I'm thinking about it...

[crazysaxchris]

Well last nigh I was thinking about how old my Powermac G4 is, I have a dell that is newer than that but it's now useless( totally bogged down, slowest computer in my life). Will this Powermac g4 500 dualie be as useless as my bogged down Dell?? I'm really scared that when the new computers come out softwaqre won't e able to run on the powermac. But I was thinking if I got a mini it still has the same proccesser G4, so I think that all the new software will be able to run good on the pwoermac. SOOO I'll probably use this for about 2 more years, then maybe a new machine!!

 

[mad jew]

Are you finding any limitations with your current Power Mac? You don't sound like you really need a new computer just yet so remember that the longer you wait, the better the machine will be when you get it.

 

[zap2]

ok why not?

 

[doucy2]

i say put some upgrade in the dualie

 

[mad jew]

I think people upgrade macs for the fun of it rather than as a cheap way to get a faster computer. Each component that gets upgraded highlights a different bottleneck and it ends up being quite an expensive computer. Unless you feel like playing around in the Power Mac and spending quite a bit of money, I think the mini will give you more bang for your bucks.

 

[Chrispy]

I say stick with what you have for awhile. I am using an iBook 800Mhz G3 at the moment and it is more than enough for what I do at the moment. I had a dual 1.8 for awhile with dual 2005FPWs, but financial restrictions have forced me back to an old iBook for now. Of course I miss my dual 1.8, but I still have a good mac and I do not want to go back to Windows so I'm thankful for that Come January when I start getting a steady paycheck I may consider a new Intel mac of some sort. If the iBooks go widescreen I will probably go with that. Stick it out for awhile and see what comes out in January

 

[crazysaxchris]

well adding components is more expensive, but it isn't all the money at one time, and I can have my mac quicker!

 

[iBS23]

It really doesn't sound like you need a new one yet. I'd atleast wait to see what steve has up his sleeve at MWSF.

OT: Where in Wisconsin? Milwaukee area here.

 

[jbernie]

Newer isn't always better. An Intel P4 will outclass an Intel Celeron, they are designed for different markets and different price points. Without knowing what configuration your Dell has it is hard to tell if the machine is just slow, or if it is a case of you haven't done any maintainence since you got it.

Run antivirus software, checkdisk, defrag, anti=spyware utilities. A well maintained machine can do so very well. A never do a thing machine just gets slower and slower and slower....

If you don't have antivirus on your machine you can go to places like trend micro and do a free virus scan and see if it finds anything.

James

 

[FFTT]

There's quite a few people still running older versions of highly professional
applications on older G3's and G4's.

If they do buy the newest versions of essentially the same application,
the cost of upgrading the software means buying all new gear as well, so they don't bother.

Other's want every edge they can get to increase productivity, so the upgrades are just part of the cost of doing business.

There have been many times when I've been very glad that my old G3 is still
here running as a backup.

It may be worth nothing much now on the market, but the trouble it has saved me has sometimes been invaluable.

 

[slooksterPSV]

I say wait 2 months till the IMac-Mini's com out (Intel Mac Minis)

 

[crazysaxchris]

my dell is is pentium 3 and my parents now have my emachines, so I have an old dell that is getting a wierd error in the control panel "Can't find rundell.exe", I've been looking aroudn how to fix it but I've ahd now use, Ithink it's almost time for the computer shop.

 

[generik]

... and I am still deliberating over my decision on whether to get a PM G5 or not

If it serves you well right now I'd just stow my money away for a tad longer to get that next big thing when it arrives.

 

[jbernie]

my dell is is pentium 3 and my parents now have my emachines, so I have an old dell that is getting a wierd error in the control panel "Can't find rundell.exe", I've been looking aroudn how to fix it but I've ahd now use, Ithink it's almost time for the computer shop.

From a quick google search, it would appear the rundell.exe is some kind of virus file which maybe was cleaned off your system but not necessarily in the best way...(edit: there is a windows system file called rundll32.exe that is very important as it used when you open property windows etc. But i think yours its the virus one)

Given your machine is a Pentium 3, it is definately on the older slower side, mind you I have a dual P3 1ghz running Windows server so they arent useless

If you have your Windows cd and dont need anything on the machine reinstall windows and format the drive to clear it up and make things faster again, a P3 isn't a bad machine, it just depends on whether it is capable of what you want it to do. Surfing the net, playing music and writing school reports or something like that is just fine, playing the latest games makes it next to useless.

No idea on G4 dual vs P3 single speed, but a clean windows machine is a good start and in theory should cost you $0. Stop by crucial.com and see how much a memory upgrade will cost you. P3's would quite often only come with 128mb ram, buying 512mb could make your old machine new again.

Mac or Windows, it doesn't matter what you buy, a Geo Metro can never be a Porsche etc.

JB

 

[crazysaxchris]

Well thank you for telling me about that, I relaly do. Today I will put my Micsoft Windows 2000 cd (not original operating system) and see what I can do.

 

[jbernie]

Well thank you for telling me about that, I relaly do. Today I will put my Micsoft Windows 2000 cd (not original operating system) and see what I can do.

Any success or is the silence the indication of doom?