Need help picking out a Mac

[Lil Chillbil]

My dads friend is finaly looking to buy a computer. He doesn't know the first thing about what he needs so I offered to help him pick it out. I mainly agreed to do it because I bought the Power Mac G5 right out from under him before he could get his offer together and I kinda felt bad. He wants one that is pretty cheap and he wants A LOT of power even though all he will do is check his email and read blogs. He also can't see that good so he wants a screen that is BIG not small. So no laptops but he still wants his computer to have wi-fi via airport. so he can use it in the kitchen of his small apartment.
and his budget for his computeer is $350 total

So to recap his computer must
*Be Powerful
*Have a Big screen
*Have Airport
*Be under $350

 

[Intell]

A 20" G4 iMac fits that. For a bit more than the iMac, a dual G5 and a big screen would work as well.

 

[Aameiel]

A 20" G4 iMac fits that. For a bit more than the iMac, a dual G5 and a big screen would work as well.

THIS ^^^ imac would be his best bet

 

[zen.state]

If it were me I would go with a dual 1.25 or 1.42 MDD and a good third party 24" LCD. Both can easily be had for 350 and it would have a lot more punch than any iMac G4 along with an even bigger screen.

Aesthetics can only do so much for a person. Real world function will be much better on a dual MDD. I prefer earlier G4 towers but they require a lot more upgrading to get up to speed so an MDD is the best choice for that budget.

 

[Lil Chillbil]

Yeah I think i'll just get him the last update to the mdd max out the ram and put the best graphics card for it I think its the Radeon 9800.

 

[GermanyChris]

Man thanks for the valiant effort to keep the PowerPC forum up on the list..

Give him his G5 back, and have him spend his money on a monitor

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If it were me I would go with a dual 1.25 or 1.42 MDD and a good third party 24" LCD. Both can easily be had for 350 and it would have a lot more punch than any iMac G4 along with an even bigger screen.

Aesthetics can only do so much for a person. Real world function will be much better on a dual MDD. I prefer earlier G4 towers but they require a lot more upgrading to get up to speed so an MDD is the best choice for that budget.

I need to buy you a beer you are possibly more acidic and cynical than I am not to mention your time out time is equal to mine..

I have to go back to the states in May of next year to Ft. Belvoir. Are you any where ear that area?

 

[Ariii]

If you can, see if you can get him a PowerPC XServe. They still have pretty good specs and can be used as a PC. With a nice external display, it could be a good setup.

 

[Intell]

If you can, see if you can get him a PowerPC XServe. They still have pretty good specs and can be used as a PC. With a nice external display, it could be a good setup.

Those are very loud and power hungry. Not something a home user would want to use as a general computing device.

 

[zen.state]

Those are very loud and power hungry. Not something a home user would want to use as a general computing device.

I used to be allergic to fan noise myself but years ago I accepted it as an important part of the computing experience since it keeps the hardware alive. Computers are really silent when dead from inferior cooling and airflow for the sake of design and picky ears.

As for "home users".. I'm one and embrace fan noise as the ally of healthy hardware.

White noise of any type in a room will help block out outdoor neighborhood noises.

 

[Goftrey]

I would recommend either a dual 1.25 or 1.42 MDD (as others have said) or maybe a dual 1.8 or 2.0 G5 as they are really on the cheap these days. You can fit double the RAM in there - you get 'native' USB2, so no need for a PCI card. You get native SATA hard drives (again, no need for a PCI SATA controller) & overall your getting a quicker machine.

 

[drorpheus]

Xserves are loud, but the G5 Xserves only use 400W power supplies, so they're not too power hungry.

The early 2005 G5 Dual 2.0 and Dual 2.3 both use 460W power supplies, so they use less power than the higher end G5's that used 600W, the late 2005's use 710W and 1KW power supplies. I think current MacPro's have 960W power supplies and the iMac's use 310W.

 

[Ariii]

Those are very loud and power hungry. Not something a home user would want to use as a general computing device.

The power consumption of the G4 XServes are less than that of the PoiwerMac G5, so a G4 might still work. I'm not sure about the fan noise though.

 

[Lil Chillbil]

thanks for all of the advice everyone but it just ocourred to me that a mac mini may just fit the build perfect
its got 1.25ghz G4
1gb or ram
40gb 5400rpm hard drive
dvd-rom drive

I know where I can buy one for $100 dollars with a third party monitor

 

[Ariii]

thanks for all of the advice everyone but it just ocourred to me that a mac mini may just fit the build perfect
its got 1.25ghz G4
1gb or ram
40gb 5400rpm hard drive
dvd-rom drive

I know where I can buy one for $100 dollars with a third party monitor

A Mac Mini is suitable for many people, but just be aware that it won't really provide that much power. I'd say the performance is probably comparable to one of the later iBook G4's, except it's a desktop, of course. If you can, try to find a Mac with a 7448 upgrade, some people sell them for a surprisingly cheap amount. I've recently seen a 7448-upgraded Cube go on eBay for around $200.

 

[Zeke D]

Check out cowboom.com. 17" core duo for $300.

 

[VanneDC]

I wouldent recommend any g4 at all. Minimum g5 imAc.

 

[zen.state]

I wouldent recommend any g4 at all. Minimum g5 imAc.

You just recommended the most unreliable Mac ever made. Well done.

 

[VanneDC]

Your right, minimum dual 1.8g5 pm.

 

[Davy.Shalom]

I wouldent recommend any g4 at all. Minimum g5 imAc.

...No

I would recommend an early generation mac mini with an intel processor, but if you're going to go the PowerPC route here are the best options:

1) MDD dual 1.42 = these are hard to find for under $100 but it happens. Check out eBay
2) MDD dual 1.25 = these are more common and can easily be had for under $100. The remaining money can be spent on a nice monitor.
3) G5 dual processor 2.3 = most reliable G5 power mac made according to repair records. Make sure it's the dual processor model and not the dual core. I own a dual core 2.3, and it has done well. However, I wouldn't suggest taking a chance unless you get a very good price.

>>If you do find a G5 with the LCS be wary..they often leak.<<

 

[wobegong]

I love my G5 don't get me wrong but why dump your PPC fetish on your Dad when he's explicitly said 'Powerful'?

Go with an early Intel Mini not just because of the speed but also because he will be able to run pretty much anything at all on it. It's fine for you and I to enjoy poking around for PPC tools and hacks/methods around restrictions (like fooling OSX into thinking Flash 10 is Flash 11 eg.) but does your Dad really want that? (Depending which PPC you get him I'm sure you'd also not rather explain to him why he can't even view HD Youtube/flash files when given a cheap early Intel Mini he would

P.S. - Would a PM (G4 or G5) be that practical for use in "the Kitchen of his small apartment" ?

 

[TacticalDesire]

Honestly, I would go with a PC. Try explaining the limitations of a PPC machine to someone who knows next to nothing about computers. Maybe one day, he'll want to install a simple game or program and he won't be able to because his machine doesn't support it. Then what happens when flash 10.1 stops working and he can't view the content for a lot of sites. Yes flash is a pain and yes it's become slightly less relevant but it's still a HUGE part of the internet. Then he'll question why he bought a $350 computer that can't do "X". Don't go there. Leave the PPC machines for the geeks. Windows 7 is an extremely user friendly OS and You're guaranteed support until 2020 at the earliest.

 

[Lil Chillbil]

mabye i'll just get him a first generation macbook pro running snow leopard
and use it in clamshell mode with a 26" monitor

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A Mac Mini is suitable for many people, but just be aware that it won't really provide that much power. I'd say the performance is probably comparable to one of the later iBook G4's, except it's a desktop, of course. If you can, try to find a Mac with a 7448 upgrade, some people sell them for a surprisingly cheap amount. I've recently seen a 7448-upgraded Cube go on eBay for around $200.

and it basicly is a desktop made from laptop parts from that era so it makes sense that a g4 mac mini 1.25ghz would have the same performance or less from a 1.33ghz ibook g4

 

[Macman756]

How about a cheap G4 Mini? Simple

 

[Lil Chillbil]

So to recap what our viable options are so far
G4 imac
g4 mdd
g5 Power Mac
g5 imac
g4 mini
intel 1st gen mac mini
1st gen macbook pro
intel macbook
1st gen intel imac
Any other ideas are welcome
and by the way we just raised the budget to $400

 

[Intell]

I'm changing my suggestion to a 2007 Mac Mini or an Intell iMac. They are cheap, run well, have power, and can run more modern things. The best might be a mid-2007 Aluminmum iMac. That way he can run Mountain Lion if he so chooses to. The 20" ones are starting to get rather cheap, being 5 years old.