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Strategic Buying

-hh

-hh

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 17, 2001
2,550
336
NJ Highlands, Earth
Okay, its time for me to roll over and finally get some new hardware.

I'm looking for a general purpose web applicance, but I do want some horsepower for importing & manipulating photographs in Photoshop. My wife also wants me to convert our old Wedding VHS tape, which I figure can be done on iMovie and a TBD adaptor. FWIW, I have absolutely NO need or interest in high framerate shoot-em-up games.

My current hardware is a heavily upgraded 8500 (400Mhz G4, ~256M RAM, dual 9GB SCSI80's), and the external peripherals that I care about include: CD-R (SCSI), Nikon LS-1000 film scanner (SCSI), a medium format color printer (USB), and a flatbed scanner (USB). Connection to the outside world is a 56K modem, as my local DSL prices & services still aren't up to snuff.

My current thoughts are a 17" iMac, or a Dual 1GHz PowerMac.

I also have a ton of legacy stuff that I know is going to have to eventually go, so I'm looking at at least a Firewire-SCSI bridge. My bigger question is the issues behind supporting this stuff with Native OS 9 vs. running X and the Emulated OS 9. What's the real deal here?

I'd really rather not buy "trailing edge of technology" hardware, unless the implications are that I should really buy something that can still boot into OS 9. Its pretty much "now or never" for that issue.


Similarly, should I really be looking more at upgrading to a firewire-based scanner as a bigger effective performance contributor than worrying about the difference between a single 800Mhz G4 vs. Dual 1Ghz?

Your thoughts...



-hh
 
Mr. Anderson

Mr. Anderson

Moderator emeritus
Nov 1, 2001
22,568
6
VA
That's making the assumption that there will be specials on the obsolete, comes with OS9 systems. There will most likely be a push before MWSF that will provide you with some deals - so you might want to wait until after Xmas and see what happens. But if OS9 compatiblity is important, buy before the switch.

D
 
P

Pentium Killer

macrumors member
Apr 10, 2002
39
0
Berlin
I think you will still get enough Macs that run Os 9 in January,they will not all be sold in all shops....and they will sure be cheaper than those that will come out in January
 
-hh

-hh

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 17, 2001
2,550
336
NJ Highlands, Earth
OS9 compatibility

Originally posted by dukestreet
That's making the assumption that there will be specials on the obsolete, comes with OS9 systems. There will most likely be a push before MWSF that will provide you with some deals - so you might want to wait until after Xmas and see what happens. But if OS9 compatiblity is important, buy before the switch.

D
Click to expand...

True enough. Question is - - how do I figure out which App's will be "broken" under Emulated OS9?

For example, is there a website list somewhere, or general rule(s) of thumb?


-hh
 
T

thegrayrace

macrumors newbie
Sep 9, 2002
10
6
California
Re: OS9 compatibility

Originally posted by -hh


True enough. Question is - - how do I figure out which App's will be "broken" under Emulated OS9?

For example, is there a website list somewhere, or general rule(s) of thumb?


-hh
Click to expand...

The general rule of thumb is that if the software interfaces with added peripherals (external scanner, external CD-R, internal PCI cards, etc.) it will not function under Classic properly. The software will run, but it won't be able to access the hardware. That's why a lot of audio and video guys are stuck in OS 9.x, the software they use relies on PCI cards which can't be used within Classic.

In your situation, the only problem would be your slide scanner, and I know how expensive those damn things are, not something you want to run out and replace. For your external SCSI CD-RW, you could use Toast 5.x and a FireWire/SCSI adapter, though that wouldn't be necessary as the systems you mentioned all have CD-RW capabilities.

I'd guess the reason you're debating between the 17" iMac and the 1GHz DP rather than the 867GHz DP is because you want the CD-RW/DVD-R, so in that case you have to decide this:

17" iMac is $500 cheaper, plus it comes with the 17" flat display.

1GHz DP is more expandable/upgradable, has a slightly better video card (which as you have no interest in 3D games you shouldn't care about), and is going to be about twice as fast in OS X being a dual processor, but in OS 9.x you'll only see advantages in applications written to take advantage of the second processor.

If you were going to get a 1GHz DP, you'll also have to get a display. If you were set on an Apple 17" flat display, that's another $999. Maybe you don't mind using your current monitor, though, and that would save you the added expense.

Judging by your 8500, it seems like you might be the type to want to upgrade your machine down the road, and while the optical drive, hard drive, and RAM in the iMac are pretty standard, the processor is on the logic board and is not upgradable, nor can you add PCI cards as new technologies become standard (USB 2.0, the next version of FireWire, whatever).

I'd go for the 1GHz DP, but only because I'm big on upgrading my machines and adding in extra hard drives, PCI cards, and so forth. If you doubt you'll want to upgrade your machine, go for the iMac, unless the added processor power is really important to you.
 
-hh

-hh

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 17, 2001
2,550
336
NJ Highlands, Earth
Re: Re: OS9 compatibility

Originally posted by thegrayrace


In your situation, the only problem would be your slide scanner, and I know how expensive those damn things are, not something you want to run out and replace.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Nikon has stated that they're not going to be providing drivers for OS9, so I was stuck at OS 8.6. I did find (through MacRumors) that a couple of 3rd parties have a Photoshop Plug-in that I installed, so it now is working under OS9. I'm just not sure if going to X is going to "re-break" things.




I'd guess the reason you're debating between the 17" iMac and the 1GHz DP rather than the 867GHz DP is because you want the CD-RW/DVD-R, so in that case you have to decide this:

17" iMac is $500 cheaper, plus it comes with the 17" flat display.

1GHz DP is more expandable/upgradable...and is going to be about twice as fast in OS X being a dual processor...

If you were going to get a 1GHz DP, you'll also have to get a display. If you were set on an Apple 17" flat display, that's another $999. Maybe you don't mind using your current monitor, though, and that would save you the added expense.
Click to expand...

Yes, my thoughts were to recycle my existing 17" CRT if I were to go with the 1GHz DP. I'd also make it a point to have a SuperDriver on either.


Judging by your 8500, it seems like you might be the type to want to upgrade your machine down the road...
Click to expand...

Anyone who finds disassembling an 8500 to be "not all that hard" can handle any Mac upgrade :)


I'd go for the 1GHz DP, but only because I'm big on upgrading my machines and adding in extra hard drives, PCI cards, and so forth. If you doubt you'll want to upgrade your machine, go for the iMac, unless the added processor power is really important to you.
Click to expand...

If I pick up something that can be upgraded, I'll eventually do so (FWIW, my 8500 currently has 3 hard drives in it ... yes, I know that the chasis technically only is supposed to support 2). But I am getting tired of "mucking" around with the hardware, and getting distracted from doing what I should (like maintaining my webpages). To that end, I'm even toying a little bit with the idea of considering a TiBook instead of a desktop. That way, I could do some "work" in the TV room - that way, my wife doesn't feel abandoned :D


-hh
 
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