Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

ryarber · Sep 7, 2003, 11:30 PM

My desk has a spot for the computer built in, but it is going to be enclosed in the desk so noone can see it. The only thing they'll be able to see is the beautiful 20" apple cinema display sitting on top of my desk. I got it to hide my old beige Dell. I guess I need a new desk now.

This switching stuff gets expensive. Not only do you need new software, but you also must get a new desk so that people can see what a beautiful computer you have without all the cords running out of it. You people call this progress?

I'm running around like mad tonight. Converting all my quicken data to mac format, setting up my camcorder to use with iSight, setting up my flash card readers, Asante Ethertalk adapter, archiving all my digital photos.... Man, it will only take me about 15 minutes tomorrow night to get done everything I need to do in order to be going full steam. And the great thing is, I just got broadband about 3 days ago and I have my airport serving up 1.5Mb/s of cyber goodness to my whole household and probably a few neighbors. Life couldn't get much better. Airborne better not be late tomorrow or I'll really be chapped.

Would it be too weird if I said I felt like we were expecting another baby tomorrow? If it is, just forget that part.

Link · Sep 7, 2003, 11:38 PM

That's awesome. If you want an inexpensive (starting around ~150)... well.. ok, almost expensive, but really modern table, I suggest studiorta furniture. (www.studiorta.com). Most of it's available at office depot and you can get really good deals on it.

I got the exec table set when I got my g4, needless to say it's awesome, basically matches any apple product REALLY nicely, is pretty strong, and looks beautiful.

They also come with 10 year warranties. Not too bad

Anyway back to the g5.. I envy you, but only because you get to have the same experience I had 2 years ago when I bought my quicksilver g4 and 22" display (the predecessor to the 20").

I still enjoy the machine greatly, and don't plan to replace it anytime soon. Hope your mac experience was just as good, hopefully even better, then what mine was!

superlarry · Sep 7, 2003, 11:38 PM

please tell me the front and the back of the desk are open for airflow..

ryarber · Sep 7, 2003, 11:41 PM

Originally posted by superlarry:
please tell me the front and the back of the desk are open for airflow..

They are not. Is that a major problem? My Dell has been living in there for 3 years now and hasn't had any problems. It is very loud though.

Drakino · Sep 8, 2003, 12:21 AM

Originally posted by ryarber:
They are not. Is that a major problem? My Dell has been living in there for 3 years now and hasn't had any problems. It is very loud though.

Just keep an ear open for the fan noise of the G5. If it starts spinning them up faster, then it is probably getting a bit warm. Only time will really tell how well it deals with it.

gfourdoor · Sep 8, 2003, 12:21 AM

My dual 1GHz G4 creates enough heat to warm a 12' x 14' room! I can imagine the G5 will be even warmer.

Don't box it in too much!

superlarry · Sep 8, 2003, 12:27 AM

Originally posted by ryarber:
They are not. Is that a major problem? My Dell has been living in there for 3 years now and hasn't had any problems. It is very loud though.

i don't have any hands-on experience with the G5, but i'd be *very* cautious (as drakino said.. listen for the fans.. if you can hear them through the desk, it's probably time to take the computer out of there). apple totally redesigned the powermac case to accomodate for airflow (i.e. the front and the back being a "cheese grater" - the holes are for air) - you don't want to defeat that.
the G5 is allegedly very quiet anyway, so if noise is your concern, don't worry.
call me overly cautious, but i know too many people that've lost their computers because they were stowed in a cabinet. and computers are a lot hotter since the old beige dells :c)

Leonis · Sep 8, 2003, 12:55 AM

Originally posted by gfourdoor:
My dual 1GHz G4 creates enough heat to warm a 12' x 14' room! I can imagine the G5 will be even warmer.

Don't box it in too much!

Same thing to me too except my room is only 10' by 10'

And facing SOUTH WEST!

AirRon · Sep 8, 2003, 01:25 AM

I wouldn't mind getting pissed off or warmed up . . . I pre-ordered my 1.8 on the day of the Stevenote and I am still waiting. (Edu store, no less). To add insult to injury, Macwarehouse has them in stock now.
Tonight, the Apple Store is choking on my attempts to check my order status. . ..

yeah, I know, 'never preorder . . ."

ryarber · Sep 8, 2003, 10:20 PM

The darn thing is too big. I can't even get it into my desk. This thing screams, though. The thing that is most apparent is disk related tasks are MUCH faster. This LaCie FW800 external drive is awesome also.

tony21 · Sep 9, 2003, 12:06 AM

Originally posted by Leonis:
Same thing to me too except my room is only 10' by 10'

And facing SOUTH WEST!

A computer warming a room? Right.........
I have a 1.6 g5 for about 2 weeks, never gets hot.

nobitacu · Sep 9, 2003, 01:44 AM

Nice buy I must say hehehe, I know you'll have lots of fun with it today when it finally arrives. As for the airflow, yea... if your old PC is around 3 years old, it doesn't make too much heat, therefore, it was ok to be placed in that. But as for the new G5, it's a no no, heat would be a huge issue if it doesn't have a good airflow going through it. Now you know that you really don't have the option of keeping that old desk anyways... you'll have to buy a new one to be used for the G5 because of the airflow issue.

Ming

Arkham_c · Sep 9, 2003, 09:40 AM

Originally posted by tony21:
A computer warming a room? Right.........
I have a 1.6 g5 for about 2 weeks, never gets hot.

At my first job out of college I worked porting UNIX software between platforms. In my office I had an SGI O2, and HP 9000, and an HP workstation (with a $40,000 video card!). All three of them had 21" monitors attached.

My office was about 10'x12'. It got so hot in there that I had to take out some ceiling tiles so the air could get out.

-Q- · 09:48 AM

Originally posted by tony21:
A computer warming a room? Right.........
I have a 1.6 g5 for about 2 weeks, never gets hot.

Happens all the time. You turn on my beige in our front office and the room is noticeably warmer than the rest of the house as soon as you step out of the room. Gets really bad when you fire up the Dell and the two laser printers.

So just b/c it doesn't happen to you doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

And to get back on topic: I'm going to add my opinion to those that say watch out for the heat in that cabinet. There's a reason the entire front and back of the G5 are designed to allow air flow throughout the machine. Confining it to a cabinet may interfere with that air flow. I'd fire the G5 up while it was outside the cabinet and let it run for awhile so you know what it sounds like with regular airflow before putting it in the cabinet. That way you know if it sounds 'wrong' or if the fans are blowing full speed when in the cabinet.

And enjoy the G5!

denim · Sep 9, 2003, 10:09 AM

Originally posted by tony21:
A computer warming a room? Right.........

I assume you mean that you have a problem believing in current computers warming a room. Right?

rlmorel · Sep 9, 2003, 12:19 PM

I have a DPG4-500, and it will most definitely warm a room up.

I have a dedicated room, about 10x10, and I sometimes leave the Mac on all night when downloading large files (Like Yellow Dog Linux...)

I always close the door, because the fan is a bit loud, and because of the lights (I gotta have absolute dark when I sleep, probably a knee jerk response to my days and nights on the USS JFK...)

When I open the door in the morning, the room is NOTICEABLY warmer than the rest of the house...

ryarber · Sep 9, 2003, 03:15 PM

Originally posted by tony21:
A computer warming a room? Right.........
I have a 1.6 g5 for about 2 weeks, never gets hot.

Last night, after I finally got my G5 set up, I had to put it underneath my desk in the well where your legs are supposed to be. I can tell you it got very warm in that room. I had to go get a fan for my self until I can come up with a better solution for the computer.

The Jackalope · Sep 9, 2003, 10:07 PM

Originally posted by Link:
That's awesome. If you want an inexpensive (starting around ~150)... well.. ok, almost expensive, but really modern table, I suggest studiorta furniture. (www.studiorta.com). Most of it's available at office depot and you can get really good deals on it.

I was really thinking of their "futura" desk as I like it's cheesy design, but the CPU shelf isn't deep enough for the new G5 (18" vs. the G5's 18.7").

Link · Sep 9, 2003, 10:13 PM

deep? don't worry the g5 has flat handles.. a half inch overhang won't kill it.

my g4 and my desk's cpu shelf (it's a metal plate that mounts on one of the legs basically on the floor for my desk) have the same problem.. and my g4 overhangs it a little.. but not enough to be a problem.

Hehe my mom actually was thinking about that desk. Coolness

bri-guy · Sep 10, 2003, 01:44 AM

Originally posted by tony21:
A computer warming a room? Right.........
I have a 1.6 g5 for about 2 weeks, never gets hot.

My programming job in college was in an office of dozens of computers. The air conditioning system couldn't keep up in the summer, so my boss issued a new policy - no screen savers, monitors are set to shut off after 10 minutes of non-use. Problem solved.

That's just the monitors!

Link · Sep 10, 2003, 02:27 AM

In most cases monitors produce more heat then the computers

[crt ones at least].