G5 USB ports failing....what are my options?

[lboiv001]

Hi, all -

New to the forum and need some advice from the video editors out there...

I have over 20 videos posted on my Youtube channel. Most were produced with cyberlink powerdirector 8, and all were done on older PC's that could barely handle the editing process.

My channel
YOUTUBE CHANNEL OF BEAU BOIVIN - YouTube

Now, I recently bought a G5 so I could take the next step up for more serious production, and I aim to use imovie to warm up, and eventually Photoshop CS4 when I can afford it, but I knew I needed a Mac to get serious (yes, I know I shouldn't have gone to the second hand market, but I am desperate to at least get some starting experience with the Mac world after many years of only PC use).

The problem is that this G5 has rear USB ports that only occasionally read my External HD, which has all my raw vids and pics that I work from, and after following all the tips I could gather on the forums, I took it to a Mac tech who told me that this is all too common with power macs (and basically unfixable) and that the best thing to do would be to get a better machine, and I fear, with great despair, that he may be right. My remaining (good) front port I need for my keyboard/mouse.

Is there any hope? It will be many months before I can save enough for a new machine, and even then it will probably be a $1000 or under budget. What's the best intel mac I can get for that price? Do I have any other possible choice?


Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated, and I thank any benevolent gurus who deem to help me up the ladder to the true Mac world.

Thank you greatly in advance.

 

[pigoo3]

The problem is that this G5 has rear USB ports that only occasionally read my External HD...

Do I have any other possible choice?

Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated, and I thank any benevolent gurus who deem to help me up the ladder to the true Mac world.

I personally have not experienced this "common" USB port failure (according to the tech person you went to) on the three Powermac G5's I have owned...but like any computer...there certainly will be some failures.

Option #1: Purchase yourself a firewire external hard drive enclosure...and use the G5's firewire port.
Option #2: Powermac G5's here in the United States sell on e-Bay for as little as $100-$125 (depending on the model). If your G5's USB ports are failing...just buy another Powermac G5...they're cheap!

Either way...problem solved!

- Nick

 

[MightyGem]

You could always buy a USB hub to use in the front port.

 

[lboiv001]

Nick,
Would I be able to install any external usb-powered hard drive disk into a firewire enclosure and have it be compatible with either/both a PC AND a Mac? If so, how hard is it to do that? Good advice to consider, definitely.....G5's ARE cheap, but I was hoping not to have to shell out any more clams if possible, than I already have.

MightyGem,
I do have a generic 4 port USB hub, but I was concerned about hooking up both the keyboard/mouse AND my USB powered Seagate HD.... I am deathly afraid of burning the Seagate and losing all my data. Do you think this is not the case, or should I be OK with this?

Thanx again for the input.

 

[chas_m]

Now, I recently bought a G5 so I could take the next step up for more serious production

I had to double-check that this post wasn't from 10 years ago.

 

[MightyGem]

I am deathly afraid of burning the Seagate and losing all my data. Do you think this is not the case

I can't see a problem there. What do you think might happen?

 

[lboiv001]

I had to double-check that this post wasn't from 10 years ago.

Haha! Touche'.

I should probably elaborate here and say that I was really hoping to break into the Mac world without a huge initial investment, just in case I find that everything I heard and believe about Mac superiority in all things video and music turned out to be wrong.

As it is, I spent $100 on a machine that already outperforms my two PCs and came preloaded with about $600-$800 in software. The only real performance glitch is that it is not able to play some of my older vids that my PC could play, even with the latest version of Quicktime. My Gopro vids do skip very slightly, but my PC could barely make the frames move.

I imagine the next upgrade would be a newer desktop Intel dual core Imac, but the question is which one would do video/music the smoothest and still cost less than a grand? What would be the least expensive model system I could get away with?

Thanks again for the responses, everyone!