G5 or eMac?

I am the Office supervisr and Executive assistant of a Medical recruiting firm. MY boss uses macs, but ours are so very old. we are on an imac with a 9.0 OS.

He is looking into upgrading before everything crashes and out files are obsolete. He came across info for the emac and wanted to know what I thought. While surfing the web for info, I found out about the G5. which one will be better for us? I'll tell you what we need

We are using filemaker for our database, and we need a way to burn cd's fr back up or someway of a system backup that can be used when our server goes down. we have 10 computers on a network all feeding into one server.

We need the ability to have Ms office stuff, like word power point and excel. I also need to be able to find programs that will aid in billing, creating forms, flash emails, and presentations to clients who all use PC's

It needs to be fast with lots of memory. I need to be able to effortlessly transfer everything from the old computers to the new ones. we have no IT dept, (I'm it) so any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

Dawn
Advanced Medical Resources
Executive Assistant

exactly how much memory do you need?
Think of it this way - you can get 3 emacs for the price of one G5 powermac without any display.
Is it worth it? Sure, it's a better computer but do you NEED it?

besides memory what are the diferences between the two. I think now we have 68mb and 124mb virtual mem. I really don't now what I would need. We have a large database with over 9k contacts and it is growing. plus all our marketing projects, and of course business forms ect which don't take up much space. i thnk the main thing ould be backing up the system, buring cd's and fast web surfing

I would think than a high-end eMac (with significantly upgraded memory) would make more sense for the tasks you describe. Since most of the tasks you discribe (Office and database) are disk- and network-bound, a G5's faster CPU would not offer much of an improvement.

Two other things, though: Firstly, if you intend to keep these machines a very long time without upgrading, then the G5 might postpone obsolecence for another year or two. Secondly, if you have one or two "power users" who are really demanding of their computers, giving them a Power Mac might make them happier.

[EDIT: Differences between the eMac and Power mac]

eMac:
considerably less expensive
can hold up to 1GB memory
all-in-one design: easy to set up, but you can't upgrade/replace monitor

Power Mac G5
faster processor speeds
can hold up to 8GB memory
larger hard disks
no included monitor (sold sperately)

Both machines include CD burners, with the option for a SuperDrive DVD burner.

What kind of computers are you using now?

As was stated earlier, you can get about 3 eMacs per 1 G5 powermac. If you are looking at cost then, the eMac is the best choice.

As for your requirements that you have given a G5 would be over kill for your needs.

Another thing you need to look at is software. More than likely you will have to upgrade all of the software that you are using. Since the new system you will be using will be running OS X. Some of the software that you maybe running might run in the classic environment.

So don't forget to that to your cost.

We are using imac with os 9 and 64mb ram. OUr server is always crashing due to lack of memory but there is nothing on it but essential files. i also need to know, if we go with a g5 for the server and emac for everyone else will I be able to hook the emacs to the network that is running off the g5?

also if we get a new system and we upgrade all the software, do I buy for all ten computers or buy a network version where we can all share thorugh our server/

How about an Xserve G5?

After reading some of the previous posts. I think you may want to sit down and design your new computing environment. Looking at all of your options available to you. I would look at the eMac for the 10 desktops and maybe an iMac G5 when it becomes available. The problem you will have is more of how you will use the server, be it an iMac or G5 powermac. The G5 xserve may not be in your budget.

So here are some questions to think about:

Is the data being created going to be on the individual computers or on the server?
Would 10 copies of the software work better or one copy with a site license?
Are you planning to make back ups of only the server or all of the computers?
Are looking at getting a new printer?

I could continue on, but I will stop for now.

Thanks for your help. To answer some of the questions, the server would have all the info stored on it, currently all the otehr computers need to do is link to the internet, Office, and the database onthe server. the server willbe the only thing backedup periodically. however everyone will be given the option to back up their computer. and No we are prob not getting a new printer.

Hopefully your printer is a network printer.

I now have a better picture of the environment. So all of the eMacs could have the combo drive, they will not need to burn DVDs.

So your problem is what do you want for a server. One thing, get the largest disk you can on your server. Save you the trouble of getting a bigger disk later.

I agree with rman.

I work with Windows networks quite a bit, but the same principles apply.


The eMac's or iMac's for the 10 workstations sounds like they'll do. For web, email, office and bussines applications they will do just fine.

Now for the 'Server'. I think a XServe is overkill, A G5 PowerMac will do nicely. I think Opting for OSX Server would be a good thing on that computer. It'll give you plenty of options for future should you need them later on. Also, since you are the tech dept. do what Rman said and load it up w/ as much Harddisk as will fit / you can aford.

Cost: 10 x eMac w/ 512MB RAM & ComboDrive = 8740.00
1 x G5 PowerMac w/ 1BG RAM & 2 x 250GB HD & OS X Server (duel 1.8Ghz Processors) = 3248.00

Also don't forget to add Apple care to those.

Thanks that helps a lot. BUt what about upgrading the software on it all?

You may want to check to upgrade cost of the software you are currently using. I know that Filemaker Pro, works in OS X. I use Toast to burn my CDs and DVDs back ups, but you can use the OS to burn CDs also.