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Im thinking about Switching...

Ub3rSlug

Ub3rSlug

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 6, 2006
3
0
California
I currently have a computer with AMD 3200+, 1 GIG (512 x2) RAM, nVidia 6600 GT...

But I think Im going to switch to a few Macs...

A PowerMac G5 and A MacBook Pro...

But I have a few Questions first:
1. If I get the Dual 2.0 ghz G5 will it be as fast or faster than my current set up?
2. If my MacBook Pro is defective (i.e Keyboard, Whine, Heat) can I send it back
to Apple and have them fix it?
3. Pros and Cons of the G5 and MBP?
4. Does Boot Camp work with Games?
5. Any Coupon codes that might help me?
6. Can I share Music between them?
7. Is there a list of routers the MBP works with, or is it just Airport?
8. Do You Reccomend any programs for each?

Thanks,
Ub3rSlug
 
1. If I get the Dual 2.0 ghz G5 will it be as fast or faster than my current set up?
The AMD 3200+ runs at 2.0GHz, and the G5 and Athlon are comparable at the same clock frequency. For single threaded tasks they will be similar. For multithreaded tasks and for running several apps at the same time, the G5 will be up to twice as fast, but usually more like 60% faster.

3. Pros and Cons of the G5 and MBP?
The MBP is more futureproof. The G5 works with current pro apps.

4. Does Boot Camp work with Games?
Yes. Pretty well, too, according to other people's posts.

6. Can I share Music between them?
Yes, iTunes shares music just by enabling sharing in the preferences.

7. Is there a list of routers the MBP works with, or is it just Airport?
The MBP should work will all regular routers.
 
First off, welcome to MR, and welcome to Macs. :) I'll try to help with some of these....

1. If I get the Dual 2.0 ghz G5 will it be as fast or faster than my current set up?

You're going to have to say *what* you do with your computer to answer that question.

3. Pros and Cons of the G5 and MBP?

G5: More Mac native software *today* -- there are a handful of major programs, including Adobe CS, that do not have Intel binaries yet. They will be substantially faster on the G5. Also, there's no "high performance" Mac desktop with an Intel processor today.

MBP: The Intel processors represent the future, as far as Macs are concerned. The Core Duo is a very fast processor by Windows or Mac standards. You can run Windows at full native speeds, for any apps you can't convert on immediately.

4. Does Boot Camp work with Games?

Yes, in general. When you run Boot Camp, your Mac IS a Windows computer. There is no emulation. Everything in Windows, such as DirectX, is supported. As long as the game supports the hardware (graphics chipset, etc), there should be no problem.

6. Can I share Music between them?

Yes, this is fairly easy to do. If you buy protected music on iTunes, you can use it on five computers, including both of those. I have the same iTunes library of about 4500 songs, including about 400 purchased songs, on my iMac and iBook. :)

7. Is there a list of routers the MBP works with, or is it just Airport?

Almost any wired router, and any wireless router that supports 802.11b or -g. The only things that don't work are custom router systems that use two channels to get faster speeds than 802.11g and "Pre-802.11n" routers. On those two, you'll get all the 802.11g features, but nothing special. Shop for an 802.11g router that supports WPA and/or WPA2. All the Linksys, Belkin, D-Link, Netgear usuals are fine.

8. Do You Reccomend any programs for each?

See my answer for #1.

Hope that helps? If I were you, I'd get the MBP now and wait until there is an Intel-based PowerMac successor. The MBP is pretty powerful, and you can get an external screen now if you want. Do you really need the kind of power the $6000-$8000 investment all at once gives you? If not, I'd do this in stages, and I'd stay Intel.
 
I am also interested in number 2 question. Can you send the MBP to Apple if it is too hot and whines too much, or send it back if you get an earlier model for a newer model/ revision?
 
G5 is a mistake at this point, Dont. better stufff is coming. G5 was a stopgap measure by Jobs because G4 wasnt advancing by Motostink. Intel Macs are the future, G5s are the past. Skip G5 is my advice.
 
MUCKYFINGERS said:
i dont care wht you need to do, a PPC based mac at this point in time is foolish.
Click to expand...

This really depends on what your primary working application will be.

For audio, video, and photography the Quad still rules, but mostly this is because of the user's previous investments in software and interface hardware.
 
The G5 was not a stopgap. It was the future, and now the future is Intel.

Yes, you can send it back to Apple, but this is an excruciating process. Your new computer may get banged up, the issue may not be fixed, and you'll have to start all over again.
 
dferrara said:
The G5 was not a stopgap. It was the future, and now the future is Intel.

Yes, you can send it back to Apple, but this is an excruciating process. Your new computer may get banged up, the issue may not be fixed, and you'll have to start all over again.
Click to expand...
G5 was a joke, my AMD 3500 proves that, G5 was a stop gap and not much more unless you have a specific app that uses it. Jobs dropped it after only 2 yrs. G5 is a dog. Its just a shame that Apple had the best software and refused to market it. OSX blew away windows crap in my view but windows had hardware, Mac didnt. Here we are.
 
Maybe I'm missing something here, the G5 supercluster is third fastest in the world, I don't see Opteron making that list. It's a dog now, but that's because Intel is focusing on efficient processors, not higher clockspeeds.
 
Going from a Amd 3200 to a G5 is a step backwards. G5 was a lot of ******** and thats coming from a 20 yr Mac User. It took 2 G5s at 2.0 to match 1 single AMd 3500 runnning at 2.2. Enough said , I love the Mac Os but the hardware was blown away. Its why Jobs went to Intel. Apple had the best software in the world but so closed minded that they wanted to sell slower hardware they were willing to give up what made Apple superior? Dumbasses. Thats my view. Sticking to hardware instead of what made Apple better and that was software. Not marketing a superior product to push PPc was pure dumbass.
 
zorg said:
I am also interested in number 2 question. Can you send the MBP to Apple if it is too hot and whines too much, or send it back if you get an earlier model for a newer model/ revision?
Click to expand...

Notice how conveniently the first few replies completely ignore question 2?

The reality is no, Apple will just tell you it is normal, or they will just take it back to their service centre, scratch it up a bit, and return to you with the issues completely unresolved.

To date I don't remember any happy posts on these forums from a member who suffered from these defects and got a satisfactory outcome.

Meanwhile Apple's legal department is trying to silence "dissidents" to keep them from spreading the truth, nevermind the image they put up is copyrighted, they are PERFECTLY entitled to use it under the fair use provisions of the copyright law, but Apple just has to try anyway.
 
generik said:
Notice how conveniently the first few replies completely ignore question 2?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I did ignore it for pretty much that reason. :eek: I haven't dealt with Apple returns personally, but my impression from everything I've read is that, in general, for "normal," widely recognized failure modes that affect different kinds of computers, such as fried motherboards, bad hard drives, bad memory, bad screens (which in apple's definition requires multiple dead pixels), etc, Apple is very good.

The place where they have a bad track record is when they release a product that is perceived as flawed by enough customers to make one think it isn't a fluke, but where the flaw isn't an explicit failure to perform according to specifications. Like for instance, the MBP is loud and hot, to an extent many people find unnatural -- even people who've used other Macs (who, as far as laptops go, are at least used to hot, if not loud). In those kinds of cases, Apple has a bad history of trying to do cover-ups and ignore the problem until they can fix it in production, and never really fix it for people who bought early models.

Unfortunately, in the past two years or so, this has happened several times:

- iMac G5 rev. A had noise and vibration issues due to a design flaw that was subsequently corrected...they did end up fixing a lot of these, I understand, but the fix was iffy. The problem went has essentially never been reported with a Rev. B, though, so clearly a permanent fix was implemented. Discussed briefly here: .

- Powerbook G4 15/17", final revision had screen designs in which a slight gap of black space could be perceived between each row of pixels. To my knowledge Apple has not acknowledged this problem, and has not replaced the computers in question, but went to a different screen in the MBP (not 100% sure about this).

- Maybe arguably with the ACDs in the recent past, having a pinkish tinge, although my impression was that Apple took ownership of this issue (not at all sure).

- And now with heat and whining on the MBP....

So I guess I should clarify that, when I meant "now" for buying an MBP, I meant that I would buy that computer first, and wait on the desktop. But I would also wait a little while for reports that this heat/whine issue has been resolved... sadly.

I don't drink the kool-aid...I really don't. My feel is that, outside of these sorts of spills, which always occur at the beginning of a new product line or revision, Apple's quality is very good, and there is little to be concerned about. Even many revision A's are just fine (including the one I'm typing on). But, when this kind of an issue does occur (where a new revision appears to have a design flaw), Apple does not have a track record of taking care of its customers.
 
Dont Hurt Me said:
G5 was a joke, my AMD 3500 proves that, G5 was a stop gap and not much more unless you have a specific app that uses it. Jobs dropped it after only 2 yrs. G5 is a dog. Its just a shame that Apple had the best software and refused to market it. OSX blew away windows crap in my view but windows had hardware, Mac didnt. Here we are.
Click to expand...

That's funny. Seems to me they're still selling them. Certainly not a stopgap by any means, and extremely powerful regardless.
 
I left out the questions that I don't know the answer to, and that includes question 2.

Don't Hurt Me has been on a crusade against the G4 and G5 for some time now. I'd rather trust my own experiences and barefeats.

Windows PCs are better at games, but that's more because of the OS and the graphics drivers, not the CPU. This has become apparent now with the Intel Macs still lagging behind Windows when it comes to games and OpenGL performance.
 
gekko513 said:
Don't Hurt Me has been on a crusade against the G4 and G5 for some time now. I'd rather trust my own experiences and barefeats.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Nothing wrong with the G5--it's a desktop version of the Power4 chip after all. A bit high in the power requirements is all, but still not as bad as some of those P4s. I would definitely get a G5 now if I wanted to (and I didn't already have one)...it's going to be a long wait for native versions of Photoshop et al.

--Eric
 
I hate taking advantage of places like Costco with their no-fuss return policy, but I suggest going to Costco, getting the iMac G5 (I doubt they'd ever have a PowerMac). Then when the Intel PowerMac comes rollin, just return the iMac within a YEAR of your purchase and you'll be happy.

With all the complaint about the MacBookPro's heat and whine, I wouldn't suggest purchasing it. jmo but when your laptop is burning off your hairs (and not just your leg hairs), the power of a mobile super computer can wait until they fix this problem.
 
Return policy is simple. From my experience, buying a mac from an apple brick and mortar store means you can return it within the 14 day period (even with issues) as long as you package it properly and simply tell them you upgraded to something better or went for another line of products.

If you order a Built To Order machine then you're chances of getting a refund are VERY slim and you'll end up reparing the machine countless times till it is either fixed or they decide to exchange it for a new one.

This is the basic answer to question 2

Finally i'd get a 17" MBP as preliminary amateur reviews suggest the whine and heat issue don't exist in the machine, plus you get more bang for the buck. Getting a 15" at this point is like playing russian roulette and chances of "winning" (getting a problem free version) are very slim.

As others suggest here getting a G5 now is a waste of time, because when the MacPro (intel PowerMac) is released more apps will be UB and the intel transition, i think, would progressed a little bit more and we might even have Leopard shipping with them which is the next OS from Apple.

Goodluck on whatever you decide.

Oh....one more thing..The G5s are definately NOT dogs and are very capable machines who hold their own when it comes to computing. Most of the multimedia/art/graphics etc you see out there come from the G5's processing powers.
 
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