what should my mate do?

My mate is starting a course at Uni Feb 6 (in Aust we start schools years then after summer(well the last month of summer))
he is doing a design multimedia course and will be using macs, apps like photoshop, illustrator, after effects, lightwave and final cut..
So he want to buy a imac, at the moment he has the choice of the G5 or the Intel one.
Its a no brainer, get the intel right!?
Well problem is he wont be able to use final cut and i have no idea if after effects or lightwave will work either>?

So what should he buy?
its a real hard decision caus like why get a intel Mac if he cant use it for Uni. and run the apps he needs, or why get the G5 when its 2x+ slower and now old technollogy?
Its a hard one

macanal said:

My mate is starting a course at Uni Feb 6 (in Aust we start schools years then after summer(well the last month of summer))
he is doing a design multimedia course and will be using macs, apps like photoshop, illustrator, after effects, lightwave and final cut..
So he want to buy a imac, at the moment he has the choice of the G5 or the Intel one.
Its a no brainer, get the intel right!?
Well problem is he wont be able to use final cut and i have no idea if after effects or lightwave will work either>?

So what should he buy?
its a real hard decision caus like why get a intel Mac if he cant use it for Uni. and run the apps he needs, or why get the G5 when its 2x+ slower and now old technollogy?
Its a hard one

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I’d suggest that he look into a used G5 PowerMac. One that is more powerful than a G5 iMac can be purchased for less than the G5 iMac, and it can probably be resold for a good amount when an Intel version of Final Cut is available.

Yeah I would buy the G5 iMac also.. get it from Apple's special page, or find a used one somewhere.

Is there an option to use the school computers?

17in iMac + Photoshop($400) + Illustrator($350) + Final Cut Studio($700) + the other apps = Easily hitting almost $3000. Thats a lot of money to spend for just one class...

yes of course there in the option to use the school computers, but that means hanging out in the Labs all the time, i dont think he would do that.
I will look into G5's but i not sure anything below 2Ghz G5 dual will beat a dual core intel and also they are still selling very expensive, just a quick look at ebay tells me a dual g5 2Ghz with 1 gig ram is as much or more expensive then a New imac.

As for the apps. (final cut, photoshop so on)
I in know way condome this or want to know anything ABOUT THIS, BUT MOST STUDENTS I KNOW, LIKE SHARE SOFTWARE!? i guess they cant afford it even at student rates. Im not sure or going to ask but i suppose he will get the Apps from another student as 90% of them do.
But as i said i am only guessing i dont know for sure

None of those apps run on intel macs yet, which means you are looking at around 30-50% slower than running those apps on a native PowerPC Mac... regardless of how you get the software.

Murlyn said:

None of those apps run on intel macs yet, which means you are looking at around 30-50% slower than running those apps on a native PowerPC Mac... regardless of how you get the software.

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I believe Final Cut won't even run at all...

what about after effects 2 is that intel universal

Check here:

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/3151

If you look right above the stars, where it says Platform, you can see which platforms the software is available for. For After Effects it shows PPC. If the software is universal it will show PPC/Intel