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tri3limited

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 5, 2008
380
0
London
Hi,
I'm a FCS2 video and motion graphics editor currently constrained to a macbook and looking to go desktop. My plan is to get a 24" iMac in a few months before moving onto a Pro later on once my freelancing has paid off a bit better, just left college an'all! Motion isn't the be all and end all at the moment.

However, a friend has offered me an old iMac (PPC) with the following specs for a mere £250. Is it worth saving that towards the 24" or buying it, keeping it for a while and then eBaying it for £50 more???

Specs;
Machine Model: iMac G5 17"
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.0)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.8 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 600 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.2.2f4

Look forward to your responses!!
 

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fluidedge

macrumors 65816
Nov 1, 2007
1,365
16
price seems fair to me.

It'll be fine for cutting clips together - whether i'd want to be producing heavy graphics on it is another matter...
 

fluidedge

macrumors 65816
Nov 1, 2007
1,365
16
Odds are your Macbook is just as fast, if not faster, than that iMac. The multi-core intel chips just kill the G5's.


Lethal

good point - i missed that. The macbook will be much better than that G5. Spend the £250 on a 24" monitor instead
 

TheReef

macrumors 68000
Sep 30, 2007
1,888
167
NSW, Australia.
Here in Aus, you can snap up G5 iMacs on eBay for around $400-500 AU.

That mac will be fine for basic editing and you'll benefit from the larger screen up from your laptop, but if you already have a much faster MacBook, could you put up with the screen size for a while until you get your 24"? As the above poster said a 24" monitor may be a better idea, especially for when you get a Mac Pro, you will already have a good screen to use.

EDIT: Motion on that Mac won't be pretty. You really need at least a Radeon 9800 Pro to use it decently.
 

tri3limited

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 5, 2008
380
0
London
thanks for all of your replies! u think ill leave it then as all of the advice were the downsides i was thinking of... i think ill just keep the money for the 24" stepping stone as ive already got two 32" screens for my pc suite that i connect my macbook to, its never too happy about it tho!

Thanks everyone!
 
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