Which Mac should I purchase

[Anonymous]

I am an intern architect and I need to learn the Archicad program 8.1.2. I will need to buy a new Mac to run the program and am considering the new 20"
iMac G4. Specs are as follows 1.25 Ghz PowerPC G4, 512MB of PC2700(333Mhz.) DDR SDRAM, 80GB hard disk drive, 4XSuperDrive, NVIDIA GeForce
FX 5200 Ultra with 64MB of DDR SDRAM, 56K modem, 10/100BT Ethernet, Firewire and USB connectivity and AirPort Extreme ready. Is this going to be
a good machine for Archicad? Should I consider a G4 PowerMac and Cinema display? Will the iMac need to be upgraded in the near future, and can that be
done easily? Any suggestions would be helpfull.

[Anonymous]

Get a G5 and Cinema Display if you can afford it. The G5 is MUCH faster than the iMac and the Cinema Display is far better than anything else I have ever used (if only I could hook my ThinkPad up to it). The 20" display is the minimum for productivity in AC8.1 (and a very nice monitor) but I recommend the 23" if you can manage it. Monitors are typically used two to three time as long as computers so it really pays to get a good one.

The iMac can do the job for now, but the upgrade will be a replacement so you need to decide if it's worth buying for a relatively short useful life. (Of course iMacs do seem to maintain a pretty good resale value.)

[Aussie John]

I concur with Matthews comments and add that RAM is important too and the iMac is not as easily or cheaply upgraded as the number of slots is limited ( you might have to throw out RAM to put more in.
I'd want more than 512Mb.

Upgrading the iMac generally is not easy since it is an all in one. Mind you often computers go through their life with out being upgraded so long as the RAM is sufficient when first purchaced.

If you go for G4 tower ( and you could get a dual) then as Matthew says you can keep any monitor you get (or add an extra one)

Another alternative would be a Powerbook - that way when you upgrade to a Tower in the future you still have a useful computer.

Apple seem to be in the process of upgrading all their models (emac and laptops so far) An upgrade to the current G5 has been expected for some while but there is a delay. the iMac? I would expect something very soon as the new eMac currently runs with the same processor.

[Dave Jochum]

And I agree with both Matthew and John for all the reasons discussed. Some options: You can get a refurbished 23" Cinema display from Apple for $1700 ($300 off). Click on the red tag "Special Deals" at store.apple.com . I have bought several pieces from Apple refurbed with no problems what-so-ever. They often have refurbed G5 towers as well, but I see there are none presently. All my computers (all Apples) over the years have aged gracefully to become sloths before breaking, so you don't have to worry that a refurb will have too much wear on it--or even a used machine for that matter (I have also bought a few machines on eBay). The only thing that I would not recommend at this point in time, is shelling out the bucks for a new dual 2G. As suggested, they are due for replacement, which will cause the price to drop a few c notes. I'm waiting for the next quantum leap with new architecture and probably at least dual 3G processors--maybe by next January (MacWorld SF)? Since you didn't say anything about budget, I'm not sure just how much help this all is.

[Anonymous]

This is just a thought, if like me you do not have thousands of £$ to spend, you might want think about the following : Im upgrading my very ageing G3imac 400 at home. Currently the G5's are too expensive, I cant have a TFT screen because ive got young kids who want to poke the screen, also if I bought an imac, when I wanted to upgrade to a quicker machine I would be throwing away a perfectly good screen.

Therefore I am going to buy one of the new emacs, whilst its not the fastest machine in the world, it is equivalent to the top of line powermacs apple was selling a year ago, it also cost £500 / $700. THe 32Mb graphics card is a bit of a worry, but unless you are working on extremely large models I think its an excellent starter machine.

It would certainly get you started in learning Archicad, and you can then put some money aside to by a G6 5Ghz machine with 30"TFT in a couple of years time

[Anonymous]

If you need to buy now, consider getting the fastest G5 you can afford with a minimum of 1gb ram and 128mb video card. Add more ram as you need or can afford; easy to pop in. A cinema display would be nice, but expensive. I have (2) 18" Sony lcd displays that provide more horizontal screen area than a large cinema display and cost around $500 each. (Shop around!) You might start with one display and add another later. It is doubtful than G5 prices will drop significantly even as new models are added.

[Dave Jochum]

Mabe wrote:
If you need to buy now, consider getting the fastest G5 you can afford with a minimum of 1gb ram and 128mb video card.

It is doubtful than G5 prices will drop significantly even as new models are added.

I've already stated my recommendations on this, but have to respond, Mabe. I personally would never buy a new, full price piece of hardware when it is near the end of its life. It just does not make financial sense to me, even if cost were no object. Current hardware will always drop in price when it is replaced with a subsequent generation to clear it off the shelves. The new Powerbook release resulted in a $400 drop in price for the 1.33 GHz and the 1.5GHz is $100 cheaper than the former top-of-the-line unit. That is very typical for Apple. You can bank on it.

[Anonymous]

Dave, I am not disagreeing with you. I may be wrong, but I thought, the latest round of G5s had recently been introduced. The price of the dual G5 did not drop, and I don't think it is near the end of its life. Rumor has it that the Powerbook G5 is still light-months away. Over the years, as new models are introduced, older models drop in price from $100-$500, but I wouldn't wait if I didn't have a computer and needed one today. We should all do our research and check out sources like www.thinksecret.com.

Robert was asking about the iMac, and I think it is closer to the end of its life. But, it is probably the best value on the market and could be an affordable solution until the Powerbook G5 gets here.
~Mabe

[Dave Jochum]

Mabe wrote:
I may be wrong, but I thought, the latest round of G5s had recently been introduced. The price of the dual G5 did not drop, and I don't think it is near the end of its life. I wouldn't wait if I didn't have a computer and needed one today.

The "word on the street", as they say, is that new G5 towers will be out this summer--not too far away. It won't be a quantum leap in technology, but an incremental step. The 90 nm chip and controller design is apparently still a ways off.

Mabe wrote:
Robert was asking about the iMac, and I think it is closer to the end of its life. But, it is probably the best value on the market and could be an affordable solution until the Powerbook G5 gets here.
~Mabe

There are definitely a lot of choices for an interim 'puter. I think it just comes down to shopping for the best deal.

[Anonymous]

hi there,

I was a Mac user years ago. Mac's are really nice and beautiful machines.
I am sure it does a good job for years.
But that's until I shifted from Mac to PC.
To my amazement, i m not to brag something on pc, it's a leap on all the softwares that i used. It is easily upgradable, more affordable, more high end hardwares.
Archicad for example. runs smoother and a pretty big leap over the Mac G5. After my experience on the pc, a big number of friends shifted their platforms.
the system i used:
Dual 1.8GHz PowerPC G5
1Gb RAM
and a NVIDIA FX 5200 Ultra @ 64MB, and

Water cooled Pentium 4 3.06
1Gb of ram
Ati 9800XT @ 256 mb ddr ram

I tested both by using the same model, and same rendering method.
The p4 out perform the g5. it wasn't to my expectation that the p4 performed better.

My advice:
Use the amount of cash that you are going to pump into a Mac, go to dell or some computer IT related stores, and ask for a system with your budget. I m pretty sure the system you gonna have is definately faster then the mac that u gonna buy. These are just my thought.