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RC23

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 21, 2003
21
0
I've been messing around with the G4's at my local CompUSA.. and I do like them, its just.. How can they possibly charge 2k for a single 1ghz powerpc, with 256ram and geforce4 MX!!??

When I have a P4 2.6Ghz Hyper Threading, 512DDRam, Radeon 9500 system with a 19inch LCD samsung moniter for a total of 1450 lined up at newegg.com :]

anyway, im just wondering if anyone knows where to get a good deal on a (atleast dual 1ghz) system for around 1500. Or.. should i just wait for the powerpc 970's? (even though those will probably be 7k when they release)
 

Catfish_Man

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2001
2,579
2
Portland, OR
They won't be 7k, but they will be somewhere in the 1500-4000 range (judging by past history). Anyway, iirc, the single 1GHz is $1400 not $2000, but it's still too expensive.
 

iJon

macrumors 604
Feb 7, 2002
6,586
229
ok i see your point, not a stong one but ok. what do you want to do with your computer?

iJon
 

RC23

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 21, 2003
21
0
video editing, and gaming.. you may say oh dont buy a apple for gaming but, I know the big ones will be ported.

anyway, mostly for video editing, and I dont see how that system could be better for editing compared to a 2.6ghz ht
 

tazo

macrumors 68040
Re: Want to make the switch but..

Originally posted by RC23
I've been messing around with the G4's at my local CompUSA.. and I do like them, its just.. How can they possibly charge 2k for a single 1ghz powerpc, with 256ram and geforce4 MX!!??

When I have a P4 2.6Ghz Hyper Threading, 512DDRam, Radeon 9500 system with a 19inch LCD samsung moniter for a total of 1450 lined up at newegg.com :]

anyway, im just wondering if anyone knows where to get a good deal on a (atleast dual 1ghz) system for around 1500. Or.. should i just wait for the powerpc 970's? (even though those will probably be 7k when they release)

a single 1ghz is 1499. where do u get 2000?
 

Freg3000

macrumors 68000
Sep 22, 2002
1,914
0
New York
Originally posted by RC23
oh, Im lookin for a Dual 1ghz

Yeah, the dual is definetly a better buu than the single 1 GHz. If you want, look into the Dual 867 MHz, which could be bought for about $1500.

Then again, you really should wait a month to see what happens at WWDC.
 

RC23

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 21, 2003
21
0
yea.. at this point I would hate to see myself buying a g4 then have the new ones come out a month later for the same price :eek:
 

patrick0brien

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2002
3,246
9
The West Loop
Originally posted by RC23
anyway, mostly for video editing, and I dont see how that system could be better for editing compared to a 2.6ghz ht

-RC23

I've been over this in other threads ad-nauseum about this particular subject. This is going to be short in length, but I'll try to just state facts.

Actually, there are a lot more things to digital Nonlinear video editing that just clock speed.

There are many reasons why Macs have historicaly been more ecpensive than their PC counterparts - too many to go into herev (Quality of parts, quality of engineering, Total Cost of Ownership, etc.)

One interesting thing, since January's Macworld, Macs are actually being found to be cheaper when one does an "allthings considered" financial analysis - I've seen several articles on this.

But to your base statement quoted above. The wintel world does indeed have the equipment available to it to match a Mac with Final Cut Pro quality for quality - this is true.

However, in the Wintel world, you'd have to spend upwards of $25,000 to do it. And you'd still have the inherent stability issues - unless you bought the system specifically to do NL editing. That means without Office, Games, or anything else.

On a $1,400 Mac, + $1,000 for FCP you could still have your Games and play them too. So how can that Mac system be better for editing compared to a 2.6ghz? That Mac system is far better. It's designed with that in mind.

One further thing, if you wish to add full, professional DVD creation, you'd spend $13,000 for the Wintel equivalent to what DVD Studio Pro could do for $500.

Yes, you spend more upfront with a Mac, but far less on the back end - and they tend to last longer.

I woulnd't be surprised if you feel rankled by what I said here. It does sound rather unbeleivable. However, the facts and research do exist out there and are readily readable.

To be fair, I wouldn't have beleived me either (about the NL editors comparisons) if I heard this before I became a member of ChiFCPUG.
 

tazo

macrumors 68040
I have always wondered about that Patty,

when a mac user is like, it would cost 13000-25000 to do that in the pc world, what does that mean? What makes like a 2000 dollar pc go up to 25 grand? :) any insight would be greatly appreciated.
 

RC23

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 21, 2003
21
0
thats very true.. and i've noticed that.. At this point though i'm curious if i should wiat for the 970's or what.. something that i see happening in the future is G4's going waaay down when those come out
 

patrick0brien

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2002
3,246
9
The West Loop
Originally posted by tazo
I have always wondered about that Patty,

when a mac user is like, it would cost 13000-25000 to do that in the pc world, what does that mean? What makes like a 2000 dollar pc go up to 25 grand? :) any insight would be greatly appreciated.

-Taz

Oy. You had to go there. :D

Well, it has to do with the parts you'd have to buy. And the software. The best comparable to FCP in the Wintel world is Avid, and the full version of that is - OOPS!

Guess what? I just looked up the price of the comparable system in Avid, and I was wrong! (comparing HD capabilities) $25,000 would be a deal! "Avid DS Nitris systems and $78,995 USMSRP"

Is what is listed on the site. Granted, this includes a lot of proprietary hadware, HDs, conduits, and others.

In this regard one of the reasons why the Mac-based system is cheaper is that the hardware HDs, Firewire, and other main equipment is based on industry standards.

For a better answer, I'd go to http://www.chifcpug.org and email Gary or another board member, they could describ it so much better - they're far more experienced than I in using this stuff.
 

LethalWolfe

macrumors G3
Jan 11, 2002
9,370
124
Los Angeles
patrick0brien has the right idea (although your numbers are a bit wrong the right idea is there). There is more, much much more, to an NLE (non linear editor) than clock/render speedh. Honestly, clock speed will always take a back seat to software. Long of the short of it there is nothing, on Mac or PC, that can currently touch the price/performance ratio you get w/FCP. An HD ready FCP rig would probably cost around 15k+ (not including a deck), but that is still at lot less than an Avid HD rig.

And I strongly suggest looking at a dual proc machine for editing because FCP/E is geared towards having 2 procs and FCP 4 will be even more optimized for dual proc machines.


Lethal
 

RC23

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 21, 2003
21
0
yea.. buying a mac of any form would be a waste right now, these 970's are gonna drop the price a lot i bet.
 

iJon

macrumors 604
Feb 7, 2002
6,586
229
Originally posted by RC23
yea.. buying a mac of any form would be a waste right now, these 970's are gonna drop the price a lot i bet.
100 -200 at the most. i wouldnt get to excitied.

iJon
 

tazo

macrumors 68040
Originally posted by iJon
100 -200 at the most. i wouldnt get to excitied.

iJon

Very true, I think that as a reference point someone should look to the ipod for this 'price drop'. From 500 dollars for the old twenty gig ipod, to now 225 or so for the old tewnty gig ipod. Now I would not expect current powermacs to drop by fifty percent, but like iJon stated, only a 100-200 dollar price drop.


tazo
 

patrick0brien

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2002
3,246
9
The West Loop
Originally posted by RC23
yea.. buying a mac of any form would be a waste right now, these 970's are gonna drop the price a lot i bet.

-RC23

It's true the price will fall, but what I'm interested is the price/performance.

Methinks we are in for a very pleasant surprise when they hit. It's not just the processors that are killer... (Oh, and they're smaller too)

And to tie up a few loose ends.

-Lethalwolfe

Yes, the prices are a littel arguable, and thank you for the clarification. However, 15K for an HD (Hi-Def, I just realized that one could take the HD in my last post as HardDrive) may be true with FCP 3, but 4 is right around the bend and it's wicked. Honestly, I haven't had my jaw dropped like that since the Cube, and I'm used to a certain level of 'wow' from Apple.

The point I was trying to make, and I think I was successful, is that performance to performance, production quality to production quality, feature to feature, FCP on a Mac dusts everyone else. (and I'm not one for extreme wording like that, that says something) Here's a truly Pro system that you could conceivable have at home!

BTW- latest stats are that FCP is now the widest install base NLE in the world. (That's from news organizations, not Apple.) You can't even get an editing job at CNN unless you are FCP trained, for example.

-Taz

Avid on Kazaa? Well, maybe Express (~$5k), but if you were to find a full pro workstation software it wouldn't be runnable because you'd need the hardware. :D
 

RC23

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 21, 2003
21
0
well, if the 970's come out before i get a system in a month or so.. im def. interested..

although i've pumped up a PC to
2.8Ghz HT 800mhz Fsb
120Gig 7200rpm 8mb Cache
Radeon 9700 Pro
2x 512XMS Crosair DDR Ram
Turtle Cruz Soundcard
19" DynaFlat Samsung CRT Monitor


for for $1600

still.. I want FCP though..
 
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