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Dual 1.42 Ghz Power Mac
- Thread starter dhdave
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I ordered it a week after they announced it... and Im on it right now. Been a couple of months now with it and COULD NOT BE HAPPIER with it. What did I upgrade from? nothing at least never had a mac before, last computer was a HP (w/ windows xp). Im assumming youve heard all the rumors of the 970 possibly comming out within the next few months, well I also knew about the possible of it comming out this summer but the reason I still ordered this computer was that relized I couldnt wait that much longer because of all the work I had to get done and am still doing. The 970 may end up being a lot faster but cant possible make up for the time for the past few months all the work Ive been getting done and Im willing to bet this computer will definitly be able to handle all new programs I need for the next 2 years at least. So basically my advice would be if you need to start work NOW then get it you will not be dissapointed but if you can wait then wait.
_edit_ oh ya forgot to mention if you need to know anything else just ask...
_edit_ oh ya forgot to mention if you need to know anything else just ask...
Hi,
I had a Dual 533 G4 before - which I was satisfied with - but I got a good deal on the new Dual 1.42 - so I "switched"
Generally it feels much faster than the dual 533. It rips MP3s 30x the speed for example. When launching programs - like explorer - you don't have to wait - the program is just there.
I haven't really been working with demanding applications - but fortytwo rips dvd's to avi's in about 3 hours total - SVCDs takes a bit longer - like 5-6 hours.
One note - I ordered with GeForce 4MX 64 MB Vram and had a Radeon 9000 64 MB-card that I was planning to use. After testing both cards I didn't notice any big difference...as a matter of fact - often the Geforce-card was faster!! So I would order with the GeForce-card! or anyone of the high-end cards...
I had a Dual 533 G4 before - which I was satisfied with - but I got a good deal on the new Dual 1.42 - so I "switched"
Generally it feels much faster than the dual 533. It rips MP3s 30x the speed for example. When launching programs - like explorer - you don't have to wait - the program is just there.
I haven't really been working with demanding applications - but fortytwo rips dvd's to avi's in about 3 hours total - SVCDs takes a bit longer - like 5-6 hours.
One note - I ordered with GeForce 4MX 64 MB Vram and had a Radeon 9000 64 MB-card that I was planning to use. After testing both cards I didn't notice any big difference...as a matter of fact - often the Geforce-card was faster!! So I would order with the GeForce-card! or anyone of the high-end cards...
you rip your cds at 30x? is that like the max youve ever gotten to or average? Ive ripped over 100 of my cds so far with this computer in the past month and the average speed ripping them I would say is 15x (accually when its at 15x Im happy because it dips below that a lot) but is there something Im missing here? It cant be that Im using other programs that would slow it down that much.. normally only on ichat or something realy slow like that when ripping cds.
ripping cds depends on both the drive speed and processor speed. the computer needs to first read the information and then encode it into mp3, taking up quite a hefty bit of system resources.
It also depends on the compression settings. I know at that I get a max of 30x on my Dual/GHz/DDR with 320KB/s MP3s reading off of my 40x/12x/40x internal Lite-On drive.
30x ripping? WOW! I never really realized how processor dependent this process is until I had to step down from my 600MHz iBook back to my old PowerBook 3400. On my iBook I typically got about 4x ripping speeds. The couple of CDs I've ripped on my 3400, I've only got an average of 0.6x. Boy, that hurt. I stopped ripping, and decided to wait until I get my new 15" PowerBook before doing any more ripping.
Thanks for the replys folks. I've been avidly reading the 970 info and rumors. Still, I would be SHOCKED, I mean like fall -out-of-my-chair shocked, if Apple released a 970 powered machine at WWDC. I'm betting more in the September to December time frame. Still I will probably wait until early July anyway, just in case. I am definitely NOT waiting until fall. My current machine is unfortunately an 800mhz pIII. My son's 15" iMac is faster. So the dual 1.42 MDD will be blindingly fast from my perspective. (Oh and that 23" cinema display won't hurt either )
--dh
)--dh
Originally posted by dhdave
Thanks for the replys folks. I've been avidly reading the 970 info and rumors. Still, I would be SHOCKED, I mean like fall -out-of-my-chair shocked, if Apple released a 970 powered machine at WWDC. I'm betting more in the September to December time frame. Still I will probably wait until early July anyway, just in case. I am definitely NOT waiting until fall. My current machine is unfortunately an 800mhz pIII. My son's 15" iMac is faster. So the dual 1.42 MDD will be blindingly fast from my perspective. (Oh and that 23" cinema display won't hurt either
--dh
I'm puzzled by people, like yourself, who are so doubtful of the possibility of a WWDC release of 970. I am not saying, mind you, that I think it's definite. But I am saying that I find it a clear possibility that seems quite possible and reasonable to me. Is there something that you could point to as to why you would be so 'SHOCKED' to see the 970 at the WWDC?
I think we have gotten used to Motorola's inept upgrade cycles, and were shocked when they actually did release an update.
That's all. I am ready to get spoiled by frequent and shocking upgrades.
Originally posted by zarathustra
That's all. I am ready to get spoiled by frequent and shocking upgrades.
Me too.
These past few months have seen an upgrade for almost every Apple product.
If the summer is like this...**drool**
The fact that Apple in Recent history has not released a updgrade or new computer so near to when a processor finally went into production. I expect August at the soonest for a shipping 970 product.
I think that your ripping speed on the iBook and on the PowerBook are both limited by the speed of your cd drive and maybe hard drive. My old B/WG3 400 could average about 5x for rips and your iBook should be able to better that easily.
Mine was delivered last week. It has 120GB drive, 1.5ram, standard everything else. I added a FW/USB card. It's hooked to a Sony 21" Monitor. Runs 10.2.6 with every update there is.
The one thing that pleased me right off is that it's quieter than my 867 by a lot. I read about the early problems here concerning dB, but no issue.
Overall... it's damned fast. Photoshop work I do is faster by at least half. latency is knocked way back, but OSX still has that app/window opening issue that might be solved with Panther (which I will have since I have the 3-year auto upgrade for the OS)
What's bad about it? It's awesome, so nothing. Honestly, I see nothing I wouldn't want changed or improved on the machine itself.
970? I had to decide, and a bird in the hand... Besides, if the 970 is THAT much better (by at least double) and the price is right, I'll upgrade.
The one thing that pleased me right off is that it's quieter than my 867 by a lot. I read about the early problems here concerning dB, but no issue.
Overall... it's damned fast. Photoshop work I do is faster by at least half. latency is knocked way back, but OSX still has that app/window opening issue that might be solved with Panther (which I will have since I have the 3-year auto upgrade for the OS)
What's bad about it? It's awesome, so nothing. Honestly, I see nothing I wouldn't want changed or improved on the machine itself.
970? I had to decide, and a bird in the hand... Besides, if the 970 is THAT much better (by at least double) and the price is right, I'll upgrade.
I may be mistaken, but the lead time for the 970 has been about one year. That just simply seems to me to be too short for the development required. Remember, while making adjustments to OS X they are also supposed to be increasing the bus speed and changing chipsets, etc. etc. I am not trying to be a naysayer, (naysayers say nay) I just don't think its realistic. It will be amazing if they release a new architecture before the end of this year.
--dh
Well, I don't think that my 3400 is actually limited by either. It has a brand new 40GB HD in it, and it has the 20x CD Rom module. But, despite this, it rips at 0.6x. (The fastest I've seen it rip is 1.0x, the slowest 0.2x.)
That is certainly possible I don't know what the limitations of the system architecture are on the 3400. Being an older laptop it could be that you are limited by system bus and other systems that were often much slower on laptops back then as opposed to there desktop counterparts. Also I don't know at what compression ratio you were riping at.
603e processor at 200MHz, 40MHz system bus. Ripping at 160kb/s (iTunes default).
Not that it really matters, all the discussion in the world won't speed up this computer.
Originally posted by Snowy_River
603e processor at 200MHz, 40MHz system bus. Ripping at 160kb/s (iTunes default).
Not that it really matters, all the discussion in the world won't speed up this computer.
Nope not really though as I have said ripping at a higher bit rate will yield faster rip times though if you don't have a lot of disc space that might not be an option.
Disk space isn't a major concern with the new 40GB drive in this thing. But, unfortunately, I can't sync with my iPod, anyway, so I may as well not worry about ripping anything until I get my new 15"PB. Then I'll be able to sync to my iPod again, and I'll be able to rip to AAC, and probably blazingly fast, too. Ah, I almost can't wait... (but really I can, otherwise I wouldn't be using my old 3400 right now).
Just had to get in here and mention, the 970's are in production now, the motherboards are in production, i would guess the machine is in production also. WWDC will talk about panther and the machine to run panther( the 970 ) i will guess that steve will not only show off his new baby but announce a very close date of shipping maybe as short as a couple of weeks. Yes a dual 1.42 is a nice machine but if a 1.4 single 970 matches or exceeds this then waiting for the next best thing will have big rewards. Have been thinking of upgrading my 733 but a 970 at 1.4 or better will be hard to pass up.