Buying the last of the MDDs

[snooziums]

Well, I just ordered the last of the G4 MDD models. They are on clearance from the Apple Store. I was also able to get an educational college discount.

I thought I would buy one before they are gone forever. I needed a Mac with PCI slots, so that was only the MDD or G5. And the G5 is way beyond my price range, so I went with the MDD G4.

My current computer is a Power Computing Power Tower Pro upgraded with an 450 MHz G4 processor replacement. However, because the system bus runs at 50 MHz, and there are no AGP slots, it ran rather slow compared to what the MDD should be (I think).

My current computer really was not that slow to me, in fact, it worked fine. However, it cannot run Mac OS 10.3, nor can it use AGP video cards, needed for many new programs.

So.... any thoughts on what I should expect when I get my MDD? Do you think that it will be able to last me for quite a while? (I had my current computer for many years).

 

[MrJohnson]

Well, I just ordered the last of the G4 MDD models. They are on clearance from the Apple Store. I was also able to get an educational college discount.

I thought I would buy one before they are gone forever. I needed a Mac with PCI slots, so that was only the MDD or G5. And the G5 is way beyond my price range, so I went with the MDD G4.

My current computer is a Power Computing Power Tower Pro upgraded with an 450 MHz G4 processor replacement. However, because the system bus runs at 50 MHz, and there are no AGP slots, it ran rather slow compared to what the MDD should be (I think).

My current computer really was not that slow to me, in fact, it worked fine. However, it cannot run Mac OS 10.3, nor can it use AGP video cards, needed for many new programs.

So.... any thoughts on what I should expect when I get my MDD? Do you think that it will be able to last me for quite a while? (I had my current computer for many years).

I don't know a lot about thoes because I've never owned one but when I looked into building my own I discovered they were VERY upgradable. If you improvise your own cooling you could buy a dual 1.4Ghz Upgrade chip later and easily overclock it to 1.5Ghz. It should last you for a while unless steve desides rolling out a 64-bit only OS. I don't think he will though so it'll be ok.

 

[Duff-Man]

Duff-Man says...you have not really said what you are using the computer for...so I will assume it is for the usual college stuff - some word processing, internet surfing, maybe some iTunes music playing/sharing. That being the case, I think you can get many a good year out of the G4 still...adding RAM etc helps it out even more. You'll notice a nice improvement from the old one you've been using...enjoy....oh yeah!

 

[jimsowden]

As a point of interest, I wouldn't but any machine now that can't run motion.

 

[MacsRgr8]

As a point of interest, I wouldn't but any machine now that can't run motion.

So get a Radeon 9800 in it.

I own a Dual 1.25 GHz (FW-800 2003 model, so not exactly the same as yours), and put 1.5 GB RAM in, and the Retail Radeon 9800 Pro.... and it is a gr8 machine!
Compared to my original G4 500 (1 GB RAM, Radeon 8500) it is a superbeast!

You'll be happy with it!

Like Duff-Man said (oh yeah!) it depends on what you do.
Straight of the box (Radeon 9000) it is absolutely fast enough for the "college stuff" as previously described.
If you're out to play Doom 3, well I assume it will run but with settings low. All the Pro-apps will run pretty decently with the exeption of Motion where you'll be needing a Radeon 9700 (OEM) or 9800 (Retail) to make it run.

I can recommend at least 512 MB of RAM, which Mac OS X happily consumes, making the overal experience of your Mac a nicer / faster one.

Hev fun!

 

[snooziums]

What do I plan to do with it? Since a lot asked....

I plan to do the basic college stuff, writing documents, storing addresses, Internet, email, listening to music (okay, so that one is not college related), and running encyclopedias & reference books on DVDs.

However, I also do a lot of CAD drawing, which requires a lot of graphics requirements as well as memory requirements. Because if this, I also extra internal hard drives and optical drives (I already have these), plus PCI slots.

So, since I needed a computer that had PCI slots and drive expandability, I thought that the MDD G4 was the way to go, since the iMac and eMac have no expandability whatsoever, and cannot drive large CRTs. And the G5 is just a bit out of my price range and has less expandability that the G4 tower.

My last computer lasted be for many years, however it was upgraded from a 604 to a G4, and had its memory, hard drives, and video cards upgraded. However, it lasted me for many fine years, and I still love it.

So hopefully this new MDD computer will last me for several years into the future and I can come to love it as well.

P.S. My current setup (not the new one that is comming) is in my sig below.

 

[Macmaniac]

The MDD is actually a great value, its a shame that Apple does not sell an expandable machine like it at that price. If it was a low end G5 and had the same price and upgradability then Apple would have a true midrange machine.

 

[snooziums]

Well, I received my MDD computer yesterday, and I must say that I am quite impressed.

I was afraid that it would look weird like it does in the pictures. It looks like some shiny egg in the pictures. However, when I saw the computer in person, it did not look that odd or "roundish" that I was afraid it would. (remember, computers are supposed to be boxes).

It was also rather quiet. I had heard of the MDD G4s making lots of noise. However, mine was very quiet, even quieter than my other upgraded G4.

The case also seems to be surprising well built. Feels thick for more durability and sound insulation.

However, my favorite part was the expandability. Since my previous computer was a Power Computing Power Tower Pro (9500 clone), I wanted lots of expandability.

And although not quite as much as my other computer, this one still has five slots (including the AGP one), space for four internal hard drives, and two optical drives.

Altogether a really built and expandable machine. And for less than $1,200, new with warranty.

So, I really like this new computer. Another example of solid Apple engineering.

Hopefully, like my last computer lasted me for many years, this one will also be good to me for several years to come.