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help i can't decide!!
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Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
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Hi,
I intend to switch to apple, because I looked at my friend's powerbook and I knew that I needed OSX Tiger running in my house. Anyway, I really liked the new 20" iMac G5, but I noticed that there were refurb dual 1.8ghz powermacs for around 1,200. If I were to buy a powermac, I would buy a 20" LCD monitor, but my budget is at max $2000. I intend to use the computer basically for everyday tasks such as word processing and internet browsing, but I will need to be able to edit the occasional video in Final Cut Express. So basically I can't decide between these two options:
a) 20" iSight iMac
b) Refurbished Dual Core 1.8Ghz G5 Powermac and a new 20" Apple LCD
Right now I am leaning towards option a, but it I am pretty much on the fence. Please let me know what you guys think, and please suggest to me anything that you guys think would be better for me, if you don't agree with my two options. Again, my total budget is a maximum of $2000. Thank you.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: London'ish
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iMac..
btw, dual cpu 1.8 isn't quite the same as dual core. A dual core 1.8 never existed.
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The worst thing about having a failing memory is..... no, it's gone.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Michigan, USA
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For your needs, you will appreciate the simplicity of the iMac much more than the expandability of the PowerMac. Go with the iMac.
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: San diego, Cali
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i just got a 20" iMac and highly recomend them. i payed exactly 2000 after tax and got the bluetooth mouse and keyboard and i added 512mB RAM so i would do that becuse the resolution on the imac is better than any LCD and i dont trust Refurb
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Geek
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2003
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I just bought a 20" iMac today and love it. Its the last model without iSight, so I got a good deal on it. The screen is brighter than the 20" Cinema Display, and its very fast. Not sure how it compares to the dual 1.8 G5, since I've never used one, but I think the new iMac will do you just fine. Good luck!
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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20" iMac plus 1GB RAM from Crucial.
BTW the refurb dual 1.8 is not a single dualcore chip like the new PowerMacs, but rather two chips.
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Arizona
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iMac. The dually's are nice (I had a dual G4, it was awesome with my old 20" ADC monitor), but the iMac is a nice performer and so simple and clean in design.
Mind you, when the Mactel mini's come out (I had a mini before this) I will hop on it instantly! I opted for the iMac because I work remotely and do a lot of software building and the G5 simply performs better in that case. Not that it was a bad choice. The iMac is beautiful!
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24 inch iMac 2.4, 320GB HD, 4 GB RAM
500 GB Ext FW Drv, 120 GB Ext FW Drv
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Orlando, Florida
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Anyone have any thoughts on 512MB RAM vs. 1GB RAM vs... more?
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“A man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.” -Mark Twain
Current rig: 15" MBP i7 2.6Ghz 16GB RAM 1TB Flash Drive
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Northern California
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1 GB. Depends on what you're doing. If you want to run apps like Photoshop, then more is always good (I don't know how much the iMac can take but if it were me I'd probably have 2 GB).
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Mac OS X 10.5.0, Mac Pro 2.66GHz/2 GB RAM/X1900 XT, 23" ACD
esdesign
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Orlando, Florida
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Thanks. I ordered a 20" which is due to slip on or before Dec 9, and it has 1GB RAM but I became concerned that might be low, which is why i asked. Unfortunately even though it's still a month from shipping, if I want to change hte order they have to cancel it and re-place it, which will put it back at the end of the line again, with an arrival time of around Christmas as this point (according to the guy @ Apple. Annoying, but anyway, I'd still love to hear pros/cons of 512MB vs 1GB vs more RAM if anyone has any further to share.
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“A man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.” -Mark Twain
Current rig: 15" MBP i7 2.6Ghz 16GB RAM 1TB Flash Drive
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Feb 2001
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Congrats.
I have a 17-inch PowerBook and wanted something with a little more gusto and I just got the 17-inch iMac. Love it. It's got a great display....and I definitely recommend the iMac to anyone.
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Dave Hagan | Apple Certified Technical Coordinator | iMac G5 1.9GHz | PowerBook G4 1.5GHz | Power Mac G4 933 MHz
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Arizona
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1GB should be enough, but if you want more it would probably be cheaper just to order another 1GB stick (I think Apple does 2 512s?) from crucial and replace one of the 512s... I've used 1GB in my macs since 10.2 and it has been plenty. I don't do any rendering or anything like that, but when I am working I often have more windows open than I can count (software development stuff) of subethaedit, rdc, browser windows to test, adium, always have my itunes going , etc.
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24 inch iMac 2.4, 320GB HD, 4 GB RAM
500 GB Ext FW Drv, 120 GB Ext FW Drv
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Feb 2001
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Originally Posted by Tuishimi
1GB should be enough
Yeah 1 GB is the happy medium. OS X loves all the RAM you give it.
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Dave Hagan | Apple Certified Technical Coordinator | iMac G5 1.9GHz | PowerBook G4 1.5GHz | Power Mac G4 933 MHz
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Feb 2001
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Originally Posted by Tuishimi
1GB should be enough
Yeah 1 GB is the happy medium. OS X loves all the RAM you give it.
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Dave Hagan | Apple Certified Technical Coordinator | iMac G5 1.9GHz | PowerBook G4 1.5GHz | Power Mac G4 933 MHz
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Down by the river
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The iMac does well in benchmarks versus the dual-core 2ghz...get the iMac.
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
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I had the money to get a G5 Tower but when I saw the 20" Imac G5 I knew I had to have it. Never regretted my decision - I LOVE this sucker! The 20" Imac G5 is the finest computer I have ever owned and I've had loads of them since 1983.
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Visit us on the web @ strangedogs.com for FREE SPEECH and Video Card Flashing.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Los Angeles, California
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The new iMac with iSight has only one expansion slot for RAM - it supports up to 2.5 GB (512 MB is soldered to the board, + 1 stick of 2 GB.)
Just for those who'd like to know.
Also, we sell 2 GB sticks of RAM at Fry's Electronics for $199.
But we won't have them in for about another week or so.
Oh, and as for your choice, go for the iMac. It is honestly quite possibly the sexiest computer ever made.
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Linkinus is king.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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Originally Posted by brokenjago
The new iMac with iSight has only one expansion slot for RAM - it supports up to 2.5 GB (512 MB is soldered to the board, + 1 stick of 2 GB.)
Just for those who'd like to know.
Also, we sell 2 GB sticks of RAM at Fry's Electronics for $199.
But we won't have them in for about another week or so.
Here it is at the online Frys store... a no-name generic brand.
The price seems too good to be true. It is actually a kit with 2 1GB DIMMs? Anywhere else a single 2GB DIMM is $600-1000.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Los Angeles, California
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That's the wrong PLU - the PLU (product number, SKU, whatever you want to call it) for the stick I'm talking about (which I double and triple checked as 1 stick at 2 GB) is 4655408, and $199. Outpost.com doesn't have a product entry for this yet, so you'll have to go to one of our Brick-and-Mortar stores to pick it up when it comes in.
I work at the Burbank, Los Angeles store in the Software department, just in case anyone wants to know.
I'll probably post a thread in the iMac forum or something when it comes in, as I've already promised someone I'd tell them when it does, and I figure other people would want to know, too.
If it ends up screwing up, we have a 30 day pretty much no-questions-asked return policy on stuff like that. We'll test it first to see whether it works or not, then we'll either exchange it or give you your money back.
(
Last edited by brokenjago; Nov 9, 2005 at 02:56 PM.
)
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Linkinus is king.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Los Angeles, California
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And as an aside, here is a 2 GB stick of RAM at Newegg for $50 more, a far cry from the $600-$1000 range you reported.
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Linkinus is king.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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Originally Posted by brokenjago
And as an aside, here is a 2 GB stick of RAM at Newegg for $50 more, a far cry from the $600-$1000 range you reported.
Note that you can't actually buy it.
But their ECC 2GB DDR2 is down to $305, which is a huge drop from what it was just a week ago.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Los Angeles, California
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Well...
you can buy it, it just won't come for a while.
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Linkinus is king.
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Well you can upgrade the powermac but the imac not so much..... but for everyday tasks I'd go with the imac with 1 gig ram..... that will work great for everyday tasks with a little video editing.......
hope this helps
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Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Status:
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The new iMacs rock. I ahve the new 17" and its a blast. Very fast too.
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