kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted November 8, 2004 At my job I'm requesting a new Mac computer. Now, what specifications should I be looking for and stuff? I don't own a Mac myself so all this hippie G3, 4, 5, 10 crap is alien to me. Merci in advance... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Luke Cage Report post Posted November 8, 2004 What do you need it for? Are you using it for heavy duty graphics/audio work, or general office work? If you're just doing general office stuff, an iMac or iBook will probably suit your needs. If you want more expandability/power, have them spring for a dual 2.5 ghz G5...heck while you're at it see if they can hook you up with one of those monster 30" LCDs...heh heh heh. You're going to want at LEAST a gig of ram. Apple charges way too much for ram, so you'll want to buy it third party and install it yourself. Again, if the company is paying, why not buy it with as much as you need already installed. Any new Mac will ship with OS X, once you're online you can select "Software Update" from the Apple menu on the far left. Any updates you need will be available for download. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted November 8, 2004 It'll be for graphics work. I just want to know what is "standard" on Macs nowadays in regards to GB space, power, etc. Example: This hippie "G" stuff -- what number is considered normal for Macs nowadays? (G3, G4, G5) I'm not looking for something top-of-the-line, but I'm not looking for something crappy either... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Luke Cage Report post Posted November 8, 2004 Get either a single 1.8 ghz G5 Tower or a dual 1.8. Apple will likely be abandoning the G4 chip soon, as they only use it in the eMac and the portables(G5s run too hot for portables, at least so far). They haven't used the G3 for awhile. The G5 tower will ship with at least an 80 gig hd, and 256 mgs of ram...not nearly enough for what you want to do, but you can custom configure either machine to your needs at the Apple website, or any online reseller. I configured the following Single 1.8 ghz G5 Tower with 1 gig ram, 250 gig hd 128 mb video card, no wireless card(+$79 if you desire) for $1,974.00 A dual 1.8 ghz machine will run about 500 bucks more. I don't know if you'll be using any dual processor aware programs, but if the company is willing to spring for it, why not. If you don't want to go the LCD route, you can use any VGA monitor you want. By the way, the G stands for Generation...they're on the fifth version of the chip they use (PowerPC) hence the term G5. Just marketing, no big deal. You can probably score a G4 (previous generation) desktop for 1299, less if you hunt for deals. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted November 8, 2004 Yeah, I've started looking, and there seems to be some decent models for a cheap price. I was just curious at what the "G" stood for. I don't need a computer as power as the ones you've been talking about, but it's good to know what's considered "standard" now in Apple-World... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted November 11, 2004 Get either a single 1.8 ghz G5 Tower or a dual 1.8. Apple will likely be abandoning the G4 chip soon, as they only use it in the eMac and the portables(G5s run too hot for portables, at least so far). The higher-end ones still run well for graphics work. Aside from the speed boost, there really hasn't been very much difference between G3/G4/G5. Only with next year's OS is there any real functions used by G5 chips that won't be available in the older ones. If you're going for an iMac, get as much power as you can afford, but if you're going for one of those PC tower style Power Mac models, there's a lot of different options (so many in the G4 line it may get confusing) and they tend to have power upgrades down the road. Also remember that GHz you see on a Mac isn't the same speed as an identitical P4 on the PC because it's a RISC-based processor. Or, in your terms, Macs exist in a hippie land where they can run as fast as a Pentium with a somewhat higher clockspeed rating because the PowerPC CPUs do more work in each cycle than the Pentium (which is really based on old 1970s technology and could stand an upgrade) does. Although, it might not be a hippie CPU after all, since it involves doing more work, and that's supposedly a foreign concept to hippies. My Mac was bought used from eBay. I wouldn't dare spend the money they ask for a new one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 Because I know you were all on the edge of your seat over this... I finally got a G5 with 60 gb space, a 1.8 processor thingy and 256 things of RAM (I think -- I'd have to double check the box it came in). Of course, I can't really play with it until the current publication I'm working on gets done. The computer I'm currently using is a piece of crap that's seven years old. God I can't wait, although here's another question: I will have to network my Mac with another. Any advice on this since I have no clue as to what I'll be doing?... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mik 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 http://www.apple.com/imac/ EDIT: Nevermind. I just now realized this topic was months old. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted January 19, 2005 I finally got a G5 with 60 gb space, a 1.8 processor thingy and 256 things of RAM (I think -- I'd have to double check the box it came in). Of course, I can't really play with it until the current publication I'm working on gets done. The computer I'm currently using is a piece of crap that's seven years old. Nice computer, although if you want an upgrade path to follow I'd first reccomend upping the RAM. 256 is the minimum in all Macs for just about forever, and it basically gives you enough room to play around with the OS and not do much more. If you're working on a professional publication and going to be using those big industry standard tools from names like Adobe, you're going to want about 768MB RAM, more only if you can swing for it. I recently retired the used PowerMac and bought one of those Mini Macs (damn them for coming out with such a more powerful computer for almost the same price), and I droped Wi-Fi in favor of 512MB RAM just because it contributes so well to performance. Also, prepare yourself to have to spend about $150 on System 10.4 (aka Tiger) when it comes out. These kinds of upgrades are almost necessary. God I can't wait, although here's another question: I will have to network my Mac with another. Any advice on this since I have no clue as to what I'll be doing?... Do you already have a network set up in your location? For the home, a broadband connection with a router sharing the connection between multiple computers is the most common home network. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted January 19, 2005 Yeah, it's set up with the Ethernet and router and stuff, but for some reason it stopped working (at least on my end). And this is for the office, not home. I'm just connecting two computers... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ripper 0 Report post Posted January 19, 2005 Something is wrong with the world when a hippie like you can find graphics work and I can't. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted January 19, 2005 It's not really graphics work, and you know the real reason why I have a "graphics" job and you don't... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ripper 0 Report post Posted January 19, 2005 It's not really graphics work, and you know the real reason why I have a "graphics" job and you don't... You are a slut and slept your way in...yeah...I know. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted January 19, 2005 Actually I was going to say it was due to my charm and proper social graces. Plus I take it up the BUTT... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slayer 0 Report post Posted January 19, 2005 I take it up the BUTT... This is a necessary job skill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2005 KKK, if you just want to move files between your PC and Mac, set up folders to share on the PC (properties window, sharing, share this folder) and then on the Mac look in Network and you should see your PC computer name. Open that up and you'll be prompted for a username/pass. Use the username you use in XP and usually most XP accounts have no password because people don't want to have to enter it on startup. Mount all the folders, one by one, repeating the process for each one. They'll appear on the Desktop, and you can open them up and drag files around. Alternatively, you could enable Windows Sharing on the Mac and browse the Mac from the PC, but I find the Mac networking interface to be superior to the PC. For one thing, you can get actual numbers about how far along your file transfer is (like the copy window says "7.6MB out of 10MB" where Windows just shows a bar and says "45 seconds remaining.") Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 Because you were all on the edge of your seat over this: Well, everything (but one thing) is installed and it's up and running. God I love this computer. My old computer was so bad I couldn't run Word/Quark/Photoshop and Dreamweaver at the same time. The networking and stuff wasn't hard, but because I was doing a lot of this for the first time I was going at it slow to make sure I knew what I was doing. The hardest part was finding all the old passwords/serial numbers to install the necessary materials... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 Because you were all on the edge of your seat over this: Well, everything (but one thing) is installed and it's up and running. God I love this computer. Welcome to the hippie side, friend. Here's your new-age CD starter set and a "friends don't let friends drink Starbucks" bumper sticker so you can fight the power. Also, I've taken the liberty of replacing all your Limbaugh/O'Reilly books with Noam Chomsky. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted February 6, 2005 Well I don't drink Starbucks because I'm too cheap to shell out the money needed to buy a whatever-they're-calling-their-large-size-nowadays, so I guess I'm in an unholy alliance with hippies in that sense. And regarding Chomsky, I have about two dozen large plastic tubs of stuff from my mom's old house in storage in a few closets in my house, many of which contain old books of hers. Now she's been a fairly conservative person all her life, and when packing her books I noticed a lot of Churchill books (Winston, not that hippie prof.) and then I saw them -- a handful of GORE VIDAL books. They almost went straight in the trash, but I'm a better son than that (I think)... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2005 Heh, well for what it's worth, the idea that Mac users are free-spirit hippie types certainly rings true in this area. There's a few over/underweight nerds using the system because there's no spyware, or because they prefer the design, or they've used Macs since they were small, or it's unix-based. The kinds of guys you see everywhere around computers. But then there's the wild ones. And the wild ones come in too flavors: A) White or Near-White hair that hasn't been cut in ages with a similarly long beard. In other words, looks like Gandalf. B) Younger, looks like either a punk rock show or a gay district emptied out into the room, but with a bit more taste and civility. The B-type is all over our Apple Store. It's practically an Apple Closet because they bought the smallest space in there, but there's colored hair and piercings everywhere you look. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted February 7, 2005 Oh man is that the truth. I went to the Pittsburgh Apple Store several times to get these computers. Boy did I feel like an outsider. I have used PC's at home but my college and workplaces have almost always used Macs, so I'm used to both platforms. I worked at this one place that published yearbooks, and there were people who wouldn't go NEAR a computer that was a Mac or vice versa. I didn't mind. I was a temp and that just meant more work for me to do. And here's something I've noticed: In movies/TV the people almost always use Macs, yet the vast majority of people in real life use PCs -- typical Hollywood left-wing revisionism. I even heard years ago that in "24" all the hereos use Macs and all the villians use PCs... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2005 In movies/TV the people almost always use Macs, yet the vast majority of people in real life use PCs -- typical Hollywood left-wing revisionism. I even heard years ago that in "24" all the hereos use Macs and all the villians use PCs... Apple used to really sponsor the heck out of the Mac on movies. They actually made commercials talking about how the Mac is used to save the world in ID4 and Mission Impossible. Alfred videoconferenced with Bruce Wayne by using his Twentieth Anniversary Mac. Nowadays, though, the presence of Mac on TV is because they still rule the roost in professional video production. It's a lot cheaper to stick the sound guy's Powerbook into the shot then buy a junked out computer. And what's also changed is that a lot of the time the Apple logo is covered up. Guess they decided not to piss off the paying sponsors by giving free ad time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
