friend on budget...older PPC G5 or new Mini?

[contoursvt]

I have a friend who currently has a G4 mac mini (1.2Ghz I think) and she does design work.The computer is pretty slow for her and she's thinking about buying a newer machine but is on somewhat of a budget. I'm sure she'd like a new Mac Pro but of course that can be pricey.

She has the chance to buy a dual 2.5Ghz G5 but I was trying to talk her out of it because its liquid cooled and I think its probably best to avoid that just incase she ends up being one of the ones that gets a leaking Mac down the road. I suggested an older dual G5 like a dual 2.0 if she wants a tower...

I also suggested a new Mac Mini as I'm sure for processing power, it would be faster than even the dual 2.0 or dual 2.5. Only thing she might need to do is to get an external HD for data storage.

So if it was you guys and you were on a budget, what would you do? Older PPC tower or newer Mini? Shes already got keyboard, mouse and monitor which I believe is a 20" flat panel.

 

[NewbieNerd]

If she just needs a good fast computer for the money, the Mac Mini hands down. In the PowerMac's corner are lots of RAM, multiple internal drives, PCI(x)(e) expansion, FW800, non-Universal apps.

 

[Techguy172]

Honestly I would take the G5 over the Mini any Day i mean she is using Power PC right now and has no problem so mine as well stick with it unless she wants to save up and get intel. I say Go G5.

 

[deathshrub]

If she has a G5 and Applecare and the liquid cooling fails she will likely get a brand new Mac Pro as a replacement. Keep in mind, I'm not telling you to do anything illegal. Just that if she gets a G5, and it fails in the future, she will get an equivalent machine as a replacement from Apple. There are some stories on these very forums of such an occurrence when the G5s liquid cooling fails and borks the machine.

 

[RedDragon870503]

Tell her to sell her peripherals and get a refurb iMac. Best of both worlds...

 

[contoursvt]

Ok now if she does want a G5 but the machine does not have any applecare, should she avoid the liquid cooled ones then?

 

[Jonny427]

Ok now if she does want a G5 but the machine does not have any applecare, should she avoid the liquid cooled ones then?

Like the plague...

 

[iMan G5]

Go for the mini. I wouldn't touch that G5 with a 100 foot poll.

 

[Techguy172]

Ok now if she does want a G5 but the machine does not have any applecare, should she avoid the liquid cooled ones then?

This is really up to her. Remember not all of them are bad.

 

[heatmiser]

I'd get the mini. Smaller, far easier to setup, consumes much less power, and (oh yeah), way faster. Face it -- the G5's a dinosaur. Evolve.

 

[Techguy172]

I'd get the mini. Smaller, far easier to setup, consumes much less power, and (oh yeah), way faster. Face it -- the G5's a dinosaur. Evolve.

I don't even know if it's faster gotta remember the G5 has Four.

 

[FF_productions]

I'd get the mini. Smaller, far easier to setup, consumes much less power, and (oh yeah), way faster. Face it -- the G5's a dinosaur. Evolve.

Wait a minute there mister.

The Dual Core 2.3 G5's and the Quad G5's are still very competitive machines, hell most of the Dual G5's are still competitors these days.

The Mac Mini has a laptop hard drive inside and a crappy video card. That's the 2 disadvantages I have found with the Mini.

EDIT-Nevermind.

 

[contoursvt]

Ok I've been talking to my friend and she's going to wait another year and hopefully get a refurb Mac Pro (quad core) for a half decent price or maybe one slightly used. I feel more comfortable with this idea as well

 

[0007776]

Ok I've been talking to my friend and she's going to wait another year and hopefully get a refurb Mac Pro (quad core) for a half decent price or maybe one slightly used. I feel more comfortable with this idea as well

That is probably a good idea since the G5 has no applecare on it.

 

[Jonny427]

Come end of January there might be a good number of used 2.66 mac pros on the market, see what the prices are then.

 

[Consultant]

Ok I've been talking to my friend and she's going to wait another year and hopefully get a refurb Mac Pro (quad core) for a half decent price or maybe one slightly used. I feel more comfortable with this idea as well

Well depends on how much she gets paid for job, and how much time she spend rendering or waiting for something.

You know she can get a refurb 17" intel iMac 2.0 Core 2 Duo around $900?

 

[ckurowic]

I'd get the mini. Smaller, far easier to setup, consumes much less power, and (oh yeah), way faster. Face it -- the G5's a dinosaur. Evolve.

Not everyone has the cash laying around to upgrade. The USER defines obsolete. If your computer still does what it was originally implemented to do, then it is not obsolete. To someone else maybe it is. I've got a 1.6GHz G5 (and I am currently on my G4 DP 450), both of which serve me well to this day. So please, don't dog on any Mac, they all still have their uses.