Mac peeps, what am I missing?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Okay, it's getting close to time to buy a new computer. Our dell is almost 4 years old. It's still useable, but it's at the point that it can't handle the newest software, and it's having general performance problems that can probably be attributed to things like the age of the hard drive.

I'd LOVE to buy a Mac this time around, but I don't know. I priced a Power Mac G5 vs. a Dell. I can get a mid-range Power Mac for just over $3k, vs. a high end Dell for under $2k. Yikes. But then I took a peek at the iMac. Here's where I need to know what I'm missing.

I looked at the iMac. I looked at the highest end iMac (the 20"). Added a little RAM, added a wireless keybaord. It's a 2.0Ghz processor whereas the Power Mac I priced is only 1.8Ghz. Everything eles I speced out the same for the Power Mac and the iMac. And the iMac is about $900 cheaper! Same everything, same size display, faster processor, $900 cheaper.

So what am I missing? Is upgradeability the only sacrafice? What about things like number of USB ports? Reliability (I priced Apple Care into both of them)? What gives? What makes the Power Mac $900 better?

[DisneyFan25863]

Upgradeablity, FSB, Graphics Card, Disc Drive and a few others.



Though I've heard the 20in iMac's screen is simply amazing.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Actually, I was looking at the low end PM, so the iMac FSB is faster (667 vs. 600) than that. If I start looking at the models with faster FSB, that $900 inflates real quick. By Disc Drive, do you mean floppy drive? Because I don't really care, and if I did I'd just get an external (or, more likely, just use USB sticks). I was comparing like graphics cards. I know the PM has the option for a higher end card, but I'm cheap and wouldn't get it anyway. The Radeon 9600 is good enough for me.

[blueerica]

While I may not be quite as tech savvy as others here, I notice that Steve's PowerMac G5 is considerably faster than my iMac, and my iMac is pretty fast.

I dunno -- having something more than the iMac isn't really important (IMHO) if you're doing anything less than working with large media files, as Steve does. Heck our roommate just cut his film on his iBook, which isn't nearly as fast as my iMac, so you can do the home movie thing on the iMac, too. Macs don't need to be expensive unless you *need* them to be (for the specs).

I say, get the iMac, unless someone more genius than I (nearly everyone here) says otherwise.

[Ghoulish Delight]

What about gaming?

[Fab]

Mostly, it's the label. "I paid more for this computer than you did. I'm one of the millions who 'think different'. I'm a loner, Dottie, a rebel...." It's the difference (esp. after spending a long romantic weekend with the Inspiron 9300) between getting a t-shirt at the Gap and getting one at Abercrombie and Fitch. The salespeople are hotter and it's a lot more expensive, and you'll look a lot trendier using it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I prefer Macs for several reasons. If I can afford one, I'm going to get one. But this wasn't a "Mac vs. PC" question. My mind's made up on that. It's just a question of whether the Mac that I can afford is worth affording.

[surfinmuse]

GD, PowerMacs are generally faster than iMacs, even with the same processor speed because of other factors like something called the L2 Cache I believe, among others (like BUS speed too). Also, the video card (and VRAM) might differ as well. I don't have the specs to compare side by side, but I do know that there are other variables involved besides processor speed.

[Ghoulish Delight]

There's no doubt that anything other than the lowest end Power Mac, with the 1Ghz+ front side bus and dual processor is no comparison to the iMac. But those just aren't in the budget, so not even on my radar. The low end Power Mac that I MIGHT be able to afford has a slower processor AND a slower front side bus, so on the surface, the iMac should be a faster machine. I just want to make sure there's no other major compelling reason to go with the low end Power PC over the significantly cheaper high end iMac.

I suppose I'm also wondering how the high end iMac compares to a high end PC. But that's a harder comparison to make since it's comparing Apples and, um, PCs.

[DisneyFan25863]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Actually, I was looking at the low end PM, so the iMac FSB is faster (667 vs. 600) than that. If I start looking at the models with faster FSB, that $900 inflates real quick. By Disc Drive, do you mean floppy drive? Because I don't really care, and if I did I'd just get an external (or, more likely, just use USB sticks). I was comparing like graphics cards. I know the PM has the option for a higher end card, but I'm cheap and wouldn't get it anyway. The Radeon 9600 is good enough for me.

Actually, I ment the DVD+/-RW drive. But looking at it now, they are both 8x.

The iMac doesn't have DVI or ADC output like the Powermac does.

The iMac comes with a 250 GB drive compared to the Powermac's 80.

The iMac includes Bluetooth and 802.11G, the Powermac doesn't.

The powermac has some added on doohickeys that no one really needs.


If I were you, I would go with the iMac.

BTW...a computer guy like yourself can probably get away with no Applecare. I didn't get it on my Powerbook, and everything is just dandy. The stores also have free support, through the genius bar. I brought in mine (out of warrenty) with one broken key, and they replaced the entire keyboard free of charge.