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Today a mini or tomorrow a imac?

Y

yoshiii

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 13, 2006
63
0
Hello, I have to buy a computer fast. My pismo is dead.
I was looking at the top end mac mini but was unsure if to wait and buy a new imac. My pismo's sound card(which has the ac input part) died.

The software that I am going to use for it is only on ppc and I have not seen any indication that the company is going to upgrade it for use on intel macs. It is a 2d animation software used in most of the major Japanese animation studios.

Even though its a G4, does anyone still think it will be ok at least for the next year until I find out if the software company is going to upgrade or not?

Or should I just try and find a replacement part for my pismo?

Help
 
In your situation which is reliant on a PPC application to generate income, I would buy a closeout PPC iMac and just plan on it holding you for the next 24 months.

Either that or buy the Intel iMac and plan on maxing out the RAM to overide Rosetta's memory load.

Otherwise grab a refurb iBook 1.33 for $799 or a PowerBook to hold you, but I wouldn't spend too much on a single G4 procesor.
 
If you have all of the extras, a low end mini is a good deal, but I wouldn't go for a high-end mini because that is too close to the price of an iMac. If you don't mind a refurb, you can get a Rev B iMac G5 17" for $849, which is a great deal IMO; you might can find a Rev C for cheap too. I would only buy a refurb from the Apple store however.
 
Doesnt the video ram on the rev b IMacs kind of suck? Or is it ok?

IMac would be good to have, I would have to scrape to get the extra money.

If I did go with the Mini, what are some limitations I would run into? Would it run photoshop(new versions), m audio, final cut express , and the new video feature from ITunes at a acceptable level?
 
yoshiii said:
Hello, I have to buy a computer fast. My pismo is dead.
I was looking at the top end mac mini but was unsure if to wait and buy a new imac. My pismo's sound card(which has the ac input part) died.

The software that I am going to use for it is only on ppc and I have not seen any indication that the company is going to upgrade it for use on intel macs. It is a 2d animation software used in most of the major Japanese animation studios.

Even though its a G4, does anyone still think it will be ok at least for the next year until I find out if the software company is going to upgrade or not?

Or should I just try and find a replacement part for my pismo?

Help
Click to expand...


It will be far better than what you are using currently. And probably the best option. Imac is just too much money to spend when you have no idea about the future. I say look for those refurb mac minis at 400$ on apple site and get some 3rd party RAM.
 
yoshiii said:
Doesnt the video ram on the rev b IMacs kind of suck? Or is it ok?

IMac would be good to have, I would have to scrape to get the extra money.

If I did go with the Mini, what are some limitations I would run into? Would it run photoshop(new versions), m audio, final cut express , and the new video feature from ITunes at a acceptable level?
Click to expand...

9600 with 128MB is not bad. Either mac mini or imac they need RAM to run. 1GB is the limitation (mac mini). Itunes videos are like <512Kbps video streams if ipods can play them so can a mac mini! ;) Mac minis are a little slow nevertheless. I never got that though, they have an equivalent spec as an powerbook (except GC). :confused:
 
If you were using a Pismo then a Mac mini is going to be a vast improvement. Get a refurbished one and a 1 GB stick of RAM. It'll hold you over for a year.
 
Go with an Intel iMac right now if you can afford it. Rosetta has proven to be the most efficient emulator ever (though I dunno if that's worth saying as most emulators are slow :p). For 2D stuff that isn't too intensive, Rosetta will be fine, just make sure you have 1GB-1.5GB ram for it :)

Then later when you get some more $$$, you should try and get a replacement audie/power thing (As long as it isn't too expensive and your pismo has a decent amount of ram, HDD and battery now -so you're not upgrading everything).
 
Imac and Mac mini sound good, I wonder if I buy a mini, if I will get one of the unannounced upgraded video ram ones. I am in Japan now so buying from here will be quicker than ordering from the states.

Imac I would difinitely buy if I had the extra money, but I would have to spend almost everything and be broke for about 3 weeks, not good in Japan. Unless its super worth it. If the mini will hold me over for a year or at least until summer, I will buy it. So should I go 1.25 or 1.42? Is it that big of a performance difference? Superdrive? Or after market superdrive?
And can I play World of Warcraft on the minis?
 
Your rendering times would drag on the mini and you may end up with only the 32 MB VRAM model.

The Rev B and Rev C ( iSight) iMacs have 128 MB VRAM, the faster G5 Processor and way more storage.

I'd go for the last revision Rev C iSight PPC model if you can swing it or the new Intel model with 2 GB of RAM.
 
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