On 2 Nov, 2005, at 12:56 pm, Jared Kuolt wrote:
1) Price. I can get a mac mini for cheap, but is that powerful enough?
Powerful enough for what? TurboGears development? Certainly. Cocoa development, probably. Hardcore 3D rendering? Nope. You'll probably be fine with a maxed out Mini.
2) Power. How powerful, really? Especially since I'm considering G4s...
The G5 just haven't delivered the raw horsepower Jobs wanted. If they had, we wouldn't be transitioning to Intel next year. I bought a brand new Powerbook 15" with all the bells and whistles the day after the announcement. I don't really care what the chip is, so long as it's a Mac.
3) The iMac is ugly. Don't even suggest it.
The new one isn't so bad, but I'm not really an iMac guy either.
4) Is the G5 worth over $2000? If you say it is, you must be willing to state that this machine will be good for me for over 2 years!
Until I bought my PowerBook, I was using a first generation white iBook from 2001. It was 4 years old and still works great. In fact, once I replace the keyboard (a cat leapt up on my lap and ripped off the r key), it will be good for another couple years.
I routinely ran Photoshop, Tomcat and all sorts of nasty stuff on that iBook and it performed a treat.
Any Mac you buy will not only still work in 4 years, but will still probably work great in 4 years. My brother is still running his old Blue & White G3 tower from gods know when...
5) Paying for software? That's tough... Is it worth it? Really?
Depends on the software. Quicken? NO WAY! Same crappy software every year. Photoshop? I upgrade every couple versions. However, once I move to Aperture, I may not bother much.
Go Mac. You won't regret it. -- Jeff Watkins http://newburyportion.com/ "Daddy, I want a purple iMac. And I want ice cream!" -- Unidentified 7-year-old to his father.
