Would you sell PowerMac for iMac?

[yojitani]

I can't seem to make this issue go away so I thought I'd throw it out to this community macsperts and visionaries .
My wife is already fairly set on the idea of selling her mac mini and 19-inch monitor to fund a new imac. However, what I can't decide is if, while we're selling stuff, if I should sell my powermac with Dell 2405 and purchase a 24-inch imac. What do you all think?
The config I'm thinking of would be the 2.16 with the upgraded graphics card and 2GB RAM - everything else stock. The reason is simply I'm worried about devaluation. PowerPC processors are plummeting in value. If I sell now, I could probably buy the imac with a few 100 extra. But if I wait, I'm seeing losing 500 - 1,000 within the next year and would need a lot more to purchase a new computer. Computing need-wise, I don't need the imac. I use computers for a number of different things - recently Ilustrator, Flash, dreamweaver, plus word processing and the odd video (mainly just compression though). Other times I'm more in the FCP mode (or recently I discoverd that imovie is a good little tool for small projects). The PM is great, but I wasn't planning on taking such a hit on resale when I bought it, hence the thought of jumping ship..

Thanks
yt

 

[ready2switch]

What would the negatives be to doing what you just outlined? I really can't see any, while waiting has several that you noted.

Answer seems obvious, but if you're looking for permission from someone, you have mine.

 

[MRU]

Our 2ghz 20" imac seems to me to be as fast as my powermac G5 dual 1.8 (now replaced with a macpro ) when using native applications.

If you are looking to go intel, without having to shell out huge amounts of doh for a mac pro, then what you propose to do wont give you a huge speed increase over your exisiting setup (1.8 dual I assume ? - 2.16ghz core duo = maybe 10% - 15% in some apps) but it does give you a more up to date machine.


I also wonder how long it will be before apple and others (afobe etc.) start shipping intel version of software only - lets face it, it's going to happen sooner or later. Maybe 2008 ?

 

[IlluminatedSage]

your logic is not faulty. the g5 powermacs are holding some value because people still want them for adobe. that and they still have some power. unlike the other g4's

but... they will drop. i think the imac is a nice unit. but not very expandable. if you needed other cards for your tower.

would be better off buying a refurb mac pro. and upgrading that.

 

[meepm00pmeep]

if you only need one computer to share between you and your wife, it's not a bad idea at all to sell it all and get a beautiful 24" with the options you listed. I know i would if i was in your position+

 

[Eidorian]

24" iMac = Core 2 + 24" Screen - Easy Upgrading

Hey, I know about of people that are using "crappy" old 17" CRT or 15" LCD's. They see the built in screen of an iMac as a BIG improvement. And it makes a decent TV too.

 

[asencif]

Well the value of your PM Dual 1.8 is about $1000 depending on how many add-ons you will sell it with. With the Dell screen you can probably get around $1600-$1800 give or take. The screen you have is fine, however if you like all in one solutions and feel that you are falling behind technology wise then sell and upgrade.

As you stated, for you needs, what you have is fine right now and for what you are doing it will be for at least another year. If you ever get more involved in FCP though, you might want to consider keeping the tower or selling and saving for a Mac Pro. The ability to have more HD's in the towers and more memory will help a lot. Also, you already have a screen. A refurb Mac Pro might not be a bad idea. A lot of power, but will last longer than all current Macs.

 

[yojitani]

Well the value of your PM Dual 1.8 is about $1000 depending on how many add-ons you will sell it with. With the Dell screen you can probably get around $1600-$1800 give or take. The screen you have is fine, however if you like all in one solutions and feel that you are falling behind technology wise then sell and upgrade.

As you stated, for you needs, what you have is fine right now and for what you are doing it will be for at least another year. If you ever get more involved in FCP though, you might want to consider keeping the tower or selling and saving for a Mac Pro. The ability to have more HD's in the towers and more memory will help a lot. Also, you already have a screen. A refurb Mac Pro might not be a bad idea. A lot of power, but will last longer than all current Macs.

Yeah, some good advice here and above. Thanks!
I'd say about 6 months over the last two years the 'power' of the PM has been really useful - say for rendering and compressing video. The limited expandability of the imac does worry me a bit, but then it maxes out at only a gig less than my pm!... and external drives can be bought at a song these days.

It's not so much a speed bump I am looking for as it is security. I've been watching as the price of powerpc's keeps going down and am genuinely a bit scared that my 2,000 investment will get me anly about 500 - 750 in about 6 months time. I'd imagine a new imac would hold it's own for a while - at least long enough for me to realize that I need a mac pro!

yt

 

[yojitani]

if you only need one computer to share between you and your wife, it's not a bad idea at all to sell it all and get a beautiful 24" with the options you listed. I know i would if i was in your position+

Share?! nah. my wife is going to sell her mini set-up and get a 20 imac. That is pretty certain. We've both decided that mac mini's are a pain.

yt

 

[xfiftyfour]

Share?! nah. my wife is going to sell her mini set-up and get a 20 imac. That is pretty certain. We've both decided that mac mini's are a pain.

yt

I'm with you - share?! That's just asking for trouble. My fiance and I would fight to no end over the computer's time if we only had one..!

 

[asencif]

Yeah, some good advice here and above. Thanks!
I'd say about 6 months over the last two years the 'power' of the PM has been really useful - say for rendering and compressing video. The limited expandability of the imac does worry me a bit, but then it maxes out at only a gig less than my pm!... and external drives can be bought at a song these days.

It's not so much a speed bump I am looking for as it is security. I've been watching as the price of powerpc's keeps going down and am genuinely a bit scared that my 2,000 investment will get me anly about 500 - 750 in about 6 months time. I'd imagine a new imac would hold it's own for a while - at least long enough for me to realize that I need a mac pro!

yt

Well, overall PM or MP hold/will hold their value much longer than an iMac will. I have seen the core duo iMacs already being sold at less than your PM dual 1.8 is being sold. With the Intel switch your PM will probably go down in value tremendously as more Intel chips are released and put in Macs. Also, when Adobe CS3 is released then most people will get a Mac Pro or get a very cheap decreased in value PM.

People will always want a PM because of it's expandability. You can Raid out drives, make into a server, or a low cost rendering station. Right now PM G4 are still being sold from $500-$1000 range. Whether that's too much is another question, but that's what is happening. I think I would go for the Mac Pro since you already have a screen and will be more than enough power for a long time in your case.

 

[xfiftyfour]

Well, overall PM or MP hold/will hold their value much longer than an iMac will. I have seen the core duo iMacs already being sold at less than your PM dual 1.8 is being sold. With the Intel switch your PM will probably go down in value tremendously as more Intel chips are released and put in Macs. Also, when Adobe CS3 is released then most people will get a Mac Pro or get a very cheap decreased in value PM.

People will always want a PM because of it's expandability. You can Raid out drives, make into a server, or a low cost rendering station. Right now PM G4 are still being sold from $500-$1000 range. Whether that's too much is another question, but that's what is happening. I think I would go for the Mac Pro since you already have a screen and will be more than enough power for a long time in your case.

I think his hesitation, though, is the cost. Yeah, it's easy to say "go for the Mac Pro" and of course the MP is a much better choice than the iMac, but if he goes for the iMac, he can sell both his monitor and his tower and get very close to the cost of the iMac (within a few hundred). If he opts for a Mac Pro, however, he'd have to keep his screen, and therefore the only funds he could put towards the cost of the MP would be about $1000 from his PowerMac. That leaves him near $2k short of the MP's cost, which is a BIG difference from the $500 or so he'd have to put towards an iMac.

 

[yojitani]

I think his hesitation, though, is the cost. Yeah, it's easy to say "go for the Mac Pro" and of course the MP is a much better choice than the iMac, but if he goes for the iMac, he can sell both his monitor and his tower and get very close to the cost of the iMac (within a few hundred). If he opts for a Mac Pro, however, he'd have to keep his screen, and therefore the only funds he could put towards the cost of the MP would be about $1000 from his PowerMac. That leaves him near $2k short of the MP's cost, which is a BIG difference from the $500 or so he'd have to put towards an iMac.

Exactly. While G4's held their value for a long time, that is partly because they were produced side by side with the G5's. The intel switch is really seen as a break (even though apple will produce binary software for sometime) and the result has been the serious price drops we've seen. I don't see G5's retaining their value like G4's did.
Realistically, my PM is worth 1,000 - 1,200 (it still has some apple care, upgraded ram, new optical drive etc.) now. Before Mac Pro, add 100, before intel add another 1 - 200. Once CS3 comes out and we see most software in binary form, I think we're looking at more drastic drops in value, especially since the MacPro's are actually quite reasonably priced... I s'pose I could sell all, get a refurb MacPro (there was a nice one for 2,200 today), and a cheap dell 20-inch until I have money again!
Anyway, what I seem to be hearing is, "if you're going to sell, now is the time to do it." Is that right? (edit: I suppose I'm arguing myself into that position!).

 

[Gurutech]

Yes. I pretty much agree.

When CS3 comes out, the price of used PM G5 will drop substantially.
If your PM G5 is not essential to your living, I suggest selling it now.

 

[yojitani]

OK, so I just accidentally bought 2 gigs of RAM for the PM (a lowball bid on ebay that I thought would never work, worked!), so once installed it'll have 3GB of almost completely new (made for mac) RAM. It also has airport and a new optical drive. Would you say that any of these increases the value at all? In particular, does the airport increase the value at all? If not, I'm half thinking to pull it and stick it into a Mac Pro, if I go that route...
Yes, all this talk about MP has got me thinking. In terms of longevity, performance when I need it, and ability to deal with current non-native apps the MP is worth thinking about. It would be tight on the pocketbook though. That said, Dell is always having some pretty crazy sales on monitors that could put a 2407 within reach a bit sooner... (logic being that I sell the 2405 for funds towards a MP and use a crappy monitor for a short while) hmmm...

 

[asencif]

OK, so I just accidentally bought 2 gigs of RAM for the PM (a lowball bid on ebay that I thought would never work, worked!), so once installed it'll have 3GB of almost completely new (made for mac) RAM. It also has airport and a new optical drive. Would you say that any of these increases the value at all? In particular, does the airport increase the value at all? If not, I'm half thinking to pull it and stick it into a Mac Pro, if I go that route...
Yes, all this talk about MP has got me thinking. In terms of longevity, performance when I need it, and ability to deal with current non-native apps the MP is worth thinking about. It would be tight on the pocketbook though. That said, Dell is always having some pretty crazy sales on monitors that could put a 2407 within reach a bit sooner... (logic being that I sell the 2405 for funds towards a MP and use a crappy monitor for a short while) hmmm...

Looks like you are into the Mac Pro option now. I agree with xfiftyfour that it's more $$ to spend now for a Mac Pro, but you can look into getting the refurb and slowly work on getting RAM, HD's, and another screen as time goes by. Now if you can get by with having a standard config MP and a crappy screen then I say go for it.

While you might get more for the iMac then the PM in the future, it is possible that you might not get a whole lot more at the time you decide to sell. Especially, if there is an iMac update early next year or spring time.

You could probably get around $1300-$1500 for the PM since it has AppleCare, 3GB RAM, and Airport. For the screen maybe another $500-$600 putting you at maybe $2,000. Since it looks like you can live without the PM, I would sell it and work towards the MP.