G5 iMac 17" 1.9 GHz for $861.17 vs. Intel iMac Core Duo 17" 1.83 GHz for $1294.17 vs. Intel Mac mini Core Duo 1.66 GHz f

[pinkoos]

These are the prices I can get for new, sealed units (I'll spare you the details).

I'll be upgrading from a G4 iMac 17" 1.25 GHz with 1.25 GB RAM, so I am hoping to see a decent speed increase with whatever model I choose.

Also, I already have a 17" flat panel LCD, keyboard and mouse, so if I purchased the Mac mini, I would not be incurring any additional costs. The only thing about the mini is that my LCD is VGA (not DVI), and I had problems with a G4 mini and this monitor (blurry/fuzzy/washed out appearance). I don't know if the intelminis would cause the same problem or not. Incidentally, I'm spanning this monitor with my current G4 iMac and get very crisp, sharp and bright output.

All of the new models would come with 512 MB RAM.

Main uses are email, web, basic Office apps (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, Mac the Ripper, Popcorn, etc. I don't do anything with Photoshop, Macromedia, etc.

I'd be saving about $433 between the G5 iMac and the Intel iMac, $495 between the Intel iMac and the Intel mini and $62 between the Intel mini and the G5 iMac.

Any recommendations from you guys out there? Would I be better off with the G5 iMac and buying extra RAM or whatever else with the money saved? Or, for that matter, would the Intel mini serve my purposes well? One of the things about the mini that I don't like is the trouble I would have to go to in order to increase the RAM.

Also, I don't really play games, so that's not an issue for me.

Anyway, any thoughts would be much appreciated.

[sekker]

Get the mactel imac, use the 17" LCD as a part of a dual monitor setup. It's a terrific setup.

[Chupa Chupa]

Intel iMac. But you'll need at least 1GB of RAM. The Intel iMacs can take advantage of Dual Channel so best to get two 2 identical 512MB sticks. Whatever you do don't attempt to use with just 512MB RAM. It's very painfull. Very.

[rgG]

I had the same decision to make as you do, except I didn't already have a monitor. After much debate and thought, I went with the 17" intel iMac. I plan on adding 512 more RAM, but I want to wait a few weeks to make sure everything is OK out of the box. I will say that I don't find it slow at all with only the 512, but I usually only do one thing at a time. The machine I was using just before is a 12" 800MHz G4 iBook and it seems much quicker than that, even under Rosetta.

I do some Photoshop Elements work and it is plenty fast in that, much quicker than the iBook. The screen is beautiful and it isn't much thicker than a monitor alone. I like the nice neat package that it presents and it is one of the reasons I went with it over the mini. Plus, looking at the instructions, it looks like inserting an extra 512 of RAM should be really easy-just four screws to remove.

I decided that while think the G5 would have served me fine for right now, that it is ultimately headed down the same path as OS9. I decided that if I was going to buy new, I should look toward the future and get the intel based machine. Good luck, it can be a difficult decision with so many things to consider.

[Michael]

Intel iMac here, as well.

Relatively small increase in price to be in the future rather than the past.

[michaelb]

I don't know if the speed differences are that significant for what you are doing. Is there a reason not to consider a 20" G5 iMac? Going up to a 20" would be worth looking at for the price of the intel iMac.

[Refurbvirgin]

michaelb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't know if the speed differences are that
> significant for what you are doing. Is there a
> reason not to consider a 20" G5 iMac? Going up to
> a 20" would be worth looking at for the price of
> the intel iMac.

Apple has 17" refurbs for $1099 & 20" for $1449. A Dell 20" lcd can be had for $429, so for ~$79 more you could have the 17" and a 20" external monitor.

[richorlin]

Spend $150 more and get the refurbished 20" Intel iMac. You won't regret it. If you get the 17", six months down the road you'll be kicking yourself for not spending the extra $150.

[pinkoos]

Thanks for the replies. I am kind of forced to by it from Fry's as I have a $912 gift certificate that I bought from somebody for $800 (I figured this into the prices I listed in the subject line of this thread).

So, I'm effectively saving on tax, though I'd be better off buying it from Amazon b/c of their rebate.

Regardless, I found out that the G5 iMac that Fry's listed as $899 ($799 for me effectively due to the $100 savings on the gift certificate) is for open box/demo units...not new in the box units.

Looks like I'm leaning towards the Intel iMac, but it's a tough decision. The savings by purchasing the mini would be huge, but I just don't know. Very confused right now.