Decisions... help needed!

[deadfrog]

Hi,

Basically im a graphic design student and am considering a new purchase on the mac front.... I currently have a dual 550 powermac with 768MB of ram with a rage 128pro.... Have been real happy with it and aint looked back since i made the switch from the horrid home made pc thing....

I have been looking at either the Ibook 12" with 768MB ram (cheapish), or powerbook 15" 1.5GHZ with 1GB ram and ati 9700 128mb (very expensive and would have to last me ages), Imac G5 17" with 1GB ram (either of them) and finally the powermac G5 1.8 / 2 Ghz with 1GB ram (also very expensive but i know this would last and can be upgraded).... So basically have been looking all over the place and dont know what to do...

I have a 20" CRT so wont necessarily need a screen, and portability although would be good is not essential as im in my 2nd year and will be spending more time at home apparently although the computers at uni last year were crap. Programme wise, i use photoshop cs alot, quark 4.1 (cos the uni aint updated yet as far as i know), illustrator cs, a little cinema 4d... other than that just the usual word processing stuff...

anyhow, sorry have ranted enough, would be gratefull to hear what people would suggest as am really uming and arrrrrrring...

 

[davegoody]

Go for the iMac

Bearing in mind that you have been satisfied up 'til now with the DP G4 you currently have the G5 iMac will be VERY significantly quicker. I sold my G4 iMac a week before the G5 one was launched (for more than the replacement would cost !!!) - as I currently have a 17" PB 1.5. So long as you do not need the high-end features and the Portability the G5 iMac is a good compromise - I just want to see one in the flesh before I spend my hard-earned cash on it - in some ways it is a step backward from the G4 (in my opinion anyway) - but only from an industrial design standpoint, the extra speed etc of the new processor and system bus makes all that forgivable in a commercial environment.

Hope this helps - and if you can stretch to it, get the 20" model - that way you can dump your CRT and build a spare bedroom in the space it used to take up !

 

[dieselg4]

I wouldn't even consider the iBook for alot of photoshop work, and unless you're constantly minimzing your palettes - 1024x768 is painful for Photoshop after you've gotten sued to anything larger.

Both the Powerbook 15 and the 17" iMac have letterbox displays, which is great for photoshop. you can place all your palettes of to the sides and have a nice square work area. Also, Photoshop isn't a rendering program nor does it have a 3D element to it, so I don't think you'd get much mileage of of the upgraded video card.

Unless you think you'll have a problem with color accuracy with an LCD, I'd get the iMac.

 

[deadfrog]

thanks for the input, am swaying towards the new imac, seems real good value for money.... if i did need to take it into uni on accasion, dont think it would be too much hassle anyhow, someone used to take his old imac g4 into uni and i even have the bonus of having a car park permit....

think a 1GB ram would be enough for me.

You are 100% right about the 20" CRT he is a monster and would take up 90% of my room! wonder how much i could get for it.... hp A4033 i think...

 

[BakedBeans]

i think the imac g5 will be a great investment... you muct get the 1.8 of course, infact i would go for the 20inch its a great deal and has loads of power... then when you get a job you can just go out and get a dual 4ghz g6

 

[dongmin]

I wouldn't even consider the iBook for alot of photoshop work, and unless you're constantly minimzing your palettes - 1024x768 is painful for Photoshop after you've gotten sued to anything larger.

Not really an issue, actually, since he can span with the 21" monitor using a hack. Works great on my iBook.

Since you already have a monitor and portability is not a big deal, I'd consider getting the low-end G5 Power Mac. You'd get the most CPU power for the buck. With one gig RAM (bought from 3rd party), you'd spending about $1950 plus tax and shipping.

A 17" iMac with 1 gig of ram would set you back $1350. That's a heck of a deal. I'd wait to see some photoshop benchmarks on this model. If it's anywhere near the dual 1.8 ghz PM, I'd get it. But if it only comes to about half (considering that it has only one processor and a slower bus), get the PM.

 

[crazzyeddie]

For price and your needs, i would say iMac

 

[jrv3034]

Based on your needs, I'd say iMac G5, but get the 20". Photoshop loves screen real-estate. That, or the 15" PowerBook, but the iMac will be much faster.