Help needed in selecting new desktop to upgrade too

Ok, heres the deal. I currently have a Quicksilver Powermac Dual 1ghz G4, 1gb Ram, 120 gig HD, Superdrive. I purchased it used for an absolute steal a couple of years ago. It has served me well but I am looking to step to a G5 powermac and I am not sure which one to get. Not interested in a brand new machine, I consider myself pretty thrifty when buying computers and try and find deals on good used ones that fit my needs rather than having the greatest thing on the market. The dual G4 just isnt up to speed for me anymore, and I know I could add 512 more memory to it but I dont think I would notice enough of an increase to warrant the expense. I am not really using the dual processors to any extent at all. I occasionally to audio editing and graphic work, but the majority of my time is spent doing spreadsheets, sending email, and internet. Yes I know I could be very well served by an iMac or even a Mac mini but I just have my heart set on a G5 powermac...i have wanted one since they were released. If buying a used G5 what models should I give consideration, 1.6ghz single 1.8ghz single, dual 1.8ghz, or dual 2.0ghz. I want to see a significant speed increase over both my Quicksilver G4 dual 1ghz and my powerbook 1.5ghz G4 12" which shouldnt be hard although my powerbook does run like a dream and does absolutely anything I ever need it to do with plenty of speed and power to spare. I want to get a G5 can serve me for several years, I have gotten 2 years or so out of my G4 powermac and would like to be able to get the same out of this used G5 powermac if not more. I have several local leads on used but gently cared for 1.6, 1.8, dual 1.8, and dual 2.0 machines just not sure if its worth the extra expense to step up to the faster dual processors from the singles. Would like some input from people who have used these machines to let me know if there are certain models I need to stay away from. Not trying to spend a ton here, probably 900 at the most. I already have my 19 LCD, my brand new mighty mouse and brand new aluminum keyboard so all i need is the tower with a decent sized hard drive, 1 to 2 gigs of ram and the basics really....just need to know which one I should jump on as I am trying to get rid of my quicksilver this week and hopefully be on a new to me G5 by next week or so. thanks for your help and sorrry for the long post

I have just upgraded from a PowerMac G5 to a current model Mac Pro. My G5 was the dual 2.3 GHz model, 250 GB hard drive and 2.5 GB RAM. It was a fast and reliable performer. I can certainly recommend this particular model. I have no experience with the earlier versions. I think the dual 2.3 was the last generation of PowerMac G5 that was released. There was also a quad 2.5 in that "generation". I lusted over those at the time, but could not justify the expense.

So, I cannot critique the pre dual 2.3 models, but I can certainly tell you that the dual 2.3 is a great machine. If you went for one of these, you would not be disappointed.

daniel_loz said:

Not trying to spend a ton here, probably 900 at the most. I already have my 19 LCD, my brand new mighty mouse and brand new aluminum keyboard so all i need is the tower with a decent sized hard drive, 1 to 2 gigs of ram and the basics really...

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If you're trying to be thrifty, sell your monitor and buy a refurbished iMac 20". Then take the extra mouse and keyboard it'll come with and sell those on eBay for another $70 and you should be able to get a brand new machine for around $850 or so.

I don't see the point of sticking to a tower unless you really need it. The iMac is a great machine with a lot more "oomph" than any of the dual G5s. I used a 1,8 Ghz single G5 at work for quite a while and it felt fairly slow. A slight step up over my 1 Ghz G4, but a lot more sluggish than my 1,83 Ghz dual core Macbook.

Not trying to belittle the Powermacs, but they are still so expensive, even second-hand and I don't really see that justified in your case.

There are rumors that apparently Apple might drop PowerPC with the next release of OSX, so if you want it to last, I would go intel.

i will most likely be purchasing a brand new imac 20" from best buy in the next few weeks, or at the end of the summer at the very latest, but i get the powermac towers for storage of my music...i cant load a terabyte of storage into an imac...i can do that in a G5 powermac though... ive got just a shade over a terabyte of music right now...i never really have less than three computers so i will definitely be taking advantage of the value the imac has to offer and that will be used most likely as my bedroom machine, where the powermac G5 will be staying in my office...just wondering really if its not worth it to jump into the single processor G5s. After much research ive pretty much got my heart set on a Dual 2.0ghz G5 with 2 gigs of Ram to start out with. Found several really good deals on that particular model and it seems to have plenty to offer...is there any particular models other than the liquid cooled ones that had any serious problems i need to steer clear of?