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Buy Power Mac G5 Now or Wait … for Intel?
Getting ready to purchase a new (my first) Mac and wondered if it was a good time to buy or should I wait? I know that Apple tends to spring new models on without much notice, but with the Intel CPU’s rolling out, will those be the next Power Macs to be released?
I’ve read some cautionary tales of non-universal apps on the Intel iMacs, but i’m wondering if the beefiness of a Power Mac will do away with any of these concerns. In terms of programs, i’ll be buying the Final Cut Studio, so i’m not sure if this factors into waiting or not.
In general, i’d be kind of leery of purchaasing the very first Intel Power Mac, but i also don’t want to buy now and be kicking myself in two months.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated by this wide-eyed, awe-struck soon-to-be Mac user.
Cory
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15 Replies
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Now I am not sure what you plan to do with this new computer, but when considering whether to wait for intel or not, what you must consider is that at the moment most apps for mac is PowerPC only so they would run through Rosetta. This is fine if you don’t do any sort of graphics or video, or need to run obscure 3rd party mac apps. In terms of which is better, well g5 Quad Core PowerPC or any g5 is pretty good. Intel will take over the mac market eventually, but thats a long ways off, you should be safe doing either. Its more right now what do you need to do with the computer and how urgently do you need the computer.
Best of luck
Simon Carlson-Thies -
Yes, it really is a matter of your needs. Can you make back your $ in a few months? If so the do it now, and re-up when the time comes. If you are buying for fun – then a machine you can buy now should more than do the trick… we use a dual 2 gig G5 and it still does everyhting we need.
My thinking is that even if the new intelmacs come out this summer I would not want to own one of the 1st off the line. A rumor site somewhere has them comming in time for X-mass, if thats true I would wait till a few months later to shake all the bugs out…. of the hardware & the universal software.
Thanks,
Harry.Forum Cowmunity Leader: OSX
Forum Cowmunity Leader: Indie & DocDual 1.8 G5 ** 1GB ** 10.4.1
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The new Towers will NOT likely be out before the end of the year. If you will be using your Mac to run professional applications, then I’d get the best current model you can right now. Just know that you’ll probably want/need to replace it in a year or so. Many of the major applications (like from Adobe) won’t be converted to Intel in the next few months, so if you need them, go with the current (non-Intel) Mac’s. The current Mac line up works is great and you’re not buying a bad or lower quality machine. For Final Cut Studio, you’ll want the fastest processors, most memory, best graphic cards, and biggest/fastest hard drives (need at least two) you can afford.
Tony!
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[Simon Carlson-Thies] “In terms of which is better, well g5 Quad Core PowerPC or any g5 is pretty good”
It won’t be the quad … tax return won’t be that much 🙂
Thanks for the help,
Cory -
[Harry Pallenberg] “even if the new intelmacs come out this summer I would not want to own one of the 1st off the line.”
That was my thought. I’m not much of a beta-tester for software, so it’s definitely out for this hardware purchase i think.
Cory -
[Tony!] “If you will be using your Mac to run professional applications, then I’d get the best current model you can right now. Just know that you’ll probably want/need to replace it in a year or so.”
I’m sure I’ll want to replace it, but probably won’t financially be able to. Will a PowerPC G5 be good for a few years … I mean, the software bought today won’t somehow expire will it? <-- Somewhat facetious question, but kind of serious as well ... will next version software be backwards compatible (is that what universal is?) and will this last indefinitely? [Tony!] “For Final Cut Studio, you’ll want the fastest processors, most memory, best graphic cards, and biggest/fastest hard drives (need at least two) you can afford.”
Again for financial reasons, i’d be looking at getting the 2GHz dual-core, 2GB RAM, the upgraded GeForce 7800 GT and the 250GB HD. However, I was disappointed to see that I could only bring along one of my existing Serial ATA HD’s … do you know of a good place to pick up (cheap) an external S-ATA HD enclosure so I can bring along both my 120GB internal S-ATA editing HD’s?
Thanks again for all the help,
Cory -
Personally if I were you and you are not going to be doing highend video or graphics I would go with an iMac G5 non intel or something like that, because they are pretty good, they will fill your basic needs without being to expensive, and you can then upgrade later if need be.
best of luck
Simon Carlson-Thies
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I actually will be doing some video/graphics work … mind you, not sure if you consider friends and family weddings high-end 😉
I’ve got my crossgrade prices for Photoshop and After Effects already and am making plans on getting the Final Cut Suite shortly thereafter.
Thanks for the help,
Cory -
I’ve got my crossgrade prices for Photoshop and After Effects already
===============What do you mean by this? Adobe products won’t be universal until 2007. What are you “crossgrading” to?
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Sorry, i’m coming from PC … I have the Adobe Video Collection 2.5, so that’s the cost to get the Mac After Effects and Photoshop versions.
Cory
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