Dan Knight
- 2001.05.14
Q. I need your expert opinion. I have a choice between:
- G3/233 Desktop (96/4 GB/24x CD)
- 9600/200 (128/4 GB/12x CD/Zip)
That's all I know about them. Which would you choose - and
why?
A. Assuming they're about the same price, I'd pick the beige G3/233 without a second thought, although
that may not be your choice.
Here's my thinking: First, the G3/233 is faster than a 200 MHz 9600, almost twice as fast due to the
far more efficient G3 processor. The older 604e was a nice CPU, but
the G3 is much better.
Second, the G3 has a 66 MHz system bus, which is not only faster
than the 50 MHz bus on the 9600, but also means it will be able to
take faster G3 and G4 upgrades and get data to them more
quickly.
Third, the G3 has a ZIF socket for processor upgrades, which
means that upgrades are less costly than the daughter card upgrades
the 9600 takes.
Fourth, the G3 is already set up to take IDE hard drives, which
offer a lot more storage space for the dollar than SCSI drives.
Fifth, I already have a Zip drive, so that's not a factor for
me. You can probably add a 100 MB Zip drive to the G3 for under
$100 if you need it.
Sixth, I don't need a lot of PCI slots. (Fact is, right now I
have a TiBook and a Cube, neither of which has any expansion
slots.) Of course, PCI slots are the big difference between the G3
and the 9600 - the G3 has three, while the 9600 has six.
Look at what you might put into a PCI slot. With either, you
might want to add a more up-to-date video card, which takes one
slot. With the 9600, you might want to add an IDE card for about
$100, but the G3 wouldn't need that. If you want to add FireWire
and/or USB, there goes another slot.
Unless you're running several monitors, I have a hard time
imagining the need for more than three PCI slots.
Seventh, I prefer a computer that sits under my monitor, raising
it to just about the perfect height. It's not a big point, but
instead of using an old IIci or Quadra 650 case, I could put the
monitor on top of the G3 - I couldn't do that with the 9600, which
is a tower design.
Eighth, if you ever want to run Mac OS X, the beige G3 is
supported; the 9600 is not.
Of course, your needs may differ from mine, but unless you need
more than three expansion slots, my guess is you'll be better
served with the G3.
