Mac G5

L-T-D,

You'll love it.

One question, is it a Mac G5 or an iMac G5? If it's the former then it you'll have to fork out additional £££ for a screen.

I run an iBook using Microsoft Office X (specifically designed for Macs) though don't forget that M$ Office for the Mac doesn't include Access, unlike its PC counterpart.

Wireless protocols are cross-platform, so networking PCs and Macs should be possible, though I have never tried this myself.

HTH.

Cheers,

Jon

Hi Jon

It's an iMac G5

17" TFT jobbie.

Then you'll definitely love it.

The latest iMacs look gorgeous and they are fast too, and very sleek. The computer's inside the screen - nifty, eh?

Lucky bugger. We have a similar scheme at work but you can only buy Dell machines

S

The iMac will come with the following software:

Safari: Browser
Mail: Email
iPhoto: digital photo storage solution
iMovie: for importing video from your DV cam
iDVD: for creating DVDs from your photos and movies (I think the new g5 iMacs all have superdrives to allow DVD burning.
iTunes: Music stuff
Nanosour: Game type thing
Encyclopaedia: For the kids
Microsoft Office Test Drive: If you plumb for it, try and blag some sort of educational thing, are your kids at school, are you doing college for anything, this is easily blagged for 90 quid. You get then full microsoft word, excel, powerpoint, entorage. Its all fully compatible for Office on PC.
iChat: Jabber/AIM chat account thingy.

The iMac will come with ethernet. Plug it into your home network and allow windows sharing to see the home folders of other windows machines. You should be able to share printers as well, I won't allow PCs in the house so cannot confirm if they work haha.

The first thing you want is another half gig of ram for about 50 quid to bring the mac up to 1 gig, it really does go better with that much ram.

One other thing insure that the deal at work is for the brand new iMac G5s that are out, if its for the ones that have just gone, then it is not a great deal at all, infact for the 17 incher its barely a deal as it is, they are £899 new so you are only looking at an 10% saving which for sure is a saving but you know, not earth shattering, again if you have anyone in the family on education then apple will do you 10% anyhow.

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/904...m=iMacG5&mco=5D17DE8

LTD, just a quick word of warning. Whilst I am a huge fan of the Apple system (I have a Powerbook and a very highly specced G5 dual CPU desktop), I would be VERY wary of these work-subsidised schemes.

I previously worked for a bank based in Edinburgh who offered their staff a similar scheme - except it was I believe limited to Compaq laptops. A less techie friend wanted to take advantage of the offer, and asked me to look into it. Basically, the bank had a deal with Compaq to buy what turned out to be 'last year's model' - which is fine, but they wanted to base all their calculations on the current year's prices. So, folk were being duped into paying (after discount) far more than the machine was actually worth. When, as happened, the machines were finally delivered, the specs didn't always match up, the machines were ugly, clunky and unreliable.

As the purchasers were buying it via the work scheme, Compaq didn't want to know. As the bank didn't want to provide any support, they passed the buck, and major wrangles ensued. When I left the bank (April this year) the situation was still grumbling on, with neither side taking responsibility. In the meantime, there were quite a few dissatisfied people who were trapped in a rather awkward situation, with obsolete, overpriced, unreliable junk.

So, whilst I'm sure a G5 is a great machine and you'll probably end up as a Mac convert like me, be very careful about the small-print of this kind of deal. Check to see precisely what it is that's being offered, and who will take responsibility if it goes wrong or is the wrong thing. Ensure that the G5 is a current iMac, as Gary says - you don't want to pay £820 for a previous generation model, given the recent price-drop and upgrade. How you can tell is that the new iMacs have a built in webcam at the top of the screen housing. It will look like a black circle. If it doesn't have that, you'd be better going to John Lewis, and paying £899 and getting a 0% deal with them (but a better, current specced machine - and they'll throw in the 2 year warranty too).

John

Agreed on the lease deal thing. my company did it for one year and it was a total disaster.

You would be better going to the apple store or dabs, getting the latest spec machine (what ever you choose) and getting 6 months interest free credit, this gives you 6 months to raise the cash beofre you are locked into the interest thing, so get it paid in 6 months basically.

I would be wary if the mac is last years model, the 17 inch model was only 700 quid as it was.

Remember though that a whole new generation of Macs will appear in June 2006 using Intel chips.

Probably too far off to worry about tho'

Doug

As others have said, check that it is the latest generation iMac G5/

I know I haven't looked back since switching to a Mac for home usage.

If you do get one, as Garyi said I would definitely suggest bump up the RAM. If it's the latest model it will have onboard wired and wireless ethernet so nothing extra needed if you already have an access point/router.

cheers,
Paul

Might seem a little obscure but the link is

http://www.bthomecomputing.com/nhsgg

I think this may well be a "last generation" model but is the difference worthwhile of the additional cost ?

The price quoted includes a 3 year support.

I'm not up to speed with Macs but I am sure some of you might have this very model.......

LTD,

The processing power isn't everything.

Make sure you load up on the RAM.

A G4 laptop can outperform G5 anything if the latter is RAM starved.

quote:

It's an iMac G5

ohhhh..

Does it come with a warranty?
Two of them died on me.

Kuma

I'd max out the RAM in any computer - that's a given for getting the best out of it.

3yr support, I think vital in a one box solution .......

quote:

Originally posted by long-time-dead:
I'd max out the RAM in any computer - that's a given for getting the best out of it.

Good.

I hope you are not buying from the Apple. They over charge on memory.

quote:

3yr support, I think vital in a one box solution .......

Ah. .good deal, then.

quote:

Originally posted by long-time-dead:
Mrs. LTD brought home a voucher from work today that enables the purchase of a new PC via her salary scheme. Turns out that a Mac G5 is available for £820 (<£23 per month/36 months interest free).

Seems like a decent deal for a very decent computer - and handy as I want to get a new one.........

A few questions :

1. Is it worth buying ? I know the price is keen but it is a one box solution ......
2. Comes with Mac OSX. What else should I need to get to operate "Office-like" and also for digital piccies etc.
3. Can I operate a wireless network at home with a mix of PCs and the Mac ?

Like the idea - will I like the product ?

LTD

I'm using a PowerMac G5 now and it is superb.

Just download Neo Office - it is like Microsoft Office except it is free.

If you have iWork and iLife then they are pretty good. I use Filemaker for databases (though you may not need this). You should get iLife pre-installed for free and it'll do most of what you need to with digital pictures and movies.

There are thousands of free programs for the Mac and some are amazing. Port Authority can install these for you.

The Mac supports the standard wireless protocols 802.11 (whatever) and WPA security. It'll join a PC wireless no problem or you use an airport to create an Apple wireless lan and PCs can join that. We do it all the time. I think there is an airport extreme card in all new iMacs (used to have to buy it).

Max out the memory for best performance use Crucial - same chips, but half the price of the Apple store.

If you want a list of mac software just click here

Any problems - just post there are enough Mac users here to help you out.

Rotf

quote:

Originally posted by long-time-dead:
Might seem a little obscure but the link is

http://www.bthomecomputing.com/nhsgg

I think this may well be a "last generation" model but is the difference worthwhile of the additional cost ?

The price quoted includes a 3 year support.

I'm not up to speed with Macs but I am sure some of you might have this very model.......

The new model is this. You need to add Applecare to the price to get three years support. It has built in video conferencing and a remote control, which earlier models don't - I think it has improved graphics too,

It seems the machine on offer is indeed pre-current spec.

I suppose the saving of 1/3 would make it a great value purchase and certainly allow the RAM upgrade.

Given that many have experienced these, and I am sure they are not all the very latest spec., I've no real need to go chasing the very latest model as it will also become out-dated in due course.

Looks like a decent value offer - especially considering the 3yr support that it comes with.

Thanks !!!!!

The 17 inch model LTD was not £1000 it was something like £799, add to that 3 years apple care at £130 and that £930, its not a 3rd off, all it basically is is free apple care. If you got it from John lewis you would have that anyway.


You know me I want everyone on macs, but the single only advantage here is 36 months of interest free, thats the only benefit to this deal.

If you go for it don't forget to post any questions here, if you are in Pink Fish drop me a PM.

If you or a household family member qualify as a student you can get a discount through Apple. Click the education link on the Apple page for info. Worked out at about a 5% reduction on a John Lewis price for me. You may find a better price elswhere in which case it is always worth following up with John Lewis under their Never Knowingly Undersold price promise.

Regards

Nic

quote:

Originally posted by long-time-dead:
Looks like a decent value offer - especially considering the 3yr support that it comes with.

The 3 year support is definitely a must because there have been magazine reports of reliability problems with G5 Macs.

There have been reliability issues with all computers Steve, lets keep this reasonable.

Yep - so far only magazines have reported the issues. None here, and I am sure we would all know it !!!!

Still pondering.......

I had problem with a couple of Apple portables I've used, but we've got around 20 iMacs and PowerMacs that churn out reports day and night and no faults to speak of on these. Apple fixed the portable faults under AppleCare - so I've no complaints. There is no way I'd use a PC by choice - I have to at work though: nice hardware, but rotten software is my view of PCs (Linux ones not included).

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
There have been reliability issues with all computers Steve, lets keep this reasonable.

The mag reports are talking about 40% of G5's failing in the first year so (if true generally and not just a bad batch of machines) then that is pretty unusual.

Which mag is this Steve?

I doubt very much Apple would still be around if that statistic was true.

Its certainly not true for me or the fair number of people that use macs as a result of myself.

And this from a PC mag?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1625329,00.asp