What keeps you on the PPC platform?

[Bloodstar]

I don't hear that fortunately. I hear "what is that," or "nice Mac." The cool thing is that the PBs are so close in form factor to the early MBPs that most people assume I have an MBP.

I even got a nice comment on my TiBook/400 about two years ago when I was using it.

I don't worry about being out of date. My Macs get noticed because of their size and the fact that I am often pulling both of them out wherever I am.

Well, I think it's also because most people tend not to comment on my machines, so it might feel like the "your machine's older you should get a newer one" comments come more often than they do.

It did also startle people managing a surplus sale at my college that I was so interested in a "dead" dual 1.8 (2004) Power Mac G5 they had laying around - I guess they figured nobody would care much for an "old" machine. I ended up just getting the machine for a dollar, sticking in a new battery and DVD drive (though this wasn't really required to use the computer), and the machine ran just fine. Pretty much the biggest steal I've ever heard of on a computer, aside from getting something for free... (like my HP Pavilion ze5568 which I've outfitted with a light Linux distro, but that's kind of off topic.)

Said G5 hasn't seen that much use, unfortunately, although that's more because my workspace is so cramped and the G5 is just big enough to cause a bit of an issue. (Not to mention I'm a little worried about power use, but I'd have to do some more research.)

 

[monkeybagel]

Some very interesting discussion going on here...

I also find OS X very interesting because of it's UNIX foundation. It's nice to be able to open a Terminal and fire off some UNIX commands and MacPorts is also fun to play with as well.

Being able to copy a large repository of files over the internet using rsync reliably is great and be able to do that with the native OS.

 

[Zeke D]

I will echo a lot of what has been said already. Don't have the money to even get a used 1st generation Mac Pro. I also own several PPC machines, and am not worried if my tinkering kills one of them. Eventually I want to get enough g4 towers to do some king of distributed computing.

 

[eyoungren]

I ended up just getting the machine for a dollar…

You know. I've been using Macs since 1991 (my mom's first machine). I have NEVER gotten any kind of deal like this! I got a IIci free once, but in the age of G4's at the time that wasn't anything like getting a G5 for $1 today!

People find these thrown away or like you did. I WISH I were that lucky!

 

[monkeybagel]

Yeah - it would be nice to find a good working G4 or G5 for a good price, or a PowerBook.

I did get my two G4s for free, but they are not in the best of condition and have no software with them.

 

[stroked]

I did get my two G4s for free, but they are not in the best of condition and have no software with them.

You need to check out Carbon Copy Cloner.

 

[monkeybagel]

I do have Leopard and Tiger disks and were able to get them going with that, but the Dual 533 hangs after a while if it is under a load. The cursor still moves but the OS hangs. Almost seems like the video card is overheating. It needs a new speaker, and the onboard Gigabit Ethernet does not seem to work, so it has an add-in PCI 10/100 card that someone put in in the past. I wish I could get the GbE adapter to work but have been unable to so far. I put 1.5GB of RAM in it, but I have not messed with it much beyond that (since it hung a few times). But, it is fun to play with. I installed OS 9.2 on it, but it would not see the add-in PCI Ethernet card, so that was limited to a few games here and there.

 

[Intell]

For me its the reliability and power they still have. I use an old G3 iMac as my workshop's music computer. Amazing speakers paired with a 10 year old iSub sound nice. Even though it has a 350Mhz G3, it can still surf the internet with a bit of patience.

Then there's the design factor. The PowerPC era of Apple contains some of the best computers ever designed. From the elegant G4 iMac, to the awkward G4 Cube. I love both my G4 iMac and Cube. Again, while about 10 years old, they are still very capable machines for light daily usage.

 

[vitzr]

Power PC is a very important part of Mac history. They did the job & most models did it exceptionally well.

I've kept every single PPC I've purchased, dating back to my PowerBook 170 running System 7. To this day they remain some of the favorites in my very comprehensive collection of Mac Laptops.

Once again I'll say that it's a shame that Jobs killed off the very well loved, appropriate and fitting "PowerBook" model name.

While it's true that every Mac in my current day to day workflow, is either a 2010 or 2011, its mainly because my work requires all the power, speed & resources available. If not for that, I could do very well with less than the absolute latest.

Yet that said, in retrospect I'm such a Mac Computer Addict I'd still have all the new models I have.

 

[zen.state]

Power PC is a very important part of Mac history. They did the job & most models did it exceptionally well.

I've kept every single PPC I've purchased, dating back to my PowerBook 170 running System 7. To this day they remain some of the favorites in my very comprehensive collection of Mac Laptops.

Once again I'll say that it's a shame that Jobs killed off the very well loved, appropriate and fitting "PowerBook" model name.

While it's true that every Mac in my current day to day workflow, is either a 2010 or 2011, its mainly because my work requires all the power, speed & resources available. If not for that, I could do very well with less than the absolute latest.

Yet that said, in retrospect I'm such a Mac Computer Addict I'd still have all the new models I have.

You seem to be completely missing the point of the thread. This thread is about people that use PowerPC systems as their main computer not just sitting around for nostalgia sake like you do. We actually know how to get things done on older systems and are not a slave to software like you clearly are.

It's not Power PC or PPC it's "PowerPC". To the OP.. "PPC" means pocket PC to most these days. The Mac RISC CPU are PowerPC not PPC. They are not PC's that you keep in your pocket.

 

[arogge]

Financial costs, backward compatibility, no need for anything else, or moved to other platforms while still using a Mac. A PC from 1990 still writes e-mails and types up documents just as fast as a new PC today! I almost don't need a computer for personal use now, not when e-mail and Web browsing can be done on a phone or tablet PC.

 

[martychang]

I too just joined Team Power with my used iBook G4 12" 1.33 GHz. My first Mac was one of the Santa Rosa Macbooks, it was nice and faster than my iBook, but the 12" book actually fits my lap(I'm extremely skinny), and I've been constantly surprised by it's speed, in spite of reports it actually handles Youtube well, not to mention other common tasks. What's more this is all from the perspective of Tiger, I could easily upgrade to Leopard with it's 1.5 GB of RAM if I felt the need for greater software support, which I currently don't.

I appreciate the aesthetics of pre-Leopard OS X far more than current versions, again it's that warmth, and the first macs I used were all either Panther or Tiger. In an ideal world I'd have the pinstripey interface of Jaguar/Puma, but going back further than Panther almost never makes sense.

For a reason I haven't seen yet: as I learned more about computers and computing history, I became increasingly perturbed by Intel's anticompetitive nature, I would say it may even be worse than Microsoft at their lowest low. Look up the history of the DEC Alpha and Intel Itanium CPUs to see what I'm talking about. Combined with the fact that there were alternatives in the POWER world at the time of the Intel switch, such as a Freescale dual core G4 efficient enough for laptop use, and the current state of the POWER cpu(look up POWER7) I think the switch was a cowardly cop-out meant to make the Mac division more "autopilot" in preparation for increased focus on the upcoming iPhone, and Steve's forseen potential health relapse.

I would be a bit more hospitable to AMD based Macs, though I'd still be indirectly supporting Intel by supporting the x86 and x86-64 architectures. I have mixed hope for these rumors of ARM powered Macs, I fear them being more iOS like or locked down, but ARM is very efficient and has many of the same advantages as POWER. Of course, ideally I'd wish them to switch back to POWER chips while there are still some vendors shiiping universal binaries, and the functionality is still in xCode, not to mention POWER7 chips with AltiVec are a great fit as far as I can tell, the frequencies can be scaled back a lot to accomodate thermal and power sensitive environments.

We'll see how it goes, until then I'm probably going to grab a Powermac G4 and use an aftermarket dual 1.6 GHz G4 card and an SSD to trick it out. If anyone has one how do they compare to the G5s?

 

[ThunderSnake]

We'll see how it goes, until then I'm probably going to grab a Powermac G4 and use an aftermarket dual 1.6 GHz G4 card and an SSD to trick it out. If anyone has one how do they compare to the G5s?

A dual 1.6 GHz 7448 (also available in dual 1.8 GHz) will beat any single CPU G5. In terms of longevity, there is no comparison. G4s are very very reliable machines. When it comes to things that are important to me, I trust them more than any other computer, old or new.

 

[zen.state]

A dual 1.6 GHz 7448 (also available in dual 1.8 GHz) will beat any single CPU G5. In terms of longevity, there is no comparison. G4s are very very reliable machines. When it comes to things that are important to me, I trust them more than any other computer, old or new.

The scores I get with my single 1.8GHz 7448 is better than the single 1.6 or 1.8 G5. The 7448 is actually newer than any G5 chip. It came out on the market long after the last G5's were engineered. The G5 is made by IBM and the G4 by Freescale (Motorola).

My 7448 scores a 1127 in Geekbench with 100MHz SD RAM vs. a single 1.8GHz G5 that scores a 1045 with 800MHz DDR RAM.

 

[martychang]

The scores I get with my single 1.8GHz 7448 is better than the single 1.6 or 1.8 G5. The 7448 is actually newer than any G5 chip. It came out on the market long after the last G5's were engineered. The G5 is made by IBM and the G4 by Freescale (Motorola).

My 7448 scores a 1127 in Geekbench with 100MHz SD RAM vs. a single 1.8GHz G5 that scores a 1045 with 800MHz DDR RAM.

Wait, so what I'm seeing on their site(and here) is that these are single 1.8 GHz ones, and they're faster than the dual 1.6 GHz 7447a? And there are no dual 7448 upgrades available(my understanding is that Powermacs use a single card-based interface for CPU(s)).

 

[zen.state]

Wait, so what I'm seeing on their site(and here) is that these are single 1.8 GHz ones, and they're faster than the dual 1.6 GHz 7447a? And there are no dual 7448 upgrades available(my understanding is that Powermacs use a single card-based interface for CPU(s)).

The 7448 are no longer sold by Newertech. You would need to find one on ebay. A single 7448 (1.8GHz+) is faster than any dual G4. It's a 90nm chip vs the 130-200nm size of all the other G4 so that alone makes a huge difference in efficiency and performance.

The 7447 is the only CPU still used by Newertech and they are the only company on earth that still have G4 upgrades manufactured. The 7448 upgrades were about twice as much money as the 7447 so they sold 3-4 7447 for every 1 7448. Because of low demand it cost more to make the 7448 daughter cards than they made from selling them so they ceased making them. The 7447 however still makes them a bit of money and is cheaper to buy parts for and make.

If you can somehow hookup with a company that has access to buying chips directly from Freescale then you could buy one of the rare 7448 that are still made but without any kind of daughter card. The 7448 is now geared toward Computer on a Chip technology and has evolved into the e600. Computer on a Chip systems are used to control things like factories, dams, power stations etc.

 

[vitzr]

You seem to be completely missing the point of the thread.

That's your assumption.

This thread is about people that use PowerPC systems as their main computer

I'm aware of that, however that doesn't affect my ability to participate and share what I do with mine.

We actually know how to get things done on older systems and are not a slave to software like you clearly are.

Oh my, you are the master of assumption, with some fantasy that you know it all.

I use my PPC's from time to time, for pleasure _and_ to get things done.

As slave to software? Pardon me? Your mind reading ability is failing you rapidly.

I clearly stated that I have specific software that is used for work. I get paid quite handsomely to use it, and it's far more interesting and enjoyable to have job that you love, than to spew pent up accusations and assumptions as you are.

It's not Power PC or PPC it's "PowerPC". To the OP.. "PPC" means pocket PC to most these days. The Mac RISC CPU are PowerPC not PPC. They are not PC's that you keep in your pocket.

Oops, seems like someone is highly sensitive and enjoys parsing words. Good luck to you.

 

[monkeybagel]

Let's try to keep the thread friendly

 

[zen.state]

Let's try to keep the thread friendly

I fully agree.

I will only point to his avatar and signature as an argument against him.

 

[monkeybagel]

Sounds like the G4s are much more reliable than the G5s... Is there any one G4 that stands out as the one to have?

I have an iMac G5 and that poor thing is really slow - I am pretty confident that it has some hardware issues as the fans speed up at nothing (opening a web browser causes it, with no browser activity) so it appears to have some thermal issue. Also I think a RAM socket is bad. Although I do like the look of the PowerMac G5, it sounds like it may require more maintenance going forward.

 

[zen.state]

Sounds like the G4s are much more reliable than the G5s... Is there any one G4 that stands out as the one to have?

I have an iMac G5 and that poor thing is really slow - I am pretty confident that it has some hardware issues as the fans speed up at nothing (opening a web browser causes it, with no browser activity) so it appears to have some thermal issue. Also I think a RAM socket is bad. Although I do like the look of the PowerMac G5, it sounds like it may require more maintenance going forward.

In my experiences the most reliable G4's are the Sawtooth, Digital Audio and the Quicksilver. I prefer the Sawtooth as it allows 2GB RAM vs. 1.5GB in the other 2. The 33% higher RAM capacity is better for overall performance IMO than the 33MHz faster bus found in the DA and QS.

 

[monkeybagel]

Think I will try to get a AHT disc and run on that Gigabit Ethernet machine I have. Not sure what is going on with the freezing; perhaps it is something simple and I can get it going. Not sure how much the AHT disc will tell me, but I guess it is a starting point.

 

[martychang]

Alright, two more G4 questions. What would perform better in general, all else being equal: a dual 1.0 GHz Quicksilver, or a Digital Audio with the 1.6 GHz single 7447a NewerTech upgrade? Would the 1.0 GHz dual G4 be better than even the entry single G5s?

Also, what exactly are the Quartz Extreme/CI situations with these machines in their shipping graphics configurations? Will I need to upgrade the graphics card of pretty much anything but a MDD? If you've ever used OS X without QE, how grim is it?

 

[ThunderSnake]

Alright, two more G4 questions. What would perform better in general, all else being equal: a dual 1.0 GHz Quicksilver, or a Digital Audio with the 1.6 GHz single 7447a NewerTech upgrade? Would the 1.0 GHz dual G4 be better than even the entry single G5s?

I think a dual 1.0 GHz QS would be a little faster than a single 1.6GHz 7447 and a little slower than a single 1.6 GHz G5, but I'm not sure that there would be a noticeable difference between these and a lot would depend on what you're doing. For G4 upgrades, though, I'd look on the used market for a 7448. But wait to see what zen.state has to say about this part of your question.

Also, what exactly are the Quartz Extreme/CI situations with these machines in their shipping graphics configurations? Will I need to upgrade the graphics card of pretty much anything but a MDD? If you've ever used OS X without QE, how grim is it

I had to use Leopard with a Rage 128 (no QE) for a few days while waiting for a new fan for my R9800. Those were the longest, most unbearable days of my life.

All OEM G4 cards support QE under Leopard except for the ATI Rage that shipped with the Sawtooth, GE, and some DAs. The only OEM G4 card to support Core Image was the Radeon 9700 and that was a rare BTO option on MDDs. It's not really an issue, though. Finding a Core Image card at a decent price isn't that difficult.

 

[Zeke D]

I believe the attached images will reiterate why I stick with PPC.