iMac G5

[Craig]

Last year i came within sniffing distance of buying a PowerBook but got into financial difficulty sadly But now I have the funds to buy a Mac! (Okay, not buy it outright, definitely finance though!) I have a work laptop so I really dont need a portable. I looked at the PowerMac but the prices are insane! So that got me onto the iMac G5, which looks reasonably priced and decently specced (plus its got a screen!) I am looking at the 20" 2Ghz version with a 400GB hard drive and wireless keyboard + mouse.

What i really want to know is how they perform? I have found myself just chatting on MSN recently as no game has tickled my fancy in a while. I would like to play World of Warcraft on it at times though, how would it perform at native resolution (cant stand TFT's out of native res) with the 9600 128mb?

Any other feedback or recommendations on other macs would be appreciated!

Cheers,

Craig

[Craig]

I have just had a look at my two most likeley options, and would like another opinion

1) iMac G5 - 20" - 2Ghz
• 1GB DDR400 SDRAM - 2 DIMMs
• 400GB Serial ATA drive
• Wireless Keyboard & Mouse + Mac OS
• Modem
• AppleCare Protection Plan for iMac/eMac
• 20-inch TFT display
• 2GHz PowerPC G5
• DVD-R/CD-RW drive
• ATI Radeon 9600 - 128MB DDR
• AirPort Extreme
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
£1,597.99 - £54.59 / Monthly

2) PowerMac G5 - 1.8Ghz
• 1GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 2x512MB
• 250GB Serial ATA
• DVD-R/CD-RW
• ATI Radeon 9600 XT 128MB, ADC/DVI
• Bluetooth Module
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Bluetooth module + Apple Wireless Keyboard & Mouse
• Mac OS X
• AppleCare Protection Plan for Power Mac
£1,581.94 - £54.04 / Monthly

Which one

Craig

[Proplus]

I play WoW on a 17" G4 Powerbook whenever I'm down at my missus' place. Full-screen, with all eye candy turned down, it plays very well, lag is expected when there's a lot of people around you. I play it windowed, as I have Firefox running in the background with a WoW map site and Thottbot site running as well.

[Jonny M]

I'd say go with the iMac, simply because a 20" screen will cost you £500 extra. Also there's more hard drive space.

Depends if you want to upgrade ever though.

[Red10]

I'd say go with the iMac, simply because a 20" screen will cost you £500 extra. Also there's more hard drive space.

Depends if you want to upgrade ever though.

That's a good point, i'd definately go with the iMac..

[Swafe]

Its bluetooth or 150gb more and a 20inc tft screen - I know what I'd go with

[Dooms]

I would go for the PowerMac - wouldnt like to be stuck with a good Mac but a 9600... just my opinion tho

[Red10]

I would go for the PowerMac - wouldnt like to be stuck with a good Mac but a 9600... just my opinion tho

*Braces himself for a flaming*

BUT i don't really see the fuss about graphics cards in Macs.
When i got my Mac it was for the single intention to do work on/web/watch DVDs etc. not to play games. I imagine most users use their machines for the same reason, because lets face it, from what i can see (again, don't shoot me!) the games market is not nearly as well stocked on the Mac as it is on PCs... I've got a 9200 in both my Macs (ibook and mac mini) and they do their job very nicely.. Heh i've got an ATI Radeon 7500 in my Linux box...

[dgr]

Get the powermac. A decent LCD is an investment, you'll keep it for the next decade if you're anything like me. You're not going to be keeping the imac for that long!

[Doug]

the 20" iMac is great vfm, imo. the 9600 is a great chipset for anything you'd care to do - bar Motion and Doom3

I've had my PowerMac G5 exactly a year, now, and I haven't made any use of its 'upgradability'. I've never had reason to want to upgrade the graphics card (though a 6800ultra would be very nice for Motion, I'd rather have one in my PC for games ), and my PCI slots lay bare. The only thing I've done is add RAM, at which point the 4 slots came in handy, back when 1Gb sticks cost silly money, 4x512Mb was much more affordable.

[daverobev]

Okay tell me to sod off if you like...but FINANCE STINKS!

That aside, iMac is much better for the cash...but of course less upgradeable, and less easy to fix...if you get a new comp, you can use the monitors from the old one..unless its an iMac.

BUT, you can sell the iMac still, so maybe not such a downer.

[Doug]

Agreed, but finance was the only way I could afford my PM a year ago. Two years left @ £40 p/m, and I'm not regretting it

[scotty6435]

If you can do without your flashy computer for a 6 months to a year then save up £80 per month and you'll have a fair chunk of the money right there. It'll save you a packet in interest and you'll make a little if it's in a good account. Also, you should be able to get a new mac running on x86 (depending when it's released) which means upgradability will be more of an option.