Customer Reviews

Apple Power Mac G5 Desktop M9454LL/A (Dual 1.8-GHz Power PC G5, 256 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

It's easy to see Windows users trying to "bomb" the review of this amazing computer. Pay no attention. You see, unlike Windows, OS X never freezes. Ever. I have four Macs at home, a PowerBook, and an iMac G5 at the office, all running OS 10.3, and none of them -- none, including a dual G5 just like this one -- have ever crashed or frozen. Reviews that say different are complete fabrications. Why? Because the underpinning of OS X is UNIX, which keeps the OS running even if an individual program crashes -- which might happen on rare occasions. What do you do then? Simply relaunch the program and no problems at all.

This is terrific computer and a terrific value. It comes with Apple's unparalleled "video lifestyle" applications, too. And do invest in more RAM. It's cheap and super easy to install. In fact, the G5 is designed from the ground up for easy access and easy upgrades. Even a computer novice can install a new hard drive, updated DVD drive, memory, or a wireless card -- even the new Radeon X-800 for Mac installs like a breeze (and doesn't require it's own power supply cord like the PC version).

But don't just read this review, zip down to the nearest Apple Store and take a test drive. This is what a computer is meant to be.

If you're invested in other platforms or can switch, Apple has finally caught up with the rest of the industry with the G5. OSX is a joy to work in: stable, elegant, well layed-out, and secure (I won't get started on WinXP vulnerabilities).

Do yourself a favor and install at least an additional 256 MB of RAM. Apple is skimpy when it comes to outfitting their computers - 256 MB is way too little. So they can save a couple of dollars on their end, you'll have to fork out multiples of that on yours.


Correction on Amazon's listing:

The current version rev.b Dual 1.8 - M9454LL/A - does *not* have PCIx slots, only regular PCI slots.

The original rev.a Dual 1.8- M9393LL/A - of the dual 1.8 has PCIx.

I have had this computer for about 2 years. I could not be happier with it. The design is just perfect needless to say. It's the first time I don't have any desire to get another computer after 1 year or so, and I don't plan on changing this one anytime soon (although I am planning on getting a MacBook Pro if a 12" version is released). I upgraded the memory to 1GB by myself and the process was extremely easy (not to mention how perfectly well the computer is put together on the inside, just as good as it is on the outside).

You can't go wrong getting apple hardware. Extremely well built quality product.

I just replaced my 1.5GHz 15" powerbook with the dual 1.8, and I am loving it. The Powerbook was starting to feel really anemic, and I was getting sick and tired of the SBOD. At any rate, this machine feels about 10x faster, between the dual G5s and the SATA hard drive, it rocks... It is also aesthetically pleasing - my jaw dropped when I opened it up to add RAM (see below) - this thing belongs in MOMA...

It has a few shortcomings however:

1. You CANNOT use this machine "out of the box" with the pathetic 256megs of RAM it ships with - an immediate RAM upgrade is imperative. I tried for a day, and managed to crash OS X about five times...

Since they only give you four slots, and you must install in pairs, you may as well add a pair of 512's - so add another $250 to the cost.

2. The machine is gigantic - the biggest PC I've ever seen. On the plus side, it's also the quietest PC I've ever used, by far. I guess 50lbs or whatever it weighs - more? - of aluminum disipates heat pretty well...On the downside, for all of its size, you get lousy expansion options. They should be ashamed of themselves for only giving 2 USB slots on the back - sure, there's an extra one in front, which is handy, but you'd never want to leave anything permanently plugged in. Most Win boxes give you 6 or 8 USB slots these days. So I immediately had to run out and get a USB hub. Adding another huge power supply brick, more unsightly wires, etc. Just as bad, there's only 1 free hard drive slot and zero free CD slots - for a machine of this size, unbelievably skimpy.

3. No Bluetooth or Airport out of the box. Airport I can live without, as I doubt I'll be dragging this thing over to my couch to surf the web, as I did with my powerbook ;) But the lack of Bluetooth is a bummer, because, as far as I can tell, there is no internal bluetooth module for this computer. It seems like there should be - but I don't think there is, and I've spent time looking. So if you want bluetooth, you have to buy one of those silly USB bluetooth adapters and use - yes - one of your two USB slots. Arggghhh!

4. When is Apple going to wake up to reality and start supplying us with a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel? Every Mac app in existence has built-in support for a right-mouse button - including OS X - yet for some reason they still ship those ridiculous one-button mouses.

Bottom line: fantastic machine, with frustrating expandability shortcomings. Figure on spending an additional several hundred dollars to upgrade RAM, buying a USB hub and more if you want bluetooth and a useable mouse.

Simply a very powerful machine for the money. Compare similarly equipped PCs and you will spend approx $500 more. Apple puts care and thought into their design and you will notice it.

The only gripes I can think of are that 256 megs of ram just isn't enough. I upgraded mine to 512 from the get go and will likely double that in the coming months. Also the video card is a bit weak, its worth the extra $50 bucks to get the ATI card that apple offers.

But other than that, this is a solid machine with an even more solid operating system! So dump windoze and get a mac!

By today's standards (today being December 2008), the G5 case is large, bulky and heavy. Switching on the G5 reveals a fairly loud fan noise. Installing an airport extreme card does not result in wonderous wireless signal - an external antenna is needed.

The machine I'm reviewing has a dual G5 1.8 ghz processor with 1 gig of RAM, running OSX Leopard. The dual powerpc configuration runs very cool. Hardly any heat escapes the case.

Processing speed is faster than my mac mini (core duo 1.83 ghz with 1 gig memory). This is due to the fact that the mac mini has a 667 mhz bus whereas the G5 has a 900 mhz bus. The G5's faster bus speed results in the G5 feeling slightly more responsive than the mac mini.

The G5 I'm testing has a 160 gig 7200 rpm hard drive, whereas the mac mini is a slower 5400 rpm 120 gig drive. The faster hard drive contributes to the responsiveness of the G5.

The G5 has all the connections you'd ever need, USB, firewire, ethernet. I installed an Airport Extreme card within the case. The external "T-bar" shaped antenna is needed to get any better than poor reception. The case must block wireless signal to the Airport Extreme antenna. In the end, I directly ethernet connected the G5 - great web surfing!

If your considering a G5 at this point, your probably looking at one used. The G5 is a good deal right now, and a used one can be bought for less cash than the most basic mac mini. If your lucky, you can get an LCD screen or some extra software thrown in with the deal.

I'd recommend considering one if you can pay less for a used G5 than a new Mac Mini. If you can live with the bulky case, the fan noise, and consider a direct ethernet connection, you'll appreciate a faster machine, with more upgrade capability than the mac mini.

Oh, by the way, in comparison to my new dual core 2.0 ghz PC laptop with 2 gigs of memory, running Windows XP: the windows machine is faster and smoother. However, I paid twice the price for the Windows machine in comparison to the used G5 - sadly needed a PC for some of the work I do.

After switching to mac four years ago, I have been looking forward to upgrading from my 500MHZ iMac to this beautiful monster. At first I had doubts about switching back to a tower system after having a one-peice computing solution on my desk. This mac not only carries on the elegance of an iMac, but it blows it away as far as reliability goes. With my iMac, I'd have occasional overheating problems after working for a long time. The G5 was designed with this in mind. All the fans and ventilation system are enough to make the most heat conscious person feel at ease. Accessing any inner parts of the computer is as easy as can be. It's actually nice just to open up every now and then to admire the simple design. On the contrary, there are a few downfalls I must state. The ability to install a single DVD drive is rather limiting for a computer of this size. Having a couple additional slots for a Zip Drive or a second CD drive would be a big help. There are also only two hard drive slots, making it difficult for a video editor to make many upgrades without having to remove the old drives. It could also use a couple more USB inputs. Two on the back and one on the front leave something to be desired. On the other hand, this machine pumps out enough power to hook up a USB hub and still get good results. The dual processor design also limits how you could upgrade your RAM. Like other dual processor computers, RAM must be loaded in pairs. This makes it impossible to slowly upgrade your system. Two of the four slots are already being used when you buy the machine. All in all, this is a great machine. Apple made a great move when designing this computer. It's fast and reliable. You cannot ask for much more.

First, I must say that you shouldn't take into account the review written by someone who obviously DOESN'T own the machine. It is true that many applications don't use both processors, but that is because they don't need to (especially if they use like 15% of CPU power at all times). Key apps like Photoshop, Final Cut, DVD Studio etc. definitely benefit, with average 60% or more speed boost. Even Maya does (From Alias support page" "If your MAC has at least 1 GB - 2 GB of memory and dual G4 or G5 processor you can speed up rendering by starting 2 renders at the same time). If you multitask a lot, everything runs much smoother with DP (I tipically keep Quark, Illustrator, Photoshop, Safari, Mail and iTunes open at all times). This is a workstation class Unix machine and if you want to play games all the time, you're probably better of with a PC. I do Photoshop 80% of the time and having switched over from a 400 MHz G4, I am totally extatic.

On the other hand, the fan system with its multiple heat sensors is very complex and it could turn out to be the problem in the future, hopefully I'm wrong. RAM should be upgraded immediately with at least an extra 1 GB, since all duall processor machines need RAM installed in pairs, which fills all the ram slots with one upgrade. I still have the original video card with two monitors attached and it works fine for me, but then I don't do motion graphics; I imagine someone who does would want to change it ASAP since the performance boost would be dramatic. About the storage expansion, I use external FireWire drives. The machine is big and hevy (well, very SOLID) and I never move it, so not having the drives inside is not a problem and even FW400 is fast enough, let alone FW800. The design is actually beautiful in it's Bauhaus minimalism, with lots of character. In person it looks much better then the photos reveal and it's built like a tank.

Through the years, I've probably bought 7-8 different computers, all of them PC's running various editions of Windows. About a year ago, I bought a new Sony Camcorder (DV) and figured I'd edit some of my Home Movies and burn them to DVD. Well, my Sony VAIO had different plans. I'm not a computer whiz, but I do know what I'm doing. Everything was just more diffucult than it had to be.

To make a long story short, I took the plunge and made the switch. I bought the Power Mac G5 and haven't looked back. Previous reviewers mentioned lack of speed on their machines, but my experience has been just the opposite. I upped the memory to 2GB since I'm doing a lot of video editing and I've been suprised at how quick the rendering of transitions has been in Final Cut Pro.

I'd recommend this computer and only regret that I didn't switch sooner. The Power Mac is as quiet, if not quieter, than previous PC's I've owned. The only drawback is the paltry 256 MB it ships with. Panther seemed a little sluggish till I installed more, but other than that, it's a winner in my book!

Apple is, quite simply, the best and most innovative computer manufacturer. A recent user survey in PC magazine identified Apple computers as the most reliable and easiest to use computers currently available and last year Apple's Macintosh G5 was designated computer of the year. Yes, most people use Windows-based PCs, but do you want to be just another member of the PC herd -- with all of the problems and frustrations presented by Windows-based PCs -- or are you looking for a computer which is user friendly, seldom crashes, and is virtually impervious to virus attacks? If these virtues are more important to you than being one of the crowd, please seriously consider buying a Macintosh computer. The Power Mac G5 is Apple's top-of-the-line computer series and this is the lowest-priced G5, so it's a terrific way to get a powerful, user friendly Macintosh computer at a very reasonable price. Like all Power Mac G5s this is very fast computer -- more than twice as fast as a Pentium 4 with the same clock speed -- and has dual 64-bit processors. All computers will have 64-bit processors some day but very few PCs, except for Mac G5s, have them at this time. If you're looking for a fast, versatile, easy to use computer (and want to stop worrying abut virus attacks) and are willing to try something off the beaten path, you'll love this new PowerMac G5. If you want even more speed, consider the G5 with dual 2.0 GHz processors.