Is this a good deal? v.PowerMac G5

[Edwin124]

there's a PowerMac G5 for sale here locally and was wondering if it was a good deal, what do you guys think? the guy wants $950.00

here's the description:

Reconditioned PowerMac G5 that has been used in a professional, clean, smoke free environment.
Dual 2.7 ghz G5 Processors 3 GB RAM
500 GB Hard Drive (Startup Drive) This drive is only a year or so old!
250 GB extra Hard Drive. Can be used for Time Machine backup or as a storage drive.
SuperDrive(burn DVDs and CDs)
ATI RADEON 9650 GRAPHICS CARD 256mb (DUAL DVI MONITOR SUPPORT)
ETHERNET/FIREWIRE 400 and 800/USB
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard installed and fully updated.
Running iLife and iWork '09!

 

[aibo]

No, it's not a good deal even ignoring the fact that all liquid-cooled G5's are ticking time bombs ready to leak coolant into the PSU and fry everything.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Personally, I'd get a brand new Mac Mini. A 2.26GHz Mac Mini at $749 + 4GB RAM at $67.98 + 500GB 7200rpm Seagate drive at $149.99 would get you a newer, faster system for $966.97. Throw in $20 or so for a cheapo USB external case from eBay for the internal 2.5" HD and you're laughing.

Such a setup would come to $986.97 and admittedly that's $37 odd more than you're looking at spending so far but you'd have:

Pros:

A faster machine.
More RAM.
Arguably better graphics.
Far more compact design.
Far quieter machine.
Definitely a genuine Leopard and iLife licenses (with disks).
1 year warranty.
Intel processor so will be fully supported by Apple for significantly longer.
Can run Boot Camp / Fusion and other general Intel only Mac software.
Second drive portable for easy data transfer.
Can be used with Apple's 24" screen and probably any future display from Apple.

Equals:

Same startup hard drive space.
Superdrive.
Dual monitor support.
Ethernet and Firewire etc.
Basically equal upgradability since you can't replace the processor or graphics card in the G5 any more anyway.

Cons:
Only a 120GB external hard drive instead of the ancient and likely close to failure 250gb drive.
No iWork preinstalled.
To use second monitor a mini display port adapter may be needed.
$37 more expensive.

Think about it.

 

[fernkorn]

Do yourself a favour and get (as suggested before) a new Mac Mini or an new iMac.
Even if they are a little more expensive, they'd own that G5 not only in computing power but also in terms of energy efficiency. Not to mention that nobody knows if the G5s will be supported in 10.6.
However, if you want to subsidize your electricity supplier - go with the G5.

 

[Willis]

No, seriously... get a Mac Mini

 

[jnc]

Another vote for the Mini. PowerPCs days are up

 

[leavingwave]

That's not a good deal if you're buying from a private party with no warranty. haggle down to $750 or $800 if you can.. if he doesn't go for it.. consider a mac mini.

 

[ChemiosMurphy]

PPC's are slow and old. New code is going to be Intel only soon, so just get the mini. And the G5 Quad's are notorious for leaking. Don't plunk out money for a flood just waiting to zap everything.

 

[Dr.Pants]

Well, my two cents on the issue is that it is not worth it. If you need a machine that that is a macintosh (not a hackintosh), you need expansion ports for RAID/additional displays/ what have you, and have a need for an insane amount of RAM, go for it. Otherwise you are better off with the Mini. I got my G5 for its options involving expandability using PCIe ports, since I want to use RAID and may someday use it for RISC OSes and/or just keep it as a backup workstation. In fact, whenever I upgrade I will probably mod the damn thing so it uses air cooling.... [/tangent]

Only if you seriously need expansion and stay Apple and needed on-the-cheap, I would say the PowerMac. If you are not going to use fast I/Os that require eSATA of what-have-you, I would use the Mini over anything else for the reasons the above members have typed.

 

[300D]

PPC's are slow and old.

That is false information.

The dual 2.7 IS a fast machine but it is also liquid cooled, a time bomb. $950 is too much money for too much of a risk.

 

[tekboi]

great thread. I was looking into buying an old G5 myself. The g4 mdd i'm running now is a dinosaur. I'm heavily into graphic design and music composition and need something that will keep up with me and my growing demand for power. I can't even edit a video on this piece of crap i'm working with now.