[glo]

Hello, I am shaking right now with two un opened boxes. My new DP 867 and my 17 cinema display. I did think I was going to do it, I have been researching and researching (analysis paralysis) for two weeks now.

I just got up from my desk and said f*ck it. Went to the new White Plains apple store in NY and plunked down my friend American Express.

A little background...

I am an engineer working XML Web Service Networks.

I have an imac DV at home since they came out, my first mac and I love it.

But I could not take it anymore, I use the Mac as a hobbiest, and have been wanting to get a new mac for a long time.

Was it going to be the 15 imac in January, ...I waited.
Was it going to be the 17 imac in June,.... I waited
Was it going to be the new dualies.....

Well, I finally took a step back and said, buy one of them, have some fun, get some work done and move on.

So I am now the proud owner of an expandable 867....


I just wanted to know if anyone else had these issues.

Also how do you like the so far.

[swiz]

Never look back!!!! You did a good thing (as long as you are sure to pay it off before interest charges find you kilt ).
Is there any feeling like opening those boxes? Pluggin everything in, pushing that beautiful power-on button for the VERY FIRST TIME????? NOPE!
I also went through this extreme emotion flurry last night and although I have never done any drug in my life, I definitely feel.... ummm ... like the decision was so not " kind of a bummer ".(to quote everyones favorite switcher�)

[Peter753]

Hey, I went to the White Plaines Apple Store opening too. I got there early waited on line and got a shirt. No, I didnt buy anything but it was cool. Maybe I saw ya. heh.

[DasDaSein+]

I need therapy too - ordered a Ti800 PB last week and it should arrive today, but noone is at home to accept delivery. This is the case until saturday, my gray hair feels even more gray every minute.

[driven]

Congrats! Enjoy your new toy!

(I am in a similar boat to you. I am a software engineer making my living on Windows and (gasp) the .NET platform.)

However I *LOVE* my Macs and you couldn't pry them from my hands.

(I have a G4 Cube (with the same display that you just purchased .. stunning) and an iMac DV SE 500)

Again ... good luck and have fun.

[SMacTech]

Congrats on your new dualie. I love mine, except for the loud fan noise coming from the power supply. I mounted mine in the server rack in the other room and thankfully had long enough video and usb cables to reach my desk. That 10' FW cable was a blessing too, as I can connect my external FW burner and 160gb drive and have it on my desk.
I cannot hear the dual 867 at all now
It makes it painful to come to work and use my 450 cube.

[Fagetool]

Originally posted by glo:
Went to the new White Plains apple store in NY and plunked down my friend American Express.

your friend allowed you to charge a powermac on his amex?
you two fruits or something?
i know my friends won't be getting near my credit cards!

[elcuco]

Originally posted by Fagetool:


your friend allowed you to charge a powermac on his amex?
you two fruits or something?
i know my friends won't be getting near my credit cards!

I think he meant my friend "American Express". Anyway, I also bought a DP 867 two weeks ago. It was quite an experience. But those fans gotta go!!!!!

[BrunoBruin]

I need therapy too, because the dual 867 I ordered through my office IT department still hasn't arrived!!

But congrats on your purchase.

[swiz]

Originally posted by SMacTech:
Congrats on your new dualie. I love mine, except for the loud fan noise coming from the power supply. I mounted mine in the server rack in the other room and thankfully had long enough video and usb cables to reach my desk. That 10' FW cable was a blessing too, as I can connect my external FW burner and 160gb drive and have it on my desk.
I cannot hear the dual 867 at all now
It makes it painful to come to work and use my 450 cube.

Does it bum you out at all that you cant see that beautiful machine whilst you use it? I always look at mine while working, it inspires me.

[G4ME]

I look over at mine on my right side and

[placebo1969]

glo,
I bought the exact same set up (867 and 17") a few weeks ago. I had a nearly 3 year old G4/350 with some old 17 CRT. What a freaking world of difference. I love it. The only thing I did was put an additional 256 MB RAM in it.

[Hydra]

I am the proud owner of a dual 800 G4 and wish you well with your new system. Think of it this way, when I dropped over 3k on my dual 800 just over a year ago it was top of the line and now your entry level model at minimum will match my system and most likely will be faster in most aspects . Good for you bad for me

Sure my G4's have 2Mb of L3 per chip but your faster bus and new ATA100 bus are nicer. All this speed and all these features and look how much less money it is for such a great machine only a year later. I really think the new Dual 867 is a pretty sweet deal. The only thing I think it lacks is a Superdrive for DVD's, but if you don't have any interest in that then it's of little value except for back-up.

I say rip open the box and throw in as much RAM as you can afford (OSX loves the RAM - I have 1.25 GB and it's nice to have more than you really need). I was just at White Plains' The Westchester the other day too and I have to say I almost whipped out the credit card for a new 22inch Cinema Display but the 17inch Apple lcd I have is nice and not yet ready to be replaced Once you go duals in OSX you'll never want to go back.

Good Luck - you'll love the new box

-Jerry C.

[derekn]

I'm with you Glo. I got a dualie 867 as well yesterday, upgrading from a Beige G3. The difference is quite... astounding. Startup in like 40 seconds, everything just feels incredible. LOL The fan noise is actually below what I was expecting, quite similar to my Beige G3 actually. The big one fires up at startup or restart but that's it. I've had a game of Medal of Honor running well over an hour and it didn't kick on.

Beautiful thing is when it's sleeping and the power button pulsates. I went to bed last night and that light is pretty damn bright when it gets to full intensity. LOL I'm amazed by how quiet it is when it's asleep, no noise at all. This is a fantastic system.

[Phil Quinney]

Hey All,

I'm also in the same situation. I went from a Sawtooth G4 400 to a Dual 867. The difference is incredible. Whether it was partially caused by also moving to Jaguar or just the sheer speed of the new machine I don't know, but it was worth every penny.

The one thing I would ask is does anyone know to what degree adding memory to this machine speeds it up? After paying out for the machine itself I didn't have enough to upgrade the stock 256MB.... Not that I'm complaining about lack of speed.

I hope you all enjoy yours as much as I am mine,

Phil Quinney

[asagoo]

Originally posted by glo:
Hello, I am shaking right now with two un opened boxes. My new DP 867 and my 17 cinema display. I did think I was going to do it, I have been researching and researching (analysis paralysis) for two weeks now.

...

So I am now the proud owner of an expandable 867....

I just wanted to know if anyone else had these issues.

Also how do you like the so far.

Hey,

I made exactly the same purchase last weekend and I felt similar. I have just started earning money and have been wanting a new Mac for quite some time now.

A few days later, and I don't regret a thing.

First I thought I'd get a 15 inch display, but I have often regretted buying a small display in the past, so I got 17". Now I can't imagine having worked on that 14" PowerBook screen for three years!

Also, right after spending the money, I thought maybe I should have gone for an iMac instead. But expandability will save you money later, because you won't need a new Mac so soon. The processors are hardly being utilized by everyday tasks at the moment, so they will last for a while. And the graphics card and memory, which are the most common reasons for machines getting "old", will be easy and affordable to upgrade.

So don't worry about the extra money spent. You will soon realise it was the smartest thing to do.

Amar

[andrewbw]

Originally posted by Phil Quinney:
The one thing I would ask is does anyone know to what degree adding memory to this machine speeds it up?

I think you'll find expanding memory will be one of the best upgrades you'll make, especially if you spend a lot or most of your time in OS X. As modern an OS as it may be, it's a real memory pig. It will cripple the speed of that computer if X needs to start constantly paging memory out to disk.

You'll notice an immediate difference (especially when working with several programs at once) if you expand it to 512MB or 768MB. To really give yourself breathing room, go to 1GB or more and don't look back.

Enjoy!

-A.

[glo]

It is great to see that I was not alone. I am thrilled with the machine, and I did just add another 512.

The best thing that has worked out for me is using HOBLink JWT. This is a java Windoze Terminal Server. So now I just log onto my XP laptop via HOBLink and I never have to leave the 17' Sudio Display again. I wish I did't have to use the MS box, but it pays the bills.

Now I look forward to spending time on this board.

-glo

[BrunoBruin]

My dual 867 (SuperDrive, Radeon) just arrived and is waiting patiently to be unpacked.

[The Ancient One]

Originally posted by Hydra:
I am the proud owner of a dual 800 G4 and wish you well with your new system. Think of it this way, when I dropped over 3k on my dual 800 just over a year ago it was top of the line and now your entry level model at minimum will match my system and most likely will be faster in most aspects . Good for you bad for me

Why bad? I also bought a dual 800 a year ago and I just finished it off with the installation of a 2nd hard drive (for a really clean Jaguar install). Point is, I've had it for a year. High point: installing 10.1 on it the day it came out. Low point: motherboard crapped out - but it was replaced under warranty. Of course this year's low end machine is about equal, but I wouldn't give up that year for anything. Now I can start planning for the next one.

[Macpilot]

Just got my new Dual 867. Very impressed with everything so far except the noise. I just turn up my music and that solves it. Digging my new Formac Gallery display too!

[Kenneth]

glo, you are not alone. I'm in the same situation. I'm just yet another typical college student and using the fully-upgraded iMac since Summer 1998. Since my current iMac is acting weird and I don't have any time to deal with this 4-yr old iMac. I started to think about getting the dual 867 with 17" studio display all together. Thinking of paying tuition, textbook, dorm, and dinning service; I went insomnia.

I'm a huge Mac fans! After reading glo and all happy dualie owners, I made my up decision and going to check out the Apple center in the bookstore for the new PowerMac. Of cource, I'll bring my American Express BLUE with me.

Thanks glo to bring this up. Enjoy your dualie.

edit: First, I'm not a gamer, but is the $100 add-on ATI Radeon 9000 Pro card worth it? Such as 3D app, Photoshop, FCP.

Kenneth

[SMacTech]

Originally posted by swiz:


Does it bum you out at all that you cant see that beautiful machine whilst you use it? I always look at mine while working, it inspires me.

No, not really. I can always pull up the 1280 x 1024 jpg of it. I love the silence too much.

Just got another dual 867 here at work, it is still in the box. Going to set it up and watch the shock on the person's face that is getting it when i turn it on.

[godzappa]

I ordered my dual 867 w/ Superdrive and Radeon 9000 on Sep 10th and it still hasnt shipped >

The waiting is a slow torture

[escher]

Originally posted by derekn:
The fan noise is actually below what I was expecting, quite similar to my Beige G3 actually.

FWIW, fan noise is still a major concern for me. I'm looking to repace my aging Rev.A iMac. I can't stand the iMac's fan and want more power and expandability. For space reasons, a new Dual G4 would go under my desk anyway, which should dampen the fan noise.

So what do people think? Would a DP 867 under my desk be louder or quieter than my whiny Rev.A iMac blowdrier? I'd like to hear about any experiences.

Escher

[SMacTech]

Originally posted by escher:


FWIW, fan noise is still a major concern for me. I'm looking to repace my aging Rev.A iMac. I can't stand the iMac's fan and want more power and expandability. For space reasons, a new Dual G4 would go under my desk anyway, which should dampen the fan noise.

So what do people think? Would a DP 867 under my desk be louder or quieter than my whiny Rev.A iMac blowdrier? I'd like to hear about any experiences.

Escher

It will be loud, how much louder than your iMac, I cannot tell you. See my posts above.

[fady]

I got one too!!!
DP 867 with 19" Viewsonic p90f!!!

Amazing!!!!

the tower is under the desk... sure, there is a fan noise but it's so less annoying than the whinning noise of my old iMac's HD...

Cheers!

[slapdash]

An excellent buy mate!

Got one too Its my fourth mac in as many years. Dual 867 with a Diamond Plus 92 display. And I have to say it makes my Powerbook G4 400 look like a snail. Here's my wife and I for the last four years (I'm never happy):

Original Bondi iMac
Strawberry iMac
Blue & White G3 DVD 350 O/C to 400
Tangerine iBook
2 Powerbook G4 400 Ti (one each)
Dual 867 G4 Mirror

This new system smokes anything I've used. Its a joy to work.

[swiz]

Originally posted by SMacTech:


...Just got another dual 867 here at work, it is still in the box. Going to set it up and watch the shock on the person's face that is getting it when i turn it on.

Man do I wish that was me... not that I need it, Im just addicted to opening new boxes from Apple.

[ARK]

Originally posted by swiz:


Man do I wish that was me... not that I need it, Im just addicted to opening new boxes from Apple.

I enjoyed the opening of my box. I got a Quicksilver. heck I even got shivers opening up the speakers!! ehehhehe

Enjoy it and don't look back.

YIPEE!!! my 100th message!!!

[raskol]

Check this link for info on replacing those loud fans.

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/g...reduction.html

[mrchin]

Also, if his friend, AMEX, is just an AMEX and not a Amex Blue, then he has to pay it all off at the time of his statement. No payment schedules allowed for an AMEX.

[olePigeon]

Yeah, I was wondering about that. If the fan is such trouble shell out another $15 and get one of those silent ballbearing fans.

Originally posted by raskol:
Check this link for info on replacing those loud fans.

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/g...reduction.html

[itai195]

Originally posted by Kenneth:
edit: First, I'm not a gamer, but is the $100 add-on ATI Radeon 9000 Pro card worth it? Such as 3D app, Photoshop, FCP.

Yep... the extra video memory alone makes it worth it.

[mediahound]

i wanted to like the new mirror dual machines but their noisy-ness was a real turn off. when i first took a look at it in the store, the first thing i noticed was how loud it was. i actually thought there was something wrong with it until the sales guy told me that it was normal sound for that machine.

i opted for a single proc 800 quicksilver on clearance at the local store. it's about half as quiet and was cheaper too.

[slapdash]

Originally posted by mediahound:
i wanted to like the new mirror dual machines but their noisy-ness was a real turn off. when i first took a look at it in the store, the first thing i noticed was how loud it was. i actually thought there was something wrong with it until the sales guy told me that it was normal sound for that machine.

i opted for a single proc 800 quicksilver on clearance at the local store. it's about half as quiet and was cheaper too.

I still don't understand people experiencing this. I've had mine for almost a month now and its no louder to me than any quicksilver, and only a touch louder than my old BW G3. True it could be quiter but its not that bad

[godzappa]

Which machine did you see in-store that was so loud Mediahound?

I saw a DP 867 in Toronto last week, expecting it to sound like an airplane, and it was pretty quiet, certainly not any louder than my PCI G4 w/ Radeon (which has a fan).

Could it be the new DP 1gig machinese are louder than the 867s?

[slapdash]

Originally posted by godzappa:
Could it be the new DP 1gig machinese are louder than the 867s?

Thats what I've heard reported. The dual 867 seems to have three fan rates (to my ears). From what I've read the 1 gig unit tends to live on the second setting with bursts to the third. Now THAT would be loud if it happened all the time.

The only time I hear the two noisy ones on my dual 867 are when I reboot for all of 3 or 4 seconds. Usually its quiet enough as usual, as you mentioned.

When I bought mine I was expecting a hairdryer. Its nowhere near that bad

[mediahound]

the sales guy said it was an 867, but i did not verify.

the new machines have 4 fans after all and air ducts that suck in the air, so it makes sense that they would be louder.

also the main fan varys in speed. if it's a hot day, it kicks in and sounds like a hair dryer!

[solitere]

Originally posted by slapdash:


I still don't understand people experiencing this. I've had mine for almost a month now and its no louder to me than any quicksilver, and only a touch louder than my old BW G3. True it could be quiter but its not that bad

I�m doing right at home a installation of a DP867 and beside that machine I got a DP800. The Dual 800 have definetly a louder noise (it�s "base" is higher) The Dual 867 has a higher pitchtone but less base.

In my opinion the Dual 867 is more comfortable to my ears!

I also ran a Test compering the Dual 800 to the Dual 867 with xbench. Heres the results:

System Info
System Version 10.2.1
Physical RAM 256 MB(DP867)

Machine 1 PowerPC,G4@0 2x [867 MHz]
Machine 2 PowerPC,G4@1 2x [800 MHz]

TEST:__________DP867____DP800
CPU Test_______74.36____98.44
Thread Test_____105.43___96.39
Memory Test____113.05___97.53
System_________112.55___95.24
Quartz GT_______92.96____99.88
User Interface___106.71___66.04
Disk Test_______35.53____66.04

Notes: The Dual DP800 has a Geforce 3 card and 768 MB of memory.[list]

[PacHead]

Posted by solitere:

TEST:__________DP867____DP800
CPU Test_______74.36____98.44
Thread Test_____105.43___96.39
Memory Test____113.05___97.53
System_________112.55___95.24
Quartz GT_______92.96____99.88
User Interface___106.71___66.04
Disk Test_______35.53____66.04

What do the numbers mean ? Is lower better ?

[solitere]

Originally posted by PacHead:
Posted by solitere:

TEST:__________DP867____DP800
CPU Test_______74.36____98.44
Thread Test_____105.43___96.39
Memory Test____113.05___97.53
System_________112.55___95.24
Quartz GT_______92.96____99.88
User Interface___106.71___66.04
Disk Test_______35.53____66.04

What do the numbers mean ? Is lower better ?

Higher is better... Why the DP800 has higher CPU score is probably that A. It has 2 MB of cache per cpu + Better graphics card

[PacHead]

Wow, that's surprising.

The one that really throws me off, is the disk test. You'd figure that the new DP 867 would blow away the DP 800 in the Disk Department, since it uses ATA 100, but apparantly, that doesn't seem to be the case.

[solitere]

Originally posted by PacHead:
Wow, that's surprising.

The one that really throws me off, is the disk test. You'd figure that the new DP 867 would blow away the DP 800 in the Disk Department, since it uses ATA 100, but apparantly, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Yes it seems so according to Xbench...But I don�t trust regarding the disc test. Because Apps starts faster on the DP867 files copy faster also...

I wouldn�t bet that Xbench program is 100% reliable.

I will replace the GF 4 MX card tomorrow and see if that affects the CPU score,