How Big Does It Really Have To Be?, what constitutes a 'powerful' Mac? Options

[ofried]

i've been in PC land forever. now, i'd like to try Apple! in terms of buying a system, what do i really need? i've heard everything across the board... can anyone (and everyone!) help me figure out what to configure before i purchase the monster!? i have Digi001 LE. i will be buying a dual processor G4. now, while knowing a week after i buy it it's going to be 'old', what exactly should i get to not have to worry about anything for a while? how much Memory, Hard Drive, and anything else you recommend... and do i need external drives... (i don't even know what firewire is... but do i need it!?!?!) thanks very, very much. sincerely, an excellent musician and an awful technician.

[trippinginthefal...]

I do a lot of research before a purchase. Check out these sites to see how Macs have progressed recently, and you should feel confident with a new G4 purchase.

macspeedzone.com

lowendmac.com

smalldog.com - trusted seller for refurbished macs, they have a special for a 867 g4 with a 17" LCD for 1999. Its no ebay price, but it will have a full warranty.

Pro Tools LE series relies on the host, or the Computer to do most of the work. Pro Tools TDM has dsp cards that do most of the work. If you want to use PT LE, you should consider that every ounce of horsepower you invest in, you might need.

I went for a single processor 867 G4 with 1 gig ram. I will get a dual g4 upgrade if I need to, say around christmas (hoping a 1.42 dual upgrade will be available by then).

Also, buy a used monitor, even a CRT, to spend a little more on the right tower. You can always get a new LCD monitor in a few months if you want to. (Lacie makes excellent CRTs).

Scotty

[manexmachina]

Well, no matter what you'll be complaining in six months when your computers speed has been left in the dust. some people use this as an excuse to buy the fastest/latest. Some people buy the next to best as policy and then sell it on ebay every six months when the new ones come out, taking a six month hit of about $500, but always having the new technology. around six months from now, the 970 should be "out" or at least on the platform. This will be the single most important change in mac cpu's since moving to g3 from PPC (bigger than g3 to g4). So - me, personally, I don't know if I'd boost a TON of cash for an extra .2 ghz.

LCD's - i'm in a different opinion that tripping because I feel tha the monitor is the thing you hold onto through about 3 generations of computers if not more... so get the thing you want and, trust me, you want LCD. if the apple ACD prices kill you, consider Dell's LCD's which some mac enthusiasts still prefer.

Firewire - it's just a harddrive with a different sort of connector... hot swapable, incredibly convenient (i own 1.2 terrabytes of firewire). Not quite as fast traditionally as an internal drive or a raid, but the new firewire800 is pretty darned speedy.

a dual 1.25 would make you feel pretty speedy and might not make you take the "luxury hit" when the 970's come out.... (if the do and if you're worried about that).

software based systems are going to be more demanding of that processing. not all software is dual system aware.

[trippinginthefal...]

What I meant was take advantage of the price difference between an LCD and a CRT.

A 21" CRT can be had used for the price of a 15" lcd.

I opted for the LCD, only because I found an apple one for 299. I cant stand using adapters for everything. I want native structure.

In the used market, there is a big difference in a machine 200 bucks more, it seems. The G4s have had varying bus speeds (100,133,167) and varying types and sizes of CPU cache, these things have a big effect on audio horsepower.

If you want a deal, research all the models and have one in mind, keep an eye on ebay for one that you already know you want. If you know what the components cost, youll know what the system is worth. Research!

Question: my single 867 vs a dual 800, is it worth paying another 200 bucks and swapping it out?

About firewire, its a 400mb/sec transfer protocol and connection type. It comes on all blue & white g3s and all G4s. Its used for highspeed drives, cd burners, connecting pro audio interfaces, and hooking up DV cameras. There is a new version called Firewire 800 that is twice as fast and standard on the top NEW g4s.

Scotty

This post has been edited by trippinginthefall: Sat 26 Apr 2003, 20:01

[rickenbacker]

A 17" LCD has the equivalent screen space of a much larger CRT anyway, plus you don't have to deal with accomodating the ugly fat rear end of a tube. The Apple 17" display is plenty big enough, available at a good price and is absolutely fantastic quality. I thought my iBook screen was clear until I got my Apple 17". Wow!

Re. processors, most major music software is dual processor aware (with workarounds to take best advantage, ie Logic) so a current or recent G4 is a sound investment if you find one at a good price. I know rumour sites are on fire with hot gossip about the G5s or whatever, but they're going to be months away yet. Plus hasn't all the software got to be recompiled to take advantage of them anyway? Right now, a dual 867 or 1GHz is plenty powerful enough for most users and will last a good few years yet, IMHO.

[tacoboy]

Here are some important hints for buying a mac.

1. Try to get a mac that has 2MB of L2 cache.

2. Some of the newer macs have a new type of ram which is much faster than regular ram. Good for Software samling etc. Its called DDR333ram.

3. About 1 gig+ of ram is recommended.

4.When buying a hard drive for audio, make sure it is 7200rpm or above. (Its best to get an internal one for cost and reliability)

5. A G4 Dual 1gig is not twice as fast as a G4 1gig! And some apps dont even support dual processors.

6. If you are thinking about using firewire. Buy a mac with firewire800 (new faster firewire.)

7. Most macs now come withvery fast graphics cards. But if your really into getting the best graphics card, go for a ATI Radeon 9700 Pro.

[tacoboy]

Sorry i meant "try to get a mac with 2MB of L3 cache", not L2