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Dual G5 or PB 17"

tomf87

tomf87

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 10, 2003
1,052
0
Interesting situation I have on my hands. At work, I have a Compaq Evo N600c (P3 1.2Ghz, 1GB RAM, 30GB hard disk, DVD/CDRW, wireless, and 15" SXGA screen). They are talking about getting something newer for a replacement.

I am looking at either a dual G5 or a 17" PB. I like the PB for its portability and large display. I like the dual G5 for its power, storage and expansion slots.

I can't make up my mind which I would like better. To be honest, I take my current laptop home every night, and my fiancee and I split up between my iMac 17" and the notebook.

Here's the interesting part. No matter which one I get, I also get to keep my current laptop. One strong point of the G5 is that people can SSH into it and do development work, but it would be my workhorse. Of course, the PB would be nice to have as well, but they seem to get dated fairly fast compared to the Power Macs. I guess all laptops do though.

Which would you choose?
 
Normally I'd say get a PowerBook, because I love laptops. But, since you already have a laptop, go for the G5. You'll have the best of both worlds.
 
As much as I love PowerBooks, there is practically no way you can resist a dual G5 if you don't have a need for portability. They are amazing machines, seriously it's the first desktop that has made me question if I wanted to get a desktop after becoming such a laptop fan over the years.
 
Originally posted by MacAztec
I would get the G5. Dual 2.0GHz. Make sure to buy your RAM from somewhere other then Apple.
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Well, there's good and bad in that. Whichever Mac I get, I will probably go with Apple RAM. If it were my personal system, I would go with 3rd party. Simply put, by using Apple RAM, and getting AppleCare, if there's a problem with the machine, it's Apple's problem. This way I can save time trying to figure out if it's 3rd party RAM or Apple's system. It costs more, I know, but it's a safer bet for faster resolution to hardware problems if you stick with the manufacturer.

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
As much as I love PowerBooks, there is practically no way you can resist a dual G5 if you don't have a need for portability. They are amazing machines, seriously it's the first desktop that has made me question if I wanted to get a desktop after becoming such a laptop fan over the years.
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That's what I'm thinking. I love the portability of that PB, and I've wanted one for so long. However, to be able to have dual 64-bit proc's under my desk makes the PowerBook take second place. Oh, and since everyone else wants to do development on it, I'm going to request the 2 x 250GB drives (one for me and the other for the development guys), and the additional RAM (I can't decide on 2 or 4GB). I think 1GB is enough for 10.3 by itself, so I'll probably push for the 2GB.
 
Originally posted by edesignuk
G5 in a heart beat.
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Absolutely. You already have a laptop. It's time for some serious horsepower now. Cherish the moment that box arrives at your office, and make your co-workers drool as you open the lid to reveal the perfect curves of the styrofoam enclosure, the elegant "made by Apple in California" lettering, and the stunning-yet-deadly aluminum beast that is a Dual Processor Power Mac G5.

Welcome to my world.;)
 
Originally posted by tomf87
Well, there's good and bad in that. Whichever Mac I get, I will probably go with Apple RAM. If it were my personal system, I would go with 3rd party. Simply put, by using Apple RAM, and getting AppleCare, if there's a problem with the machine, it's Apple's problem. This way I can save time trying to figure out if it's 3rd party RAM or Apple's system. It costs more, I know, but it's a safer bet for faster resolution to hardware problems if you stick with the manufacturer.
Click to expand...

Heh, if you get some Crucial.com RAM, like the majority of the people here, you wouldn't have any problems. And even if there are, Crucial has excellent customer service. Just so you know, Apple doesn't make RAM, they just buy them at a volumn discount from Samsung. But hey, it's your money right? Good luck w/ the new DP G5.
 
Isn't the RAM that Apple uses for the G5 the exact same stuff that Crucial uses? It really is a waste to pay the BTO price when it is for half that from places like Crucial.
 
Originally posted by Powerbook G5
Isn't the RAM that Apple uses for the G5 the exact same stuff that Crucial uses? It really is a waste to pay the BTO price when it is for half that from places like Crucial.
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Even though it is cheaper, what happens if I get kernel panics and such? Since this is going to be a corporate machine, they'd rather pay more dollars, and have one company take it and fix it, rather than deal with two companies.

Also, I found that I've been allocated $4k for the purchase, so if I do get the G5, I won't have enough for a display. That means I'll have to use my NEC 17" CRT that's fuzzy already.
 
Originally posted by tomf87


Also, I found that I've been allocated $4k for the purchase, so if I do get the G5, I won't have enough for a display. That means I'll have to use my NEC 17" CRT that's fuzzy already.
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Oh, no! Don't do that! That's a travesty. You'd be better off getting a dual 1.8 than wasting a dual 2.0 on a crappy monitor.

Also, I noticed that to get 2 gigs of RAM using the BTO option, they force you to use two expensive 1 gig memory cards. Does anyone know if you can get 4 512s as a BTO? If you could, you could get a pretty nicely equipped dual 1.8 for under $4K.
 
Originally posted by tomf87
Also, I found that I've been allocated $4k for the purchase, so if I do get the G5, I won't have enough for a display. That means I'll have to use my NEC 17" CRT that's fuzzy already.
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Dude, get a dual 1.8. Rethink your RAM, HDD and display preferences. Getting RAM from Crucial will give you even more wiggle room. Here's my two options:
 

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Also, I believe that if you order by phonne through Apple, you can get them to give you some sort of Corporate Discount, if you're nice about it.;)
 
Originally posted by tomf87
Even though it is cheaper, what happens if I get kernel panics and such? Since this is going to be a corporate machine, they'd rather pay more dollars, and have one company take it and fix it, rather than deal with two companies.

Also, I found that I've been allocated $4k for the purchase, so if I do get the G5, I won't have enough for a display. That means I'll have to use my NEC 17" CRT that's fuzzy already.
Click to expand...

Crucial is highly respected so I would not hesitate to say that you can count on them for reliable RAM upgrades, they even supply some of the higher profile clients and many corporations use Crucial RAM in their configurations. They also has amazing customer service from what I hear, but I have never had to deal with their customer service to know from experience.
 
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