Is $500 for a dual-core 2.3GHz G5 a good deal?

[Robert M]

Filliam,

$500 can get you to a last year's model mini from Micro Center if they still have them in stock for $349 or $399.

Robert

[AAA]

I have not read the above replies.
I would not spend $500 on a G5 anything.
I would more sooner buy a Dell Mini 9 and a Drobo.

[tahoedrew]

bruceko wrote:
If you are editing video it may not work with your camera.
The hard drive and memory card cameras require and Intel processor.

I shoot with a Canon HV30 (tape) camcorder because I HATE AVCHD and the other compression formats that all HD-based camcorders use! Thanks for the concern though.

Robert M wrote:
Filliam,

$500 can get you to a last year's model mini from Micro Center if they still have them in stock for $349 or $399.

Robert

I can't put 1TB drives in a mini and I already noted how I don't have much more space for external enclosures to take up!

AAA wrote:
I have not read the above replies.
I would not spend $500 on a G5 anything.
I would more sooner buy a Dell Mini 9 and a Drobo.

Per my original post, I can't edit HD video on a Dell Mini 9 and a Drobo!

I appreciate the responses but you guys don't seem to be answering my question based on my specific situation.

~A

[AAA]

stop editing video and live life!

[Panopticon]

just for comparison, with that $500 you could build a Core 2 Quad with a fast nVidia card, 1TB HD, 4GB DDR2, a DVD Burner, & OS X Retail Install. With the right mobo, the only "hack" needed is the EFI boot partition.

I'm not urging you to go that route, but it would be a better investment than any PPC Mac.

[rz]

tahoedrew wrote:

I can't put 1TB drives in a mini and I already noted how I don't have much more space for external enclosures to take up!

A mini and an external enclosure are a problem size-wise, but a G5 tower isn't? What am I missing here? OWC sells the mini-stack enclosures that have the same footprint as the mini. You could have a mini and about 8 of the mini-stacks, and it would still take up less space than the G5.

[decay]

$40 for this enclosure that looks like a "mini G5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6817347017

put your 1 TB SATA drive in there... get two if you like, they have FW and can daisy-chain.

[kj4btkljv]

I have, and use every day at work, that exact model of G5 machine. I have though several times of selling it to get something newer, with the blessing of my boss, but I just haven't needed to yet. It's still plenty fast for what I'm doing - desktop publishing, FileMaker Pro development, and web design. I've got 4GB of RAM, the stock 250GB drive, and an additional 640GB hard drive inside.

The only slowdown I can force on it is doing a CCC copy of one of the internal hard drives to one of my XServe shares. Handbrake rips are pretty slow, but that's only for fun. With everything else it just screams.

Now, don't make me compare it to a new Mac Pro, because it will totally fall on it's face. But, for me, and what I need it for, it's plenty of machine. When I need to upgrade, it will most likely become a server of some type (iTunes, FTP, web log analysis, etc.).

Jeff

[Doc]

At this point I would not invest in PPCs, except where they are dirt cheap and I where I could turn them around quickly for a profit.

When I go to state auctions, I see G5s on the same palettes with G4s and palettes typically go for $3-400.

[Mr645]

I still have a few dual G5 towers in the office. My personal desktop is a dual 2.5 and I find it to be very productive.