Advice on G5 purchase.

[Koodauw]

I am looking into getting a G5. I would love a G5 PB, but they are to much of a rumor at this point for me to consider one. This leaves me with the PM and iMac.

Let me start out by saying that I do not like the looks of the iMac. (well its not bad, but I prefer the look of the PM/studio display better) The 17'' iMac is at a good price, but its not what I really want.

That said, there is the low end PM and the DP 1.8ghz PM (refurb) that I am considering. (and a cinema display.) I hear that the 1.8 SP has a different processor than the 1.8 DP. The SP is the same as the iMac has from what I understand. Is this correct? and can anyone point out any other differences between the SP 1.8 ghz and the DP 1.8ghz? Also, how does performance compare between the two?

If it is infact the same processor in the PM as in the iMac, is there any advantage to getting the PM over the iMac? It will cost about twice as much, granted I would get a 20'' cinema display vs. a 17'', but I dont really need the extra space.

So bottom line I guess, what do you think? 1.8 iMac G5, 1.8 SP PM + cinema, or 1.8 DP PM + cinema. Is the aditional cost worth the performance increase in each case? I will just be doing basic stuff. Internet,email,iApps, and light Photoshop.

[maya]

I am looking into getting a G5. I would love a G5 PB, but they are to much of a rumor at this point for me to consider one. This leaves me with the PM and iMac.

Let me start out by saying that I do not like the looks of the iMac. (well its not bad, but I prefer the look of the PM/studio display better) The 17'' iMac is at a good price, but its not what I really want.

That said, there is the low end PM and the DP 1.8ghz PM (refurb) that I am considering. (and a cinema display.) I hear that the 1.8 SP has a different processor than the 1.8 DP. The SP is the same as the iMac has from what I understand. Is this correct? and can anyone point out any other differences between the SP 1.8 ghz and the DP 1.8ghz? Also, how does performance compare between the two?

If it is infact the same processor in the PM as in the iMac, is there any advantage to getting the PM over the iMac? It will cost about twice as much, granted I would get a 20'' cinema display vs. a 17'', but I dont really need the extra space.

So bottom line I guess, what do you think? 1.8 iMac G5, 1.8 SP PM + cinema, or 1.8 DP PM + cinema. Is the aditional cost worth the performance increase in each case? I will just be doing basic stuff. Internet,email,iApps, and light Photoshop.

For your needs or what you are going to do I would recommend the iMac G5 20 inch.

However that said you have already said you hate the way it looks so it all comes down to price.

The SP 1.8 PMG5 is pretty much the same system as the iMac G5 1.8 GHz:

Front Side Bus is same 600MHz
Ram is the same PC 3200, except iMac has a max of 2Gig and the PMG5 SP has a 4Gig max

The PMG5 SP has more variety of ports and a faster 8x SuperDrive the iMac has a 4x Super drive and few ports than the PMG5 SP.

PMG5 SP is more expandable than the iMac. Can add 2 20 inch displays for even larger work space.

Other than that is all falls upon design of the machine.

If you have the money go with the 20 inch Cinema Display with PMG5 SP 1.8GHz or you can buy another DVI lcd display by another company and save even more money.

[cubist]

I got a 1.6 refurb for $1395, and I hear you can get 1.8 single refurbs in that price range now. The advantage of the PM over the iMac is the 1/2 bus rather than 1/3. The disadvantage is you need a monitor (but any monitor will work) and the machines are very large. I went from a Cube to this monster. That being said, the machine is incredibly fast - it feels much faster than the Cube ever did - things launch instantly.

The 1.8 machines have had a lot of changes. Some have some less attractive features; but I'm sure any of them will be faster than any of the G5 iMacs. A dual-processor makes Mac OS X much more fluid. The real question is whether you have the space and money. Apple's monitors don't seem a good deal to me, but you can use almost any third-party monitor (either SVGA or DVI).