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New G5 or New Imac? Ahh!! Cant Decide!!!

Z

zurv

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 12, 2006
7
0
Hello,

I need some help. It seems that I need a new, powerfull mac. However I cannot seem to decide what to get. Should I go with a new G5 or a new Imac Duo?

I do a lot of graphic/webdesign/advertising and use all the Adobe products.
I have idea (and I do not think anyone else does either) when the Universal Binary will be released, so it would be a pain using the Adobe products on the new Imac with Rosetta.

I would love to get a new G5 2.3 Dual Core with 512MB ram (Will upgrade it myself due to apple charing outragous prices for memory.) and a 23" HD Display. And the Bluetooth with a 3 year warrenty. But that will run me about $4200.

Or I could just get a 2.0 Ghz Imac Duo with 2GB of ram, the three year warrenty and the upgraded 256MB card for only $2300. It even comes with a remote and camera! lol.

What do I do!!

How long will the G5 be around?
How would the Imac run if I loaded windows on it with Adobe?

Should I just wait?

Any help would be great, I drove 4 hours and spent 2 hours in the mac store only to come out more confused!

Thanx in advance.
 
Adobe Creative Suite 3 due out around this time next year (Q2 2007).

Creative Suite apps through Rosetta on an iMac are acceptable but frustrating.

Intel PowerMacs or whatever they're called out later this year. If it was me, I'd wait until then because I think they'll handle Rosetta better. :D
 
Blue Velvet said:
Adobe Creative Suite 3 due out around this time next year (Q2 2007).

Creative Suite apps through Rosetta on an iMac are acceptable but frustrating.

Intel PowerMacs or whatever they're called out later this year. If it was me, I'd wait until then because I think they'll handle Rosetta better. :D
Click to expand...

The last I heard the PowerMacs were only comming out in mid 2007, are you sure its 2006? Did they change it?***Corrected, I see now that Steve Jobs said the end of 2006***

The Imac Duo comes with BootCamp right? Does this mean until the Universal Binary is released I can run Photoshop on Windows on the Imac.??
 
zurv said:
The last I heard the PowerMacs were only comming out in mid 2007, are you sure its 2006? Did they change it?***Corrected, I see now that Steve Jobs said the end of 2006***

The Imac Duo comes with BootCamp right? Does this mean until the Universal Binary is released I can run Photoshop on Windows on the Imac.??
Click to expand...

I think most people are pretty sure the new PowerMacs will be announced in August at the WWDC.

The Intel iMac doesn't come with BootCamp on it but it is easily downloaded from the Apple website for free and you should be able to run Photoshop just fine in Windows XP until it is universal.
 
zurv said:
The Imac Duo comes with BootCamp right? Does this mean until the Universal Binary is released I can run Photoshop on Windows on the Imac.??
Click to expand...

As Vaphoron already told you, You can download BootCamp for free,install XP on your Mac and use PS on XP. PS with XP will work on your iMac as good as it`ll work with a similarly configured PC. But that`d mean that you`ll be buying a copy of XP and PS for WinBlows. And you`d be tempted to too buy PS for Mac once UB is released. But in case you do already own PS then there`s no reason you shouldnt go for iMac instead of a G5.
 
I'd buy the Quad and a Dell 24" display.

All the Graphics applications are already well tweaked for Tiger, so
you'll still be fine for a long time with PPC software.
If you need something that works NOW, then fear not, the G5's kick butt.

Otherwise you're looking at 6 months and longer for any gear that's going to surpass a Quad's performance.

I DO recommend at least 2 GB RAM as a start with any pro apps.

The G5 Quad will last much longer than 3 years, but if 3 years fits into your business plan, then go for it.
 
The G5 is current, the iMac is great too, but IF........

You really need a new system NOW, the Quad is going to be better in a professional situation.

If you can hold things together as is, for 6-9 months, then that's a whole different story.
 
Well here's what I'm doing, maybe it well help you with your decision:

I'm selling the Quad wtih 6.5 gigs of RAM and 30" display that I currently own now for a move to the 20" iMac Core Duo
with 2 gigs of RAM (and maybe a 23" display attached for spanning). I don't do very heavy lifting with photos and only
some light weight stuff with audio/video. I do use Final Cut Studio and Pro Tools (Pro Tools will be native in a couple of
weeks according to Digidesign) but I believe they will run fine on the Intel iMac. If I need more power than that when
the new "Mac Pro" (Intel PowerMac) comes out, then I can either sell the iMac or give it to my wife and go with the new Pro machine.

Think about the chance to try out an iMac for a few months. If you're not satisfied, then chuck it for a new Intel Tower when they come out.


EDIT: Do you own Adobe stuff for Windows already? If so, then you could dual boot, as others have said, to run your current apps.
 
4God said:
I'm selling the Quad wtih 6.5 gigs of RAM and 30" display that I currently own now for a move to the 20" iMac Core Duo
with 2 gigs of RAM (and maybe a 23" display attached for spanning). I don't do very heavy lifting with photos and only
some light weight stuff with audio/video. I do use Final Cut Studio and Pro Tools (Pro Tools will be native in a couple of
weeks according to Digidesign) but I believe they will run fine on the Intel iMac.
Click to expand...

Just curious: why do you have a quad with 6.5 GB RAM if you only do lightweight photo and audio/video?

to the OP: i'd go for a G5. The G5s are excellent machines. Apple changed to intel because IBM had nothing for laptops; the desktops were and are great. Don't go for an intel if you use adobe products all the time.
 
QCassidy352 said:
Just curious: why do you have a quad with 6.5 GB RAM if you only do lightweight photo and audio/video?
Click to expand...

Well, that would be why I'm moving to an iMac.

I used to do production work for local churches and for a friend who did weddings.
The extra RAM made a BIG difference with DVD Studio Pro and Motion as well
as Pro Tools plug-ins. I was using a Dual Core 2.0 G5 with 4.5 gigs of RAM then in late
March, I upgraded to the Quad. Shortly after the upgrade, our ministries took off and
I don't have as much time for major production stuff, so I thought I could sell the
Quad and huge monitor for around $4800-$5200, get an iMac maxxed out with a
23" display and pocket a couple thousand while still having a decent system to do
moderate work in the process.

I still do audio/video just not as involved. Audio recording is about 75% of my work
now and it's just for local musicians and vocalists that have minimal requirements.

I was able to tryout a friends iMac Core Duo with Final Cut Studio and it ran great. It handled
most tasks just as fast (some faster) as my Quad - not including Motion. Video compression
took about 25-30% longer on the iMac but everything else was about the same.
 
cmm said:
All my Adobe stuff runs fine on my old ppc iMac (2ghz ppc 1gig ram).

cmm
Click to expand...

Then I guess the original poster could try to pick up a refurb from the Apple store online or ebay.
I would like to ask the OP what they are using now that requires an upgrade?
 
Hear me now and listen to me later. You must wait until summer. Intel introduces new desktop chips in June or July, and Apple will use these in the new PowerMac. All of the hardware sites say that this chip (Conroe) blows everything else away. It makes the G5 look like Donkey Kong, and you definitely want two of these chips in your next mac.
 
tristan said:
All of the hardware sites say that this chip (Conroe) blows everything else away. It makes the G5 look like Donkey Kong, and you definitely want two of these chips in your next mac.
Click to expand...

While I agree that the upcoming Conroe is going to be a very, very fast chip it will not be that much faster than a PowerPC G5 of similar specs (e.g,- dual core/dual cpu, equal clockspeed, etc...). The current Yonah core is about equal to a similarly clocked dual-core G5, and Conroe is only supposed to be ~20%-40% faster than Yonah. So will Conroe be faster than a comparable G5, yes- but not by that much.
 
tristan said:
Hear me now and listen to me later. You must wait until summer. Intel introduces new desktop chips in June or July, and Apple will use these in the new PowerMac. All of the hardware sites say that this chip (Conroe) blows everything else away. It makes the G5 look like Donkey Kong, and you definitely want two of these chips in your next mac.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but how fast will it be when running apps in Rosetta?

For the Adobe stuff, PowerPC will rule for the next ~7-9 months. After that, Intel will take over and there will be no looking back.
 
Haha,

You guys are awesome... Mac guys are so much smarter than pc guys.
I post, wake up, and then I have enough posts to write a book. Thanks!

After I posted I started looking at apple refurbs. Some of them seem like a very good deal. I am thinking about getting a refurbed G5 2.0Ghz for about $1700 and a 23" Display. Later I can upgade the system and keep the monitor.
Or I could get a refurbed Quad 2.5 for about $2700. How does the Dual G5 2.0 handle Adobe Apps?

What do you guys think of that?? How long do you think G5's will be supported by both Apple and Software manufactureres? I would hate to buy a G5 and then have all new software not support my G5.

Currently I have Adobe products for both PC and Mac, so im good to go with both of those.

Thanks for the answers, now give me some more!! :)
 
I would skip the Apple monitor, they're overpriced IMO. The price on the G5 is solid, though, and it will continue to be supported for quite a while, it's still the main production machine they sell, so I can't imagine support dwindling for at least a couple years...

EDIT: if you're not doing heavy video editing, save the grand and get the dual.
 
disconap said:
I would skip the Apple monitor, they're overpriced IMO. The price on the G5 is solid, though, and it will continue to be supported for quite a while, it's still the main production machine they sell, so I can't imagine support dwindling for at least a couple years...

EDIT: if you're not doing heavy video editing, save the grand and get the dual.
Click to expand...

I do a lot of high end graphics, but wish to be able to expand into a few other things. I also do a lot of print graphics, that is why I want the Apple 23" HD display, the color seems to be very good and very close to the final print version.

By dual do you mean the quad? I was looking at the 2.0 Ghz Dual Core or the 2.5 Ghz Quad.
 
Dont Hurt Me said:
G5 is History, dont even think about. If Apple is giving it up so should you.
Click to expand...

Alas,

Some of us live in the real world and have real work to do ;)

I HAD (not through wanting to) give up my intel iMac because it couldn't handle the work i was throwing at rosetta. Photoshop + Dreamweaver + Word = Lots of lost time when compared to the powermacs
 
BakedBeans said:
Alas,

Some of us live in the real world and have real work to do ;)

I HAD (not through wanting to) give up my intel iMac because it couldn't handle the work i was throwing at rosetta. Photoshop + Dreamweaver + Word = Lots of lost time when compared to the powermacs
Click to expand...

We'll Irecently got rid of our PC workhorse since it was going to be replaced by a mac. Somehow I have gotten by in the last month on my Dell 2.4 Ghz 1.25GB Ram laptop. But I cant take it anymore (I know what you mean by lost time).

I also use Photoshop, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Flash, Word.
I could always do the whole running windows on the mac, running the apps.

I wonder what the speed would be comparable to on a maxed out Imac.
 
I say go with the iMac or wait for Intel pro towers to come out. IMO, it doesn't make sense
to be on the back end of old technology, I'd rather be on the front end of new technology.
 
zurv said:
By dual do you mean the quad? I was looking at the 2.0 Ghz Dual Core or the 2.5 Ghz Quad.
Click to expand...

Sorry, thought the G5 was a dual-processor. Mmm, single vs Quad, only a grand difference. THAT's a pickle, actually. I'd say if you can afford it, go with the Quad, just because I'm a geek and would love one of those (someday)...

I still say buy third party for the monitor. I used to work in graphics and every company I've come across always buys third party, as you can calibrate to relatively color accurate (no monitor is 100% CMYK accurate, as I'm sure you already know). Though the apple monitors are cool looking.
 
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