[two1361]

I have not bought a Apple in some time. although i am very computer literate so i know about 64-bit and all. but here is my question, when it comes to performace, any difference with the iMac and Power Mac besides the Dual processors? right now I am looking into getting a Mac, however don't really want to spend the money on a $2,500 or above (to include monitor) on a Power Mac. so i was looking into the iMac. right now since i have a nice AMD PC, i don't really need the dual 2.7ghz G5. many i probably will be doing graphics like digital photography/photoshop, etc. i don't think i'd do much gameing but who knows, but is not my plan at the moment.

[MSM Hobbes]

It won't post here how it is in my Excel sheet, but... some time back I created a list to compare the offerings, price, and performance - and then looked at those details along with my desires in the hope that that would shed some light on my very similar dilema.

The iMac is very powerful [esp. for its size], and offers sleek beauty, clean space, and compactness. However, any kind of internal expansion would be much less of a possibility than that w/ a Power Mac. Recall too that dual processors are so very sweet, esp. w/ Panther and newer OS's, and also esp. when doing digital photo rendering, etc. Graphics card and bus speed I seem to recall are also slower on the iMac...

Might look at refurbished models - they are totally gone over before shipping, and at times can get extras that are not included w/ brand new models.

Now, with all that said... and altho' dated, had this in my bookmarks: http://www.barefeats.com/imacg5.html Will let you draw your own conclusions, based on your own perspective and needs.

[zoombini]

The Imac G5 is suitable for all your needs and the G5 powermac will not have any real use until many software apps make use of 64-bit computing. It has it's place in high-end-user circles, but the Imac is more than adequate for the consumer market.

The one thing I would suggest if your decide on the Imac is that you boost the memory to 1g if possible. The one grievance I have with Apple is that there machines tend to ship with minimum memory allocated. The specs do seem to be creeping up, but it seems to be grudgingly so.

[two1361]

wait... you say powermac willnot be real use until 64 bit software... but the iMac's are 64 bit too, correct? with the G5 chip. so that why i thought at first that the iMac would be good for me, but wanted to hear it from someone else... also i can out OS X Tiger on an iMac (with the G5 chip)?

[zoombini]

Yeah, u are correct, the G5 Imac is indeed 64-bit, but I guess I meant the powermac is for higher-end users. It really is all relative. To a normal user, there's not much to seperate the Powermac and Imac, but I guess it depends what u use it for.

U can install Tiger on a G4 machine with no problem, and it's not a pre-requisite to have a G5 processer. A decent link for more info on the subject is:

http://www.macosx.com/forums/archive...p/t-50900.html

[two1361]

oooooh so Tiger is 32 bit compatible? lol unlike windows. so if i was to buy a iMac now, it would have Tiger on it? or would i have to get it separately?

[MSM Hobbes]

All Apples are now shipping w/ Tiger.

BTW, some reports I've seen even say that they will only work w/ Tiger - no previous OS 10 versions. Classic is still included, but Panther, etal are evidently not - something regarding the fan on new models is not compatible w/ Panther.