[milesDanek]

What exactly is the advantage of using a dual processor? I have a five year old G4 w/original 128 RAMS of memory and want to upgrade to a G5. The other consideration was the iMac w/20" display, but fear the limitations of this computer. Want to do a lot of photographic applications starting w/ PS Elements, then full Photoshop. Sorry, want to take my learning curve in smaller steps. Am I doing the right thing? Any assistance to my dilemma will be appreciated. TIA.
Miles Danek

[traktimino]

well obviously dual processors are really much faster than single, a dual g5 would seriously own an imac. but it really depends what your doing, an imac is deffinetely sufficient for photoshop but a G5 is going to be much faster. I would go with the G5 since it has much more room to upgrade in the future.

[The Placid Casual]

There are loads of threads on this, it is *well* worth a search.

In short, in OS9, the benefits of dualies are insignificant.

In OS X the benefits are huge.

As for PS performance, a powermac G5 will be great as you can upgrade screens, add PC cards, have 8 Gig RAM etc etc

However, if you are only doing small images and stuff, an iMac should do fine as long as you have enough RAM.

Go to a store and try both before deciding...

[djohnson]

If you have the money for it, then buy a dual. Once you go dual, you wont go back! Seriously, if you want to purchase a machine that will last for a long time, then go with the dual G5. It will be well worth your time and money.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by The Placid Casual:
There are loads of threads on this

Was that a double entendre?

[digiology2]

I disagree, the dual G5 machines would be over doing it for a beginner. Wait for the iMacs to be revamped in (max) 4 months or so and get one then, upgrade the RAM and Im sure you will be thrilled with what you have got.
A dual precossor machine will last you years on the other hand but you could buy an iMac and sell it two years later buy a new low end mac and you would have spent less than the G5 and your current mac would be faster. This is how you take it in small steps. Even an eMac will do the trick as long as your not doing image editing as a job with massive image files.
Of course if you need pci then you don't have much of a choice.

[Turnpike]

As said above, unless you really need a ton of power, the iMac should be more than enough. I do PS work, but most of it is for web... don't have any problems on my current 400MHz Sawtooth. If you are having problems with a computer of similar or greater speed, I would seriously suggest looking at your RAM...

IMO and from what I've read, PS Elements is fairly weak compared to PS... and if you then buy PS, you'll have no need to have them both. If you only want to do little things, just go for elements (try it first!) and don't make plans for PS. If you want to take the smaller step because of money issues, you should probably try the GIMP instead. Free, and not too shabby at all. Doesn't have the crisp, clean feel of PS, but it is more than functional.

The fact that you are considering elements tells me that you don't need a whole lot of power. Not a G5. Unless you are a hardcore gamer or something.... Buying the G5 may give you a better computing experience, but I don't think it is going to be worth it if the most strenuous activity is PS, let alone Elements. I think that you are probably better off going for something cheaper with plans to purchase a new computer in a couple years. iMac, eMac, or an older Power Mac. If you are itching for the power and prestige of a G5, try to get a good deal around WWDC time.

[Cadaver]

One more comment...

As far as I know, PS Elements doesn't include the dual-processor aware filters/plug-ins.

[theatombomb]

Originally posted by milesDanek:
I have a five year old G4 w/original 128 RAMS of memory and want to upgrade to a G5. Want to do a lot of photographic applications starting w/ PS Elements, then full Photoshop.

IMHO, keep your G4 and with the money saved by 512Mb-1G more RAM and Adobe creative suite--or just PS if your sure you want do web/multimedia stuff.

[Commodus]

theatombomb:

Keep a 5-year-old G4 and pour money into RAM? I really wouldn't want to at this point. Yes, you can definitely see some gains from doing so, but it would be throwing money into something that you'll probably want to get rid of within a year or two at most.

My advice to miles: wait until WWDC. A lot of people are expecting at least a PowerMac update, and possibly iMac G5s as well. You may be able to justify an iMac instead of a PowerMac, or a less expensive PowerMac.

Personally I would recommend a PowerMac, but mainly because you can buy the display you want rather than whatever Apple decides to attach to the system. You can also go dual-monitor with a PowerMac, if you feel the need.