When to buy a new PowerMac

[weeag]

Ok, so with MacWorld right around the corner and new PowerMacs coming along with a whole new chipset, when would be the best time to buy? I need one soon for a business I'm starting up, but I don't want to get hosed by getting something now and the new PMs coming soon after.

So, my question is do I get one now, or wait? And if it is to wait - when are the new PMs expected (I've read 3rd quarter '06)? And the final question, with the new chipset, will the the upgrades available now work in the new system (RAM, hard drive, sound card, video card, etc)?

Thanks for any feedback!

wee!

 

[EricNau]

Ok, so with MacWorld right around the corner and new PowerMacs coming along with a whole new chipset, when would be the best time to buy? I need one soon for a business I'm starting up, but I don't want to get hosed by getting something now and the new PMs coming soon after.

I highly doubt we will see any Powermac updates at MWSF, but it doesn't hurt to wait. It depends on how soon you need this Powermac, if you need it really soon, wait until after MWSF and then buy. If you can wait a little while longer (up to one year) then wait - you won't be sorry.

So, my question is do I get one now, or wait? And if it is to wait - when are the new PMs expected (I've read 3rd quarter '06)? And the final question, with the new chipset, will the the upgrades available now work in the new system (RAM, hard drive, sound card, video card, etc)?

Thanks for any feedback!

wee!

Not sure about the new chipset, think we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[mikaelrules]

So, my question is do I get one now, or wait? And if it is to wait - when are the new PMs expected (I've read 3rd quarter '06)? And the final question, with the new chipset, will the the upgrades available now work in the new system (RAM, hard drive, sound card, video card, etc)?

Thanks for any feedback!

wee!

It's hard to predict. There are always new technologies popping up around the corner so you can never tell what will be out by then. Q3 2006 is a long time when it comes to computers.

 

[weeag]

Thanks for the replies!

If I do buy soon, I have one more question: I've heard good and bad about refurbed macs from the apple store. What are your opinions and is it better to save the money and get one or to buy new since there seem to be some significant hardware improvements (cache size, ram speed, PCI-x video, etc). Here is the machine I was looking at: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71201/wo/2U5dDZzODH453Qyc0x01jrtWeT7/1.0.0.19.1.0.8.7.3.5.1.1.10.1.5.1.1.5.0

Thanks again!

wee!

 

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

Thanks for the replies!

If I do buy soon, I have one more question: I've heard good and bad about refurbed macs from the apple store. What are your opinions and is it better to save the money and get one or to buy new since there seem to be some significant hardware improvements (cache size, ram speed, PCI-x video, etc). Here is the machine I was looking at: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71201/wo/2U5dDZzODH453Qyc0x01jrtWeT7/1.0.0.19.1.0.8.7.3.5.1.1.10.1.5.1.1.5.0

Thanks again!

wee!

If you wait, you'll also get the new iLife suite - that's probably the best reason to wait, because PowerMacs probably won't see any updates in January.

 

[EricNau]

Thanks for the replies!

If I do buy soon, I have one more question: I've heard good and bad about refurbed macs from the apple store. What are your opinions and is it better to save the money and get one or to buy new since there seem to be some significant hardware improvements (cache size, ram speed, PCI-x video, etc). Here is the machine I was looking at: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71201/wo/2U5dDZzODH453Qyc0x01jrtWeT7/1.0.0.19.1.0.8.7.3.5.1.1.10.1.5.1.1.5.0

Thanks again!

wee!

Link Doesn't work. If it is not the newest Powermac, I wouldn't get it. There were a lot of good updates, like the Processor, RAM, Video Card, PCI Express, front side bus, etc.

 

[weeag]

Link Doesn't work. If it is not the newest Powermac, I wouldn't get it. There were a lot of good updates, like the Processor, RAM, Video Card, PCI Express, front side bus, etc.

Hmm, well here's the specs since the link doesn't work...

- Apple Certified Refurbished Power Mac G5
- Dual 2.7GHz PowerPC G5 processor
- 1.35GHz frontside bus/processor
- 512K L2 cache/processor
- 512MB DDR400 SDRAM
- 250GB Serial ATA
- 16x SuperDrive (double-layer)
- Three PCI Slots
- ATI Radeon 9650
- 256MB DDR video memory
$2,149
Original: $2,999
EDIT: new link: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wo/StoreReentry.wo?productLearnMore=F9749LL%2FA - may have to scroll way down to see it

Here's the other system they have:
- Apple Certified Refurbished Power Mac G5
- Dual 2.5GHz PowerPC G5 processor
- 1.25GHz frontside bus/processor
- 512MB DDR400 SDRAM
- 160GB Serial ATA
- 8x SuperDrive
- Three PCI Slots
- ATI Radeon 9600 XT
- 128MB DDR video memory
- 56K internal modem
$2,049
Original: $2,999
EDIT new link:http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wo/StoreReentry.wo?productLearnMore=F9457LL%2FA - may have to scroll way down to see it

Any more comments on these systems versus a new one (especially is either are PCI-express)?

Thanks again!!

 

[EricNau]

The first one is definitely better than the 2nd one. How much are the prices? (How much would you be saving?)

 

[weeag]

The first one is definitely better than the 2nd one. How much are the prices? (How much would you be saving?)

See updated post above.. both prices were originally $2,999

The question is how they are compared to a similarily priced new model... will I be hurting later by not being able to upgrade. My biggest question is if these two systems have PCI express video... I can't find any information on either video card on the ATI website and apple doesn't have info about the PCI slots in their information.

Thanks for the continued support... Seems the mac community is as big a reason to by an apple as the products are!

 

[EricNau]

See updated post above.. both prices were originally $2,999

The question is how they are compared to a similarily priced new model... will I be hurting later by not being able to upgrade. My biggest question is if these two systems have PCI express video... I can't find any information on either video card on the ATI website and apple doesn't have info about the PCI slots in their information.

Thanks for the continued support... Seems the mac community is as big a reason to by an apple as the products are!

The old systems don't have PCI express. The refurbished Powermacs use AGP 8x, which I believe is being replaced by PCI express, which is what the new Powermacs use.

The higher speeds on PCI Express allow it to replace almost all existing internal buses, including AGP and PCI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_express


Also, keep in mind, the old Powermacs had a limit of 8GB of RAM, then new Powermacs can handle up to 16GB.

Many also say that Dual-Cores are better than Dual Processors.

 

[chicagdan]

I need one soon for a business I'm starting up

Check your tax professional, of course, but if you have a business and any revenue in 2005, there's good reason to buy now -- business equipment is tax deductable.

Of course if you have no 2005 revenue, then it's a bad decision to buy in '05 ... wait until '06 ... and if you're waiting until '06, you might as well wait to see what comes out at MWSF on 1/10. There won't be a new PowerMac, but as another posted mentioned, iLife will be updated and, who knows, they may start bundling iWork onto the pro level machines to make them more appealing during the PPC lame duck period.

 

[turtlebud]

1. generally speaking, even IF intel powermacs came out tomorrow or at macworld (I don't think they will), you don't want to get the first revision of a completely new chipset. I'd wait until at least the second revision if you don't want to deal with all the potential bugs they'll be ironing out with the first set.
2. if you have any software right now that you're running that you want to continue running without potentially having to shell out more $$ for a new version which runs natively on the intel architecture (okay, maybe not all software companies will make it a paid upgrade, but no doubt some will), then you don't want to get the new intel powermacs.
3. it's possible that apple at some point will upgrade the current powermacs g5's before the new intel powermacs come out. that'll make the the g5's an even better deal. who knows for sure when that will be (if ever) though. they might add more disk space, better graphics, etc. for the same price, which is always nice.

so, i guess i'd lean towards waiting 2 weeks to see what is introduced at macworld, then getting a g5 at some point after that. maybe you'll get lucky and apple will give you a better package for the same price, but at worst, you'll get the same machine you can get today.

 

[weeag]

Many also say that Dual-Cores are better than Dual Processors.

Oh, I didn't even think of that, thanks for the heads up - looks like the 2.5 is dual processor, but I can't tell about the 2.7, the apple specs don't say.

 

[EricNau]

Oh, I didn't even think of that, thanks for the heads up - looks like the 2.5 is dual processor, but I can't tell about the 2.7, the apple specs don't say.

Both of the refurbished models are Dual Processors. Only the most recent (current) lines of Powermacs use Dual-Core processors.
With the current line, however, they only have one Dual-Core processor, compared to 2 processors (which the old lines have), so for the most part there will not be any big difference in that area.

 

[FFTT]

Apple refurbs are generally good IF you're buying a refurb of the current
model at a good savings.

Unfortunately, the two models you're looking at, the dual 2.5 ( 2004 ) and the dual 2.7 (spring 2005) are not priced low enough to sacrifice the much improved upgrades you'd be missing in the newest dual core PCI-Express models.

The entire industry has now moved beyond PCI-X AGP 8X graphics
to PCI-Express 16X graphics and you can not upgrade an AGP
motherboard to PCI-Express.

If you must make a purchase before the end of the year for tax purposes, then go for the newest dual core models or the Quad if you can swing it.

The only reason I would wait till january 10th would be if I was considering
any single processor Machine and especially any single processor G4.

As the others have mentioned, there might be some software perks
for all users, but otherwise, I doubt the PowerMacs would be updated
till 3rd quarter 2006.

 

[carlos700]

There have been benchmarks showing that in certain circumstances the Power Mac dual-core 2.3GHz is faster than the Power Mac dual processor 2.5GHz. The new Power Macs are architectually superior because:

1. 533MHz DDR2 memory instead of 400MHz DDR1
2. PCI Express X16 vs. AGP 8X
3. 8 Pipeline GeForce 6600 vs. 4 Pipeline Radeon 9600
4. Twice the L2 cache
5. 16GB Max RAM vs. 8GB
6. Support for up to 4 Graphics cards instead of just one

I would go with the new dual-core Power Macs instead of the older ones.