What are then limits of the iMac 800?

[dabirdwell]

Hello all,

I am getting ready to buy my first Mac, a new iBook. I have also convinced my girlfriend to switch and she is leaning toward an iMac top of the line.

What are the performance limits to the consumer machine? She will be using Autocad some for design and architecture projects, but no other really intense software.

She has $2100 and can get ADC discount. Would you suggest the iMac or should we be looking at a PowerBook or Tower?

 

[SilvorX]

hmmm....since shes into design and architecture, maybe the powerbook since its very mobile, and up to 1Ghz now , and it allows you to hook up another monitor for monitor spanning, if that's in the budget, get that lol.
if she doesnt travel much, she could a dual powermac, theyre pretty good for graphics and such.

 

[JupiterZen]

Re: What are then limits of the iMac 800?

It's a question of when she will have budget again. If she buys an iMac or Powerbook now it will be outdated faster than if she would buy a tower now.

The tower is upgradable (PCI, AGP, CPU) and if she want to keep up with newer versions of AutoCAD it's fairly affordable to expand it with a better graphics card or CPU. the iMac or Powerbook will then be obsolete and she'd have to buy a whole new machine to keep up with the software.

So I think if you're serious about graphics and design and don't want to be stuck with a slow computer to soon, you should get a tower.

 

[dabirdwell]

Dual 867?

Should we look at the dual 867 and add some RAM and a Radeon 9000?

Should we wait until MWSF in case anything changes?

 

[dabirdwell]

She will need a display too, that's why the iMac was our original thought. Plus I just love the widescreen.

She also will need the i-apps, can we get them for the tower?

 

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by dabirdwell
She also will need the i-apps, can we get them for the tower?

All iApps come with OS X, so there for they are on all Macs

 

[rainman::|:|]

Yeah, okay, you're gonna get an iBook, do you really want her to get a Powerbook? Come on, you shouldn't throw your relationship into that kind of dynamic If you get an iBook, have her get the tower; if she gets a Powerbook, you get an iMac. Less competition.

Seriously tho, a professional machine might be better. Maybe find someplace that custom configures powermacs to get a good processor but small HD and RAM, since those are so easily upgradeable later.


pnw

 

[JupiterZen]

Originally posted by dabirdwell
She will need a display too, that's why the iMac was our original thought. Plus I just love the widescreen.

I know, I like the iMac looks as well, but I think that for professional graphics work it will be obsolete to soon. It's aimed at the home user and avarage home/internet/mail use. It's no power horse and certainly will not be a powerhorse in a your from now.

I (as an audio professional) would like one because of the low noise levels it generates, but haven't gotten one because of the upgradability. I use a PowerMac tower instead and feel comfortable with the facts that I will be able to upgrade my Graphics card, CPU and/or monitor when the need arrises.

With the iMac you'd be inflexible.

 

[Catfish_Man]

It depends...

Originally posted by dabirdwell
She will need a display too, that's why the iMac was our original thought. Plus I just love the widescreen.

She also will need the i-apps, can we get them for the tower?

... on how much you love the widescreen. It's really hard to get a better deal on a 17" widescreen LCD of that quality and a computer than the fp iMac (Apple's stand alone 17" display is $999, so the iMac is basically only costing $1000). However, if you don't NEED that display, a dual 867 with a bunch of ram and a nice 19" CRT is a very very nice machine. I had a similar problem (I do lots of 3d work, some photoshop, some programming, etc... on my beige G3) and have pretty much decided on the dual 867. I want the iMac, but I can't justify the extra $350 bucks when I already have a monitor and speakers. Then, when LCD prices drop enough, I can get a nice one. Maybe one of those formac ones... that 20.1" LCD they have is amazing. I just wish it didn't cost $1700.

 

[scem0]

I would say a laptop. A new 1 GHz one, but if you really don't
want a laptop, then go with the 800 MHz 17inch iMac. It is very
fast, and a beautiful screen. Be sure to do the double your ram
thingy, because it is a really good deal.

 

[vitruvius]

Re: What are then limits of the iMac 800?

Originally posted by dabirdwell
Hello all,

I am getting ready to buy my first Mac, a new iBook. I have also convinced my girlfriend to switch and she is leaning toward an iMac top of the line.

What are the performance limits to the consumer machine? She will be using Autocad some for design and architecture projects, but no other really intense software.

She has $2100 and can get ADC discount. Would you suggest the iMac or should we be looking at a PowerBook or Tower?

i dont know i your girlfriend knows that AutoCad don't comes for OSX ( or even OS9, last mac version of autocad was 12) so if she wants to switch maybe should use another software as VectorWorks,ArchiCad for 2D and LightWave,Cinema 4D, FormZ for 3D or other similar ( she should take a look at http://www.architosh.com ) , im an architect and i use a 667 TiBook for all my 2D and 3D works so i think an 800 iMac will be fine for 2D Architectural projects and for basic and medium 3D projects ,if shes plannig to do some serious rendering maybe should get a tower.