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PowerMac G5
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A dual 1.8 GHz G5 that a friend has is still very usable today. It's gone through some rushed collaborative iMovies and got the job done, albeit barely. Again, you'll miss out on Snow Leopard and some Intel only apps, but if you know specifically that you can run everything on a PPC limited to 10.5, go for it. If you need it for graphics related tasks, one of these will be a lot faster than an older GMA-based Mac mini, but I'm not sure about the newer 9400M models. For that, I'll take Tallest Skil's word for it.
I have a 2004 dual 2.0 G5 with 6GB of ram, new WD 640 drives, and the xt800 graphic card - running OS Tiger.
I am a moderate type of user such as yourself and find this system more than adequate for my needs. I've recently purchased CS4 and find that Photoshop works just as fast on my machine as CS2. Even some of my experiments using 500mg files were okay performance wise - although you do have to wait 30 secs for a final composite, or wait 15 seconds for such images to open in Photoshop. E-mail and internet are snappy.
However, I need to qualify my experience. I've come to my G5 from a G4 last year with all the previous software - such as Tiger - which for me is rock solid and stable. I see no need to move on from this. If you are entering the game now and wanting to get a G5, you have a very small window now to obtain all the compatible software you'll need to do what you need to do - meaning that you'll not only need the funds to buy the G5, but you'll have to be able to purchase all of your software or soon it will not be available except through 3rd parties, used on e-bay, craig's list. I'm not sure that I trust such purchases of software other than reputable dealers.
Us G5 users are at the very tail end of that software that will be written for our machines. Everything will shortly be Intel only software. That is the biggest concern with purchasing a G5 at this point in time. I have all the software I need, and you will need to decide for yourself what you need and can afford now.
Then there are the problems with obtaining decent graphic cards for your G5. It's not easy finding them. My fear at the time of purchase was having my graphic card fail, then not being able to find a replacement - rendering the system inoperable. I bought a second back up graphic card last year when they were still floating around - now is a different story - they are getting increasingly hard to find.
Again - if you have the software, and you can get one of the 8 GB ram models and max it out - and you accept that software will soon move to Intel only - and your needs are moderate - I think the G5 is great. The prices are coming down nicely and are great value if they meet your performance needs. I am continually amazed at what my G5 can still do.
Good luck with your decision.
Mike
I am a moderate type of user such as yourself and find this system more than adequate for my needs. I've recently purchased CS4 and find that Photoshop works just as fast on my machine as CS2. Even some of my experiments using 500mg files were okay performance wise - although you do have to wait 30 secs for a final composite, or wait 15 seconds for such images to open in Photoshop. E-mail and internet are snappy.
However, I need to qualify my experience. I've come to my G5 from a G4 last year with all the previous software - such as Tiger - which for me is rock solid and stable. I see no need to move on from this. If you are entering the game now and wanting to get a G5, you have a very small window now to obtain all the compatible software you'll need to do what you need to do - meaning that you'll not only need the funds to buy the G5, but you'll have to be able to purchase all of your software or soon it will not be available except through 3rd parties, used on e-bay, craig's list. I'm not sure that I trust such purchases of software other than reputable dealers.
Us G5 users are at the very tail end of that software that will be written for our machines. Everything will shortly be Intel only software. That is the biggest concern with purchasing a G5 at this point in time. I have all the software I need, and you will need to decide for yourself what you need and can afford now.
Then there are the problems with obtaining decent graphic cards for your G5. It's not easy finding them. My fear at the time of purchase was having my graphic card fail, then not being able to find a replacement - rendering the system inoperable. I bought a second back up graphic card last year when they were still floating around - now is a different story - they are getting increasingly hard to find.
Again - if you have the software, and you can get one of the 8 GB ram models and max it out - and you accept that software will soon move to Intel only - and your needs are moderate - I think the G5 is great. The prices are coming down nicely and are great value if they meet your performance needs. I am continually amazed at what my G5 can still do.
Good luck with your decision.
Mike
Pretty much any intel Mac is faster.
I sold off my G5 and got an iMac, never looked back. Save your pennies and get a Snow Leopard capable Mac.
YES the G5 is still a very usable mac today. I would say the G5 still has a few years of life left in it, and even more after that if you continue to use it after Apple quits support. If you don't think you'll need the features of Snow Leopard, and the G5 fits your price range then I don't see the problem. Yes the Mac Mini may be faster than most models of G5, but they won't hold any more RAM and single internal laptop drive are drawbacks IMO.
Kodak PhotoDesk, Fujifilm HyperUtility, for example. While there might be a future universal version of HyperUtility if Fujifilm eventually makes a new DSLR, Kodak stopped.
That's why I'm thinking about buying a PowerMac G5 for a new desktop.
If you want to buy a G5, I'd suggest the Dual-Core versions and not dual Processor. The fastest and most reliable is the DC 2.3ghz model. If you can find it for a good price say $500, then that is a good price. It will still run all current software like the Adobe suites. Leopard will also be around for years to come. Tiger has been out for how long and apps are still be written for it, not much of the better apps though but still.
Exactly. Leopard is going to be here for a while and a good G5 is pretty cheap these days. Even a quad processor model won't typically sell for much more than $750 unless its really beefed up.
The prices you've got there in the US are absolutely amazing.
Here in Germany, Quad G5 are sold at a minimum of 1200 (about 1700$).
Even the DualCore G5's were not sold under 600.
But even if the prices there in the US are extremly low, i would not get a G5.
I still have a Quad, but even my 2007 MacBook Pro with 2,4GHz runs better, however it has half the memory of the Quad and a slower harddisk.
The PPC cores are very slow compared to the Intel one's.
Here in Germany, Quad G5 are sold at a minimum of 1200 (about 1700$).
Even the DualCore G5's were not sold under 600.
But even if the prices there in the US are extremly low, i would not get a G5.
I still have a Quad, but even my 2007 MacBook Pro with 2,4GHz runs better, however it has half the memory of the Quad and a slower harddisk.
The PPC cores are very slow compared to the Intel one's.
What a completely useless response.
Depends on the Power Mac G5 you get (and price), but any of them will do what you are describing fine. We still have a single 1.6 and a dual 2.3 in heavy production use, and while they can get a little frustrating at times, they're just fine. We've been phasing out the Power Macs for iMacs.
So you go from wanting a G5 to a low-end laptop?A dual 2.3 or quad 2.5 G5 will be faster than it, especially in graphics.
Wrong. Completely wrong. A quad G5 might be a little bit faster in tasks that can actually use the 4 cores, but Adobe CS4 can't and who knows if CS5 will even run on PPC machines. A new MacBook is way faster than any dual G5.
So you go from wanting a G5 to a low-end laptop?
That may have been true for the first-gen Intel Macs, but now it's just wrong.
As you said, "Wrong. Completely wrong." Please get your facts straight.
The Quad is also faster than everything but a Mac Pro.
My quad with the Quadro card and fourteen gigs of ram is very fast.
People who tell me that a mac mini is just as fast don't do video editing...
I would stick to the 2005 machines, though.
I've owned now two 2.0 ghz dual cores, one 2.3 and two quads.
Sold the older 2.5ghz dual proc and getting a 2.7 dual proc to see what its like.
Leopard works out a lot of the kinks in the Powermac G5s, in my experience.
They did not run that great on Tiger for me. Perfect now on Leopard.
Just think, a few years ago, people actually edited feature films on Powermac G4s and early G5s.
People who tell me that a mac mini is just as fast don't do video editing...
I would stick to the 2005 machines, though.
I've owned now two 2.0 ghz dual cores, one 2.3 and two quads.
Sold the older 2.5ghz dual proc and getting a 2.7 dual proc to see what its like.
Leopard works out a lot of the kinks in the Powermac G5s, in my experience.
They did not run that great on Tiger for me. Perfect now on Leopard.
Just think, a few years ago, people actually edited feature films on Powermac G4s and early G5s.
Way to go! It really is the better choice at the moment. Nothing against the G5s (I did have a 2.0DC model), but for "pennies" more you can have a supported machine and run cooler software like VMWare Fusion or Crossover Games. My mid 2007 MacBook out performed my 2005 G5 in every way EXCEPT for games. The GMA950 is a piece of garbage for sure, but the CPUs are plenty fast.
Good luck with the purchase!
Lawl. So ignorance really must be bliss.
The quads are still good machines, for sure. But my MB benches the same on geekbench as a quad that has twice the ram, and my iMac benches an extra thousand.
My former G5: 1775
Quad with 8GB of ram: http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/6659
My MB: 2850
My AMD Quad @ 2.6: 4658
My iMac: 3650
My dads MacBook Pro (2009, 17"): 3889
The G5 Quads are still cool machines and plenty fast, but saying they are faster then everything except a mac pro is nothing but ignorant.
I said DUAL, not QUAD.
It's completely true that a new MacBook will beat every dual G5. Please get YOUR facts straight.
Yes the quad sure is fast, but still you won't be able to get new software for it in 1-2 years.