Imac Or What

[boogieman]

I have a Powerbook G4 1.33 1gig of ram. I am currently looking to buy a imac 17inch g5. Will I notice a big diff in stuff I do for example dvd buring. Video editing. Small gaming nothing too fancey. Or should I just hold off for a while and get a dual 3.0 when they come out in the powermacs. Anyone that has a new imac please let me know how u like it and comparisons.

 

[JasonL]

I find it odd that you will buy either an iMac or the next uber-Power Mac. If you are even considering an iMac I can only assume that you definitely have no need for a Dual 3.0 G5.

I think the new iMacs have the 8x SD whereas the PB only has a 4x SD. That would make a difference in addition to having a more powerful processor.

I guess people are going to need to know how serious you are into video editing and what software you are using to give a really appropriate recommendation. Can you elaborate exactly what you are going to do with this computer?

I'd check Barefeats for specific benchmarks. Some things the iMac really isn't much better than your PB at (the PB has a better GPU). Other things it does quite a bit better.

 

[boogieman]

Basic burning dvds and turing old movies into dvds(imovie to idvd) This is really for my wife I just want it to do what I need till the dual 3.0 ghz hit the market I wanted that or get her a emac but I figured that the imac would be better.

 

[Sun Baked]

If you are going to be doing a lot of buring, you may want the more traditional slot loading burner in the PowerMac -- since it would be easier to upgrade if you so wish.

The slot loaders "can" have trouble with CD/DVDs if they deviate from the norm in thickness and/or size (which is a nasty no-no on the odd size/shape CDs) -- especially when turned on the side -- and are harder to find upgrade replacements for, since you're stuck with the more expensive mechanism.

The SP PowerMac 1.8 is a headless-iMac in design...

So you're swapping a LCD screen for a more traditional burner, upgradeable video card, more memory slots, and a spot for a 2nd drive.

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If you plan on keeping the machine the PowerMac isn't too bad a deal (since you'll be able to upgrade it and keep it fresh a bit longer), if you plan on selling it to make the upgrade -- it probably won't matter which machine you get.