I am driving myself crazy. I own a 1GHz G4 iMac, looking to upgrade this summer. Cannot decide between the two machines in the thread title. The former has portablilty going for it, but a hell of a price tag and a slower processor (and slower, smaller drive)...the latter is much faster (only 200 mhz faster, but FSB is blazing), larger faster HDD, and bigger screen, but no portability. Ima college student, so portability is key..... and I am a power user, so the G5 will definitely be noticed. How well of a performer is the 1.67 G4? How easy is it to detach the screen of the imac?? Help.....
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17" PB G4 or 20" iMac G5?!?!
- Thread starter supafly1703
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Value and use.
Well, if you're in college, you've got massive portability issues.
If I *had* to choose between desktop and portable in your situation, I'd go portable. The ability to work on things away from the confines of a computer desk will more than make up for the speed increase allowed by the G5. As far as productivity, I think it will even out in real-world use.
If you could get a 12 inch iBook and a 17 inch iMac for the same price as a 17 inch Powerbook, you get the best of both. Hell, I'm considering that as an option now that I've thought about it....
$949 Educational for a 12 inch 1.2Ghz iBook, 256MB (upgrade this yourself later), 30Gig HD, 32MB video (you'll be relying on the iMac for the heavy stuff, so this is less important than it would be if you were buying only a laptop).
$1399 Educational for a 17 inch 2Ghz iMac, 512MB, 160GB HD, 128MB video.
Total, pre-tax = $2348
vs.
$2399 Educational for a 1.67Ghz Powerbook, 512MB, 100GB HD, 128MB video.
Total, pre-tax = $2399
For a student who wants portability *and* a higher-end computing experience, the iBook/iMac combo looks pretty good =)
-S(n)
Well, if you're in college, you've got massive portability issues.
If I *had* to choose between desktop and portable in your situation, I'd go portable. The ability to work on things away from the confines of a computer desk will more than make up for the speed increase allowed by the G5. As far as productivity, I think it will even out in real-world use.
If you could get a 12 inch iBook and a 17 inch iMac for the same price as a 17 inch Powerbook, you get the best of both. Hell, I'm considering that as an option now that I've thought about it....
$949 Educational for a 12 inch 1.2Ghz iBook, 256MB (upgrade this yourself later), 30Gig HD, 32MB video (you'll be relying on the iMac for the heavy stuff, so this is less important than it would be if you were buying only a laptop).
$1399 Educational for a 17 inch 2Ghz iMac, 512MB, 160GB HD, 128MB video.
Total, pre-tax = $2348
vs.
$2399 Educational for a 1.67Ghz Powerbook, 512MB, 100GB HD, 128MB video.
Total, pre-tax = $2399
For a student who wants portability *and* a higher-end computing experience, the iBook/iMac combo looks pretty good =)
-S(n)
supafly1703 said:
Oh yeah.
Sell that thing and grab yourself a nice iPod, and whatever other accessories you can manage with the leftover money.
I don't think you mentioned the size of your iMac's screen, but, if it's at least a 17, it might be worth keeping.... and then I'd consider a 12 inch Powerbook for your portable needs.
But, if you've got $2400 and you're set on upgrading.... no use keeping the G4 iMac around, imho =)
-S(n)