Powermac G5 with accessories or old Macbook Pro?

[computerlucas]

Hi,

I recently came across a dual 1.8Ghz Powermac G5 on ebay. It comes with TONS of great stuff. 23" Apple cinema display (the silver ones), keyboard, mouse, Apple TV (1st gen), apple remote, a webcam, and of course the G5. apple:gasm).

I also came across an older Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro (Dual 2.2Ghz, 3 gigs of ram, I believe 120gb hd). It comes with Mountain Lion, iWork, iLife, and MS Office 2011.

Which one should I buy?

All answers appreciated,
Lucas

 

[The-Pro]

Tell us the price of both, given they are buy now.

In general the Macbook pro is quicker then the G5 just so you know.
Do you need portability? If yes then the MBP.


I myself would get the MBP anytime over the G5, although the 23" cinema display is awesome. Careful though, the first models had a colour problem where a purple tint slowly infected the entire display.

 

[alexlovesmacs]

Definitely the MacBook Pro.

 

[rusty2192]

Personally, I don't think I would get any PPC anymore, unless it is for sentimental reasons only. They are quickly becoming obsolete (if they aren't already) due to software passing them up.

 

[cocacolakid]

You're very limited already in what a Power PC Mac can run and that will only get worse (this is coming from someone who loves PPC Macs). I would only buy a PPC Mac if you're a collector or on a very tight budget and can get one cheap, like $100 max for that model. Otherwise I'd go for the MacBook in this situation, but it's a little odd that you're looking at a huge 50+ lb desktop or a 6 lb laptop. Have you considered an iMac or Mac Mini? The prices on the first few years of Intel Macs have dropped quite a bit across the board.

That PPC and the MacBook shouldn't be anywhere near the same price. That MacBook should be a 15" from 2007 if I'm not mistaken. Those are $550 at Mac Of All Trades for comparison.

In that price range if it doesn't have to be a laptop, for much more bang for your buck you could get a new Mac mini. The Core i5 and i7 CPU's run circles around the older Core 2 Duo Macs. For example, I had a 2010 Mac mini 2.4ghz C2D and the Geekbench score was around 3300, about 300 higher than the 2007 MacBook Pro you're thinking about. But the 2011 Mac mini went to a Core i5 CPU, which I sold my year old mini and upgraded to the newer one. The base 2011 mini does around 6000 on Geekbench. I know Geekbench doesn't tell the full story of how fast any computer is, but it is handy for a quick comparison for CPU power. The Mac mini Server is the actual model I have and that hits 9,000 in Geekbench, almost 3x faster than the previous year's model.

Apple will supposedly unveil new mini's on Tuesday that should have a refresh to the even faster Ivy Bridge CPU's and likely USB 3.0, for likely the same $600 entry level price that you can find for $550 regularly (and use cashback sites or credit cards to save even more).