Looking for recommendations on a new Mac

[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!

[psyjax]

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!

[Vincent]

Hey,

Thanks for all of the advice, I beleive I will purchase a 733Mhz G4 tower from MacMall. One other question I had was, if I use my existing 19" VGA monitor, will there be any noticeable quality degridation from the conversion as I go higher with the resolution, like up to SXGA?

[psyjax]

quote:Originally posted by Vincent:
Hey,

Thanks for all of the advice, I beleive I will purchase a 733Mhz G4 tower from MacMall. One other question I had was, if I use my existing 19" VGA monitor, will there be any noticeable quality degridation from the conversion as I go higher with the resolution, like up to SXGA?

I am not sure what this means. What is SXGA? As far as I know, Mac's are compatible with all modern PC monitors. The monitor I am using now is a PC monitor. I'm not sure.

I'll do a little research and find out. But if you could explain it to me, that would also be helpfull.

The 733 is a good choice! My roomate has one. Damn fine computer. Load it up with RAM and your ready to go!

Plus, you can probably upgrade the CPU down the line if you ever feel like you need more power. Deffinetly a good buy!

EDIT:

Oh ok! SXGA is: 1280 x 1024 and above.

If your monitor support, these resolutions why would there be quality degredation?

My monitor does, and the quality dosn't suffer. Is this a problem on PC's? I have never experienced anything like this on any monitor I have used.

I'm still not quite sure I understand  

[ May 15, 2002: Message edited by: psyjax ]

[Vincent]

Ah, excellent. What I ment by quality degridation is that I was afraid some quality would be lost through the device which converts VGA interface to a Mac-compatible interface. In most analog devices such as monitors, converting the signal from one standard to another results in some degridation.

[psyjax]

quote:Originally posted by Vincent:
Ah, excellent. What I ment by quality degridation is that I was afraid some quality would be lost through the device which converts VGA interface to a Mac-compatible interface. In most analog devices such as monitors, converting the signal from one standard to another results in some degridation.

Ya, I don't think you will have a problem at all. I have never seen this, and like I said, modern Mac's are compatible with all PC monitors.

Let me know what you think of Mac's once you get your new system!

Be warned, it will be different, so don't expect to be wood by it's charms right away. But you'll get it soon enugh, after all, it's a Mac            

EDIT:

BTW, you should bookmark:

http://www.resexcellence.com/

It is an awsome source for tweaking OS X!

You are going to want to keep around OS 9 to run older software, some printer and scanner problems have occurd with my friends computer. Granted his printer and scanner are ancient! Another reason to keep around OS 9. (Keep an eye on the new OS X Jagware relese were most of these small kinks are gonna be resolved. Also, don't forget to d-load all of the OSX update patches from Apple, we are up to OS X 1.4, AutoUpdate rocks for this!)

Both OS's will prolly be installd on the same harddisk when you get your comp. Tomazimize performance you are going to want to do a clean install.

Before you start installing your software read the article on ResExcellence about creating swap partitions in OSX. It's pretty techy stuff, but well worth it, especially if you have low RAM.

After that, boot up from the OS 9 CD ( I like drive setup better than Disk Utility for OS X cuz it allows you to scale your drive to any size) and make three partitions on your drive. A small one for OS9 (this can be anything from 300MB to a several gigabits. It just depends how you plan to use OS 9 and organize your HD) finaly make one one for your swap (this size may vary, read the article).

This will wipe your hardrive clean and you are gonna have to reinstall from scratch. Don't worry, it's well worth it, and it's a quick painless install that is easy to customize.

Once you have it all set up, your in for a world of mindwarping goodness!

[ May 15, 2002: Message edited by: psyjax ]

[ravuya]

Just wanted to point out that tower Macs use the DVI and ADC digital connectors for video; I believe there is still an analog VGA port (am I wrong?)