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Good idea to sell g5?

K

kmarketing

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 26, 2004
416
0
Hi everyone,

I'm thinking of selling my g5 in the sig. I actually put it up locally and have been getting great response. But part of me is having second thoughts. The machine has been a dream to use, but I'm thinking with some of the news things coming out this may be the best time to sell. I listed it for $1500, but now I'm wondering if that money be good to get something as good as we have it now. The new systems that are out now and soon to come out seem much more superior than what I have, what do you think?

Please let me know your advice and suggestions.

Thanks!!
 
it depends on what apps you use. If you use Photoshop keep it, if not i would sell it soon before it "out-dated"
 
Well, I'm selling my Quad, a decision I made once I got my MBP. Why? Well, considering the MBP games almost as well as the PM, as well as all the editing I need to do I can do on my MBP. I am also afraid I won't be able to sell it or get very much for it once the Mac Pro Intel towers come out.
 
MovieCutter said:
I am also afraid I won't be able to sell it or get very much for it once the Mac Pro Intel towers come out.
Click to expand...

I think that's what I'm most afraid of too.

The main things that we use the g5 for are: itunes, iphoto, backing up dvd's every once in a while, internet, watching movies. We also use photoshop 7 (we have cs but like 7 more for some reason), and when we do photoshop we're not doing anything so advanced I think.

I hope that clarifies things as we're really stuck on this one!
 
kmarketing said:
I think that's what I'm most afraid of too.

The main things that we use the g5 for are: itunes, iphoto, backing up dvd's every once in a while, internet, watching movies. We also use photoshop 7 (we have cs but like 7 more for some reason), and when we do photoshop we're not doing anything so advanced I think.

I hope that clarifies things as we're really stuck on this one!
Click to expand...

Dump the PM, get an Intel iMac, they'll SCREAM for all that stuff, and the resale value won't be cut in half when they're updated.
 
Hi,

It's sad, but that's what I was thinking :(

Do you think $1500 is a decent price?

Thanks!
 
photoshop is running under rosetta though...it's going to be a while until it becomes universal. The other apps will be fine on a intel iMac. Why would get rid of that g5 though? I think it would be a downgrade to get a iMac.
 
For your uses, that G5 will rock for years to come, so why worry about resale value at all? You're not going to need an upgrade for so long that I don't see the resale value being an issue in your case. I mean, my ibook G4 handles everything you describe with ease, so I can only imagine how well your G5 does, and how long it will do a great job for.

What exactly is the point of selling a computer that does everything you need (and will continue to do everything you need for years)? If you were dissatisfied with the G5 in some way or wanted to use XP or something, then I'd say yeah, sell it before the bottom drops out. But you seem very happy with it... so stick with what works.
 
And that is the other side of the argument that I am battling with.

I just want to get the best bang for our money. Honestly, I think with any machine we would be fine, and the g5 was definitely too much machine for us to begin with I think.

But if $1500 now means that I can have $1500 towards a newer machine then I think that would make sense too. But it has been a great machine for us.

A few more posts please as I have people coming to see it already!
 
It´s too early to jump on the Intel bandwagon since you have a G5. Some apps are faster while others are slower on the Intels, so the upgrade won´t be that great. While you enjoy your computer, the new ones will become more faster and powerful than the latest ones.

Macs hold their resale value very well and I doubt that the value of the G5 based macs will change very much soon. If they do, it will just because of the new ones will be much faster, and hence the current Intel macs will take a dive as well.
 
Hi,

Good points!! I was actually thinking of going a little low key for awhile on the desktops after i sell the g5 if I do. I recently bought an AL powerbook 1ghz for $500 so i was thinking of using that as our/desktop laptop, hopefully until all the newer intel models quirks are resolved which could be forever too.

But definitely the extra money would be great too. Man if the new machines weren't already out, there would be no issue, the g5 would be a keeper!!

by the way what do you think about the 20" ACD will that get updated also?
 
MovieCutter said:
Dump the PM, get an Intel iMac, they'll SCREAM for all that stuff, and the resale value won't be cut in half when they're updated.
Click to expand...
Are you suggesting that the value of a G5 will be cut by half when Intel PowerMacs are released? I don't think so, G5 iMacs for example are still going for around $1200 on Ebay. PPC based Macs seem to be holding their value extremely well given the Intel switch.
 
kmarketing said:
And that is the other side of the argument that I am battling with.

I just want to get the best bang for our money. Honestly, I think with any machine we would be fine, and the g5 was definitely too much machine for us to begin with I think.

But if $1500 now means that I can have $1500 towards a newer machine then I think that would make sense too. But it has been a great machine for us.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but here's the thing. You already have the G5, and it's already all set up how you like it. If you sell the G5 and the 20" ACD, you'll get a little over $2000 for the whole setup. If you buy a 20" imac, upgrade the RAM, and pay tax, you're probably looking at a total cost of close to $1900.

So after all is said and done, you've gained probably ~$200, but had to go through the trouble of selling everything, buying the new mac, and then getting the system running how you like it again. And the imac isn't a better machine than the G5. Tests show a 2.0 Ghz MBP (which has the same specs as the imac) running roughly equal with a dual 2.0 G5.

IMO, it's a lot of time and effort to no benefit. But maybe you just like getting new macs... I can certainly understand that.
 
dr_lha said:
Are you suggesting that the value of a G5 will be cut by half when Intel PowerMacs are released? I don't think so, G5 iMacs for example are still going for around $1200 on Ebay. PPC based Macs seem to be holding their value extremely well given the Intel switch.
Click to expand...

I consider it an exaggeration, and eBay is NOT the place to base prices...I just sold a Rev E. Powerbook 15" for $2000 there...however, I buy and sell my Macs all the time, always upgrading to the newest versions. But this is a unique situation. I just got my Universal Binary discs for Final Cut Studio...and OH MY GOD, I don't even know why we stayed with PowerPC as long as we did. Once the actual benchmarks for the Intel-based Power Mac is released, you can kiss that $1500 resale price goodbye. Based on what you're doing, an iMac is going to kick ass. If you're comfortable with your Power Mac, by all means keep it. But don't expect to "crossgrade" to a new Mac pro or whatever when they come out, you'll be spending considerably more cash than if you were to sell it today and get an iMac to hold you over. In fact, in all honesty, a Power Mac is probably overkill for you anyway. Just something to ponder.
 
Love to see some bechmarks. But I have to say, don't wait intel PM comes out, Conroe is a beast!

MovieCutter said:
I consider it an exaggeration, and eBay is NOT the place to base prices...I just sold a Rev E. Powerbook 15" for $2000 there...however, I buy and sell my Macs all the time, always upgrading to the newest versions. But this is a unique situation. I just got my Universal Binary discs for Final Cut Studio...and OH MY GOD, I don't even know why we stayed with PowerPC as long as we did. Once the actual benchmarks for the Intel-based Power Mac is released, you can kiss that $1500 resale price goodbye. Based on what you're doing, an iMac is going to kick ass. If you're comfortable with your Power Mac, by all means keep it. But don't expect to "crossgrade" to a new Mac pro or whatever when they come out, you'll be spending considerably more cash than if you were to sell it today and get an iMac to hold you over. In fact, in all honesty, a Power Mac is probably overkill for you anyway. Just something to ponder.
Click to expand...
 
MovieCutter said:
I consider it an exaggeration, and eBay is NOT the place to base prices...
Click to expand...
I don't see why not. I always sell old hardware on eBay and tend to get somewhere around the average of what stuff is selling for on there for everything I've sold.

I'd say eBay is a great to base prices on, if you're going to sell on eBay.
 
I would keep the G5 and save up for a great portable some time in late 2007.

There's nothing wrong with your G5 right.
It's doing everything you need it to do and hopefully it's paid for.
Right now PPC applications are plentiful, but Universal Binary applications
are very limited.

If you do decide to sell your G5, there are plenty of audio and photography pros looking for them because the dual 2.0 G5 (8DIMM) is a proven workhorse.

Any computer you buy today will be leap frogged beyond your imagination
by 2008.

Now IF your G5 is the prosumer 4 DIMM 2.0 Rev C model with dual layer burner, I'd get all you can for it.

If your dual 2.0 G5 is the Rev "B" Pro (8 DIMM) model, I'd keep it.
 
dr_lha said:
I don't see why not. I always sell old hardware on eBay and tend to get somewhere around the average of what stuff is selling for on there for everything I've sold.

I'd say eBay is a great to base prices on, if you're going to sell on eBay.
Click to expand...

Not if you want to sell it on a Mac forum. Mac community members are notorious for looking for deals on gear and lowballing, especially when updates are around the corner. Very rarely have I ever gotten CLOSEasking price for ANYTHING I've sold here or on other Mac-related communities whereas I've gotten much closer to retail on eBay.
 
If you decide to sell your G5, consider listing it at Gearslutz.com

The majority of professional audio cards used for multi-track recording
are still PCI and PCI-X.

Companies like RME and Universal Audio still require the use of a PCI-X equipped PowerMac mostly because they still do not have their act together on the PCI-Express bandwagon.

The very popular UAD-1 cards are not compatible with the newer PCI-Express dual cores.

So you won't have any trouble finder a willing buyer for your PowerMac.
 
Hi,

Thanks for all the comments. Definitely a hard decision, but we have decided to sell the g5 (I think :) ). We have buyers lined up, and while this machine has been an absolute delight to use, I think this is the best value that we can get out of our g5. It is a sad day, but at least we'll be getting some change for our pockets.

We're looking now for a cheap machine to hold us over. Personally I think any machine will be good enough or okay enough for our needs, and this way we'll have the most money possible should anything spectacular come out in the near future.

Thanks so much its been a tough decision, but all of you have really helped!
 
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