Good deal on old iMac G5 1.6Ghz?

I have seen the old iMac G5 1.6Ghz, 256MB ram, 17" display, 80GB HD for less than $1,000 now that the new iMac's with at least 1.8Ghz and 512MB ram come out.

Is it a good deal?

Performance-wise, I doubt there is much difference between the 1.6 and 1.8Ghz with the same ram. Correct me if I am wrong, but I have had a Mac Quradra 10+ yrs ago and the ram was a killer (you see performance go up with more ram).

I would rather have a 1.6ghz with 1gb RAM over a 1.8ghz with 512mb ram.

I think the leftover 1.6ghz G5 iMac from apple is a GREAT deal, especially if you don't want bluetooth or wifi that the new ones have.

Thanks! I thought so too.

If I buy the old iMac G5 1.6Ghz with Panther now, will I get a free upgrade to Tiger?

Also, doesn't the iMac 1.6Ghz have the wifi card built in already?

ywuwu said:

Thanks! I thought so too.

If I buy the old iMac G5 1.6Ghz with Panther now, will I get a free upgrade to Tiger?

Also, doesn't the iMac 1.6Ghz have the wifi card built in already?

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If you buy one of the 1.6ghz iMacs Refurbished or On Sale from Apple, they come with Tiger.

No, the 1.6Ghz doesn't have wifi built in, but you can add it afterwards. You can't add internal bluetooth.

I would go with the Refurbished, save $100.

mynameis said:

If you buy one of the 1.6ghz iMacs Refurbished or On Sale from Apple, they come with Tiger.

No, the 1.6Ghz doesn't have wifi built in, but you can add it afterwards. You can't add internal bluetooth.

I would go with the Refurbished, save $100.

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You could always add a bluetooth usb adapter for cheap.

that seems like a very good deal that apple is offering. you are getting a 17inch screen + g5 proc for the price of a 12 inch iBook. Not too shabby if you ask me.

I am looking at a brand new iMac G5 1.6GHz (256MB ram, 80GB HD, comb drive, 64MB Vram) for less than $1,000. Good deal by itself, indeed.

However, the new iMac is $300 more but with 1.8Ghz, 512MB ram, 160GB HD, 128MB Vram, Airport Express, Blue tooth, and comb drive.

I am not quite sure now... $300 >= 200MHz, 256MB ram, 64MB Vram, 80GB HD, Airport Express, Blue tooth??? (I am a finance guy and tend to calculate everything)

Compare a new 1.8ghz 17in to an old 1.8ghz 17in:
$1100 vs $1300
Newer one has double the hard drive space
Newer one has double the VRAM and a better GPU
Newer one has bluetooth and WiFi
Old one has a SuperDrive

If you do DVD burning and don't do any graphics intensive apps, that older one is looks pretty nice. Personally I would really want WiFi....

well i have the "poor" 1.6 version and its done wonders (seriously). The most intensive programs i use are iMovie/iDVD and it runs smooth. No lag or anything with 768MB RAM.

I think that deal for a refurb is FANTASTIC. Seriously! But I also think the new iMacs are fantastic as well.

But seriously, do you need WiFi? BT? I don't and never will. I do have a BT adapter that i never use so if I really wanted BT I just stick that toggle into the keyboard.

Combo Drive is fine. You can always get an external burner like me. Most people won't ever burn DVDs unless they are into doing their own home movies (like me) but if you don't plan on doing that then no need for a Super. Get an external HDD instead later on.

Ok, the new version has a bigger HDD...

RAM you can always find a good deal on 512MB. And 768 for me works fine. Then again I am not a person to have many apps open at the same time (just a habit of mine from the Windoze days) so I've never tried opening a ton of apps at once. So YMMV

Processor speed. I am not sure if that .20 more is really going to be noticable for everyday tasks. My friend has the 1.8Ghz and with 768 and we did some tests and both systems ran at the same speed. No difference.

Bus Speed. I don't know??? Again I didn't see any difference.

Graphics card? I have never played any games on my iMac and do not plan to. But everyone seems to be very excited about this upgrade. I have an X-Box that I use for my gaming.

In all the 1.6 will do fine and at that price, better order one today! I called my local store and they said they have a ton of 1.6 still in stock but once they get the revised versions they won't drop the price on them, they ship them back to Apple. So not sure what they do with them. The CompUSA near me said they will sell the 1.6 at the $1299 price until next month or so... this makes no sense to me. I do not like CompUSA.

I agree with most of your points.

One last question, I heard the first generation iMac G5 got some bugs/problems, such as the superdrive, LCD screen, etc. Will the 2nd generation iMac's be better in terms of hardware and system integrity?

This is a soft point but nonetheless, a critical one for those who have little inclination dealing with repairs/services (myself included).

My first Mac (a Quadra 605) ran for years without a single problem.

It comes down to how much you are willing to spend. If you have the money and want great preformance, get the $1300 one. If you are willing to sacrifice that minute amt of preformance to save some money, the go for it.

You shouldn't have a problem w/ anything. At this point they should have worked out all the bugs. I have owned my iMac G5 since October w/ out a single problem.

That's good assurance. Thanks!

I have read about quite a lot problems with the 1st generation iMac G5 caused by a faulty midplane, which often needs to be replaced.

I am sure Apple should've fixed the bugs by now.

Looking to order one...

code777 said:

The most intensive programs i use are iMovie/iDVD and it runs smooth. No lag or anything with 768MB RAM.

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How would it work with other video editing programs like Final Cut?

I would say that the extra $300 is easily worth all hte upgraded components.

no0neelse said:

How would it work with other video editing programs like Final Cut?

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Well not sure about FCP. That program is suited for PowerMacs. Especially ones with dual G5's. So I don't think it would run that great. I've never done it and I have minimal experience with FCP (Use to have a friend that used it for his amatuer sitcoms he did for local access) but he used a PM Dual (not sure which one) and sometimes he said it was slow!?!??! So I would assume that the iMac wouldn't be the best Mac to run FCP.

Depends how patient you are and i'm not sure about crashes either (overload). Anyone else? Is Final Cut Express less intensive?

Greenredfield said:

I would say that the extra $300 is easily worth all hte upgraded components.

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This gets my vote, too.