Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful and quiet, November 5, 2004
I love this machine. It is supremely powerful, but what makes me love it is its good manners: elegant and silent. If i have a window open in my office (on a very quiet street), I cannot even tell when the computer is on, it is that quiet. Turning it on and off at the monitor is simple and calming, the whole experience of working with it and OSX can enhance your serenity. This is especially valuable when using programs like DVD Studio Pro and FCP, not to mention photoshop. I am very pleased with this computer, and recommend it to anyone.
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35 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Some things to consider before you make this purchase, September 8, 2004
Some things to consider before you make this purchase:
1) You can't find a comparable PeeCee for less. You can find no-name, non-AGP, video card uses system memory, no, fewer or slower FireWire ports, no, fewer or slower USB ports, no gigabit ethernet, no DVD burner, no built-in wireless antenna, no built-in Bluetooth antenna, slower and fewer processors, running XP Home Edition, etc. stripped down machines that sound like Harrier jets taking off for less, but you can't find a comparable machine for less. If you are looking for a comparable machine remember that you can't directly compare clock-rates across different processors. A Celeron will be slower than a Pentium, a "hyper threaded" Pentium will be slower at single processor tasks than a regular Pentium (a 3.x GHZ HT Pentium will be slower than a 2.x GHZ Pentium IV) and they all will be slower than a G5, especially if they are running at the same speed.
2) Dual processors don't do what most people think they do. A lot of programs aren't written to use multiple processors, and even if they were, it wouldn't make much difference. If all that you're concerned about is having the program in the foreground run as fast as possible (spending most of it's time waiting for you), then unless you're running a program that can take advantage of multiple processors (PhotoShop, digital video editing, a number of MP3 players/rippers, a lot of the new games, a number of email programs, etc. do use multiple processors), you really don't need a dual processor machine. BUT, if you like to do multiple things at the same time (browse the web while, your email program is downloading and filtering email, ripping MP3's from a CD you own, playing MP3's, hosting a personal web site, etc. are all running in the background), then dual processors will help because all of the programs in the background will be able to use the second processor and won't steal processing time from the application running in the foreground.
Ray
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
After almost a year with this machine..., April 27, 2005
I've been a Mac user for nearly 20 years. In May of 2004 I upgraded from a 450 MHz G4 (512 MB RAM) to a dual 2.0 GHz G5 (1GB RAM, two 250 GB hard drives). The machine I bought was defective-all nine fans were going full blast all the time. The operating system and software worked fine, but the tower was intolerably loud (it really sounds like a car the way the fans fire up). I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with Apple tech support. The fellow I spoke to was helpful and friendly until he misguided me about pressing a tiny button in the innards of the machine too many times (it's been a year, I don't remember what exactly this little button resets). He instantly became accusatory, telling me I didn't follow his direction and refused to discuss it. He basically told me my computer was hosed and that I may have voided the warranty; I should bring it in to be serviced and not turn it on again. The guy really turned into a jerk. I suppose he was just trying to cover his ass.
I turned the machine back on and it ran just as before. Fine, but loud. I took my machine to the Apple Store in San Francisco for diagnosis, and they confirmed there was a "thermal" problem. I was a part-time student at the time, bought the machine through school and though it was eligible for replacement, I couldn't exchange it directly through the Apple Store. Fortunately, in the time it took Apple and my school to acknowledge that I had a defective computer Apple announced the dual 2.5 GHz, so I was given the option of a partial refund, since the dual 2.0 GHz had gone down in price, or a free upgrade to the dual 2.5 GHz. I went for top-of-the line in the first place (with a 23" Cinema Display HD) with the idea that I wouldn't be buying another computer for a good number of years. I had to wait about four months for the dual 2.5 GHz after they were announced (they let me keep the defective one in the meantime), but it was definitely worth the wait. And this is exactly what anyone should expect after dropping $5,000 + (with the display and software).
The dual 2.5 GHz runs amazingly quiet (when it really needs to think, the fans fire up, but they typically aren't audible for long). The increase in speed (for me) was amazing. The applications I use most often are: FileMaker Developer 7 , Omni Graffle 3, Virtual PC 7 (for testing), Dreamweaver MX 2004 along with Apple's standard mail, text and web browser apps. I'm also increasingly using Final Cut Pro HD, which I think you'd only really want to run on a machine this fast. With the occasional exception of Excel, I don't have a need for Microsoft apps.
The G5 is on nearly 100% of the time, since I sometimes need to access it remotely, and yes, it's crashed a few times, but this is really quite rare. Tip: I've found the best way to tell if a Mac has crashed or is just frozen is to set the clock in the menu bar to display the time with seconds. If the clock has stopped ticking altogether, it's a good indicator that the system has crashed. Otherwise, it's just frozen, so tricking around with it (force-quitting applications or putting it to sleep and waking it back up), tend to bring it back to life. Again, this sort of behavior is rare and, as such, acceptable for me.
For PC users considering a G5, I have this to say: I've always been a Mac user, and I've always, always complained when I've had to use a PC. I'm not snobby about it; I'm just accustomed to very well-designed and integrated products (I drive a Porsche 993, and I'm as passionate about its design, especially its clever temperature controls and cruise control). That said, using VPC (Virtual PC) on my G5 has really given me a different perspective on Windows. I actually LIKE using Windows...as long as it's on my G5. This is largely because of my Apple keyboard and the 23" display, which just make for a better Windows experience. You can run VPC to take over your whole display, or run it within a window as if it were any other app on your Mac. I have a Microsoft 5-button, scrolling optical mouse that I've had for over 5 years (it's great). Right-clicking works without installing any drivers, in both Mac OS X and Virtual PC. I use Windows 2000 Pro, and my colleagues would be surprised to hear I'm actually looking forward to upgrading to XP. Windows isn't as zippy as running it on a top-of-the-line PC, I suppose, and it hangs here and there, but for my purposes it works perfectly. I don't think it's a great idea to run Windows in VPC as your "primary" OS, but for seasoned Windows folks who are looking to make a transition to the Mac and still want to jump back to familiar territory, I'd certainly recommend this hardware/software combo. VPC (to which I've dedicated 512K, or half of my G5's physical RAM) can be a memory hog, slowing everything down on my Mac, so if you plan to use it regularly, I'd recommend more than 1GB RAM. A couple of cool things about VPC: You can run multiple Windows OS's at the same time (I've seen, but not experienced this). You can "pause" a Windows OS so it doesn't hog memory. You can also "save" a Windows state when you quit VPC, so that when you start it up, everything is right where you left it. After too many frustrating visits to my dad's to"fix" his Windows problems, the Mac should be a compelling option for PC users. Virtual PC on this machine makes it especially so.
Bottom line: An excellent system. Advice: If you can, buy directly from an Apple Store; they're far more willing to offer support than if you buy elsewhere and bring your issues in to the store. If you buy an Apple product elsewhere to save money or support a local vendor, know that that can become a support barrier Apple will hide behind (I wish, like Bose, they'd just support their damn products wherever you purchase...it was a hassle for me). Also, don't expect, but do LOOK for problems right away, within the first two weeks. Apple is notorious for not admitting there's something wrong even when it's a known issue (like the fans on the first machine I ordered), and even then they're very reluctant to replace a product outright unless you hound them. It's easy enough to find other people with similar problems in forums and such. I'm a little bitter about my customer support experience, but in the end they got it right. I think the majority of real Apple customers don't have to experience this. I bought 3-year AppleCare, and so far, fortunately, have not had the cause to use it. I believe Apple should stand behind its products without having to purchase additional support, but Murphy's Law guided my judgment there. In any case, I'd highly recommend this machine to anyone who is considering it.
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