Wanting a Mac Pro; Need some ?'s answered please

[tonywalker23]

Right now my main computer is a old power mac g4 with dual 450 mhz processors. no upgrades really except for usb2.0, superdrive, 32 mb graphics card.

So i want a new mac pro, but with this old computer being all ive had really the tech has changed a lot since then.

heres what my plans are. i need one as cheap as possible so this is what im want:
Mac Pro 2.0 ghz (lower speed to save $, and hey im used to 450 mhz X 2 so it will feel plenty fast for me
changed hd from 250 to 160 GB (to save $)
BT and wifi built in
the stock video card (the most intesive thing ill be doing will be iphoto, and imovie once in a blue moon)
stock 1 gb ram (right now i have 1.25 gb of pc133 and i usually have a lot left free, right now i still have 800 or so free on the pie chart in act. monitor)

also, can someone please explain to me what to look for when getting a extra SATA drive? all ive known is the normal hd's with the flat grey cables. what are the different kinds (ive heard SATA 1 and SATA 2, whats that mean? where is the best place to get ones with rebates or coupons?

also, ive had the same CRT monitor with a vga port forever. i want a flat screen but cant afford an apple one, plus i dont need one thats 20". what would be a good route to take? whats a good alternative to the apple ones? do new flat screens come with the apple connector instead of the vga cable? also, ive noticed that some flat sceens screen look like a pitcure blown up (real pixaly, distorted?) is there a particular 'stat' to look for to avoid that?

lastly, i use felt tip sound studio 2 to record a radio broadcast (which is also a podcast, see below) but it is not for intel macs. if i use it on the mac pro with the powerpc enviroment will it affect recording you think? should i start searching for another sound app or should it be ok?

i think thats all. ANY ideas, help, info, etc . . . would be GREATLY appreciated. ill be going from a computer made in 2000 to 2006, so im really behind on all the new 'stuff'.

THANKS ! ! ! ! !

 

[kraftzwerg]

Did you consider an iMac? Sounds like it would suit your needs fine and it gives you the computer + LCD for less than you'd be paying for the Mac Pro?

 

[Gee]

Did you consider an iMac? Sounds like it would suit your needs fine and it gives you the computer + LCD for less than you'd be paying for the Mac Pro?

My thinking as well. Or even a Mac mini and a nice monitor. Are there any specific reasons you want the big one?

 

[nitynate]

Aw, hell.



You will be wasting your cash!



Your configuration will set you back $2,203.00
and ship in 2-4 weeks.

20" iMac - All you need and more has a built in monitor 2.0 ghZ processor, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Built in BT and WiFi, front row, iSight...... All that good stuff.

Will set you back $1,799.00 and ship in 1-3 days.



iMac FTW

 

[tonywalker23]

thanks for the pointers so far, anyone got any advice for my ?'s that havent been answered?

thanks!!!

 

[jne381]

If I were you, I would not bump down in processor speed. It is true that the 2.0 is plenty fast for you right now, but the extra power may save you more money down the road because you may not have to buy a new computer quite as soon. And to top it off, the amount of money you save for such a big downgrade seem small, it doesn't seem worth it.

Definitely get the lowest amount of RAM that Apple offers, and bump it up as needed from an online vendor like Crucial or Newegg.

You can find a good 19 inch widescreen LCD display for around $200, I bought the Samsung SyncMaster 940BW for $179 after mail in rebate. I actually bought two of them because they were so cheap, and they look great next to each other.

 

[SuperCompu2]

Although the iMac would seem to fit your needs, The expandability limitations leave it far from future-proof

I think the Mac Prc is a fine choice, with it's 5 billion or so configurations and support of up to 2 30 incher's, I think it'll serve you well in the long run. Also, i agree with not downgrading to the 2.0 GHz. you want this to last you a while.

If you look at the milage your PowerMac G4 got you, and the iMac available at that time, you would have upgraded years ago if you had gone that route.

also: Dell makes good LCD's

 

[greenmac]

I believe an imac would suit ur needs, however if you want the mac pro get the 2.66GHz. to buy those chips instead of the 2.0 GHz chips costs twice as much as apple deducts off their price. Samsung have a 24 inch monitor out with a 6ms response time (good enough for TV) for half the price of the 23" ACD.

 

[killr_b]

Samsung have a 24 inch monitor out with a 6ms response time (good enough for TV) for half the price of the 23" ACD.

Yeah? Where did you see that?
I'm fairly sure you mean 16ms.
And, if it's meant for tv it'll have a lower pixle density, probably a resolution of 1280x720 therabouts... opposed to an apple 20" at 1680x1050 or 23" at 1920x1200.

Totally not worth the savings of $300 to downgrade. 2.66 all the way.
Mac Pro's use 3Gb/ sec. hard disks that aren't quite SATA II, I think...
They're using Seagates, so I'm sure you can find a matching one there.

 

[greenmac]

Yeah? Where did you see that?
I'm fairly sure you mean 16ms.
And, if it's meant for tv it'll have a lower pixle density, probably a resolution of 1280x720 therabouts... opposed to an apple 20" at 1680x1050 or 23" at 1920x1200.

Totally not worth the savings of $300 to downgrade. 2.66 all the way.
Mac Pro's use 3Gb/ sec. hard disks that aren't quite SATA II, I think...
They're using Seagates, so I'm sure you can find a matching one there.

NO I meant 6!!!
I'm in Australia
http://www.justmonitors.com.au/samsung.htm

oh its now about the same as apple's 23, now they have dropped the price. Its a monitor with 1920x1200