[awcopus]

While everybody is salivating over the prospect of receiving their G5, I thought I'd give a quick update on my duallie G4 purchase, which is about one month old.

Seems like a lot of posters are struggling with the G5 pricing scheme, and feeling pressured to buy a G5 because it's the latest and greatest thing.

You know, if you don't want to spend the $2000 minimum for a G5, you can get a kickass PowerMac for a lot less right now.

My 1.42 duallie's got two 200GB drives and two 180GB drives and the full 2GB of RAM. With three concurrent video projects right now, I am just stoked that I made the move I did. Sold the 933 just in the nick of time to make this 1.42 cost me about $800!

I am simply amazed at how virtually every filter and effect in FCP4 is real-time, and how Cleaner can be pumping away on one massive file while I experience no performance hit in FCP as I work on the next project. OS X simply makes Cleaner take longer to finish its task and lets me work at full capacity. Wooo Hooo!

OSX plus 1.42 duallie plus FCP4 plus beaucoup Western Digital Caviar drives with a Sonnet card for hardware striping EQUALS just a beautiful Mac experience.

From what I gather, the dual 1.25 is so close in performance to a 1.42, frankly, that it's a terrific VALUE right now at places like MacWarehouse and SmallDog.com (if they have any left).

And that is the one thing none of the first gen G5 machines can claim.

Despite its dramatically inferior bus speed and its 2GB RAM limit, IN THE REAL WORLD it performs pretty darn well with everything I've been throwing at it (Photoshop, Cleaner, FCP4 suite) and it's going to get another boost once Panther ships.

P.S. Having experienced dual processing, I will never buy a single processor Mac again. Just not possible. So for me the only G5 I would consider would cost me approximately $2800 more than I spent on my dual G4 (considering the SATA drives and RAM I would add to it).

Think maybe I'll be dropping that money on a Philips 34PW9819 instead.

[AssassyN]

This is so great to hear...I got myself a Dual 1.25Ghz G4 on order and I was a bit worried it'd be dissapointing, but with the great deal I got, I'm sure it'll impress.

[awcopus]

Congrats!

You will be happy with your machine. The whole dual processing thing is very intoxicating. You have to remember that you can set things in motion in one app and continue to be productive in the next one. Makes a big difference in my work and play.

With that GeforceTi, you're going to have a fabulous gaming machine! Unless that's for 3D work? Whatever, it's powerful, period.

Frankly, with the stock Radeon 9000, I'm blown away at how smoothly UT2003 plays, even as it powers two Cinema Displays which I think splits its RAM in half (32MB to each monitor, right). With the 933 and its GForce4MX, it was always struggling whenever the action got intense.

[AssassyN]

Thanks! Yep, one of the main reasons I decided to stay w/ the G4 (aside from the huge savings) was the fact that for typical tasks, the dual processors will allow things to run smoother in general such as web surfing, typiing in Word, listening to iTunes, burning a CD, and chatting all at once.

Also, I got the GeForce 4 Ti because I'm a gamer, and I plan on running SoF II, Quake III, RtCW, Unreal Tourny 2k3, and N.O.L.F. 2 on it, and I'm sure that card will push things very smoothly. I'll also be using a dual Apple display setup to give myself more space when working, and it's good to know things will run smoothly across both displays.

I'm stoked to get it...I've been waiting a long time, but I'm hoping to have it in my hands by the end of next week.

[hyteckit]

I order my Dual G4 1.25GHz a week ago. Still waiting for it to ship. What's up with the 7-10 business days. Won't be here for at least another week or maybe two.

I'll upgrade to the G5 when the right time comes. Since I cannot afford the Dual 2GHz G5, it's out of the question for me right now. I'll wait untill the Dual 2GHz G5 drops under $2000. Probably will be less than 1 year because by then, 3GHz G5's will be available.

[Agent69]

I am in a lucky situation where my Dad is a Florida state government employee, so I am able to purchase with a discount. So today, I ordered the following:

Dual 1.25Ghz G4 (2MB L2 Cache)
256MB RAM
80GB HDD
Combo Drive
Radeon 9000 CPU w 64MB DDR
No modem

Total cost was $1414.00 before taxes. I feel that this is a decent deal for a dualie and a nice upgrade from a 700Mhz eMac.

[Back-to-Mac]

Does the most recent G4 PM have the 800 FW port?

[The Placid Casual]

I kind of miss my dual 867... I can't imagine what a dual 1.4 is like! With all the extras and maxed out RAM, it must fly!

When my Dual machine worked it was great, and made OS X a joy to use. Unfortunately it was a 'lemon' and was replaced after about 6 months, but it convinced me that dual processors were very compelling...

I would buy another dual machine in a heart beat (and had a dual G5 on order a while back), except that I need a Powerbook these days, and will do so for the next few years at least... I guess I can dream of the Dual G6s that will be out buy the time I am ready to buy another Powermac

[mikemako]

Originally posted by Back-to-Mac:
Does the most recent G4 PM have the 800 FW port?

Yes.

[idyll]

You know, I've been thinking about cancelling my 1.6 G5 order and buying a 1.25 dual G4 instead. I use Photoshop (amongst other things) quite frequently but the G5 is very daunting. The only thing that is holding me back is the fact that Panther is supposed to speed up all of the G5s 40% and 64-bit is the future. Will it also speed up the G4s by that much? But then again, I do plan on selling whichever computer I get in a year or so and buying a 2nd gen PowerMac or the dual 2GHzG5 once it's price drops. What do you guys suggest I do?

[idyll]

Oh, and another thing..

The resale value of the dual 1.25 G4 also concerns me, as I will most definitely sell it in a year or so.

Also, please try not to be tampered in your response. I want an honest opinion. With all of the updates for Photoshop coming out that support the G5s and other optimizations.. I want the system that will give me the best bang for my buck for one year.

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by mikemako:
Yes.

Absolutely *incorrect*. The G4's that you can order right now from Apple's website reverted back to the old motherboards, and unlike the precious PowerMac lineup (1Ghz, Dual 1.25Ghz, and Dual 1.42Ghz), these "new" machines lack a FireWire 800 port AND they only use AirPort (not AirPort Extreme).

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by idyll:
Oh, and another thing..

The resale value of the dual 1.25 G4 also concerns me, as I will most definitely sell it in a year or so.

Also, please try not to be tampered in your response. I want an honest opinion. With all of the updates for Photoshop coming out that support the G5s and other optimizations.. I want the system that will give me the best bang for my buck for one year.

In all honesty, I would say a *DUAL* processor machine will outpace a low-end single-proc. machine in Photoshop, b/c that program is highly optimized for dual CPU's. I was in the same boat, and I opted for the Dual 1.25Ghz maxed out over the single 1.6Ghz G5. On eBay, Macs will always yeild very nice resell values. I'd get the Dualie G4 & load up on RAM and such.

[idyll]

Hmm it is a very difficult decision. Tests show that the single 1.6 G5 is just as fast (and at times even faster) than a dual 1.25 G4 and this is only the beginning.. With optimizations and Panther on their way the G5 could turn out to be a surprise.

[crouchingtiger]

I personally think that anyone who messes around with getting a G4 at this point is risking a case of severe disappointment in about 6 months to one year's time. At least, at the prices I could find: about $1700 for a reasonable minimalistic dual 1.25 GHz setup and about $2000 for the equivalent G5 1.6 GHz machine.
The original poster in this thread I think is exaggerating the difference in cost -- most people don't have an old machine lying around that they can sell at an inflated price. Plus, of course, even if you did, that same inflated price will get you well on your way to a G5 machine.

The generic argument of "two processors will make multitasking smoother on the G4" is clearly not inherently true and still has yet to be proven one way or the other. You simply cannot compare across processor families with this sort of thought experiment -- the G5 is a newer design with a hell of a lot more bandwith available to it than the dual G4. How much more efficient this design is can only be quantified by careful tests using many real-world applications.

The very limited tests that have been performed so far suggest that in many cases the single G5 performs very closely to a dual G4 machine. This, to me, is very telling because the G5 clearly has a lot more headroom to work with in terms of sheer software optimization -- the software that is around now has already been tuned over the last 4 years to perform the best on G4s.

In the 6-12 month window that I refer to, the prices on G4 machines will drop like a rock compared to the G5 so I don't think the initial ~$300 difference in price is very much at all. On the other hand, if price, not performance is the ultimate deciding factor, of course the G4 machines are still very capable and certainly worth consideration. I myself may pick up a dual G4 in about 6 months when they are available for <$1000 (hopefully) to complement my 12" Powerbook.

[idyll]

Thank you. I think I'm going to keep my order the way it is and wait the next two weeks out. To me it just wouldn't feel right to buy a G4 right now..

[Angus_D]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Absolutely *incorrect*. The G4's that you can order right now from Apple's website reverted back to the old motherboards, and unlike the precious PowerMac lineup (1Ghz, Dual 1.25Ghz, and Dual 1.42Ghz), these "new" machines lack a FireWire 800 port AND they only use AirPort (not AirPort Extreme).

But they boot OS 9.

[Centris650]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
This is so great to hear...I got myself a Dual 1.25Ghz G4 on order and I was a bit worried it'd be dissapointing, but with the great deal I got, I'm sure it'll impress.

Where did you get it? I was looking at getting a dual 1.42 only because I couldn't find a dual 1.25 w/ a superdrive. Price is a big concern and I think I can talk my wife into a Dual 1.25 before a Dual 1.42.

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by Centris650:
Where did you get it? I was looking at getting a dual 1.42 only because I couldn't find a dual 1.25 w/ a superdrive. Price is a big concern and I think I can talk my wife into a Dual 1.25 before a Dual 1.42.

I actually got mine through an insanely great deal at my University. It came bundled w/ a 17" Studio Display and AppleCare for nearly $1,300 off retail price, plus I got it w/ no sales tax (tax free weekend in NC a few weeks back). If you're in some way connected to a college, check with their deals. Otherwise, I believe you can custom config. a machine from www.macmall.com w/ a SuperDrive.

And to idyll, I just wanted to note that my machine FINALLY actually arrived this past Friday morning (I've been waiting since July 21st) and I had time to set it up, connect everything, boot up, and barely play around w/ things already installed, and I must say, it was awesome. Everything I dabbled with moved very fast, and it's boot time compared to my 12" PB was just shocking. However, I leave each weekend to come home to see my girlfriend, so it'll be Tuesday morning (Labor Day Holiday, no school Monday, yay!) before I get to play with my new Mac seriously. I was terrified I'd be dissapointed w/ it's performance, but just like others have said, "once you go Dual, you'll never get a single-proc. machine again". Anyways, I'm sure a G5 will impress, but the low-end machine lacks SO many features of the others and relates SO closely to feaures already on the G4 (same speed RAM, regular PCI slots, etc.) that it's almost worth it to jack up the RAM and get a dual-processing machine. Good luck!

[idyll]

Ahh you're killing me here!

[AssassyN]

Heh, sorry man...but seriously, here's I looked at it. I got a *killer* deal on a Dual G4, that even by my small amount of playtime so far, has floored me with performance (comparing this to my 12" PB and my previously owned 17" PB, both maxed with RAM). I've never seriously played on a Dual machine before, and man, what a difference it is. I loaded mine w/ 2GB of RAM (512MB from Apple, 1.5GB from other sources) and got the GeForce 4 Ti graphics card, and it's pushing my dual Apple display setup beautifully. Plus, man, the G4 case is incredible, regardless of what anyone says. Also, w/ these new G4's, each proc. has *2*MB of L3 cache compared to the previous 1MB of L3 cache per proc. in the last G4 lineup.

I'm just pointing out that the low-end G5 relates way too much to the high-end G4 to justify the cost difference...with that difference, you can max out the specs. in the G4, and espc. on SMP-enabled apps. like Photoshop, the Dualie will fly. My final nail-in-the-coffin decision maker was that I can easily resell this G4 on eBay in 6-12 months for a great price and then purchase a mid-range G5 which will perform probably about like the high-end G5 does now and save myself come cash and Rev. A issues. The choice, however, is still yours

[AssassyN]

And oh yeah! I nearly forgot...the first thing I listened for upon bootup was how loud/quiet it was. Clearly these new G4's have the quieter fan already installed b/c even during bootup it was insanely quiet. Once it booted up, I couldn't even hear the fan at all.

[crouchingtiger]

well, as I stated, it all depends on how great a deal you can get on the G4. If the price difference is >$500, I'd probably get the G4 as well. But for a $300 difference I'd definitely go G5.

I also believe it is hugely misleading to say "the low-end [G5] machine lacks SO many features of the others and relates SO closely to feaures already on the G4 (same speed RAM, regular PCI slots, etc.) that it's almost worth it to jack up the RAM and get a dual-processing machine."
In fact, the only significant feature that is lost is the PCI-X slots and that is not something that most users will ever notice. It is true that the RAM is slightly slower than on the two other G5 models and is technically the same RAM that the G4 machines use. However, the G4 machines CANNOT MAKE USE of the full speed of this RAM making it effectively worthless. The low-end G5 has vastly improved internals compared to ANY G4 machine.

I'm glad that people are happy with their G4s and they are quite capable machines. But I just hate to see people quoting half-truths like "dual-processor is always better than single processor for OS X" as if they were gospel. Similarly, even claiming that Photoshop is so much faster on a dual-G4 because it is optimized for dual processors is a half-truth. If you look at the benchmarks, it turns out that only a subset of filters are optimized and I'd make the argument that these filters are NOT what people spend the bulk of their time using in Photoshop. For common operations like opening/saving files, rotating images, etc. the G5 is as good or in some cases much much better than the G4s and this is without any software optimization!

So, I'd advise people to shop around and don't get suckered into spending $1700 on a G4 machine. If you can get the machine for <$1500 I'd say it's a good deal for a nice machine that will definitely feel a lot faster than whatever G3/low-end G4 you are upgrading from.

[rambo47]

There's a lot of life left in the G4s still, especially the dual processor models. I've heard folks voice concerns over buying a computer with a "last generation" chip, but until the new G5 proves itself in reliability and lack of "bugginess" it's just plain prudent to wait. Now if you can get one of the awesome deals folks are talking about it seems like a no-brainer to me. Generation 2 should see the inevitable little problems ironed out, and if you're spending upwards of $2000 on a computer maybe waiting is smart. I'm the impulsive type that has to have the latest and greatest no matter what issues crop up, but this time I'm waiting. My Dual-Gig G4 is still still full of life and pretty darn snappy�. If I had stuck with my old B&W until now, yeah I'd be jumping on a new Rev.1 G5.

[striker100]

Does this seem to good to be true?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=14912

[idyll]

Seems like a really good deal. Costs just as much as it cost me to get the 1.6 G5... I'm not too sure if I should just cancel my order and buy a dual G4 instead.

[rambo47]

Although the seller has a stellar feedback rating with over 1100 sales, on his last 25 auctions there was only one item that sold for over $20. Mostly he sells cheap crap like buttons, etc. At this price for the PowerMac you could stand to use iEscrow or some other system to guarantee the deal. Maybe I'm overly suspicious but it looks to me like this seller has bought himself a lot of good but cheap feedback. Caution advised.

[idyll]

It's an "Invalid Item" already .

[imactheknife]

Hi all, I just bought a dual 800..originally was looking for a dual 867 but nothing in the right price range..but needless to say it, is over anything else I have used incredibly fast...this mac flies..it has 768 megs of ram, 80 gig Hd, superdrive, zip drive..I have never in my life been happier with a mac...except the first one I owned..a mac plus!...but I can't even imagine what a dual 1.42 is like, or even what the g5's are like...I am starting to believe the commercial on tv for the G5!! thanks apple...you make computing worth doing all day long! cheers everyone! Mark

[AssassyN]

imactheknife, congrats on your new PowerMac!

Well, I just wanted to post this to give my official input on the greatness of the G4. It's currently 2:36am and I have a Psychology class to get ready for at 7:00am, however, I can't force myself to go to sleep...why? Because I'm sitting here mindlessly playing with my new Dual 1.25Ghz PowerMac!

I just got back to school earlier this evening and I've been loaded applications, tweaking the settings, installing programs, etc. for hours on end. I'm floored...literally floored by it's performance. Granted, the fastest Mac before this I've played with was a 17" PB w/ 1GIG of RAM, this Mac slaughters it. I mean everything I do opens extremely fast, and it's an absolute joy to have 5-8 apps. open at once and see no signs of slow down thanks to dual processors & 2GIGS of RAM.

I've already played SoF II and I can run it at it's max res. (1600x1200) with *all* the settings cranked to the max perfectly smooth, even in an online deathmatch. The GF4 Ti is sure performing...I can't wait to try Quake III in the morning, and I'd love to get my hands on any SMP-enabled games.

It's also amazingly quiet...I never thought I'd care, but I actually appriciate how quiet this machine runs all the time...and the case, wow, the case. The G4's case is incredible up close...yes, it's been around awhile, but it's still stunning. For the amazing deal I got on this machine, I can say I'm thrilled tenfold. I love this computer, it's a blast to use and performs better than I even expected it to, or even need it to.

For anyone questioning the G4, don't doubt it. If you can get a stellar deal through education discounts and the like, jump on it. Use the saved cash to max out the RAM and video card, and even toss in some extra HD space if you need it. I LOVE MY NEW POWERMAC!

[awcopus]

First of all, somebody's got to say this:

It is possible to hold simultaneously that the Dual G4s are great machines and that the G5s (all configs, mostly top two) are great machines. These are not mutually exclusive opinions.

The G5 system architecture is simply AWESOME. The chip is designed to handle monster parallel processing and the bus bandwidth is designed to take full advantage of that. It's just inspiring what Apple is doing with the whole mobo. Anyone buying a G5, especially the dual but frankly any of the models, will be struck with its zippy performance. And this is only going to improve as Apple and software vendors optimize for the G5 over the course of the next year.

BUT the starting price is $2000. Frankly, even if you get the low-end with a Combo Drive, you still need to add RAM. You're spending AT LEAST two grand on this machine.

If you can get a dual G4 (1, 1.2, 1.4) with a gig of RAM for less than/up to $1600, that's a pretty compelling deal. Assassyn's and my experience is that one is not only happy with the speed, but thrilled moreover because we've got such a great Mac user experience at such a low price.

Panther is going to run faster on a dual G4 than Jaguar does, and Jag already feels pretty nimble.

[imactheknife]

I always thought up until I owned a flat panel Imac that the G4 was over rated...well that changed in a hurry...when I sold my ibook I could have bought a newer dual G4 like an 867 or dual 1 GHZ but I got an kiss-butt deal on this dual 800...and even though it doesn't have DDR or a fster system bus it has a big HD, superdrive, 250 zip, and this this really flies! and I could not be happier...well that may change if I were to play with a dual 1.42 or a G5..but this has been an awesome experience..and yes I LOVE MACS and of course getting really good deals...and congrats on your good deal...I can see why you would be happy with your machine...cheers Mark

[crouchingtiger]

Originally posted by awcopus:
First of all, somebody's got to say this:

It is possible to hold simultaneously that the Dual G4s are great machines and that the G5s (all configs, mostly top two) are great machines. These are not mutually exclusive opinions.

<snip>
If you can get a dual G4 (1, 1.2, 1.4) with a gig of RAM for less than/up to $1600, that's a pretty compelling deal. Assassyn's and my experience is that one is not only happy with the speed, but thrilled moreover because we've got such a great Mac user experience at such a low price.
<snip>

well stated, you have summed up the gist of my two posts very nicely here! Also, if anyone is interested, as of today September 2nd, the Apple Store is offering refurbished dual 1.25GHz G4 machines for $1399 -- $200 off what they are selling the new machines for.

[Jansar]

Savings? My dual 1.25 G4 put me back five grand. And this was less than a year ago. Where's the compensation, Apple?

[Link]

Originally posted by crouchingtiger:

This is all due to 1 of 2 things:

1. You work for apple

2. You're rich and have money to throw away.

I won't be replacing my 'outdated last generation computer' for another 4 years. And it's already got 2 years on it.

Like jansar, my g4 set me back about 6500. Not even including the speakers, simply the monitor and g4

The g5 is nice, yes, but that doesn't make the g4s any slower. They're still very nice computers that simply 'haul ass' and that's the best term, perhaps not the fastest machine on the planet, but one of the most fun machines to play with.

The MDD is awesome and the quicksilver is still a sexy beast, and I think you, unlike most people, forget that most of us buy computers every few years.

I bet you buy powerbooks and powermacs simulatenously, fly only jetblue, and drink expensive mocha and all of that starbucks crap.

Then again, I'm one of those people who buys the most expensive thing I can, watch it dwindle in value quickly, and then buy another when I can afford it... CASH...

[AssassyN]

Totally agreed awcopus...if you can snag a great deal on a G4, I'd almost say it's a better choice than spending money (even if you have it) on a G5 right now...with the savings you can buy a Rev. B machine, and considering "3Ghz within a year" is already like 3 months old, it's not that far off.

[vmpaul]

Just have to chime in. I've had my Dual 1.25 for a week now.

I'm amazed at how fast this thing is. Whereas the stats don't match the G5 the real world experience is amazing. Almost instantaneous launching (I can only imagine what the G5 is like) and less beachballs is fantastic.

I bought this instead of the G5 because of the price to performance discount and my investment in ATA drives (i have 3 add'l big ones) that I didn't want to re-buy another set of drives.

I'm only at 1.2gb of RAM and am thinking of adding another 512 chip. Don't know if it will make a difference or not.

I'm really interested to see if Panther makes this even faster. If it does I don't see the need to replace for a while. I'll probably just wait to for the G5 laptops to come and replace my aging iBook first before the desktop.

Just my .02�.

[AssassyN]

Congrats vmpaul! I feel the exact same way...the specs may not prove G5-worthy, but wow the experience is MORE than a pleasure!

And I highly recommend going to 2GB RAM (4x512MB) when you can afford it...it's DEFINITELY worth it. Escp. when multitasking and using VirtualPC, the max RAM comes in handy for sure, makes things much faster. Once you open an app. with 2GB of RAM, it opens within a blink of an eye the next time because the RAM disk is so big.

[vmpaul]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Congrats vmpaul! I feel the exact same way...the specs may not prove G5-worthy, but wow the experience is MORE than a pleasure!

And I highly recommend going to 2GB RAM (4x512MB) when you can afford it...it's DEFINITELY worth it. Escp. when multitasking and using VirtualPC, the max RAM comes in handy for sure, makes things much faster. Once you open an app. with 2GB of RAM, it opens within a blink of an eye the next time because the RAM disk is so big.

Really? Oh boy, here goes some more money. Now I can see why people were so joyous that the G5 RAM limit was raised from the G4 2GB. I'll do it because you say it will still make a difference. I might wait till Panther comes out though. Nothing like getting a speed boost on a computer you've had for awhile. It's like getting that new car smell back after you've put 30,000 miles on the car.

Thanks.

[AssassyN]

Definitely...be sure to check www.dealram.com for the best prices on PC2700 DDR RAM. Don't worry about if it's "Mac-specific"...aside from the 512MB stick Apple supplied, all 3 other sticks were just normal sticks from a PC website and they work seamlessly. Just make sure it's PC2700 and not PC3200 or PC2100.

Earlier tonight I was running 2 chat agents, iTunes, ripping a CD to .mp3, surfing in Explorer and Safari, AND, get this, using WindowsXP in VirtualPC ALL without a hint of lag anywhere...the dual processors and maxed RAM definitely helped cause this great experience.

[awcopus]

vmpaul,

One of the things that can ruin a positive Mac experience (probably PC too, but then there are SO many problems on that side....) is bad RAM. Don't go for the cheapest.

I recommend crucial.com. Reasonably priced, reliable RAM. I bought 3 512 sticks from them to get to the 2 GB limit, and everything's been rosy.

[pdovinh]

AssassyN:

Add a couple more 8M 7200RPM drives and RAID them. Install OSX on the RAIDed unit then add your apps and you'll be floored for the rest of the year.
('')('')('')
pd

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by awcopus:
vmpaul,

One of the things that can ruin a positive Mac experience (probably PC too, but then there are SO many problems on that side....) is bad RAM. Don't go for the cheapest.

I recommend crucial.com. Reasonably priced, reliable RAM. I bought 3 512 sticks from them to get to the 2 GB limit, and everything's been rosy.

Agreed, but I went for Kingston instead as it saved me a good bit of cash and the quality is still very good.

[CJM]

i just picked up one of the dual 1.25's for $1399. i figure 6 months from now it'll still get 90% of that on ebay and i can pick up a rev2 dual G5. I also ordered 2 512MB sticks of crucial ddr400 RAM which is good in both the Dual G4's and G5's, so i won't even have to re-buy memory. I just hope the dual 1.25 provides enough of a speed boost over my powerbook 800, which is what i use now for my everyday work. I love the powerbook, but I'm always doing multiple things at the same time with lots of different applications and i always feel like i'm one step ahead of it, always waiting for it instead of it waiting for me.

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by CJM:
i just picked up one of the dual 1.25's for $1399. i figure 6 months from now it'll still get 90% of that on ebay and i can pick up a rev2 dual G5. I also ordered 2 512MB sticks of crucial ddr400 RAM which is good in both the Dual G4's and G5's, so i won't even have to re-buy memory. I just hope the dual 1.25 provides enough of a speed boost over my powerbook 800, which is what i use now for my everyday work. I love the powerbook, but I'm always doing multiple things at the same time with lots of different applications and i always feel like i'm one step ahead of it, always waiting for it instead of it waiting for me.

Congrats! One of the refurbs on Apple site, eh? Very good deal...nice pick on the RAM as well! And trust me, you'll see a HUGE speed boost over your 800Mhz PB. I can tell a *massive* difference between the speed in this machine and the speed in my previously-owned 17" PowerBook w/ 1GIG of RAM. The 17" PB is even faster than your PB, so you're sure to feel the difference.

And also, to those using VirtualPC, one of the main reasons to go for 2GB of RAM is because it allows you to allocate 512MB of RAM solely to VPC and still gives you 1.5GIGS of RAM to use in OS X...I keep VPC running in the background nearly all the time and never experience any lag w/ my OS X apps.

[CJM]

**edit** double post

[CJM]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Congrats! One of the refurbs on Apple site, eh? Very good deal...nice pick on the RAM as well! And trust me, you'll see a HUGE speed boost over your 800Mhz PB. I can tell a *massive* difference between the speed in this machine and the speed in my previously-owned 17" PowerBook w/ 1GIG of RAM. The 17" PB is even faster than your PB, so you're sure to feel the difference.

And also, to those using VirtualPC, one of the main reasons to go for 2GB of RAM is because it allows you to allocate 512MB of RAM solely to VPC and still gives you 1.5GIGS of RAM to use in OS X...I keep VPC running in the background nearly all the time and never experience any lag w/ my OS X apps.

yup one of the refurbs. oddly enough if you go to the apple store now it is still listed but you can no longer add one to your cart. well, either way i got mine on order and it has a ship date of on or before 9/5. can't wait to get it.

[vmpaul]

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Just make sure it's PC2700 and not PC3200 or PC2100.

That wouldn't jive with CJM's tactic of buying memory that you can use if you upgrade to a G5 later. Which I think is a good idea.

I usually buy from Crucial. They have PC3200 listed for the Dual 1.25's. Why do you say not to use them?

[CJM]

Originally posted by vmpaul:
That wouldn't jive with CJM's tactic of buying memory that you can use if you upgrade to a G5 later. Which I think is a good idea.

I usually buy from Crucial. They have PC3200 listed for the Dual 1.25's. Why do you say not to use them?

i actually checked with crucial to be sure that the DDR400 listed for the g4 1.2 and g5 2.0 are the same, and despite having different part #'s, they are identical.

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by vmpaul:
That wouldn't jive with CJM's tactic of buying memory that you can use if you upgrade to a G5 later. Which I think is a good idea.

I usually buy from Crucial. They have PC3200 listed for the Dual 1.25's. Why do you say not to use them?

I just mentioned that primarily because DDR400 usually costs a bit more than DDR333 (PC2700) and in the Dual 1.25Ghz, it will only take advantage of up to DDR333 speeds; however, I didn't think about the future possibility of changing the RAM into a G5...in that case, it'd be worth it to spend a bit more now on the DDR400 so you can swap it out later. Of course, in doing this, the resell value drops some, or if you keep it, it's performance drops some.