Need help with a budget second hand machine.

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Hi,
I need some advice on what to buy as my next desktop machine.
I used to own the original Bondi Blue iMac which I cherished and then due to needing and upgrade and financial strains I made the switch to the darkside and bought a Windows PC.
This has lasted me well but now I want to get back to Mac.
I need a machine to handle my photography work and need to be able to run the latest Photoshop and Lightroom with no problems.
I am not interested in gaming etc and would use the machine only for things like downloading and music.
I am looking to get a second hand older machine but not sure what to go for.
Any ideas?
Would any of the G5 iMacs or the G5 Power Macs do up to this?
I Saw a G5 Power Mac with 4gb of ram go for £122 on ebay but I didn’t bid in case it was no good for my needs.
Cheers,
Al
 

Raz0rEdge

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Welcome to Mac-Forums

The PowerPC based Macs are going to get very cheap as time goes one because there are now 3 releases of OS X that don't want to run on them and at least 2 of them that won't even run an application that's Universal or meant for PowerPC's.

Having said that, you will be MUCH better of buying an Intel-based Mac for sure. I'm not sure what your budget is, but that's going to determine how far back you want to go.

One option you have is rather than looking at iMac's or Mac Pros..look at the Mac Mini..it's the cheapest Mac, the newest versions match the power of the iMac's from a generation or so ago..so very nice for the price..

If you had a Windows PC recently, you probably have the necessary keyboard, mouse and LCD that you can reuse with your Mac.

The current generation of Mac Mini comes in 2.3GHz or 2.5GHz i5 variants and both of those will serve you well enough..they are £529 and £699 respectively..

Look at the specs for more details: Mac mini - Buy Mac mini Online - Apple Store (UK)
 
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15-inch 2014 Retina MacBook Pro, 2012 Mac Mini, 160GB iPod Classic, iPhone 5
The latest version of PhotoShop requires OS 10.6.8 at a minimum, and the Power PC Macs will not run that OS.

The problem with buying a Mac Mini for PhotoShop is by the time you get it with the i7 processor and 7200 RPM internal drive you're only about $150 below the price of the least expensive iMac, which is a much better PhotoShop computer than the Mac Mini.

I used my wife's Mac Mini while she was out of the country on a business trip. Just before she returned I got a new iMac 2.5GHz and added 16GB RAM for a total of 20GB. It is a bit faster than the Mac Mini in PhotoShop, and significantly faster running everything else. The best part about the iMac is the monitor: it is much better than my calibrated NEC monitor I was using with my 2009 MBP.

If a new Mac Mini is out of your budget check the Apple Store's used iMac section. They have a current generation refurbed 21.5 inch model for $999.
 
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Go with an iMac, say a 2.5GHz model with the 27" screen and increase memory yourself to about 12GB. As mentioned above refurbished is a great way to go. Just do a search of iMac refurbed and save hundreds, get the full 12 month warranty, latest operating system and the option to increase AppleCare to three years.
 

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