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Is This a Good Deal For a Powermac?

It's a single 1.6 with a combo-drive, no DVD-burning with this model.

Why not try and get a refurb machine from Apple instead?
It may be more fully featured...
 
• Apple Power Mac G5 1.6GHz Desktop Computer with DVD-R/CD-RW

That DVD-R is a combo drive. If it was a super drive then it would be a DVD-RW. However, it will burn CDs...

Are you a student? You can get an edu discount from Apple.
 
Ummm, you can get an imac for 1,199 with a 17" lcd and a 1.6ghz g5, all you lose is the DVD-R...

Or you can buy an iMac mini for $600, fyi the iMac mini 1.42ghz is probablly nearly as fast as the 1.6ghz G5.
 
i'm pretty sure it is an superdrive,,, if you look at the description it even states superdrive,, yes i am a student but even with the discount this price is still cheaper.
 
i like the expandibility of the powermac,, i have a 20 inch imac g5 right now that i am looking to trade in for a powermac.
 
allexsimmons said:
i'm pretty sure it is an superdrive,,, if you look at the description it even states superdrive,, yes i am a student but even with the discount this price is still cheaper.
Click to expand...

OK, you are right. However, the decription should read DVD-RW...

Sorry 🙂 😱

After checking here it confirms this and gives you the other spec... although as some others have suggested, what about an iMac?
 
The Combo drive is a CD-RW/DVD-ROM,
- that is read only DVD, no DVD writing (neither -R nor -RW).

The Superdrive is the only Apple DVD burner.
 
Keep in mind this looks like it does not have an Apple warranty. So very possible you would not get AppleCare as an after thought even.
 
CanadaRAM said:
The Combo drive is a CD-RW/DVD-ROM,
- that is read only DVD, no DVD writing (neither -R nor -RW).

The Superdrive is the only Apple DVD burner.
Click to expand...

Given the number of newbies to this thread, could someone post info on external DVDR drives that would be compatible with iDVD. Too lazy to do the search myself. Figured someone knew off the top of their head.
 
Yup, that's a pretty good deal. In fact it almost makes me want to get one instead of the iMac I have been looking after... of course I would have to use my crappy 19" CRT for at least another year before I could afford a new monitor 🙁 .

If Apple's refurb store had any single cpu G5s ever, I'm not sure how they would compare in price to this. I also wonder about the warranty you can buy that is listed on the page...

Rob
 
Chip NoVaMac said:
Given the number of newbies to this thread, could someone post info on external DVDR drives that would be compatible with iDVD. Too lazy to do the search myself. Figured someone knew off the top of their head.
Click to expand...
Go to http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/ for a list of people's experiances with after market drives. If nothing else, there's always PatchBurn.
 
solvs said:
Go to http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/ for a list of people's experiances with after market drives. If nothing else, there's always PatchBurn.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. But I remember seeing here reports on external DVDR drives that were iDVD compatible. Newbies might be put off by PatchBurn, and looking for a more direct alternative.
 
honestly

I would spend at least 1999 and get a dual proc powermac instead of trying to scrape the bottom of the price barrel.

But that is just my choosey opinion.
 
IMO, a dual 1.25ghz or 1.42ghz G4 Powermac would be better for you then a 1.6ghz G5 powermac.
 
is there really any downside to getting this? I called apple and they said i could get applecare for this. Also is there any way to get the internal bluetooth module that is bto for apple (any place online that sell them)?
 
If you like the system, then go for it. No downside that I can see, except for the internal Bluetooth. You have to get it BTO or not at all. There are no external ways of getting installed as it is integrated on to the motherboard. You can however get the USB Bluetooth dongle that just plugs in the back of the system for about 40 bucks and works just the same.

Good luck!
 
i don't know if this is relevant...but i was reading some web page a few days ago that put all the different macs (emac, imac, mini mac, imac g5, powermac) in a benchmark showdown. and the interesting thing that came out of it was how well the mini held it's own against the g5.

even more interesting was how crappy the i/o performance was on the g5. the guy mentioned his friend, an apple engineer, said the io controller is crippled (compared to the g4) to get the memory-hungry g5 to work.

now i don't know the specifics but the odd thing is the benchmarks validated this because the emac-g4 had the best IO performance of all the macs. well except for a raid-0 powermac setup. but that isn't really fair because you can parallelize requests across both disks and not a fair comparison. and the mini didn't fair so well because apple put a 4300rpm laptop drive (instead of the typical 7200 found in the emac/etc)

this is just too bad. i have always fancied getting a DP2.0 pmac, but now i think it is a waste of money. why not just get a mini and save yourself the money? sure the processor is slow, but 99/100 you aren't waiting on the processor. you are waiting on io. memory, disk, etc. less is more.

but take this with a grain of salt because i am not sure if the crippled io controller only affects the imac-g5 or if it also hoses the pmac-g5. but according to the xbench stuff the g4 machines aren't that dreadful in comparison to the g5 machines. they even beat them in a few of the benchmarks that require heavy io. (read most interesting apps)

so i think i am changing my tune. i am going for the cheaper g4 hardware. why keep dumping money for bleeding edge hardware that may or may not be better? (sorry if this is whole is off-topic) of course i could be completely wrong...

jaromski
 
Chip NoVaMac said:
Thanks for the link. But I remember seeing here reports on external DVDR drives that were iDVD compatible. Newbies might be put off by PatchBurn, and looking for a more direct alternative.
Click to expand...
Maybe, but now iDVD can burn to disk image, and Disk Burn can burn it to an external drive. It may not be the most convenient or easy way, but it does work.
 
jadam said:
Ummm, you can get an imac for 1,199 with a 17" lcd and a 1.6ghz g5, all you lose is the DVD-R...

Or you can buy an iMac mini for $600, fyi the iMac mini 1.42ghz is probablly nearly as fast as the 1.6ghz G5.
Click to expand...

Just to point out that the PM 1.6ghz has an 800mhz FSB vs the iMacs 533mhz, a slight difference. Also, most people's complaitns about the iMac focus around the crappy, non upgradable GPU, and with this system, you may have a crappy GPU but at least you can replace it.

Also, as for the comments about the benchmarks of all the Macs, I just don't trust XBench to be accurate at all when comparing machines with different processors. Yes, it's an accurate way to compare machines of similar architecture, but for comparing a G5 to a G$ system, for example, I don't think it's very effective.

Example, in Xbench tests, the CPU score for the 1.42ghz mini is as good or better than an iMac G5. However if you look at some realworld tests, like Cinebench or MPEG4 video conversion, the G5 stomps on the SP G4 systems. It really is pretty clear, imo, that XBench is pretty inaccurate when it comes to G5 vs G4 comparisons.

I will freely admit that some (all?) of the G5s have a issues with disk IO operations. Maybe this is a problem with the IO controller, or maybe it's a software issue and future upgrades will improve it. Hard to say as I am not an Apple engineer.

All that said, for all around performace/price, you can't beat the mini...

Rob
 
mrgreen4242 said:
Just to point out that the PM 1.6ghz has an 800mhz FSB vs the iMacs 533mhz, a slight difference. Also, most people's complaitns about the iMac focus around the crappy, non upgradable GPU, and with this system, you may have a crappy GPU but at least you can replace it.

Also, as for the comments about the benchmarks of all the Macs, I just don't trust XBench to be accurate at all when comparing machines with different processors. Yes, it's an accurate way to compare machines of similar architecture, but for comparing a G5 to a G$ system, for example, I don't think it's very effective.

Example, in Xbench tests, the CPU score for the 1.42ghz mini is as good or better than an iMac G5. However if you look at some realworld tests, like Cinebench or MPEG4 video conversion, the G5 stomps on the SP G4 systems. It really is pretty clear, imo, that XBench is pretty inaccurate when it comes to G5 vs G4 comparisons.

I will freely admit that some (all?) of the G5s have a issues with disk IO operations. Maybe this is a problem with the IO controller, or maybe it's a software issue and future upgrades will improve it. Hard to say as I am not an Apple engineer.

All that said, for all around performace/price, you can't beat the mini...

Rob
Click to expand...


Yeah even if the benchmarks are 50% BS (which may be conservative) it still poses an interesting picture of the situation. I mean it just reinforces common sense where you have a product at any given moment that hits the sweet spot for price vs. performance. But the high-end machines you always pay a premium to have the latest gear. This IO controller debacle has to do with how the thing is implemented in hardware so I am sure they could come up with drivers over time to wring every last drop of performance out of it, but still it sucks. Especially when you pay top dollar for something, you have the right to be demanding. Living on the bleeding edge. Plus even with the faster FSB factored in the G5 still gets hosed. The new controller must really suck.

If I was doing something along the lines of photoshop or final cut pro then of course you would want a G5 machine. Don't even bother with gaming. Get a X86 machine if consoles aren't enough. I guess my argument is short of that, it is all about having the shiniest new toy, a status symbol. Doesn't mean I don't want one, but being practical about it, the pmac isn't worth it. It's the emperor's new clothes.

JaromSki
 
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