D2.5 G5 Initial Impressions

[BWhaler]

Well, at 6 grand it is the most money I have ever spent on a computer, by a long shot, so I went into this purchase nervous that I had made a fool hearty purchase

(Purchase was 2.5Ghz, 1gig mem, 9800XT, BT, Airport, BT keyboard/mouse, 23" Display)

Impressions:

1. Installation was easy. Recognized BT mouse and keyboard relatively easily. It wasn't clear I needed to turn them on DURING the setup phase to be paired, but it didn't take long to figure it out.

2. Quiet as a church mouse 95% of the time. When the fans blow, they blow pretty hard, but it's for quick spurts of time. (I prefer this to a constant droning fan.)

3. This is the fastest machine I have ever owned. I don't do heavy duty stuff, so maybe I am exception since I bought more Mac than I need, but there is almost no latency. It's amazing.

4. 23" Display is breath-taking. I can't get over the colors and the brightness.

5. No build defects as far as I can tell. Bluetooth antenna didn't sit perfectly in it's slot, but the bluetooth seems to work really well.

I still have another gig of memory to install--keeping with the theme of this being WAAAY more Mac than I need--so I am sure it will only be faster tomorrow.

So how do I feel about spending 6 grand on a Mac? From a product perspective, it is well worth the money. This Mac is simply incredible.

From a practicality point of view, I have a little buyer's remorse. Not Apple's fault by any stretch of the imagination, more mine since I spent more than I needed to. But I suspect this feeling will pass, and I will be left with an amazing Mac which will last me and my family for years to come.

[Tiauguinho]

Very glad to hear that you only extract positive feelings about your purchase! I bought my Dual G5 2Ghz in beginning of November and I couldnt be happier with it. Im going to put a 6800 Ultra on it now, so I'll be ready for some Doom 3 action

The G5 is a very very nice machine. Specially the new 90nm chips. The Xserve Dual G5 i have here at the office is always cool and its very quiet for a server. I really notice a huge temperature difference between both computers.

Hope that you enjoy that new machine for a long time and that it never gives you problems!

[edesignuk]

Very pleased for you an your new machine...but I also hate you quite a lot

[rdowns]

Congrats! Based on your sig, may I suggest you don't take your new toy out of the house?

[BWhaler]

Originally Posted by rdowns

Congrats! Based on your sig, may I suggest you don't take your new toy out of the house?

You sound like my wife. She doesn't really understand the whole Apple passion thing, an the fact that I keep losing iPods doesn't help my cause.

[sparky76]

You have bought almost exactly the same machine I am looking at. Since (like you) I won't be using all its power all the time, I was thinking of leaving it Folding. Could you report on how noisy it is at 100% CPU load. Thanks. And congratulations on the new purchase.

[jrober]

Originally Posted by BWhaler

You sound like my wife. She doesn't really understand the whole Apple passion thing, an the fact that I keep losing iPods doesn't help my cause.

My wife too. She is insistent that we also get a Windoze PC for the house so our sons know how to operate computers in the real world. She is fearful that growing up on Mac will hold them back. I'm not sure what to say - Ideas?

P.S. Nice description of the Big G5. Has to be next on my list but travelling lots this year meant a 12" PB which is still nice and when I get home it's 23in Monitor time. mmmmmm.

[BWhaler]

Originally Posted by sparky76

You have bought almost exactly the same machine I am looking at. Since (like you) I won't be using all its power all the time, I was thinking of leaving it Folding. Could you report on how noisy it is at 100% CPU load. Thanks. And congratulations on the new purchase.

Based on my usage so far I would say:

90% of the time: Slight hum from the hard drive.
5% of the time: Mild fan noise for less than 10 seconds
5% of the time: Loud fan noise for less than 10 seconds.

When the fans are blasting, it's loud. No question about it. But I compare it my old Dell where the fans were noticeable all the time, and you could continually hear the hard drive clank and churn. It was pure noise pollution.

I am very pleased so far with the noise because for most of time, it's a quiet mechanical hum with an occasional blast of the fans to clear the heat. It's certainly not perfect, nor silent like the cube, but given the amazing CPU and graphics card power inside, it is impressive engineering, and personally speaking, I am most pleased.

[dbauer]

Originally Posted by jrober

My wife too. She is insistent that we also get a Windoze PC for the house so our sons know how to operate computers in the real world. She is fearful that growing up on Mac will hold them back. I'm not sure what to say - Ideas?

You could ask her if she wants support technicians or developers when your kids grow up. Developers make more money.

Besides, by the time they get out into the workforce there may not be a windows OS, Microsoft may have switched to a Unix base for security reasons, in which case you are going to look like a genius.

[jrober]

Nice try Dbauer. Afraid the Unix part may fall on deaf ears, for my wife maybe I'll lure her with a big monitor she is a sucker for cool looking technology.

I manage big IT product development and would not set my sons off on being developers, after the initial peak where a new language is developed in here in the West it's offshore as they say to lower wage rates. My brother in law is in development and knows to his cost.

Actually I don't care what the kids do when they grow up as long as they try their best, but I want them to be inspired so Apple it is. Still if MS are still dominant then maybe I'll get them a PC to do a bit of reverse psychology and spur them on to help those who have not yet experienced the Mac.

[BWhaler]

Latest update:

I have found the first issue (hopefully the last)

When scrolling text very quickly, the screen will ripple in the lower third. It appears to be an issue with the ATI card, and speculation is that it is a driver issue. (I hope this is the case.)

Other than that, things work very well. I can live with the ripple until a patch comes out.

[yoda13]

I feel real bad about your ripple....

I am just kidding, I hope that an update will come out for that soon that fixes your problem. That is an awesome machine and I am happy for you, even if I do need a towel to wipe away all the drooling going on at the moment.

[aplasticspork]

Originally Posted by jrober

My wife too. She is insistent that we also get a Windoze PC for the house so our sons know how to operate computers in the real world. She is fearful that growing up on Mac will hold them back. I'm not sure what to say - Ideas?

well this coming from a 15 year old who's been using macs about 99% of the time (when using a computer, not 99% of 15 years ) for his entire life: it hasn't held me back at all. i know how to use a pc (i have to use them at school now ) but using macs has never prevented me from doing anything. its probably helped because now i know how a computer should work and i can beat some sense into any pcs i come across

[Converted2Truth]

Originally Posted by jrober

My wife too. She is insistent that we also get a Windoze PC for the house so our sons know how to operate computers in the real world. She is fearful that growing up on Mac will hold them back. I'm not sure what to say - Ideas?

One thing: The user decides their own level of involvement (i'm not quoting fight club ) I have had a burning desire to take everything apart from the time i was 4yrs old. The first computer that i used was my dad's 286 with a monochrome monitor. By the time i was 8, i knew DOS like a dog knows crotch. Skipping all the details inbetween, when i first used a mac in 2001, it only took me 1 day to gain a pretty good understanding of how the macs worked. Also, if you're a computer lover and are the type that wants to learn everything, then your children will have no problem going into a PC world. It's much easier (takes less knoledge) to go from Mac -> PC than from PC -> Mac. Having said that, having a 500 peecee around to play games and to let your children learn how to do hardware debugging is always a good thing too!

[KevRC4130]

Congrats man. Sounds like you got yourself an awesome system! Even though it may be alot of Mac right now, it will pay off when your computer is good enough to work with everything and stay current for many years to come.

[invaLPsion]

Originally Posted by BWhaler

Based on my usage so far I would say:

90% of the time: Slight hum from the hard drive.
5% of the time: Mild fan noise for less than 10 seconds
5% of the time: Loud fan noise for less than 10 seconds.

When the fans are blasting, it's loud. No question about it. But I compare it my old Dell where the fans were noticeable all the time, and you could continually hear the hard drive clank and churn. It was pure noise pollution.

Good to hear. This about sums up the noise coming from my G5. I, too have the rippling problem but it is hardly noticeable. I'm happy so far. Scored a 249 on xBench...

[Grimace]

I just ordered a new 2.5Ghz yesterday + the 23" display. It is definitely expensive; upon ordering, I felt a euphoric nausea...

[Powerbook G5]

I am so jealous, but then again, I have no place to put a desktop considering my "desk" involves either my bed or my reclining sofa. If I was ever in the market for a desktop and had the money for both a machine and the display, I'd probably give my first born for the chance of getting a setup like yours.