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PowerMac purchase?

B

biozombie

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 29, 2005
28
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I'm doing the work of a pro designer on a Mac mini. It's done well up until now, but it's just time to move on. Should I get a PowerMac refurb and use that? The only reason I mention the PowerMac is with Adobe apps and Dreamweaver not being universal binaries yet. Should I just suck it up, and wait till the new "pro" machine comes out as well as the new uni-bin apps come out in 1st quarter 2007?

Thanks ahead of time.
 
biozombie said:
I'm doing the work of a pro designer on a Mac mini. It's done well up until now, but it's just time to move on. Should I get a PowerMac refurb and use that? The only reason I mention the PowerMac is with Adobe apps and Dreamweaver not being universal binaries yet. Should I just suck it up, and wait till the new "pro" machine comes out as well as the new uni-bin apps come out in 1st quarter 2007?

Thanks ahead of time.
Click to expand...

Just depends on your tolerance level for not having the latest and greatest in a few months, really.

If I was without a machine today, I'd have no issues with buying a PPC Mac to run my PPC apps. Others here will tell you that you are throwing money at a dead chip.

I don't care if it's dead as long as it runs my apps effectively.
 
Thanks for the quick reply, Gary.

It's a hard decision. I don't know if I should try eBay, or go with Apple's refurb.

I don't care if it's a dead chip. I need to get **** done and finished expeditiously.
 
iGary said:
Just depends on your tolerance level for not having the latest and greatest in a few months, really.

If I was without a machine today, I'd have no issues with buying a PPC Mac to run my PPC apps. Others here will tell you that you are throwing money at a dead chip.

I don't care if it's dead as long as it runs my apps effectively.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. I certainly wouldn't even call a PPC Mac 'dead' yet, not by a long way. If I had to make money today, I'd buy the fastest G5 PowerMac that I could afford.

Apple certainly won't be giving up on these for quite a while, when you consider the installed base of professional users who've invested in these machines. Most recording studios I've been to are very attached to their G5s.
 
Well, now it's selling my Mac mini.

1.26ghz g4, 1gb of ram, superdrive, apple keyboard, mighty mouse, usb bluetooth module, plasticsmith stand, (www.plasticsmith.com).

any price suggestions?
 
biozombie said:
I'm doing the work of a pro designer on a Mac mini. It's done well up until now, but it's just time to move on.
Click to expand...

Don't feel bad... I'm in worse shape than you. I've been chugging along on a G4 titanium powerbook. I was going to spring for a new G5 last year, but business was slow and I thought I better save my money. Then Apple announces the switch to Intel... but I thought I'd still buy a G5 and use that until the kinks got worked out of the Intel Macs. Just as I was getting ready to buy, Apple release Final Cut Studio as a universal binary and the reviews said it was way faster. Meanwhile, a friend urged me to wait to see what the new desktops are going to be like. So that's where I am now. Trouble is, I picked up two new web development jobs and my computer feels like molasses. My processor is 500mhz and I drive an external CRT with only 8MB vram! I can get by like always, but this waiting is a drag. I know that if I buy a (still expensive for an old computer) G5 today, I'm going to hate myself in August if not sooner. I really need the power because in addition to development, I want to do video editing.

Maybe we should work out a deal? I'll buy your mini and you buy a G5 and we will both be able to work faster!
 
Glad to hear that you decided to go for a Power Mac G5, it is a very fine machine that will last you quite some time.


As for price suggestions for your Mac Mini, I would price it similar to what a refurbished Mac Mini goes for from Apple.
 
biozombie said:
Well, now it's selling my Mac mini.

1.26ghz g4, 1gb of ram, superdrive, apple keyboard, mighty mouse, usb bluetooth module, plasticsmith stand, (www.plasticsmith.com).

any price suggestions?
Click to expand...

Go look to see what Mini's are selling for on Ebay. That will tell you what the market will bear. I imagine there are a lot of PPC on ebay as people dump their equipment to migrate to Intel. You might even find a decent deal on a G5 on ebay... but be careful! There are quite a few scams on ebay these days. Plus the G5 Powermac is a beast to ship unless the seller knows what they are doing.
 
Well here's the real question. Lets say I wait til WWDC, MacPowerPCIntelSuper machine comes out, but will it be powerful enough to run pshop and near native PPC speeds? That's my only real hang up, the other stuff I use that are written for PPC, would perform fine under Rosetta. So, I guess that's the only real problem for me. I could chug along with the Mini until August no problem. Just a pain in the ass. No where near the ass pain of a 500mhz titanium pbook!!! We'll have to buy out one anothers companies!

cheers.
 
I for one would get the G5. They're pretty good value and have a lot of life left in them.

The resale value of ibooks, mac minis and the other ex-PPC computers haven't lost resale value drastically so you could trade them in in a year or so to buy intel.

Either way, my feeling is; enjoy your G5 machine now. If you start with the whole waiting game you'll be waiting a long time, loosing out on much productivity right now.
 
I'm glad I ended up buying my iBook this past September. I would have had a long wait. I'm going to poke around online. It looks like I'll settle on the g5 dual 2.0ghz.
 
when is the next generation desktop hitting the streets? if i can make it til then on my G4 i just might do so.
 
larrabee said:
when is the next generation desktop hitting the streets? if i can make it til then on my G4 i just might do so.
Click to expand...

According to TG Daily, "Intel today confirmed that Core 2 Extreme will launch with 2.93 GHz/FSB1066 next month and will be available with 3.2 GHz by the end of the year."

I've heard the official launch of the chip will be July 27th.

I need to buy a desktop in August, so I'm REALLY hoping the new Mac Pro is released by then. There's a good chance, I'd say.
 
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