I am thinking of buying an emac this summer/fall

[ibookclamman300]

I have recently switch to mac as you can see in my mac specs but I want to go ahead and complete the transition by getting a desktop system. As far as I can tell the last gen. emacs are very cheap and you get a lot for what you pay for. I have seen them go for less than $800 on ebay easily, which is good. Is there any piece of advice or other recomendations iyo? I have looked at last gen. imac g4's and g5's but I decided on the emacs because of the pricing.

 

[bryphotoguy]

You get what you pay for. Get a Powermac so you can upgrade each piece separately. I think you could get a 1GHz G4 tower and a 17" LCD monitor for $800 pretty easily.

 

[ibookclamman300]

i have been considering other systems too, mainly a last gen g4 or first gen g5 powermac or a g5 imac or intel imac. I do know that I don't want to spend more than $1000, $800 if possible. I am leaning towards an intel machine so I can use my zune with my computer. If I have to I will get an intel mac mini, which wont be too bad.

 

[Nagger Pumper]

I love my eMac, but I do wish I would have gotten an intel mac. Main reason being because of programs I want to use.

 

[Kash]

If you're planning on spending upwards of $1000, then I would suggest staying away from older PPC models as you can easily afford an Intel based Mac with that kind of budget.

The latest Core2Duo iMacs start at $999, so you should definitely be able to get a refurbished or previous generation CoreDuo iMac for a price well within your budget. Then there is the Mac Mini, which DEFINITELY falls within your budget, which can be made even cheaper if you already have a monitor.

 

[Alexis]

I'd get a Mac Mini instead of an eMac anyday. You're stuck with a 17" CRT monitor as well with the eMac.

 

[bryphotoguy]

Yea, you can totally get an intel mac mini and a 17" for $1000. Go refurbished from the apple website. They're like 100$ off new or more sometimes.
I had a Macbook and sold it for my Intel iMac and both were refurbished. They come with the same warranty as a new one. Neither had a single problem. I am so glad I didn't pay full price!
Unfortunately, they do not have any currently in stock. But I think it was like $699 ($100 off) the 1.83 Intel w/ a superdrive.
Good luck!

 

[ibookclamman300]

i think I am gonna go for an intel imac refurb, I want to have a low mid range video card (I game sometimes). I don't have a spare screen, which sucks, so the mini would be the same price as the imac. Yeah looks like I'm going to get an imac now.

 

[bryphotoguy]

Good choice. I picked up my 20" refurb for $1250 with tax. It works amazingly well. I installed bootcamp and XP and ran NFS Carbon at almost full setting flawlessly.
I think you can pick up a 17" for $899 or something.
Good luck!
Bryan