I need another mac!

Right, i already have a PowerBook G4 which is really good, but i feel i need a desktop as well for a number of reasons.

firstly i have had the PowerBook for a couple of years now and its getting on a bit. i also want something that looks really smart on my desk which should stay there. The PowerBook does the job fine, but i feel i should use it just for travelling.

i really want a bigger screen etc as well. However i dont to get a PowerMac G5 as there a bit pro for what i need! what should i get, a eMac (my current choice), iMac or Mac mini??

if you have the money, I recommend the imac g5. the emac is good, depending on what you will be doing on it, and the mac mini is ok, but after buying the necessary equipment for a mini, like the display, kb and mouse, etc, you pay almost as much as buying an imac g5. and the imac g5 has the smallest footprint of any mac, including the mini, and it may be a little more than you need, but IMO, I'd rather have a little too much power than not enough.

I'd agree, I've just got my iBook and I intend to get an iMac G5 sometime next year so I can use my iBook just for college.

Yea, the iMac G5 would be a good choice. Everything you need inside it. No need to buy a separate system and monitor.

I've been looking at this myself, and Apple really needs to put something out in between the mini and the Powermac, or simply beef up the video card on the mini. I don't really want to go all the way to a powermac, because if I'm going for 1500 for a single, it just makes more sense to go to 2000 and get a dual. Then there's the mini at 600. So where's the inbetween product. I don't want an iMac as I'm getting the Dell 24" monitor so I can use it as a TV monitor as well (also for XBox 360 this fall). So the dilemma, deal with a slow mini (because the 24" will put the mini at the edge of its video capability) or plunk down an inordinate ammount for a powermac.

embries said:

I've been looking at this myself, and Apple really needs to put something out in between the mini and the Powermac, or simply beef up the video card on the mini. I don't really want to go all the way to a powermac, because if I'm going for 1500 for a single, it just makes more sense to go to 2000 and get a dual. Then there's the mini at 600. So where's the inbetween product. I don't want an iMac as I'm getting the Dell 24" monitor so I can use it as a TV monitor as well (also for XBox 360 this fall). So the dilemma, deal with a slow mini (because the 24" will put the mini at the edge of its video capability) or plunk down an inordinate ammount for a powermac.

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Go with the powermac if you want to keep that screen, the mac mini is not the fastest computer and you are going to want to use it for more advanced applications other then just safari in the future. The mac mini is just the system apple came out with the compete with all the cheaper models of the pc since people who buy those systems don't want/need the power in the first place.

I just got an iMac G5 17" and it's great eyecandy. It's also a pretty quick computer.

embries said:

I've been looking at this myself, and Apple really needs to put something out in between the mini and the Powermac, or simply beef up the video card on the mini. I don't really want to go all the way to a powermac, because if I'm going for 1500 for a single, it just makes more sense to go to 2000 and get a dual. Then there's the mini at 600. So where's the inbetween product. I don't want an iMac as I'm getting the Dell 24" monitor so I can use it as a TV monitor as well (also for XBox 360 this fall). So the dilemma, deal with a slow mini (because the 24" will put the mini at the edge of its video capability) or plunk down an inordinate ammount for a powermac.

Click to expand...

I've kind of had the same problem. If you want into a desktop at the $1000 - $1500 price point (fully configured) then the powermacs don't fit. The iMac fits, barely, but it's really pushing it.

While the eMac doesn't have as much processor power as say the iMac, what I've found is that it actualy outperforms iMac g5s in *some* areas (heresy!). It really comes down to hard drive speed - the eMac has a 7200rpm drive.

The eMac also beats not only iMacs, but beats or meets PowerMac G5s and powerbooks in USB and firewire 400 speed tests. See here :
http://www.barefeats.com/usb2.html

When you throw in the Radeon 9600 / 64MB video card on the eMacs, I think it's safe to say that they will thoroughly stomp a mac mini or iBook in most tests. It's possible to expand them to 2GB of RAM too (despite apple saying that it only goes to 1GB, it has 2 open memory slots and all I've read says you can put 2x1GB memory sticks in it, vs the mini's 1x1GB).

I've been looking for a desktop system, and right now it looks like the eMac is the one to get. It's that or a base model iMac G5, but I'm really leaning towards the 2005 eMac.

-Lonerider

If I had a PB I would just buy a monitor/keyboard/mouse for it, then use it like a desktop.