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Beed
2005-04-22, 00:40
A friend of mine just recently changed jobs and is offering me a pmac 733 qs
for about 500$ is this a good deal or should I get a mac mini 1.25 the specs on the Powermac



733mhz G4 (quicksilver)
512mb Ram 1.5 gb max
Ati Radeon 32mb
cdrw combo drive
I plan on using this computuer solely for photoshop cs is this a good buy or should i buy the mac mini my budget is 780$ including any upgrades :confused:

AresX
2005-04-22, 01:26
I'll say go for the mac mini. There are several of thouse iMacs at school (actually I think they are about 800 mhz) and they feel slower than my mac mini 1.25. Just upgrade to 512 MB at least.

Luca
2005-04-22, 01:33
Eh... it's not that great a deal. I paid about the same one year ago for a comparable system. I'd try to get it for $350 or something. If you could do that then it would definitely be worth it.

Is the optical drive a CD-RW or a Combo drive? CD-RWs will read and write only to CDs, while Combo drives will read and write CDs, and also read DVDs. Oh, and how big is the hard drive he's using? Is it a 40 GB?

The main issue with PowerMacs is that with the older models, you end up having to upgrade nearly every component to bring them in line with modern machines. The flip side is that you can upgrade anything in these PowerMacs, including the processor and video card, and you can add more RAM than the Mac mini and install multiple desktop hard drives, which are faster and cheaper than the laptop hard drive used by the mini. Basically, the PowerMac may end up costing more up front, but you can probably use it for longer than a Mac mini because of the upgrades.

But then you get into the problem that the upgrades would cost more than the computer itself. In that case you wouldn't be saving any money.

screensaver400
2005-04-22, 01:47
Lets see:
1.4ghz G4 Processor Upgrade: $339
ATI RADEON 9800 PRO MAC EDITION 128MB: $249
120GB Western Digital Caviar 'Special Edition' 8MB Cache 7200rpm: $100
Original Cost of Computer: $500
Micron 512MB PC133: $90

Total: $1278

That would be a nice machine. But for that price, why not just buy an iMac? Or a $1499 G5 PowerMac? The only advantage to this setup would be that you could upgrade as you go... Not one, huge cost.

Luca
2005-04-22, 08:04
He doesn't need a Radeon 9800 Pro. Subtract $249. And that hard drive can be had for about $20 cheaper. And if you can get the Quicksilver for $350, it would be a more reasonable deal. But still, it's not a great deal. Upgrades are better for people who already own PowerMacs, not for people buying used ones now.

Koodari
2005-04-22, 10:13
I would only get the Powermac if both

1) I was fine with that exact level of performance, and
2) if it was significantly cheaper than the mini.

In another words, I would never upgrade anything except add memory and HD to the tower. Particularly, I don't like the idea of processor upgrade for a machine that old. At $500, no question, get the mini.

Offtopic: how much HD space does that kind of Powermac have? If it supports modern ATA/133 drives, I guess it could be a good home/small office file server after you throw in a couple of big drives.

TerryG
2005-04-22, 10:25
If you wait for the Tiger OS There is a chance Apple will make 512k ram standard.
MacMall Sells the Mini for $494 with free mouse, keyboard, printer & no sales tax or shipping charge.
http://www.macmall.com/
Then you can send it off to Fast Mac
http://www.fastmac.com/ProductPage/minimax.html
& have a good 7,200 rpm HD installed for $199. For another $199 you can have a 1GB ram stick added, but it would blow your budget by $112. Go for it if you can!
Your Mac Mini could look like this on your budget.
1.25Ghz G4 with CD drive. $494.00
512k ram (if Apple makes 512k standard with Tiger)
free mouse
free printer
free keyboard
Tiger OS with iLife software.
7,200 rpm Hitachi 60GB HD $199 or 100GB 5,200 rpm drive. A new one by Seagate
will be out soon, 7,200 rpm 100GB, no word on price though.
________________________
TOTAL $693
If you are able to blow your budget by $112 you should also get the 1GB of ram option. If Apple adds more ram as standard, the price on the 1GB stick upgrade should come down making it even closer to being within your budget.
This is a fast computer on a tight budget.

Luca
2005-04-22, 10:36
$199 for 1 GB of RAM is a rip off. Other World Computing sells the same amount for $130. Granted, they don't install it, but it's not a super difficult procedure if you use the video.

Oh, and the last Mac that came with 512k of RAM standard was in 1984... I think you'll want at least a thousand times more than that today ;)

ast3r3x
2005-04-22, 10:42
Get the mini...i have one of those powermacs, and my 1.25Ghz powerbook is comparable to a mini. The mini will be significantly faster.