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Just bought an iMac G5--now I'm left with no way to exchange for intel?
- Thread starter Steve1496
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luthien said:
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I bought the same computer 13 days ago (final day for a return today) and there's no way in hell I'd swap it for the Intel. The last revision G5 rocks ... especially in my case because I got it $300 off for buying a window display model.
Not fast enough? Well, you know how everyone complains about how bad SimCity 4 performance is on any mac (dual proc G5s included?) Highest resolution, huge cities, no problem for this iMac.
I rip DVD using Jack The Ripper in about 16 minutes, roughly 1/3 the time of my PowerBook G4 (866 mhz.)
VirtualPC runs so well on this machine that I can't even conceive of using dual boot for my PC aps (admittedly, fairly low horsepower aps, but still, no problems here.)
I love the iMac G5 Gold Edition (as it deserves to be called.) This computer belongs in the Apple Hall of Fame and I can't wait to read all the complaining about the Intel iMac once people starting using them.
I say, take it back, be as charming as possible and try to get the fee waived or at least halved.
take a gift card.
search about online for Discount and Promo codes, buy the intel iMac online with the discount, have a donut and console yourself.
I can empathise, I bought the iPod Photo about a week before the new announcements.
I managed to ebay it and get educational discount on a iPod w/video and in the end I made £15!
take a gift card.
search about online for Discount and Promo codes, buy the intel iMac online with the discount, have a donut and console yourself.
I can empathise, I bought the iPod Photo about a week before the new announcements.
I managed to ebay it and get educational discount on a iPod w/video and in the end I made £15!
arcsbite said:
I went to the Apple Store in Chicago today and asked about getting a free iLife upgrade for my iMac G5 purchased on Jan. 1. The sales clerk told me that while the free iLife program only applies to computers bought after Jan. 10th, they've been told by corporate to be "super nice" to people who've bought iMac G5's recently and do what it takes to minimize returns. So they re-did my sales receipt to make it look like a Jan. 14 purchase, making me qualify for free (well, not quite, $10) iLife '06.
Interestingly enough, this new receipt is completely valid, so the clock on returning the iMac G5 restarted ... I now have until Jan. 28th. I won't return it (as noted above) and with the first round of benchmarks on the Intel iMac, I wonder why anyone would do it.
But, long story short, it's a good time to ask for discounts at the Apple Store if you recently bought an iMac G5.
When the G5 iMac Revision A first came out, I was tempted.
However, I thought it would be wise to wait. Sure enough, reports soon started
popping up about the buzzing fans, ect.
I bought my Rev B G5 shortly after it came out last May. It was a huge
improvement over the Rev A. Much more impressive than the Rev C in terms of upgrades IMO:
2 Ghz (20")
slightly faster FSB
Tiger
iLife '05
250 GB HD
128 MB VRAM
512 RAM (& faster)
Radeon 9600
Double layer DVD
$100 cheaper
I bought it knowing that the last revision period was around 7 months,
and the revision before that was 10 months (according to buyer's guide).
I was a bit surprised when the Rev C came out just over 4 months later.
However, I was still quite happy with mine. I was able to easily install
Front Row on my Rev B, and use it with a keyspan IR remote.
The Intels sure look nice. Maybe when they get to Rev C or D I might take a closer look.
I absolutely love my 20" Rev B with 2 GB RAM. In fact I like it more (not less) every day!
However, I admit I was a bit choked when I bought my (first ever) iPod
23 days before the 5th gen came out. But that only lasted a few days.
I still love my iPod as well!!
However, I thought it would be wise to wait. Sure enough, reports soon started
popping up about the buzzing fans, ect.
I bought my Rev B G5 shortly after it came out last May. It was a huge
improvement over the Rev A. Much more impressive than the Rev C in terms of upgrades IMO:
2 Ghz (20")
slightly faster FSB
Tiger
iLife '05
250 GB HD
128 MB VRAM
512 RAM (& faster)
Radeon 9600
Double layer DVD
$100 cheaper
I bought it knowing that the last revision period was around 7 months,
and the revision before that was 10 months (according to buyer's guide).
I was a bit surprised when the Rev C came out just over 4 months later.
However, I was still quite happy with mine. I was able to easily install
Front Row on my Rev B, and use it with a keyspan IR remote.
The Intels sure look nice. Maybe when they get to Rev C or D I might take a closer look.
I absolutely love my 20" Rev B with 2 GB RAM. In fact I like it more (not less) every day!
However, I admit I was a bit choked when I bought my (first ever) iPod
23 days before the 5th gen came out. But that only lasted a few days.
I still love my iPod as well!!
Ok, i admit it, the new intel iMac is a superb piece of kit. But, its not proven over the long term at all. Whereas, the last PPC iMac is a fab piece of kit. Its proven relativly reliable, and there ar so many people with them your problems can be identified an often solved just on these forums. You could risk an intel mac, but if it all goes tits up, youll be feeling sorry.
smwatson said:
Its got no reason to go tits up - if it goes tits up then you will just send it back because its under warranty.
Ive noticed your posts on another forum - equally as erratic.
I find it a little 'funny' that the people who bought their g5 machines a few days ago are firmly in the 'the intelimacs suck' camp - ok not suck but you know what i mean.
the truth is that you say you wouldnt swap it - the truth is that if it was offered to you on a plate, you would take the faster, newer model
Steve1496 said:
yep - its pretty much only the processor (lower powered, lower heat) that has been changed - i cant see any problems. Maybe having to put up with sketchy 3rd party free software for a while.
but thats it
BakedBeans said:
Not quite. The whole motherboard is new. That said it's all based on well tested and trusted Intel technology. Personally I don't see any problems: I ordered a MacBook Pro the instant the store was back up
smwatson said:
Thanks, your the most thoughtful, knowledgeable, non-hung-up-on-his-purchase guy on these boards
really nice talking to you. did you decide to post here because all the guys on the other forum are obnoxious too? or is it because you showed your knowledge and thoughtfulness there too?
robbieduncan said:Not quite. The whole motherboard is new. That said it's all based on well tested and trusted Intel technology. Personally I don't see any problems: I ordered a MacBook Pro the instant the store was back up
You are getting a great machine - i was going to get both but budget restraints mean i have to wait until the macbook/intelibook comes out
I really dont see many problems at all (like you) - i suppose its just that im getting a little tired of all the 'intelmacs are rev a so will break' stuff and the 'intel imacs are messy on the inside' well, firstly they are looking from a different view that the rev a imac and second its just the same as the rev c g5 isight.... grrr
tried to be really helpful and spread some knowledge to a few people (some took it really well, swansong guy didnt) meh - cant win em all
EDIT - the G5 is a great great machine BTW - i owened it for like 2 weeks... awesome... very quick.
Future upgraded
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but Apple is now competing more directly w/ Dell, HP, etc. and they change/upgrade their systems almost daily. For the good of all of us, I hope Apple gets away from the 6-9 month upgrade cycle and does one every 2-3 months like they just did from the G5 iMac to the new one. Otherwise, their stuff will look mighty outdated mighty quick.
In summary, I think we all need to get used to faster upgrade cycles.
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but Apple is now competing more directly w/ Dell, HP, etc. and they change/upgrade their systems almost daily. For the good of all of us, I hope Apple gets away from the 6-9 month upgrade cycle and does one every 2-3 months like they just did from the G5 iMac to the new one. Otherwise, their stuff will look mighty outdated mighty quick.
In summary, I think we all need to get used to faster upgrade cycles.
BakedBeans said:
I agree that it's ridiculous for there to be this intel vs ppc iMac battle ... they're both great computers and which one works better for you depends on what software you own.
But don't say that EVERY PPC owner would switch if given the chance ... I could do that today for a $170 fee. And I won't. And I wouldn't do it for free either.
chicagdan said:
totally agree.
Also - if your going to run apple pro apps for a living then the intel isnt the way to go until march...
chicagdan said:
This is the most sensible thing said on this forum for a while. If someone offered me the switch i would take it. As difficult as you find it to believe 'bakedbeans' some of us are happy with our "iMac Gold Edition" (chicagdan) and unlike you wouldnt give it back as soon as a new model comes out. So perhaps you should accept other peoples views rather than forcing yours upon others.
how long do you think we'll be able to run NEW software on a G5? for instance three years from now when our G5s are suppose to still have some staying power, will they still be able to run the newest version of photoshop?
thats the real problem. so what if a G5 is good for today. what about its ability to run professional applications three years from now?
thats the real problem. so what if a G5 is good for today. what about its ability to run professional applications three years from now?
bagleyb said:
Stop playing mind games with yourselves saying it's allright. It is not allright but you are doing the best you can with what you have, and that is commendable.
Steve, if you have second thoughts about how it would have been, then pay the 170 dls. If you truly are allright with yourself and your "outdated" machine then keep it.
I would be pissed. But that is just me. I love gadgets and feels that "the one with the best toys wins" . I am working on it because that leads to anger and anger leads to pain and pain leads to ......
Eidorian said:Yeah, I love having a faster computer that "benchmarks" x2 faster than my G5. It's just that SOFTWARE makes the machine and not the hardware. I'd have that nice new Intel iMac with x2 the power but no games.
Thats not true... the Intel version of OS X has Rosetta which will run both PPC and Intel compiled programs. With the new Intel iMac, you can run ALL of your current Mac software whether its universal or not.
And for those worried about "wasting money" on a G5 instead of getting the Intel iMac, relax.. it is not outdated nor unsupported. All universal binaries will run on both machines, thus, UNIVERSAL so your G5 is going to be just as supported as the Intel version.
Unless developers stop using the little checkbox in XCode that says, "Compile as Universal Binary", then in 3 years, you should still be able to run the new versions of your programs... that is unless they require more resources (memory, etc) than you can dish out, but it definately won't be due to an incompatability problem.
Now, what I am about to say is to prove a point, so don't get your panties in a bunch... I know how die hard mac users feel about the on-going hacks with the Intel version of Mac OS X, however, along side our G4 and G5 systems, we wanted to do some testing... mainly because we have no plans right now to purchase a new Intel iMac, as the G4 and G5 are doing what we need them to do. Anyway, we have a vanilla x86 test machine... running on an Asrock 775Dual 915-GL motherboard with a 3GHZ Intel cpu and 512 MB ram. We have Mac OS X 10.4.3 Tiger for Intel installed from a patched DVD, and ALL of our PPC software we purchased over the past few years has installed and run without a hitch on our vanilla x86 box. And it runs FAST... boot time was about 12 seconds... which seems quicker than the 18 seconds stated for the new Intel iMac, but then again we are running with a 3.0GHZ rather than the core duo that comes from Apple, so I don't know why it boots faster... I'd think the core duo would be better than my stock cpu.
My point is, if all the PPC software runs stable and at full speed on a home brew, intel x86 machine running a patched copy of Mac OS X, then you have nothing to worry about when you consider if your software will run on the new Intel iMac, which has hardware designed around the new Intel version of OS X.
Whether you have a G5 or the new Intel, lets not argue about which is better... it use to be Mac users battling with Windows users, so lets not let the arguments spring up from within... you all are supporting the same company.
No matter what somebody is ALWAYS going to be upset... whether they released the Intel iMac last week or in June, whoever buys a new computer just before that model is revamped will always be upset.
I bet some of the same people complaining are the ones that say Apple doesn't update products enough in comparison to there PC competition.
I bet some of the same people complaining are the ones that say Apple doesn't update products enough in comparison to there PC competition.
smwatson said:
Whats all this gold edition stuff? Gold edition because its better?
I honestly believe your so uptight about it because you have bought the G5.
As for the 'unlike you' remark - thats out of order - i sent my iMac back BEFORE the keynote because it was faulty - i got my refund BEFORE they were even released.