Power Mac vs. iMac - which to buy?

[mraila]

Here's my dilemma:
I work for a large organization (a university) that is an Apple reseller. They sell end-of-life models for cheap $ when new models come out.

I am a somewhat advanced user (Photoshop, Final Cut sometimes, HTML, not really a gamer) but money is tight. Which should I buy (these are both recently discontinued models):

For $1330: 20" iMac 2ghz with ATI9600 w/128MB VRAM, 250GB HD, 512MB, Airport Extreme, Bluetooth, 20" display, dual layer Super Drive. No Firewire 800. Money left over to max-out the RAM.

OR

For $1430: Dual 2ghz Power Mac with ATI9600 w/128MB VRAM, 160GB HD, 512MB, no Airport/Bluetooth, no display, 1 FW 800 port, and possibility for future expansion. Would then have to stretch a bit to buy a 20" display.

Easy answer is "Advanced User = Power Mac," but this iMac is pretty powerful. I don't think the second processor gets used very often in the Power Mac anyway.

Are there power supply problems like with the previous generation of iMac G5s?

Thanks!

 

[pionata]

Im looking for buying the exact same powermac your looking into, but the store I went to yesterday sold it 2100 can, wich was such a rip off...

I would go with the powermac and wait a while for a 23 inch screen instead of the 20".

Its upgradable, and quite a nice piece of hardware.

 

[solvs]

If you already have a monitor you can use in the mean time, and are going to be upgrading things as you go along, I'd get the PM. If you want the screen, the wireless, and don't plan on upgrading anything besides the RAM, get the iMac. I was going to get the PM too, but they didn't have any at the store I went to, so I bought the previous gen 2.0GHz 20" iMac. I love it. Maxed out the RAM, getting another external fw case, using the hack for dual displays to output to my TV. Everything is as fast as I need it to be (except rendering video, but that's always slow).

 

[Josh396]

If you already have a monitor you can use in the mean time, and are going to be upgrading things as you go along, I'd get the PM. If you want the screen, the wireless, and don't plan on upgrading anything besides the RAM, get the iMac. I was going to get the PM too, but they didn't have any at the store I went to, so I bought the previous gen 2.0GHz 20" iMac. I love it. Maxed out the RAM, getting another external fw case, using the hack for dual displays to output to my TV. Everything is as fast as I need it to be (except rendering video, but that's always slow).

I agree with everything he said. If you need the screen and the wireless then you should get it. However for an extra $100 it would be very hard to pass up the Power Mac but if all you're worried about is the iMac not being fast enough then you have nothing to worry about. I have the same iMac and it is plenty fast. Good Luck.