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Should I get a new Mac Mini, or a Dual 2.3 PM G5?

C

coupdetat

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 11, 2008
451
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I want to spend around $500 on a new desktop, since right now all I have is an ancient 1ghz eMac. I'm looking at two choices:

My school is selling new Mac Minis (1gb RAM) for $479 + tax...

or...

I found a guy on Craigslist willing to sell his dual 2.3 G5 with 2gb RAM, some dual-DVI ATi video card, Apple aluminum keyboard, and mighty mouse, for $450

Now I'm kind of conflicted. The Mac Mini is probably the most practical for me, since it's small and fast. But I really, really like the G5 because it's so easy to work on and has pretty good expandability (for a Mac). Also, dual screen capability is nice, and the price is better since it would be $50 less after tax, plus it includes a nice keyboard and mouse.

I'm really not looking for fast performance, but I'd like to be able to watch Hulu/Youtube at full screen without lag. I do research and I'm an engineering student, so all of my real work is done with less demanding programs like Matlab, Mathematica, Grapher, Pages, Office, etc. What do you guys think? Is the G5 going to be too slow for smooth Flash playback?

On a slightly pathetic note, isn't it strange that watching online videos is somehow more demanding than unraveling the mysteries of nature with Matlab?
 
The new Mac Minis have two display outputs so you can have dual displays. Snow Leopard will support only Intel machines i.e the Mac Mini. I recommend the Mac Mini because it is new technology.
 
The only thing the G5 has over the Mini is the ability to take 2 full size hard drives but with the Mini having FW800 external drives shouldn't really be a problem. If you need expandability just open it up and install 4GB of RAM and a 500GB (or more depending on the time frame) hard drive further down the line.
 
Mini... No question...

About the ONLY thing you'd be lacking is video card upgrade options, but considering the price, and the more modern hardware, and the ability to go with Snow Leopard, it's the more "future proof" of the two options.

Also, don't forget student educational discount!!!
 
Which mac mini is your school selling?

If it is the one without the new graphics chip, if it is new but old stock --
get the Powermac G5 2.3ghz

but only if it is the Dual Core 2.3ghz with PCIe slots not Dual Processor with PCI X slots. $450 is a great price because I just sold my 2.3 dual core for $775.
 
Mac Mini. At least if something goes wrong (old computers tend to have more problems) I have 1 year warranty. Sure the G5 has a keyboard/mouse, but is that really important in deciding which computer to buy? CPU, GPU is more important.
 
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