What to Buy? G4 17" iMac or Mac Mini C2D

[pismobrat]

Hello All,

I am in a wierd fix on deciding what to buy.

This is a today only deal.

For $450 CDN I can by an excellent condition G4 1.25GHz iMac w/built in 17" WideScreen Display. 80GB Hard Drive, 768MB of RAM, and Super Drive.

Or do I buy the new Mac Mini C2D with an external display. Around $1000

I don't have high demands. Short of DVD ripping/encoding. I know that the new mac mini will distroy the older Imac in incoding speed.

I am also partial to older mac hardware as I am a die hard fan.

So, legacy at a great deal or new and fast?

Helo me I am sooo confused!!

 

[Multimedia]

Buy The New C2D Mac mini Not An Ancient G4 SlugMac

The G4 is extremely WEAK and not even worth $450 CDN. Buy the C2D Mac mini plus any display of your liking and you will have serious power that is Leopard ready.

 

[teflon]

I agree with Multimedia. The G4 will be a snail compare to the new C2D Minis. Plus you get more ram (1gb) and a bigger hd on the high end model. The mini is much more future proof, especially since you can afford it.

 

[Dustman]

I wouldnt tell anyone doing light work to UPGRADE to a mini if they're okay with their current performance, However, if it's your first computer or a very outdated one, then DUH go for the mini!! so much more speed. you'll kick the SH** out of yourself if get the G4

 

[galstaph]

I'd go for the mini, you get:
display options
faster machine (proc + ram)
not integrated design (ie all-in-one as imac is)
more future proof

Although with the imac:
classic design
weak but capable system
ppc forever!!!! lol
cheap like borscht

Seriously the ONLY reason to get the g4 nowadays is for legacy classic programs

 

[pismobrat]

Good Advice

Hello Gents,

Thanks for the advice. I know long live PPC and it does tear me up to bury the temptation, but all your advice is right to go for the Mac Mini.

Thanks Again.

 

[ricgnzlzcr]

An imac g4 is still a very capable machine that should last you another 2 years at the least running light software. On the other hand the mac mini is much more powerful and will run for awhile longer. If you can afford it and want longetivity go for the mac mini. If you don't mind something slower and love the design I see no reason why you can't get the imac.

 

[Royale w/cheese]

Definitely the mini. The iMac is a great machine, but long in the tooth. For the better experience and longevity, go for the most up to date hardware you can get. (although people love saying that the mini is outdated at release) But it is a good machine.

 

[mkaake]

I use a 1ghz g4 day in, day out, with my 9500 photo library, and do frequent movie editing.

At times, it's painful.

What's more painful, is that after my last long DVD, I helped some family move into a mac (mini, 1.8 intel). For kicks I opened up iMovie and applied some effects to some of my old footage to see how fast it was in comparison to my eMac.

Ouch. That hurt.

Effects that had taken almost a minute total (per clip) had taken somewhere on the order of 10 seconds on the mini.

I still get by with the eMac, and it's more than possible to use a G4 day in and out (it irks me when people say G4's aren't useful for anything...), but especially when dealing with power intensive apps (the iApps suck available CPU cycles like crazy), there's no contest. Go with the mini.