InLikeALion
Regarding my recent G5 purchase:
It's a G5 dual 2.0 (spring 2004 - able to hold 8GB ram), 5Gb of Ram with, 2xHDs, and the best part - an ATI Radeon xt800 graphic card.
price: $1000 Canadian.
For this type of machine, most of which were coming with 1xHD, less than 2GB of Ram, and basic stock graphic cards - the prices were in a range of $1000 to $1200 on the Toronto Craig's list. Machines that had more to offer in terms of configurations were asking in the $1,200 to $1,300. If you are looking at the retail dealers, many are asking a much higher range of price for stock machines. Then you need to factor in shipping for the internet sellers, and the sales taxes for retail. The owner of my machine had his on offer for over three weeks at the higher price of $1,300, dropping it to $1,200 - then finally giving in and asking $1,000. On seeing that - I couldn't resist. For his specs, I couldn't understand myself why someone didn't pay $1,200 earlier.
Throw into this mix the your selling competition from the 1.8 G5s - that range between $800 - $1000 and you'll have an idea of the market.
I might not be the average buyer, but I was sitting on the fence of whether to sink money into the G5 chip - and certainly the thought of having to sink even more money to upgrade and be relatively current was a factor. I was looking for the 8Gb ram models, and was hesitant of anything without a graphic card to drive a 30" lcd. So the sellers, many of which are asking really good money, only had basic stock, 4gb models to offer - and were still waiting for buyers. The sellers that offered really a good price for the specs they had - sold quickly. The hold out sellers are still waiting. You've got a great model because it's not the liquid cooled ones. They make me nervous - and I'm sure others feel the same. So you have a desirable machine for someone like me that plans to have this for a long time.
I think the G5 is great for me - but everyone wants/needs the latest and greatest. If your G5 still does it for you why buy new at this point? People are having issues with OS 10.5 and Adobe. Why not let them iron the bugs out between them, and in 2 years the next generation Intel machines will be out, and have better compatibility with Adobe.
btw - I'm still keeping my G4 1.2 as a back up because you get to the point where it breaks your heart at the thought of someone only wanting to offer you a pittance for a fine working machine. It can still do all that I need it to do if my G5 ever broke down. You sound like a professional, and if you are on a tight deadline, it wouldn't hurt to have a safety net of a back up computer.
I hope my response helped.
Mike
