Thread: Mac purchase advice

Originally Posted by discopete

Just when I thought I new what I was going to do. So Alan, your saying if I buy new go the imac but what would you recommend between a second hand g5 like you have which seem to go on ebay for about a $1k or an refurbised or new imac. And, do you know if there are a lot of risks when buying secondhand, is there a bit of faulty stuff out there?

Pete

Hmm, well obviously new is better if you can afford it. But really the Mac is a very well constructed brand and apart from the hard drive the electronics don't wear out. The only thing you need to be careful of is that it is not full of fluff, say if it was sitting on a carpeted floor. But then again inside there are ducts that keep most dust away from the motherboard and expansion cards.

The G5's have pci slots that mean you can put things like extra video cards, external SATA drives, video capture, etc. The downside is that they have powerpc chipsets, which Apple are phasing out in favour of Intel. How long the new OS upgrades will continue to support powerpc I don't know, but I have had no problems with new software, thanks to Rosetta (a chipset emulator). As a dual it has 4Gb RAM and two 1.8Ghz powerpc chips.

So, there is little risk in buying secondhand and if you do experience a major hardware failure and it is because of poor manufacture Apple covers those issues for the life of the computer.

Consider it this way. If they are on eBay for a thousand then that gives some idea of their quality. G5's have been in service now for years and they are still soldiering on. The comparable new machine is the Mac Pro at around $5000.

On mine I have two large SATA drives that I have set up as RAID, so if I lose one I can still replace it and not lose anything. As a real Unix system I am reasonably secure in the knowledge that it is very stable and Apple releases security and other updates fairly regularly. Oh and I have upgraded the video card and superdrive over time, which is not such an easy thing to do on the iMac since it is all incorporated into the system and I understand that you can't do that with the Mac mini.

Currently, I have the G5 dual, a MacBook Pro, and an old Quadra 650 in service. The Quadra is about 13 years old and still going strong. That doesn't include the PCs.

HIH
Alan

OK all, the matter has been settled. Just ordered a refurbished iMac 20 inch screen 2.4Ghz etc etc. Thanks again for your help, now all I need to do is inform my partner of the purchase.

Pete

Now the real work begins

Good call Pete. Just remember though that me, Gary, Brett and Carlos are all computer guys and are more than happy to help out or build the system for you.

Alan (disco2hse) makes a good point about setting Linux up properly to get the most out it, as some versions are as bloated as Windows and OSX (IMHO both get slowed down because they come with stuff you never use). They all get slowed down when unecessary stuff is installed though, so your best bet is to identify what you need the system for and work towards that.

If that means a new compy then great (and may I point out that a Mac mini would fit in dash ), but you can always use the old one to try Linux and BSD out.

I'm hoping to get one more trip in before Xmas. Are you guys going out this weekend?

Hmm...didn't see page 3 before posting my msg. Please ignore references to Mac mini.

Congrats on the machine Pete, sounds like a beauty!

Originally Posted by discopete

OK all, the matter has been settled. Just ordered a refurbished iMac 20 inch screen 2.4Ghz etc etc. Thanks again for your help, now all I need to do is inform my partner of the purchase.

Pete

GOOD DECISION.

Have the new machine, and all I can say is BRILLIANT...
It is absolutely beautiful in it's form and function. I don't think I would have been as happy with a mac mini, so a big thanks to those that steered me in the right direction.

Pete

Glad to hear it

Alan