looking to get a mac cause in school we learn how to use certain programs that are introduced in my field and they are all on macs. I know most programs can be made fro windows and the computer i already have is pretty badass. But i want a computer devoted to just my work and nothing else (save ram, HD space etc.) I was looking into an Emac cause they are cheap. I was wondering how fast I will need to get. Im going to mostly run Final Cut Pro and Photoshop, After effects, and SOundtrack. I have seen these go on ebay for around $500 for the 800Mhz but the new 1.25Mhz G4 goes for about $800. a little help please. B)
MAC guys & girls
- Thread starter SolPWR
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MaaseyRacer
Senior Member
Sweet another person who realizes that final cut is the shit. First off G4 is the way to go for what you want to do, I would say G5, but they are super expensive. I have a Dual G4 500 and a dual G5 1.8, I picked up the G4 for 450 bucks. It runs photoshop and final cut quite nicely. Not quite as fast as my my dual G5 1.8, but the G5 is brand new and that is to be expected. There are a lot of good mac deals latly. check out dealmac.com, and craigslist.org. My classmate picked up a 1ghz g4 iMac for 750, and it had a boat load of ram, and a bigger hard drive in it. As the G5s drop in price the G4s will drop too, I say wait till the end of June if you can, by then dealers will be gearing up for MacWorld New York and Boston, and there will be a ton of good deals out there. Also check out smalldog.com, they have daily deals on their home page and sometime they are good sometimes they are not so good. Best of luck and hit me up if you have more questions. 
Originally posted by DarkHand@May 14 2004, 10:07 AM
That's badass! I can relate.
For Macs, get the latest generation chip you can, then worry about chip speed, then pile on as much RAM as you can afford. If you're planning on running OS 10.3 or higher, make sure you've got tons of disk space too. OSX is a disk hog, especially after you start installing all your apps. Estimate about 10-15 GB for your system and all your apps, then price out your storage space from that point forward.
integraslut78
Stylus DJ Extraordinaire
Do you mean the Imac. Go with the G4 because the programs you want to use will need a good amount of RAM and the IMAC sucks for that. My friend is actually selling his G4 Powerbook Laptop and it already has Final Cut and programs like that for only $1200.
Citizen_Insane
Senior Member
Go at LEAST a dual G4 if not a dual G5. The G5 supports WAY more ram and is a better chip anyway.
integraslut78
Stylus DJ Extraordinaire
Send me a PM if you are interested at all.
MaaseyRacer
Senior Member
Eh I think that is an over exageration. On my Dual G4 appliactions and System (including the Library) took up 6 gigs, it was about 6.5 on my Dual G5. On my G4 I have 896 megs of ram, on my G5 I have 1.5 gigs. I had 512 in the G4 and never once had an issue even with the new system, when my roommate got a new comp. I took his ram and put it in my computer, no noticable difference.
The iMac can take a gig or two of ram, however I believe that it only has two slots. I used an iMac G4 800 to do Final Cut Pro stuff for an entire summer at my work. It did it, slightly on the slow side however it worked real well. I would personally try to find a 1ghz iMac there are some good referbushed deals, which still carry the same apple warrenty, and what not. Personally referbushed is the way to go.
Oh and in responce to the think expensive picture, obviously a lot of people do not own macs, yeah the intial cost of a mac is slightly higher than a PC, then you have to factor in what it cost to run a mac and what is gotten out of them. My G5, cost me $2,000 referbushed, I immediatly bought another hard drive and more ram. So I have two processors (dual banked) running at stupid fast speeds, gigabit ethernet, expandable to 8 gigs of ram, DVD-RW drive, server quality cooling system, optical audio, firewire (key for any video shit, damn good looking computer, and that is just the hardware not to mention the software that is included in the sytem software alone. Once you have the system you really do not need too many other utilities.
Now that I have paid for the computer I have a business tool, that no one is writing viruses for, does not crash at all, and I have been running the G4 for about 30 days now with no restarts. Shit linux is the next best thing to that, except there is just as much support, including phone support, and major companies such as Adobe, and Macromedia, got their start on the mac and continue to make a better mac product than a Windows product. Now to mention pop ups, I use the apple browser which is not integrated into the system so there are no pops or spyware while not even using a browser. In fact the apple browser automaticly blocks pop ups, therefore adaware does not need to be downloaded, nor do you need to google bar, as it is already included. It is just a more complete computer out of the box, showing again you get what you pay for.
As far as games are concern, fuck it I have an Xbox and will probably be getting a PS2, my computer is my work machine, I sit at one all day at work and school so I really do not care to play games on one.
H22AdelSol
Senior Member
We just got 4 G5's at school, 2.2 dual cpu's with 2 gigs ram. Apple cinema displays, there actually not slow as shit. I like em expect for the price. Final cut and Soundtrack rule! I wish they made soundtrack for windows, that prog is so fun.
You're probably right- but that's generally the size I see getting taken up by our staff Macs here on campus... but then again, we run a LOT of junk on our systems. It's a very conservative estimate- better to have too much space than too little. It's not like hard drive space is very expensive these days.
hybrid89
thistownsucks...
Alright If I cover anything that has been said sorry, I didn't read everyone else reply. I have owned and been working on MACS for the last 10 years(yes before they were popular to some extent). My advice to you is this...
If you want to run those programs without major bogging or crashing, get a dual processor G4 or if you can afford it G5. the dual processor is made for programs such a FCP and Photoshop. A single would work, but you will get much better proformance from these types of programs wih a dual.
Load that fucker with as much RAM as you can. those programs strive on RAM to opperate flawlessly. You can't have enough. OSX (panther prefered), it has a couple of more features than jaguar and is a lot more stable for large file transfering and editing.
My advice in a nutshell, get a G4 1gig or more dual processor (if your wallet can afford it) or G5 AND ATLEAST A GIG TO A GIG AND A HALF OF RAM. I cannot express how important the ram is. Almost more than the processor speed. Partition your drives to allow a good size (20-30 gigs min) for scratch space only. It would be wise to spend the extra money now and get the biggest system you can so later down the line you can add a little here and there and not have to buy a new setup in the near future. If you can find a good deal on a used(or new) G4 1.42 dual proccessor, go that route. the G5's are nice ( i have 2 at work), but not nessasary. PM me if you have any more question. I work for Warner Bros. Studios and use Macs for a living each and everyday in the real world for photo/vector editing and large format printing. i have owned at least 8 different macs (from the original beige G3 to the newest G5) I can tell you the ins and out of each and hopefully steer you in the right dirrection.
matt
If you want to run those programs without major bogging or crashing, get a dual processor G4 or if you can afford it G5. the dual processor is made for programs such a FCP and Photoshop. A single would work, but you will get much better proformance from these types of programs wih a dual.
Load that fucker with as much RAM as you can. those programs strive on RAM to opperate flawlessly. You can't have enough. OSX (panther prefered), it has a couple of more features than jaguar and is a lot more stable for large file transfering and editing.
My advice in a nutshell, get a G4 1gig or more dual processor (if your wallet can afford it) or G5 AND ATLEAST A GIG TO A GIG AND A HALF OF RAM. I cannot express how important the ram is. Almost more than the processor speed. Partition your drives to allow a good size (20-30 gigs min) for scratch space only. It would be wise to spend the extra money now and get the biggest system you can so later down the line you can add a little here and there and not have to buy a new setup in the near future. If you can find a good deal on a used(or new) G4 1.42 dual proccessor, go that route. the G5's are nice ( i have 2 at work), but not nessasary. PM me if you have any more question. I work for Warner Bros. Studios and use Macs for a living each and everyday in the real world for photo/vector editing and large format printing. i have owned at least 8 different macs (from the original beige G3 to the newest G5) I can tell you the ins and out of each and hopefully steer you in the right dirrection.
matt
RAM is king when you are doing graphic design.
