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want to buy G5 this weekend- Need Help?

E

edward-k

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 19, 2004
58
4
I plan on purchasing a new G5 this weekend (dual 2.0). Just a couple of questions from an Apple Rookie.
1) I am looking at the 20" display - another customer at the apple store mentioned to me that the 20" has had reliability problems? True?
2) Can I use a non-Apple monitor with the G5?
3) The standard video card seems weak? I know it can be upgraded if I choose to special order on the web site - but - I am impatient and really want to go home with something.. I plan on using the G5 for lots of I-photo, I-Movie, web, office etc - I play a few games, but I am not a hard core gamer that worries about frame rates etc. Can the video card be upgraded later?
Thanks in advance for any help or opinions :)
Ed
 
edward-k said:
I plan on purchasing a new G5 this weekend (dual 2.0). Just a couple of questions from an Apple Rookie.
1) I am looking at the 20" display - another customer at the apple store mentioned to me that the 20" has had reliability problems? True?
2) Can I use a non-Apple monitor with the G5?
3) The standard video card seems weak? I know it can be upgraded if I choose to special order on the web site - but - I am impatient and really want to go home with something.. I plan on using the G5 for lots of I-photo, I-Movie, web, office etc - I play a few games, but I am not a hard core gamer that worries about frame rates etc. Can the video card be upgraded later?
Thanks in advance for any help or opinions :)
Ed
Click to expand...

1) I have heard of no such problems with the 20" display. You should be fine.

2) You can use a non-Apple monitor with the G5. It takes DVI, and includes an adaptor for VGA.

3) With what it sounds like you're doing, I don't think you'll need to upgrade the graphics card just yet. If you decide to in the future, it is possible.
 
suggestion

If you are going to the store, play with them, ask your questions, And ask if you can get the same deal as online. You can get $500 back on a 23 inch display when ordering online for the newest G5s.

1) Yeah, there has been some people that have had a problem not many, but more than the other monitors. The screen would go black and they would need another monitor. So get the 23 inch, and save a little money on it.
 
1) Yeah, there has been some people that have had a problem not many, but more than the other monitors. The screen would go black and they would need another monitor. So get the 23 inch, and save a little money on it.
Click to expand...

Interesting... I hadn't heard about that.
 
A 1.33 or 1.5 GHz PowerBook would be fine for what you plan on doing. You might want to consider waiting for WWDC in about two weeks...we will probably see new Apple Displays and perhaps a new graphics card in the G5s. Also, you might want to get the 2.5 GHz just to have the best machine (no point in getting a machine that's nearly a year old for a lot of money, is there, although the dual 2.0 GHz is insanely fast). The 1000 MHz processor increase is under $500 extra, and you get a better video card (although not really that fast).

I have never understood why Apple still uses 32 and 64 megabyte video cards. They function, but they are just outdated. They are on the right track in their PowerBooks, but I think every computer should have a standard of a 64 megabyte video card with an upgrade of AT LEAST 128 megabytes.

If you plan on doing any gaming whatsoever, 64 megabytes should be the minimum. People laugh at me when I say I game with a 64 megabyte Mobility Radeon 9000 video card, despite the fact that I have a 1.7 GHz Pentium-M processor :)
 
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