Trading in a G5 PowerMac for an Intel Mac Mini - any advice or comments?
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From: eastender on 4 Mar 2010 14:49 In article <1jeue6l.17ua84jfp2m68N%thewildrover(a)me.com>, thewildrover(a)me.com (Andy Hewitt) wrote: > > A new Mac Mini should comletely blow away your old G5. > > I changed from a 2x 1.8GHz G5 nearly two years ago, and went with a > MacBook 2.2, which internally is similar to a Mini. Even that was an > upgrade, and likewise the cost to change was neglible. Seconded. I got fed up with my G5 last summer (admittedly a single processor model) and bought a 2MHz Mac Mini. I opened it up and put 4GB Crucial memory in and a 7200 rpm 320MB WD drive. It is very fast and can easily handle multiple apps - earlier today I had InDesign, Quark, Word, Safari, Mail, Acrobat, Parallels/WIndows XP and assorted others all open and the fan never went above its base 1500 rpm and there was little impact on the apps, save a bit longer to open one or two. It's a great machine. E.
From: Jaimie Vandenbergh on 4 Mar 2010 15:56 On Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:41:23 +0000, Nige <nige(a)room.fsa.com> wrote: >Could anyone offer any advice/insight on this as a worthwhile move? >Looking at my G5 and comparing it with the diminutive Mac Mini, it >seems hard to believe I'd be 'trading up' - but the spec's speak for >themselves... don't they? Do it. They are wonderful little workhorses, and the latest ones will indeed spank the G5 on everything except on quantity of internal disk. Apple screw you for memory and hard drive, though - upgrade these yourself if you need to. The WD Blue 500gigs are superbly fast. Cheers - Jaimie -- "Some people think that noise abatement should be a higher priority for ATC. I say safety is noise abatement. You have no idea how much noise it makes to have a 737 fall out of the sky after an accident." -- anonymous air traffic controller
From: Jaimie Vandenbergh on 4 Mar 2010 16:02 On Thu, 4 Mar 2010 19:21:51 +0000, djmaizels(a)mac.com (Debbie Wilson) wrote: >Andy Hewitt <thewildrover(a)me.com> wrote: > >> You'll obviously lose some upgradability - no PCI slots, onboard >> graphics etc, but the later ones can run two monitors, have FW800, >> wireless (5GHz), Bluetooth, DVD burner etc. > >Sorry for the thread hijack - do you think a new Mac Mini will run a 30" >Apple screen satisfactorily? I *really* need to upgrade from my dual G4 >867 (runs screen OK but sometimes jerky) but can't afford a new Mac Pro. Yes, but you'll need to get a Mini Displayport -> dual link DVI adapter. The Mini-DVI port in the latest Mini doesn't do higher than 1920x1200. The Apple ones are �70... Cheers - Jaimie -- Ford carried on counting quietly. This is about the most aggressive thing you can do to a computer, the equivalent of going up to a human being and saying "Blood... blood... blood... blood..." -- Douglas Adams
From: Jaimie Vandenbergh on 4 Mar 2010 16:41 On Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:17:06 +0000, Bruce Horrocks <07.013(a)scorecrow.com> wrote: >On 04/03/2010 19:21, Debbie Wilson wrote: >> Sorry for the thread hijack - do you think a new Mac Mini will run a >> 30" Apple screen satisfactorily? I*really* need to upgrade from my >> dual G4 867 (runs screen OK but sometimes jerky) but can't afford a >> new Mac Pro. > >According to the Nvidia specs page the latest Mini's graphics card has a >max resolution of 2560x1600 via DVI (and 2048x1536 via VGA). > >That's exactly the maximum that the Apple Cinema HD 30" display >supports. Probably not a coincidence. :-) Through the displayport only. Mini Tech Specs page says "Extended desktop and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports up to 1920 by 1200 pixels on a DVI or VGA display; up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on a dual-link DVI display using Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (sold separately)" Cheers - Jaimie -- "The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity." -- Voltaire
From: David Empson on 4 Mar 2010 17:41
Debbie Wilson <djmaizels(a)mac.com> wrote: > Andy Hewitt <thewildrover(a)me.com> wrote: > > > You'll obviously lose some upgradability - no PCI slots, onboard > > graphics etc, but the later ones can run two monitors, have FW800, > > wireless (5GHz), Bluetooth, DVD burner etc. > > Sorry for the thread hijack - do you think a new Mac Mini will run a 30" > Apple screen satisfactorily? Should do. You will need to buy the expensive "Mini DisplayPort to Dual Link DVI" adapter (which also ties up one USB port). The current Mini also has a Mini-DVI output, but it only supports single-link DVI (up to about 1920x1200 resolution). I have the current Mac Mini Server, but no 30" display (or adapter) so can't test it. It seems to be very happy with my 24" Dell display, using the supplied Mini-DVI to DVI adapter, and I tested it briefly with a Mini DisplayPort to (single link) DVI adapter. > I *really* need to upgrade from my dual G4 867 (runs screen OK but > sometimes jerky) but can't afford a new Mac Pro. The main limitation you might run into is that the integrated graphics chipset in the Mac Mini isn't particularly good at doing 3D graphics (compared to what could be achieved with an iMac or Mac Pro). It should be fine for 2D, and will probably beat the pants off whatever graphics card is in your G4. Note that the integrated graphics controller ties up part of the computer's main memory for the video buffers (at least 256 MB). -- David Empson dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz |