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The Low End Mac Mailbag

Power Mac Today or Intel Tomorrow?, Nvu Shortcomings, and Best Way to Sell Older Mac Stuff

Dan Knight - 2006.05.24

Power Mac G5 Today or Intel Mac Tomorrow?

Andrew Riley writes:

Okay, I am looking at buying a desktop computer this summer. I already have the universal version of Final Cut Studio, and I was just wondering what your opinions were about maybe staying with the original Power Mac G5 or waiting a little bit and get the new Intel. Remember that this computer's primary use is going to be for intense Final Cut Studio.

Thank you very much for helping me out with this big decision.

- Andrew Riley

With no specific details from Apple as to when the Power Mac G5 will be replaced or which Intel CPUs will be used in them, it's purely a matter of speculation as to whether the Power Mac G5/2.5 GHz Quad will offer superior performance to the Macintosh Pro (or whatever Apple ends up calling it) at whatever speed it runs.

Creative Mac has tested the dual-core 2.16 GHz MacBook Pro against the 2.0 GHz Power Mac G5 Dual using Final Cut Pro 5.1 and found the 2.16 GHz Core Duo to offer identical or faster performance (up to 15% faster) in their four tests.

Based on this, I'm going to say that MHz for MHz an Intel Core Duo CPU offers performance virtually identical a dual-core G5. But a lot of us don't think Apple's will use Core Duo chips in the Mac Pro; we believe Apple will hold out for the Core Duo 2 processors, which will be faster and a bit more efficient.

If that is the case, MHz for MHz the Mac Pro will offer superior Final Cut performance vs. the dual-core G5. Apple remains mum, but time will tell.

And time is the other big factor. You could be working on a G5 Quad right now, but it may be 2-3 months before the Mac Pro ships. How much productivity would you gain during that period?

Between now and next May, let's say the G5 Quad lets you complete 10 projects per month. That's 120 over the course of a year. And let's say that the Mac Pro lets you be 20% more productive. But if you only have it for 9 of the next 12 months, you'll only get 108 projects done.

That's the intangible you need to deal with. Not only how much more productive might the Mac Pro make you (based on whatever assumptions you like), but how much productivity will you lose by waiting several months for the new Mac?

Problems with Nvu

Glen Warner writes:

Dan --

I foolishly tried using Nvu (moving from Crea:Text) to edit a couple pages on my site (http://www.cheapandsleazy.net).

Man oh, man, what a mess that was!

It modified my code, substituting the actual character for the coded escaped characters, changed the way I had my links react (I use an external .css file . . . and Nvu placed code for link behavior in my code!

Good thing I had a backup copy of that main page . . . ugh!

I vented about Nvu in the 18FEB update.

Next I tried RapidWeaver.

I didn't like it the first time I used it . . . but with some wrestling, I was able to get it to modify the look and feel of only the index page, while I kept the look and feel of all the articles.

Of course, since I was using a demo, I could only add three pages . . . but I know enough HTML to modify the pages RapidWeaver generated in another application (I am using Tag now; gets the job done...).

Eventually, I'll modify the look and feel of my index page to support both the court reporting side of things, and the soon-to-be-up instructional design part . . . as I am (sort of) switching fields.

Good luck in finding a replacement for Home Page....

--Glen

I haven't worked extensively with Nvu. I don't use it or Claris Home Page for design any longer - that's all handled by CSS. I use Nvu and Home Page primarily as WYSIWYG HTML editors, and the both do a competent job.

Yeah, they do like to change things, so using JavaScript tricks and escaped characters can cause problems. My solution: The JavaScript used to hide email addresses is handled through an include file, so Home Page and Nvu never have a chance to mess them up. (For the record, HTML tidy tends to do the same thing with certain characters.)

You'd think that in this world of blogs and websites, someone would create a nice little Home Page-like program for Mac OS X....

Best Way to Sell Old Mac Parts?

Alvin writes:

Hi, I've posted on our MUG here called Philmug. I've tweaked for many hours and chosen the words carefully. You can see my post here

I can't seem to get a good reply or get anyone interested. Should I change the wordings and keep the post as short as possible? Should I change the price (worth about US$288), by how much? Should I just sell the OS X and memory separate or mention that they can buy it separately? Your ad/marketing tips would be most helpful. I still have lots of old stuff to sell like components of my iMac G3, old software, an LC 575, and CC. If you may, advice on how to sell untested iMac parts (I dunno' which ones are working coz' I don' have a test iMac to swap it parts with).

Suggestions are most welcomed (if I should just donate them, swap, or something). I also have to ask if it's better to sell it or make them do a bidding (ebay.ph or bidshot.com). If it's bidding should it be as separate items or as a bundle?

God bless,
Alvin
applecatholic.com

Alvin, you've listed a copy of OS X 10.3 along with two 512 MB memory modules for a single price. The problem with this is that anyone who wants only the RAM or only the copy of Panther won't respond, as you have only priced everything as a set.

I can't comment on pricing, as I have no idea what the Philippine Mac market is like, but I would definitely suggest listing these two items separately. You might even want to offer two prices on the RAM - one for a single stick, one for the pair.

With computer parts and software, you'll also be better off listing individual prices. Someone who needs a hard drive might not be interested in a CD-ROM, for instance.

As for the vintage Macs, they should be sold with a mouse, keyboard, and System disks if available.

Best wishes for your sale of these items.

Dan Knight has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. Mailbag columns come from email responses to his Mac Musings, Mac Daniel, Online Tech Journal, and other columns on the site.

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