Continuing
on from my mother's iMac story (Moving Up from
a 15" 500 MHz G3 iMac to a 17" 1.6 GHz G5 iMac), we get to my
new computer.
I had been considering everything from a refurbished Power Mac
G4 to a refurbished 1.6 GHz Power Mac G5. Since the single CPU 1.8's had been
discontinued recently, I added that to my list - until I found that
Apple had a refurbished dual 1.8 GHz
model for $1,499.
That was about $200 more than I wanted to spend, but I figured
the second processor might be useful for two reasons. Firstly,
Photoshop tasks really speed up on a dual processor machine,
and I find myself using Photoshop a fair bit (it's open as I write
this, in fact). Secondly, there may be some feature in future
versions of the Mac OS that requires dual processors (the fact that
Apple just dropped the last single processor model from the G5 line
is a pretty good clue), and I want to be ready for it.
I'd been debating that for a while, but when we stopped into
CompUSA that day, I saw that they had the same machine for $100
less than Apple. It seemed like the perfect opportunity, so I
decided to go for it. The machine features dual 1.8 GHz G5's, 256
MB RAM, an 80 GB SATA hard disk, and an 8x SuperDrive.
A few days later I decided to upgrade the RAM from the 256 MB
that came with the machine. It was just about enough to run Tiger
and one or two applications, but as soon as you started running
anything larger than a Web browser or Microsoft Word, it'd
slow down drastically. I ordered a 1 GB upgrade through Other
World Computing, and their service was excellent - they sent the
RAM right on time, and it worked perfectly. With 1.25 GB of RAM,
Tiger snaps along at a very respectable pace.
This is my first time dealing with a Serial ATA hard drive, and
I was a bit disappointed to find out that Apple doesn't seem
to want you to use older ATA hard drives with the machine (judging
by the absence of standard ATA connectors near the extra hard drive
bay). Serial ATA is faster - and I almost surely will be
adding a larger hard drive in the future - but there was no easy
way to take the hard drive out of my
blue & white G3 and put it inside the G5.
FireWire Transfer mode didn't work well enough, and since I only
had the one monitor, I couldn't easily network the two Power Macs.
I ended up copying my files to the G5 by first copying them from
the G3 onto my 40 GB iPod. Interestingly enough, what took
several hours to copy from the G3 to the iPod took a matter of
minutes to copy from the iPod to the G5.
The only thing that remained to be updated was my monitor. My
19" CTX CRT monitor wasn't bad, but the technology
these days is flat panel LCD. Since I was buying a new computer, I
might as well invest in a new monitor. Plus our Sony VAIO PC
downstairs could use something a bit larger, and the 19" CTX would
be great for that.
At CompUSA, they had a 19" KDS LCD on sale for $399 (with
additional rebates), so I ended up buying that. It's silver, so it
matches the G5 perfectly. I also really like the space it saves on
my desk. The old monitor stuck out in the back and in the front (my
keyboard barely fit). This LCD not only has space behind it to
store things, but it's got plenty of space in front for the
keyboard, mouse, and even a wrist rest.
The only problem I had was Apple's keyboard. The white keyboard
that comes with the G5 is angled, making it difficult for me
to type. I'm used to a flat keyboard, so the current Apple
keyboards don't work well for me. I decided to keep my
existing keyboard, as well as the Logitech mouse that I had
purchased to share on my Mac and PC. Not only do the black keys go
better with the silver (in my opinion), but it's more
comfortable to type on.
The new system is a huge step up from the old one. While
the blue & white G3 is a great machine, it no longer fit
my needs. (My dad's is still running well, however, and I'm
sure mine will probably be used by someone else for another
year - if not longer.)
I hope it will be at least four years before I
replace my new G5.
