1.83GHz Intel Core Duo vs. G5 1.9GHz SuperDrive

So I'm either going to get a refurbished iMac 17-inch 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo or an iMac G5 17-inch 1.9GHz SuperDrive. Can anyone tell me what the pros and cons are for one versus the other, and if the Intel one is worth the extra $100? This will be my first Mac, FYI.

Dear Paddy (sorry, could not resist :flower: )

Seriously speaking, I would go for the 1.9GHz G5 because all current software will run at full speed on it because crucial apps like MS Office and Adobe apps are still PPC only, meaning on an Intel Mac they will be very sluggish. Also, iLife will still run just as magnificently as it does on the iMac Core Duo.

What will you be mostly doing on the system?

I would say if it's mostly application work, less on the games side of things, you will get much more from the G5 iMac at present, but that is my opinion going on the speed of Rosetta emulation which is roughly low to mid-range G4 speeds.

Vicky

Thank you Vicky. With this computer I want to record/play music and do lots of design work, games aren't that important to me.

The if you are going to even use one Adobe application—the G5 is for the time being and the forseeable future the way forward. I use Adobe CS2 Standard on my G4 Macs and it runs like a dream—on a G5 it would be better still.

With the Intel Mac until mid 2007 when CS3 is released, you would have scuppered performance, an almost necessary upgrade even if you don't want to, and the possibility that CS3 will have teething issues with CS2 being so solid.

On a Core Duo 1.83GHz you would be looking at somewhere between 533-667MHz G4 performance at very best—and to be perfectly frank, I couldn't use Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Painter IX on such a machine.

Vicky

Hi there, Vicky your are off the money somewhat about the performance lag on an Intel machine, there is a slow down, but i have discovered that using CS as apposed to CS2 works like poop of a teflon shovel on a Mactel.....

My main concern would be in this sutation would be the warranty on the refurb and also the exact condition of the unit. Dead pixels and chassis marks would affect the hubris of mac ownership in my eyes.

For the needs outlined the Intel mac is the surefire way forward and my only strict advise would be whack in extra ram....2GB makes the whole thing that much sweeter. There is also talk of many CS3 features being specifically optomised for the DCore processors giving specific incentive to go for the Mactel...but from what you are saying these are not even considerations for yourself!

Not at the moment they are not. As someone who hammers InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop CS2 day in and day out (there are features in CS2 standard that I cannot live without now, LivePaint and Inline spell checking come to mind, anchored objects, object styles...) and I found it too sluggish for my liking. It certainly did not compare too well with the PowerBook G4 I was using at the time and most certainly not the Power Mac I'm using now.

Photoshop is already optimised for the G5—and under Rosetta you will not get any of those optimisations as Rosetta only emulates a G4 class processor.

Also if you have not got Adobe CS2 for Mac already, you would need to buy that, and then as I noted almost imperatively have to buy CS3 because of its native Intel support. If however you already own CS2 then this is much less of an issue, as the cost won't be too hard to bear.

I agree on the count of the warranty and condition of the unit—that one has to be judged by the person themselves and hopefully it was pass the test.

if it's an Apple refurb, then the unit is likely to be in excellent condition as Apple checks each one of its refurbs carefully with a soak test before it being sold on.

Maybe I was unfortunate, but the iMac 17" Core Duo I used a few times down at an ad agency wiith Adobe CS2 suite installed on, 1.5GB RAM and the rest of it, just did not do anything for me personally, and reminded me strongly of G4-733 I used at Uni in terms of performance. No it wasn't bad, but as soon as I started wanting to really work those three apps running at the same time, using overprint previews etc., I found myself seeing the progress bar a lot.

But that's my 2c, I don't have Adobe CS to try on it, and Photoshop 7 that I have at home is registered in my name so I couldn't have tried that out if I wanted. (Plus I don't have an earlier version of InDesign and Illustrator 6 will not run on an Intel Mac)

I have no doubts however that CS3 on Intel will be a wonderful experience and leave the G5s lagging somehwhat—that I have no qualms or doubts about; but for CS2, I personally (and i'm sure plenty will disagree) could not use it for the kind of work I do.

Vicky