PowerMac G4

[atacinus]

okay, i have a question. i.m a student who needs a computer to do some heavy video lifting with Final Cut Pro....i can.t afford the G5...it.s out of the question...so i.ve settled on the older PowerMac G4...here is my question/dilema...i have to wait to be accepted to a college [sometime in january] before i can get my educational discout/educational financing from apple....i talked to a guy at the apple store, and he said he.s suprised they were even still offering the G4.s .... he then tried to stear me to the G5...i.m wondering if apple is really going to stop making the G4 before january...or if he was just trying to get me to upgrade to the machine i can.t afford......

Thanks,
Christien

 

[Doctor Q]

I don't know the answer to your specific question, but I think the answer shouldn't matter. For Final Cut Pro, you want the best processor you can afford. You have a certain budget and you'll buy the best Mac available for that price at the time of your purchase. Apple tends to keep roughly the same price points over time, so each time the Mac lineup changes, you just get more for the same price at each price point. Waiting until January will help you in two ways: you'll get the student discount and whatever you buy then is bound to be a little faster for the same money than what you'd buy today. It could be one of the current G4s with a lowered price. It could be one of the current G5s with a lowered price. And no doubt there will be newer, faster G5s with the same or higher prices. The disadvantage of waiting until January isn't that a particular model will be removed, it's simply that you won't have a Mac until then.