upgrade? (Stupid broad question I know, but we've the opportunity to save on the purchase price)
I'm not planning on the 2.5Ghz (unobtainable @ short notice anyway!)
What machine should we go for, 1.8 or 2.0?
Any suggestions on the (necessary) V/Card upgrade etc would be appreciated.
Is there anything you can suggest she avoids buying? Remember she will be at the mercy of a salesman who won't see her again for another year! e.g. Rev A, Refurb, etc
Many thanks
P.S. we have another 8 days to decide.
As black as Mick Jagger
     
discstickers
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Oct 5, 2004, 10:52 PM
 
What will you be using the machine for?

What are you expectations for upgrading?
"It's not like Windows users don't have any power. I think a lot of people are happy with Windows, and that's an incredibly depressing thought." -Steve Jobs
     
Big Mac
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Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Los Angeles
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Oct 5, 2004, 11:30 PM
 
Originally posted by hagheid:
Resident in Scotland (where every pounds's a prisoner!!) I've had a Q/Silver Dual 1Ghz with 22" Cinema Display for a couple of years & apart from a spate of k/panics (Canon drivers!) I've been more than happy with the performance.
My family are on holiday in Florida as I write & my wife 'phoned tonight to tell me the prices of G5's from the US Apple Store.
Is the G5 a worthwhile upgrade? (Stupid broad question I know, but we've the opportunity to save on the purchase price)
I'm not planning on the 2.5Ghz (unobtainable @ short notice anyway!)
What machine should we go for, 1.8 or 2.0?
Any suggestions on the (necessary) V/Card upgrade etc would be appreciated.
Is there anything you can suggest she avoids buying? Remember she will be at the mercy of a salesman who won't see her again for another year! e.g. Rev A, Refurb, etc
Many thanks
P.S. we have another 8 days to decide.
Hello, nice to converse with someone from Scotland. G5s are terrific, but whether or not you should upgrade depends on a lot of factors. Your G4 is still a very fast and capable Mac. If you think you would be that much more productive with a faster Mac, then go for it. But if your G4 serves your needs well, you can probably afford to delay that purchase. If you're going to get a G5, I would recommend the 2.0 over the 1.8, unless the relatively insignificant cost difference is an issue. And I would recommend getting at least the Radeon 9600. Also remember to buy more RAM, although there is no need to buy Apple's overpriced RAM.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
AC Rempt
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Oct 5, 2004, 11:46 PM
 
Wow, hagheid, you have almost the same set up I used to have. I still have the cinema display, but I've moved from a QS twin gig to a 1.8 dual G5, and I love the difference in several big ways.

Number one is the noise. The G5 is practically silent. I actually spent some serious time on getting the noise level tolerable in my G4, and it still sounds like a jet engine. The G5 is so quiet there's barely any indication it's on.

Number two is sheet performance. I didn't think I would see that much of a bump from my twin gig, but it's pretty noticeable, especially in apps like Dreamweaver and Fireworks. These apps open in a flash and operate flawlessly. The same for Photoshop.

I would second the call for more RAM because the performance really improved when I added a gig. My G4 has a gig of RAM, total, by the way.

All in all, I am loving my G5 over my G4, and while I don't have any hard numbers for you, I can tell you it's quite an improvement.

For the record, I've been using Macs since 92, and this is my sixth desktop machine.
     
msuper69
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Oct 5, 2004, 11:57 PM
 
Originally posted by hagheid:
Resident in Scotland (where every pounds's a prisoner!!) I've had a Q/Silver Dual 1Ghz with 22" Cinema Display for a couple of years & apart from a spate of k/panics (Canon drivers!) I've been more than happy with the performance.
My family are on holiday in Florida as I write & my wife 'phoned tonight to tell me the prices of G5's from the US Apple Store.
Is the G5 a worthwhile upgrade? (Stupid broad question I know, but we've the opportunity to save on the purchase price)
I'm not planning on the 2.5Ghz (unobtainable @ short notice anyway!)
What machine should we go for, 1.8 or 2.0?
Any suggestions on the (necessary) V/Card upgrade etc would be appreciated.
Is there anything you can suggest she avoids buying? Remember she will be at the mercy of a salesman who won't see her again for another year! e.g. Rev A, Refurb, etc
Many thanks
P.S. we have another 8 days to decide.
You will have to figure out a way to slip your US purchased Mac past your country's customs officials. The import tax will pretty much wipe out any savings you hope to gain by buying it in the US.
     
d.fine
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Oct 6, 2004, 03:26 AM
 
Originally posted by msuper69:
You will have to figure out a way to slip your US purchased Mac past your country's customs officials. The import tax will pretty much wipe out any savings you hope to gain by buying it in the US.
It's a HUGE box, I think that's gonna be hard to do !

But I'd also recommend the G5. I have little experience with a Yikes G4 400MHz, and some on a 1.25GHz AluPB, and I absolutely love the G5 and its performance

stuffing feathers up your b*tt doesn't make you a chicken.
     
hagheid  (op)
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Oct 6, 2004, 04:07 AM
 
Originally posted by msuper69:
You will have to figure out a way to slip your US purchased Mac past your country's customs officials. The import tax will pretty much wipe out any savings you hope to gain by buying it in the US.
ALL Scotswomen have 'Long arms & Deep pockets!!!!!'
Seriously, this more often than not is not an issue.

What will you be using the machine for?

What are you expectations for upgrading?
Yes, Essential info which I should have included!
Our machines are used for 2D design, feeding a Roland Camm vinyl cutter & HP wide format printers.
Due to the lack of affordable S/Ware all the printing & cutting is achieved using a still trusty G3 B/W on OS 9 which functions perfectly & has hardly missed a beat in 5 yrs!
The linked Q/S is used for layouts & is very impressive using the 22" Cinema.
The initial release of OS X c/w Illustrator 10 was actually slower than using Illustrator 8 on the G3 under 9.2! Fortunately the adoption of Jaguar then Panther has remedied this anomaly.

I'm sure we could all still use our older machines however I don't want to miss the opportunity to upgrade while my Q/S is still of some (Second/Hand) value.

I would'nt remotely consider upgrading our P/B Titanium 400 at the moment for an Alum. because this US spec. machine with larger & faster HD is MORE than adequate for our portable needs.

What I'm really trying to justify is a non essential purchase of a computer which costs $3300 (stock 2Ghz) over here!

Any other thoughts re- the Graphic Cards?
I'm led to believe that the 5200 Ultra is 'bogging'!
Some 2 Ghz units in the US still have the 9600 Pro
Many thanks for ALL your thoughts
As black as Mick Jagger
     
Dyeus
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Oct 6, 2004, 07:30 AM
 
Be sure to check out if electronic equipment bought in North America can be used in Europe (voltage difference) I am a dutchman living in Canada and I sold all my electronice for it didnt had much use to bring it all over (though at European electronice you can switch voltage most of the time from 110 to 220 and other way around). I heard that on electronic from North America this is not the case but I COULD BE WRONG
     
UnixMac
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Oct 6, 2004, 02:19 PM
 
Originally posted by hagheid:
Resident in Scotland (where every pounds's a prisoner!!) I've had a Q/Silver Dual 1Ghz with 22" Cinema Display for a couple of years & apart from a spate of k/panics (Canon drivers!) I've been more than happy with the performance.
My family are on holiday in Florida as I write & my wife 'phoned tonight to tell me the prices of G5's from the US Apple Store.
Is the G5 a worthwhile upgrade? (Stupid broad question I know, but we've the opportunity to save on the purchase price)
I'm not planning on the 2.5Ghz (unobtainable @ short notice anyway!)
What machine should we go for, 1.8 or 2.0?
Any suggestions on the (necessary) V/Card upgrade etc would be appreciated.
Is there anything you can suggest she avoids buying? Remember she will be at the mercy of a salesman who won't see her again for another year! e.g. Rev A, Refurb, etc
Many thanks
P.S. we have another 8 days to decide.
Hello mate...

Short answer... Yes.

Long answer: http://www.barefeats.com/pentium4.html

....and drink a good single malt for me! (Oban, or Lagavulin are acceptable)

Mac Pro 3.0, ATI 5770 1GB VRAM, 10GB, 2xVelociraptor boot RAID, 4.5TB RAID0 storage, 30" & 20" Apple displays.
2 x Macbook Pro's 17" 3.06 4 GB RAM, 256GB Solid State drives
iMac 17" Core Duo 1GB RAM, & 2 iPhones 8GB, and a Nano in a pear tree!
Apple user since 1981
     
hagheid  (op)
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Rutland
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Oct 7, 2004, 02:58 PM
 
Thanks for all the suggestions
I missed this UK deal last night!!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...sPageName=WDVW

I'm hoping that it was dodgy anyway!!
As black as Mick Jagger
     
   
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