time to buy my own apple, any suggestions?

[george walker's closet]

friends,
ive been borrowing an apple G4 from a friend, for which i use the digi002 rack with a glyph 120 gig firewire hard drive in my studio, and its been working pretty well. anyway, he wants his computer back, so its time for me to purchase my first mac. does anyone have any suggestions concerning whether to go with a g4 or a g5. and if g5, which processor you all have had success with. ive always had pc's, but the mac has been working nicely with protools. my budget isnt unlimited, i know the g5's are pricey, but if thats what i definitely should get, im willing to put in the extra hours on the streets late at night.
thanks for the input,
ira

[Current Resistance]

This really is a budget question. Figure out how much you want to spend first.

I bought a dual 2ghz G5 in December and I'm still creaming my pants. You can dedicate one entire processor to pro tools as well, where as most people can only dedicate 85% of their ONLY chip. I can be blasting my processor with plug ins and numorous tracks, and still have one chip untouched for other actions.

But I had the money and didn't want to have to upgrade for a VERY long time.

My school uses g4's and so does everyone else who doesn't have a g5 yet.

[jayro_rockola]

Goddamn that sounds so sweet...

You should get a G5 just so we can get a hard-on hearing you talk about it

[No Wave Casio Kitsch]

I'd go with a G5 if I could swing it. Just keep in mind you may also have to pay to upgrade to Pro Tools 6 ($75, I think).

[JES]

before you choose, make SURE that your preferred programs and plugins work with the operating system that comes with your computer. And if you want any OS9 audio functionality at all, you need to get a G4. G5's are quieter, though, from what I hear. And they are wicked fast.

OTOH, once the new ones come out, they should be blowing out a dual 1.42 g4, which is still a killer machine. And you can fit like 4 hard drives in it.

--JES

[spiral]

G5 if you can afford it..

Get either the 1.8 or 2.0ghz as the motherboad architecture of the 1.6 doesn't have the growth potential that the others do.

Be aware that the G5 only runs OS X.

[No Wave Casio Kitsch]

Ahh yes. I forgot about the cost of upgrading/replacing plug-ins and possibly other apps, as well.

On a side note, what's the PT/OSX situation at the moment? The only reason I still use OS 9 at this point is to run Pro Tools and I'd love to move on to OS X.

-Giahni

[Current Resistance]

you have to upgrade to pro tools 6 for osx. its well worth it.

and yes, the g5 is super quiet. I have mine on the floor about 2 feet away under my desk...can't hear a thing. I still wouldn't reccamend tracking anything too close to it though.

its silent compared to the g4s i use at school.

[Dr. Bell]

I'm trying to make the G4 vs. G5 decision at the moment myself... I know I don't need a G5, the firepower is obviously quite excessive. But I want to have the quietest machine around, since I record everything in a very small room. Is there any way to quiet down a G4 tower? Or are the imacs any quiter than the tower? I couldn't tell at all at the Apple Store, and the people working there said the g5 was quiet but that's all they knew...

[Current Resistance]

i would imagine the imacs are much quieter than a g4. I've never heard them in a quiet room myself...ive never really "heard" them at all though, and i have been around them a lot.

im getting an imac in a few months though, so ill find out then.

[thearnicasync]

But I want to have the quietest machine around, since I record everything in a very small room. Is there any way to quiet down a G4 tower? Or are the imacs any quiter than the tower? I couldn't tell at all at the Apple Store, and the people working there said the g5 was quiet but that's all they knew...

I think the hard drive might be as important. I use an older G4, and with the stock hard drive, it was noisy. I upgraded to Seagate barracudas and the noise is very, very slight. I record in a small room, too, so I feel your pain.

Good luck,

kelly

[Dr. Bell]

Thanks for the tips. My room is like 5' by 8'. Fan noise can be a big problem in such cramped quarters. I can't even invite people in to listen to new work, they always just stand in the doorway looking uncomfortable. What;s worse is that the realtor counted that room as a bedroom.

[XXGABEXX]

Yes, the iMacs are near silent. I have a last generation iMac before they went to the space-age lookin' ones that are out now and by then they had removed the fans. Or if the fan wasn't removed it was made silent, but I was almost positive I had read something about Apple replacing the fan with a different cooling system.

Anyway, iMac = quiet computer.

-GABE

[Mr. Dipity]

Here is another alternative:

http://www.overclockers.com/tips1133/index02.asp

[Current Resistance]

if i ever found that guy, id smack im around a few times. there's so many things wrong with what he did. could he really prefer athlon to g5 chips? ive had athlon....i use it for email and Word now.

go apple.