So now Mrs. Aruns and I are considering buying a Mac. We’re thinking of buying second hand, but we’re a bit uncertain on how much is worth to spend on it.
The Mac is going to become the main workstation for the missus (she does multimedia work, much Flash and web design) but I’m definitely going to tinker with it as well, and I’m more of a software developer guy (with Linux as primary OS - and I’m aware there are PowerPC distros). We’re going to keep our not-too-powerful PCs around anyway for those games and apps we already have.
Sure, there is always Google - and it literally floods us with information. Way too much! Better for us to get sensible opinions from sensible people.
Personally, I like the hardware architecture of the Macintosh, but find it a bit pricey, adn I have issues with Apple’s (past?) attempts at lock-in. Yet the attraction is there… 
Opinions?
By the way, what are your impressions on Virtual PC? Apparently this virtual machine can be used to run Windows applications, but how well does it work? Suppose I tried to run, ahem, Medieval: Total War or some other not-too-old game?
Well, you know all of us long-time Mac users will tell you it’s worth it. I’ve been suffering from PCs at work for 12 years and just get more real work value from my Macs.
Regarding cost, my attitude is that if you are using the tool for generating income, then it is worth investing in current designs and machines. I assume your wife can depreciate or expense the thing anyway. The latest single processor G5 tower will probably serve her well. When figuring value, do realize that the machine turnover cycle for Macs is significantly longer than for PCs. I acquired my G4 two years ago as a refurb. I just spent $300 on a great G4 CPU upgrade that should extend the life of the box another two years.
If you have to buy used, then you can get a decent G4 Quicksilver for around $1K. G4 Macs are easily upgradeable up to about 1.5 Mhz, however it gets pricey at the top end. And the architecture of the G4 excludes any G5-level upgrades. So, I’d get a G5 and let your wife be happy for quite a few years.
Virtual PC is fine for single PC apps, but not for games. Now that Microsoft owns the product I don’t think they will allow it to get too competitive with the real thing. But you can run multiple platforms through VPC at the same time which is a fun metaphysical exercise.
The mother of all mac info site is Macsurfer . Also, Google has a Mac-only search .
Mac service tech here (hence the username 
), from a reliability standpoint, the G4 tower line is all pretty decent, the only real known issue was on the “Digital Audio” series, the first revision logic boards had a loop resistor on the power management chip that had a tendency to blow out, that problem’s been fixed and is not even an issue on the Quicksilver or Mirror Drive Door towers
either a QS or MDD system would work fine for you, expandability-wise, the MDD is a better deal, it can handle 4 internal hard drives and two optical drives, the QS needs a 3rd party IDE card to have more than 2 drives in it, it has the hardpoints for 4 drives, but it only has 2 IDE buses, the MDD has 3, also, all G4 towers older than the MDD with FireWire 800 ports have a hardware limitation of 132GB per drive, the FW800 MDD’s don’t have this limitation, and can safely use the full capacity of 200+ GB hard drives
also, the MDD uses PC2700 DIMMS and has a bus speed of 167MHz (on the dual 1, 1.25 and 1.42 GHz machines, the older 867MHz and single 1GHz use PC2100 and have a 132MHz bus
the QS uses PC-133 DIMMS and has a bus speed of 120MHz
I work at a certain well-known Vermont based Mac reseller/service center, but i don’t want to spam the board, if you have any questions, you could always e-mail me at work at;
russ@buggeroffspammerssmalldog.com
remove the buggeroffspammers, obviously
Interesting thing to consider, this. I’ll have a look at the suggested sites, but let me ask this: how can I tell which units have this problem?
Is there any user of both Macs and PCs willing to comment on this and share his experience?
Additional question: would anyone reccomend the way, way cheaper eMacs?
I have both Macs and PCs. I started out on PCs. By the way, MacTech, I have a Digital Audio. :eek: It’s the 533 MHz model, single CPU, and has been running flawlessly since I got it used on eBay a year and a half ago. Should I worry at this point, or what?
I think that Macs are worth it. I love OS X. I got both my G4s (I also have a Yikes G4) off of eBay. I think you can get a decent G4 for about $600 or so. Just make sure to load it up with RAM—I think 512 megs would be a decent starting point.
I am using this G4 for everything—Photoshop, Dreamweaver, InDesign, and Garageband. You’ll always hear me sing the praises of Garageband, since it can be used by any of us—even those of us who are not musically inclined. And it is wickedly fun!
Just to balance things out, I do have a new PC (less than a year old) and I do like it well enough. I don’t have anything terribly against PCs. But I would not be a happy camper if I was stuck with one, 100% of the time.
Macs hold their value much better than PCs, seem to last longer and are all-around dandy. I highly recommend them.
I don’t own one myself, but if you don’t mind the large size, they’re decent machines. Just make sure you increase the base memory on them – running MacOS X on 256MB of RAM or less is a sin.
If you don’t need bleeding-edge performance, but just want a reliable machine to do eveeryday tasks, there’s nothing wrong with getting an eMac or an iBook, IMO.
the easiest way to decide between a G4 tower, an eMac, or an iMac is to ask yourself “how much expansion capability do i need?”
the G4 towers have 4 ram sockets, the Quicksilver and earlier machines can support 1.5 GB of ram, the MDD can support 2 GB, the iMac and eMac have two ram sockets, they top out at 1 GB
the towers have 3 (Quicksilver) or 4 (MDD) PCI expansion slots, allowing you to add a second video card, a FireWire 800 card, a faster networking card, a video capture card, etc… , the eMac/iMac has no internal expansion slots
the towers can support up to 4 hard drives, and the MDD can support 2 optical drives, the eMac/iMac can only support 1 internal hard drive and one internal optical drive
the tower’s processor is on a special high density ZIF connector, so the processor can be upgraded easily, the processor on the eMac/iMac is soldered to the logic board and is not replaceable
(there are upgrades for the QS, officially the processor on the MDD is not upgradeable right now, there are no 3rd party MDD upgrades, yet…, but the processor is a seperate and replaceable component)
as far as eMac Vs. iMac it pretty much comes down to whether you want a less expensive CRT based eMac (heavier, generates more heat) or an LCD based iMac (3 choices of screen size, adjustable screen viewing position)
CRT advantages;
less expensive
better color balance for photo editing
wider viewing angle
CRT disadvantages;
heavy
generates heat
can cause eyestrain at certain refresh rates
draws more power than an LCD
LCD advantages;
no eyestrain
higher contrast ratio
light weight
low power draw
LCD disadvantages
expensive
not as accurate color balance for photo editing
first off, this issue is only found on the Gigabit Ethernet models, 3rd generation G4’s, it’s an early model G4
look to the right of the video card, there should be a chip to the right, with the number VR1500 printed on the logic board, if you see a wire loop with one or two diodes soldered to it, you’ve got the one with the potentially bad logic board, the repair strategy here is a logic board replacement, not worth it for an out-of-warranty machine
it’s highly improbable you’ll encounter this, just make sure you go no slower than a 733MHz machine, the Gigabits topped out at 533MHz, as long as you’re not looking at a 450/500/533 MHz machine, you should be safe