I bought an Ibook back in February and due to the wonderful experience with it, I have decided to take the plunge and completely switch! My PC is currently for sale on E-Bay and when it sells (fingers crossed) I am going to get a G4 tower since I cannot afford the G5. I am going to have around $1300-$1400 to spend and am deciding between a new single 1.25 G4 or a used dual processor quicksilver or MDD. On e-bay I may be able to snag a dual 800 or 867. Is there going to be a huge speed difference between say the dual 867 and the single 1.25? I will mainly use it for office work, Macromedia MX suite, the occasional game, listening to music, and would like to get into video editing. Any thoughts?
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Which G4 Do I Get?
- Thread starter straphound
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If you fiddle with the Dual 1.25 GHz at the Apple store, you can get it down to $1599. Is there any way you can bring your price range up that high? Other than that I can't help you, as I don't know what kind of a speed difference a second processor makes.
--Fred
--Fred
Wish I could
Unfortunately, I just dropped $2000 this week getting a new engine in my car. (hint: the car company's name begins with an H and rhymes with Sunday. Their 100,000 mile warranty is CRAP!) As a result, I am on a very tight budget. Thanks for the feedback though!
Unfortunately, I just dropped $2000 this week getting a new engine in my car. (hint: the car company's name begins with an H and rhymes with Sunday. Their 100,000 mile warranty is CRAP!) As a result, I am on a very tight budget. Thanks for the feedback though!
I think that if u are satisfied with your ibooks performance, then the single 1.25 ghz G4 should be your cup of tea.
Also, isn't it pronounced Hun-die?
?
Also, isn't it pronounced Hun-die?
?
Crappy Car
I didn't mind that it broke (well, I do mind...) but that thing that gets me is that they didn't cover it! To add insult to injury, my mom and mother-in-law both have the same car and their cars run great. My luck to get the lemon.
Next time it is a Toyota or Honda. The car I am driving for the time being in an 88 Honda Accord that I bought while still in high school. It sat in storage for about 5 years and was brought out when the Hun-Die broke. I changed the oil and put in gas. That's all. It has 350,000 miles on it and still has the original clutch!
I didn't mind that it broke (well, I do mind...) but that thing that gets me is that they didn't cover it! To add insult to injury, my mom and mother-in-law both have the same car and their cars run great. My luck to get the lemon.
Next time it is a Toyota or Honda. The car I am driving for the time being in an 88 Honda Accord that I bought while still in high school. It sat in storage for about 5 years and was brought out when the Hun-Die broke. I changed the oil and put in gas. That's all. It has 350,000 miles on it and still has the original clutch!
Getting a G4...G5
Yes, I love my G3 700Mhz iBook too...
but compared to my G4 dual 1-GHz tower, the G3 is a tricycle in G4 motorcycle land with the G5 Corvette soon to be delivered.
I understand about cash flow. I also understand how quickly our computers become obsolete G3 > G4 > G5 etc.
Enjoy your iBook G3 and hold onto your money through the middle of January 2004.
By then the G5 Macs will have been out for awhile (since September), reaction from those who have bought a G5 will be all over MacRumors, MacAddict, Macworld, etc. you will see some price stability, new and old, and any new Hardware (so you won't kick yourself) will be out after Macworld San Francisco.
Although I spent $3000 on a G4 dual 1-GHz when new, it was worth the wait because weeks before a Dual 800 MHz was $500 more! My experience with my G4 dual 1-GHz matches general reports from others - it is very stable and proven to be a good investment (with no noise). So, if you buy used, this has been a good machine.
But I recommend you buy a G5 because it has literally made all our G3 and G4 machines obsolete. Beginning with Panther, Apple will create software tricks - only available for G5 and ABOVE. OS 9.2 has been abandoned by Apple. Time marches on - the same will happen to software designed for OLD 32-bit machines.
But, until the G5 heat problem is solved, laptops will continue to be heavy with G4 and G3 chips.
Mere clock speed is not the biggest jump from G4 > G5, it's the 64-bit chip design that Panther will take advantage of for a minimum 30% performance boost.
32-bit chips will soon become obsolete (actually, already are) and improvements AFTER Panther will focus on making G5+ machines work great! - leaving pre-G5 machines in the micro dust.
To put it another way, would you invest in another Hyundai G4 vehicle with a 3.2 size engine, or go for a 6.4 size engine in a sporty G5 model for not that much more money? Look at how much you are investing and consider the difference.
Also, like everyone in the forums recognizes, the low end G5 Geo is not worth the money, the middle Maxima machine is ok, but sales and praise are all going to the top end Dual 2.0 GHz Corvette sportscar (that's a V-10 engine with a twin-turbo).
About mid-October we will know if the Dual 2.0 GHz Corvette runs smoothly, quietly, and is truly COOL, or if it blows up and easily crashes. By December 2003, all the then current G5 bugs will shake out, and expectation for new, faster models come Macworld San Francisco, together with rampant rumors, will reach creshendo by Keynote time in January 2004. That's the moment to plan a BUY... assuming you can be patient and won't spend that money on Christmas 2003 instead. By then you will know about DDR RAM issues, that you want to upgrade RAM in your online Apple Store purchase to 2 GB for $750 more, but saving $250 after market, etc. iChatAV with iSight will be all the rage, so there's another $150, and they are knocking of $100 if you buy an iPod when you get the CPU of your dreams, or maybe knock another $500 off if you add the old 23" Apple Studio Display monitor...now that the brushed aluminum models have arrived.
Regardless, switching to Mac is a good decision. Now you have to do is plan your timing well.
Yes, I love my G3 700Mhz iBook too...
but compared to my G4 dual 1-GHz tower, the G3 is a tricycle in G4 motorcycle land with the G5 Corvette soon to be delivered.
I understand about cash flow. I also understand how quickly our computers become obsolete G3 > G4 > G5 etc.
Enjoy your iBook G3 and hold onto your money through the middle of January 2004.
By then the G5 Macs will have been out for awhile (since September), reaction from those who have bought a G5 will be all over MacRumors, MacAddict, Macworld, etc. you will see some price stability, new and old, and any new Hardware (so you won't kick yourself) will be out after Macworld San Francisco.
Although I spent $3000 on a G4 dual 1-GHz when new, it was worth the wait because weeks before a Dual 800 MHz was $500 more! My experience with my G4 dual 1-GHz matches general reports from others - it is very stable and proven to be a good investment (with no noise). So, if you buy used, this has been a good machine.
But I recommend you buy a G5 because it has literally made all our G3 and G4 machines obsolete. Beginning with Panther, Apple will create software tricks - only available for G5 and ABOVE. OS 9.2 has been abandoned by Apple. Time marches on - the same will happen to software designed for OLD 32-bit machines.
But, until the G5 heat problem is solved, laptops will continue to be heavy with G4 and G3 chips.
Mere clock speed is not the biggest jump from G4 > G5, it's the 64-bit chip design that Panther will take advantage of for a minimum 30% performance boost.
32-bit chips will soon become obsolete (actually, already are) and improvements AFTER Panther will focus on making G5+ machines work great! - leaving pre-G5 machines in the micro dust.
To put it another way, would you invest in another Hyundai G4 vehicle with a 3.2 size engine, or go for a 6.4 size engine in a sporty G5 model for not that much more money? Look at how much you are investing and consider the difference.
Also, like everyone in the forums recognizes, the low end G5 Geo is not worth the money, the middle Maxima machine is ok, but sales and praise are all going to the top end Dual 2.0 GHz Corvette sportscar (that's a V-10 engine with a twin-turbo).
About mid-October we will know if the Dual 2.0 GHz Corvette runs smoothly, quietly, and is truly COOL, or if it blows up and easily crashes. By December 2003, all the then current G5 bugs will shake out, and expectation for new, faster models come Macworld San Francisco, together with rampant rumors, will reach creshendo by Keynote time in January 2004. That's the moment to plan a BUY... assuming you can be patient and won't spend that money on Christmas 2003 instead. By then you will know about DDR RAM issues, that you want to upgrade RAM in your online Apple Store purchase to 2 GB for $750 more, but saving $250 after market, etc. iChatAV with iSight will be all the rage, so there's another $150, and they are knocking of $100 if you buy an iPod when you get the CPU of your dreams, or maybe knock another $500 off if you add the old 23" Apple Studio Display monitor...now that the brushed aluminum models have arrived.
Regardless, switching to Mac is a good decision. Now you have to do is plan your timing well.
Re: Getting a G4...G5
). A G4 right now actually makes good sense giving your advice to wait post MWSF. Get a dual G4 now and wait out the G5 issues and get one when they have been stabilized in a couple of years and then you will really have something. By then the original G5 owners will be wailing and gnashing their teeth since they didn't wait until the 3.x Ghz model arrives. Personally, I have a rev A iMac and will be waiting till Feb/Mar '04 to make my purchase.
G4's are no more obsolete than G3's. It depends on your needs. If you are cruising Macrumors, using office applications and email then the dual G5 is just plain overkill (other than provoking the jealosy of anyone else that see's it
). A G4 right now actually makes good sense giving your advice to wait post MWSF. Get a dual G4 now and wait out the G5 issues and get one when they have been stabilized in a couple of years and then you will really have something. By then the original G5 owners will be wailing and gnashing their teeth since they didn't wait until the 3.x Ghz model arrives. Personally, I have a rev A iMac and will be waiting till Feb/Mar '04 to make my purchase.
Buy a 1 GHz G4. You can still get the previous low-end, single G4 tower around $1100 with some freebies at some of the Mac resellers. Or buy a used or refurb from some place like PowerMax or SmallDog. Just Max out the RAM and buy AppleCare with the extra cash.
If you can spend the extra couple of hundred, buy a new 1.25. Just remember that it is the older, OS X and 9 compatible machine. Louder, no Airport Extreme, no FW 800, etc. It should be fast enough for what you want to do, though.
If you can wait, the G5 will be very nice, very fast.
If you can spend the extra couple of hundred, buy a new 1.25. Just remember that it is the older, OS X and 9 compatible machine. Louder, no Airport Extreme, no FW 800, etc. It should be fast enough for what you want to do, though.
If you can wait, the G5 will be very nice, very fast.
Thanks for all of the advice! Like all of you had said, I have contemplated spending the extra dough for a G5 but am wondering how much faster, if at all, the low end single 1.6 would be than the dually 1.25 or even a dual 1Ghz. From what all of the "benchmarks" have shown, the dual G5 does so well because it can truly benefit from dual processors thanks to the truly independent busses and other enhancements made with the new architecture. I would like to see benchmarks on a Single G5 versus a dual G4!
Also, the big thing will be price. The only reason that I am even allowed to consider a new Mac is that my boss (wife!) said that I could get a new Mac if I sold my PC and used the money to buy a Mac. When I saw that the G4's had dropped so much I was finally able to make an even trade if you will. So, even come January when hopefully there will be a rev b. G5 they will still be out of my price range. And truthfully, for some web development and office tasks, a G4 should be good for a few years. The question is should I spring for a new single or used dual?
Also, the big thing will be price. The only reason that I am even allowed to consider a new Mac is that my boss (wife!) said that I could get a new Mac if I sold my PC and used the money to buy a Mac. When I saw that the G4's had dropped so much I was finally able to make an even trade if you will. So, even come January when hopefully there will be a rev b. G5 they will still be out of my price range. And truthfully, for some web development and office tasks, a G4 should be good for a few years. The question is should I spring for a new single or used dual?
What to get?
If the G5 is out of the picture, try for a G4 Dual 1-GHz through 1.42 (good luck, cause they are rare now). The "duals" are not that much more expensive than "singles" and they rock. I love mine. Just be careful of the noisy 1.25 MDDs out there.
Obsolesence is relative.
My Dual 1-GHz is as much machine as I will ever need to use in the practice of law - MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, iMovie, iDVD, iTunes, iPhoto, Keynote, etc. all run just fine on what I have.
I will be keeping it for a long long time.
But, DV editing in Final Cut Pro pushes the rendering limits of the best G4 machines.
HISTORY -
A Mac LC (68030 Motorola chip at about 16 MHz) was my first Mac in about 1990. I left Unisys / Burroughs equipment because a 286 > 386 Intel chip upgrade (not PC) was going to cost me about $14,000. Instead, I got the MacLC, a 12" color monitor (my first color with WYSIWYG) and a great 300 dpi Apple LaserWriter printer, with lots of software for under $3,000...including all the Adobe Type fonts I ever dreamed of. I was in heaven, especially a year later when I paid a little over $1,000 for a GIGANTICALLY large NEC 16" CRT monitor. I could finally see the small type in my contracts!
The LC still runs, and can be used to do lots of chores well. But it is incredibly obsolete. It won't run OS 9. Forget OS X.
In fact, the subsequently purchased G3 Platinum desktop is really inadequate for OS X, so I haven't bothered to take it beyond 9.2.2. It works and does much more than the LC ever dreamed of. I had to add a PCI card to get USB.
G3 - obsolete? Totally.
Are G4 1GHz plus machines valuable, useful? Absolutely!
Are they "obsolete"?
Realistically, YES.
Practicably, well...not exactly yet.
But 6 months after the combination of
Panther OS X 10.3 (64-bit optomized) and
G5 (64-bit chip IBM PPC 970 machines)
which become relevant upon significant sales of new machines,
G4 will be rendered just as obsolete as my LC with Motorola 68030 chip became upon introduction of
IBM PPC 604 chips into the Macintosh line, eventually evolving into G3 and G4 with OS 8 and beyond.
When considering obsolesence, think about
1990 LC = 16 MHz Motorola 68030
2003 G5 = 2,000 MHz IBM PPC 970 with AltiVec technology
1990 LC = 20 MB hard drive (and ever so sloooooow)
2003 G5 = 120 GB hard drive (9.5 ns seek) that's: 120,000 MB
1978 - 15 MB Winchester Hard Drive cost $15,000
which is why we used floppy discs at a buck each.
Straphound -
consider your budget,
pick your moment, and
get the best product you can afford at the time...within reason.
Until you are sure what that is, wait until you know when the moment is right for you.
Just don't procastinate over STATS on the next Mac build promised by Apple, because my friend, today Steve Jobs and the fruit company are not just planning for the next 2 months or 2 years, they have to think 4 and 5 years ahead.
There are always things their designers and engineers would LIKE to put in Apple's next computer build, and eventually they will, but market forces, supply & demand, dictate the affordability and marketability of each Mac.
Regardless, this inter chip rivalry of the computer giants
(IBM, Intel, Motorola, AMD, Apple, Dell, Gateway, etc.)
will continue to make our toys better and cheaper
until the machines take over and we all need protection from some robotic terminator. Arnold, HELP!
Plus, whether you buy a single or a dual 1GHz G4 is probably far less important than getting a SuperDrive so you can burn DVD discs at only $3 a pop, instead of antiquated Combo Drive that just burns CD-R/RW discs. Recently, I realized I could and SHOULD backup all the DATA that I needed to protect by burning one 4.7GB DVD-RW disc instead of a bunch of 700MB CD discs.
Just my USER files alone are getting to be multi-GIG now. It's scarry.
Take a byte out of an old Macintosh and enjoy a delicious Apple to the core.
Let us all know WHEN you byte, and WHAT Apple you picked off WHICH tree?
If the G5 is out of the picture, try for a G4 Dual 1-GHz through 1.42 (good luck, cause they are rare now). The "duals" are not that much more expensive than "singles" and they rock. I love mine. Just be careful of the noisy 1.25 MDDs out there.
Obsolesence is relative.
My Dual 1-GHz is as much machine as I will ever need to use in the practice of law - MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, iMovie, iDVD, iTunes, iPhoto, Keynote, etc. all run just fine on what I have.
I will be keeping it for a long long time.
But, DV editing in Final Cut Pro pushes the rendering limits of the best G4 machines.
HISTORY -
A Mac LC (68030 Motorola chip at about 16 MHz) was my first Mac in about 1990. I left Unisys / Burroughs equipment because a 286 > 386 Intel chip upgrade (not PC) was going to cost me about $14,000. Instead, I got the MacLC, a 12" color monitor (my first color with WYSIWYG) and a great 300 dpi Apple LaserWriter printer, with lots of software for under $3,000...including all the Adobe Type fonts I ever dreamed of. I was in heaven, especially a year later when I paid a little over $1,000 for a GIGANTICALLY large NEC 16" CRT monitor. I could finally see the small type in my contracts!
The LC still runs, and can be used to do lots of chores well. But it is incredibly obsolete. It won't run OS 9. Forget OS X.
In fact, the subsequently purchased G3 Platinum desktop is really inadequate for OS X, so I haven't bothered to take it beyond 9.2.2. It works and does much more than the LC ever dreamed of. I had to add a PCI card to get USB.
G3 - obsolete? Totally.
Are G4 1GHz plus machines valuable, useful? Absolutely!
Are they "obsolete"?
Realistically, YES.
Practicably, well...not exactly yet.
But 6 months after the combination of
Panther OS X 10.3 (64-bit optomized) and
G5 (64-bit chip IBM PPC 970 machines)
which become relevant upon significant sales of new machines,
G4 will be rendered just as obsolete as my LC with Motorola 68030 chip became upon introduction of
IBM PPC 604 chips into the Macintosh line, eventually evolving into G3 and G4 with OS 8 and beyond.
When considering obsolesence, think about
1990 LC = 16 MHz Motorola 68030
2003 G5 = 2,000 MHz IBM PPC 970 with AltiVec technology
1990 LC = 20 MB hard drive (and ever so sloooooow)
2003 G5 = 120 GB hard drive (9.5 ns seek) that's: 120,000 MB
1978 - 15 MB Winchester Hard Drive cost $15,000
which is why we used floppy discs at a buck each.
Straphound -
consider your budget,
pick your moment, and
get the best product you can afford at the time...within reason.
Until you are sure what that is, wait until you know when the moment is right for you.
Just don't procastinate over STATS on the next Mac build promised by Apple, because my friend, today Steve Jobs and the fruit company are not just planning for the next 2 months or 2 years, they have to think 4 and 5 years ahead.
There are always things their designers and engineers would LIKE to put in Apple's next computer build, and eventually they will, but market forces, supply & demand, dictate the affordability and marketability of each Mac.
Regardless, this inter chip rivalry of the computer giants
(IBM, Intel, Motorola, AMD, Apple, Dell, Gateway, etc.)
will continue to make our toys better and cheaper
until the machines take over and we all need protection from some robotic terminator. Arnold, HELP!
Plus, whether you buy a single or a dual 1GHz G4 is probably far less important than getting a SuperDrive so you can burn DVD discs at only $3 a pop, instead of antiquated Combo Drive that just burns CD-R/RW discs. Recently, I realized I could and SHOULD backup all the DATA that I needed to protect by burning one 4.7GB DVD-RW disc instead of a bunch of 700MB CD discs.
Just my USER files alone are getting to be multi-GIG now. It's scarry.
Take a byte out of an old Macintosh and enjoy a delicious Apple to the core.
Let us all know WHEN you byte, and WHAT Apple you picked off WHICH tree?
make sure that all the software you want to use runs on mac and the way you want it to. try using your ibook for work.
Want a G4 1.2GHz?
Straphound,
Found out about this under For Sale/Trade items here on MacRumors
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?threadid=31702
He may be willing to trade for an iBook, too.
Check out eBay if you are ready for a G4 1.2GHz
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2741094762&category=14912
High bid is $660 but reserve not yet met.
He wants $1,450 for it, but that is not the reserve.
Ask him about "noise" issue.
The problem is, do you have your PC sold yet? Hurry.
Straphound,
Found out about this under For Sale/Trade items here on MacRumors
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?threadid=31702
He may be willing to trade for an iBook, too.
Check out eBay if you are ready for a G4 1.2GHz
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2741094762&category=14912
High bid is $660 but reserve not yet met.
He wants $1,450 for it, but that is not the reserve.
Ask him about "noise" issue.
The problem is, do you have your PC sold yet? Hurry.
Re: Want a G4 1.2GHz?
The 1.2 would be fantastic but no one has bought my PC yet.
Also, I love my little iBook to much to part with it! If anyone knows someone looking for a good, solid PC have them check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2741871315&category=44951
The reserve is $1350 but I have $1500 invested in it. At this point I don't care because I WANT THE MAC. If you know anyone who wants to trade a Ghz or up Power Mac or anyone who wants to buy stear 'em in the right direction! And I definitely tell you guys what I end up with.
The 1.2 would be fantastic but no one has bought my PC yet.
Also, I love my little iBook to much to part with it! If anyone knows someone looking for a good, solid PC have them check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2741871315&category=44951
The reserve is $1350 but I have $1500 invested in it. At this point I don't care because I WANT THE MAC. If you know anyone who wants to trade a Ghz or up Power Mac or anyone who wants to buy stear 'em in the right direction! And I definitely tell you guys what I end up with.