quote:
Originally posted by Vincent:
Hey everyone,
I'm considering purchasing a G4 system to ease my way into the Mac platform but cost is a big issue for me, so I'm considering the new iMac. Most of my work will be in Dreamweaver MX and Photoshop 7 and I'll pretty much be using my XP machines for all other day-to-day computing and gaming. My question is, would the 700Mhz iMac have enough power for running those applications more effectively than my Athlon 1800+ system and if so, would it be possible for me to use dual monitors on it, or hook up an external VGA monitor?
Thanks in advance!
If you call the apple store, they can answer all these questions. They are real cool and don't act like salesmen, they just tell you the facts and help you work out what you want.
In any case, I would have to say that mearly using OSX and a Mac is a total boon to any graphics developer. PS 7 screems on my friends dual g4 500Mhz under OS X as it does under my dual 800Mhz.
If you want to be a true power user about it I would go with a low-end tower if not only for expandability. I had an iMac 233Mhz in my day, and while a nice computer, I wont ever own one again. I splurged and got the dual 8 and life has never been better
I don't wanna slam the new iMac's tho. I know a girl over here in my school that does all of her webdevelopment and desktop publishing on one of them and her productivity is just as good as anyone else.
It's OSX. The thing is so stable, and so efficient that even that old 233Mhz iMac of mine has become a totaly functional webserver with only a nominal upgrade to the ram!
So ya, it can handle it
I belive you can also attach and external VGA monitor.
Anyway...
I would suggest getting an older model tower. If you are a student apple will give you a discount on one of those machines. You may be able to snag a more powerfull, more expandable tower, for about the same price as an iMac.
Also, check outpost, MacMall, and MacWarehouse, they offten have real good deals. Don't forget about eBay and online auctions, they rock! I have gotten some very cheep computers from there. You could also check uBid.
If you do buy a Mac from the Apple store, here are some tips.
Don't buy ram from Apple. Get it from somewhere else, as Apple overcharges bigtime. I was able to get a full gig of ram for about 60 bucks, from corsair memory and it has a lifetime warenty!
Don't splurge on an LCD monitor. Apple's prices are as good as anyone elses for these, and they have some of the best around, but the fact is they are WAY WAY expensive. If you have a CRT laying around or buy a cheep one it's a btter deal. I got a Mitsubishi Dimond Plus for about 200, it's 17" amd suits my purposes nicely.
So ya. A Mac in general will stomp all over a PC when using graphics apps. It will stomp all over a PC when that PC is running windoze
But anyway, go with a tower if you can get a good price on one. A dual 500Mhz tower is just as good and more upgradable as one of the new iMacs. Hell, it's just as good as my dual 8 to some extent. And a tower will last you a whole lot longer.
Oh... and that dual 500 g4 is a monster. Don't let the clock speed fool you, remember, this is a RISC processor. It's capable of running nearly three times it's clockspeed when compared to x86 SISC chips.
Have fun!