I've heard (and asked and researched) alot about the many Macs available to a consumer. (Windows is teh devil, I would never touch them damn Windows, no sir :) ) So, I came to the conclusion that the G5 would be best for me. I happen to like PowerPC processors. I would only use it for school (typing mostly), gaming (I'm drooling over the VO starscpae in my mind already :o...) and some video and graphics creation (maybe even a VO movie if I can find a good idea).

That said, here are my specs:

Power Mac G5 Quad-core 2.5GHz
Part Number: Z0AW
Accessory kit
2GB 533 DDR2 Non ECC SDRAM- 4x512
Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse - U.S English
Mac OS X - U.S. English
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT 256 MB SDRAM
16x SuperDrive DL (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
2.5GHz Quad-core PowerPC G5
250GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm

Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
Part Number: M9177LL/A

Opinions? Insults? Taunts? Advice? :)

Don't get a G5. They're better, they're faster, they're cooler, and apple's stupid. Since the G5s are still mapped something like the old apple processors, people will not be making ANYTHING for them in a couple years. You're buying the fastest, best and soon to be obsolete computer on the market. :D

-Calder

Wait until Intel-PowerMacs come out (true 64-bit chips :D). If you get a G5 now, you will be left in the dark after a couple years when companies start making Intel-only software.

In June you get news G5...

Can anyone give me a good reason why I should like the Intel chip more than the PowerPC chip, other than "it's new"?

It's faster, you can boot Linux on it, and companies will stop making PowerPC software in a little while.

If money is not an object, but time is, get the quad G5...

Intel PowerMacs will still take some time to appear, won't they?

I myself intend to get a PPC AND an Intel PowerMac, but that's because I'm not to be trusted in this kind of thing.

And for the love of Lady Serco, don't buy the RAM from Apple. But I'm sure you listed the 2GB only for the sake of beauty. Right? Right!?

Also, I'm hoping for a price drop on the PPC PMacs before they get replaced. Hope dies last.

As an addendum: If you have a reliable, sufficiently speedy PPC box at home already, don't get the G5. I'm only getting it because I want a PowerMac that can run what I use now at blinding speeds.

A Graphite G4 that's 350mHz that I won't have with me. Neither reliable nor good nor accessible.

My advice: Wait until the Intel-Inside Mac towers come out.

I bought an iMac in 2004, thinking that I would save some bucks.
Now, a scant 1.5 years later, things have progressed so far that my widdle iMac can't handle graphics and stuff from games like Vendetta.

I will never ever ever again buy a computer that I can't configure.

My old Blue & White G3 went through several "LeberMac refurbishment" plans, which included new graphics cards, new processor, loads more RAM, etc. Lasted me from Jan 1999 until late Nov 2004. 6 years, almost.

When I can do so, I will purchase a Dual-dualcore Intel PowerMac tower. With a flatscreen. Oh yes. It will be mine. And I will no longer be jealous of tumblemonster with his quad-core G5 tower.

Moldy, I hate intel and I'm sad they gave up on the G5. But they did. It's not that it's the newest thing out there, it's that it will soon be the only thing out there that software is designed for. Trust me, as much as I love the old chips, the new ones are going to be the ONLY ones after a while. I've had my computer, (without upgrades) since 2000 and it's only now starting to crap up with VO.

-Calder

Calder, they gave up on PPC processors. And the fact that your computer runs VO like crap all these years alater is because it barely meets requirements. Hell, I'm 70% below minimum requirements to play. And the process of switching to all Intel applications will be a long while coming, by which time my computer will probably be as useful as the current Graphite G4 I own.

If it sounds like I'm stubbornly anti-Intel, it's because I am. I put them and Microsoft on the same leveel. And I haven't heard any compelling reasons for either side yet T_T

Moldy: You could always quit yer bitchin', pur your money where your big mouth is, and go Linux with an AMD processor.

>:P

>.>

But... they... have even less games... than Macs...

SO? They have VENDETTA! W00t!

-Calder

If you buy an Intel PowerMac you will have 10.5 (probably), VO, an awesome computer, and the ability to boot off of a Windows/Linux partition or run 2 OSs simultaniously. Souns like an awesome deal to me!

10.5 will come out for PowerPC. G5s boot Linux. (Mine has it installed.)
PowerPC forever.
-:sigma.SB

I'd say go for the PowerPC. Say the Intel Mac Pro comes out in August. You don't want to buy a first revision (remember the first revision MacBook Pros with the whining screens and junk?), so you'd end up waiting until probably December or so to buy one. Do you really want to wait 6 months to buy something that will be marginally faster at -some- tasks than a dual-G5 is now?

Rogue, it's not that it's faster. It's just that it will be all that software will be made for. Trust me, I know. It's EXACTLY like my situation: I'm stuck with 10.2.8, (my dad won't let me upgrade) and because of all the developement changes in 10.3, I can't run a lot of crap. :C Having a G5 will be exactly like that, except that you don't even have the OPTION of upgrading short of buying a new computer.

-Calder

Except Universal Binaries work on both systems. There is no way to generate an Intel-only Mac app using Xcode. It's either PowerPC-only or Universal Binary. It wouldn't make sense for developers to make Intel-only programs because the differences between PowerPC and x86, to a developer, are very small. Yes, endianness is an issue. No, I don't think it's a serious issue because it represents a minescule fraction of the programming time on any project. Nobody's going to alienate the vast majority of mac users (remember, kids: most macs currently in use are over 3 years old, and will remain so for an unknown period of time) just so they can save 2 or 3 hours of programming time by assuming little endian (x86).

:o!!!

yay for PowerPC