Is this a Good Deal on a Power Mac?

I've been wondering the same, only for me it's a dual 800 at $900.

Re: Is this a Good Deal on a Power Mac?

Originally posted by djtet
Smalldog electronics is offering this refurbished machine...

"G4/1GhzDP 256/80/Superdrive/Radeon9000/56K OS 9 bootable Mirror Door
Condition: factory refurbished, 1 year factory warr
Part Number: 2/APPF8689
Platform: Mac
Price: 1399.00"

Is this a good deal? I'm still trying to decide what machine to buy (dual 1gz, dual 1.25 single G5 1.6). I should have some freelance projects upcoming and then should be able to purchase. I need a new machine for basics, plus photoshop, illustrator, dreamweaver and flash...no video or audio. Is this dual 1gz mirrordoor model really old? should be only a year ago, right? since the dual 1.25 is $1599, is this a good deal at $200 less???
Please help again...thanks!

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For your needs you might not even need a G4. Photoshop yes, but if you aren't doing any video the necessities of a G4 lessen.

Are you sure you need Mac OS 9 booting? All those programs are available on Mac OS X bootable machines. The dual 1.25 Ghz is probably the best deal in towers however, you won't be able to upgrade the processor much further. I wouldn't even bother with the 1.6 Ghz G5 since it lacks PCI-X slots and only upgrades to 4 GB of RAM. The 1.8 Ghz G5 has most everything you need and more, and if you want the real advantages of the G5, you get the dual processor G5. Whatever you get, it probably will be more machine than you need.

http://www.macprices.com/

is a good place to start shopping. And don't forget many of these places offer 6 months same as cash, including Apple now.

Oops. Single processor, dual display. Also, the macprices.com list of "D1 GHz" is filled with single-processor 1 GHz models. I don't think they put too much effort into their list.

No.

$300 more gets you brand new dual 1.25 GHz. Go to http://www.macmall.com and get 512MB more RAM for $39.99 installed.

You get 25% more proc power for 21% more money. Plus it is new 1.25, not refurb 1.00

IMO, YMMV of course.

Re: Re: Is this a Good Deal on a Power Mac?

Originally posted by gopher
For your needs you might not even need a G4. Photoshop yes, but if you aren't doing any video the necessities of a G4 lessen.

Are you sure you need Mac OS 9 booting? All those programs are available on Mac OS X bootable machines. The dual 1.25 Ghz is probably the best deal in towers however, you won't be able to upgrade the processor much further. I wouldn't even bother with the 1.6 Ghz G5 since it lacks PCI-X slots and only upgrades to 4 GB of RAM. The 1.8 Ghz G5 has most everything you need and more, and if you want the real advantages of the G5, you get the dual processor G5. Whatever you get, it probably will be more machine than you need.

http://www.macprices.com/

is a good place to start shopping. And don't forget many of these places offer 6 months same as cash, including Apple now.

Click to expand...

I don't understand. If he isn't doing audio or video then he doesn't need a G4. Ok, I'll buy that. But then you say don't get the 1.6 G5 because it only has 4 GB of ram? If you aren't doing video, who needs 4 GB of ram?

With that said, I totally agree with your final recommendation. Any machine djtet gets will please him behind his wildest dreams, so it doesn't really matter. I'd personally go for the 1.6 G5, and then for the dual 1.25. The Dual 1 GHz machine is great (I have it myself) but I don't think it would be the best option at this time.

Good Luck.