Fast & Powerful
Written: Apr 03 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: FAST!; Ease of use; easy access to innards; stable
Cons: The mouse... 'nuff said.
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| MulgaMutt's Full Review: Apple Power Macintosh G4 Base |
The G4 I use is at work. I work in prepress, which is the step between the Art Department (all Mac of course) and the press, which involves output of film, platemaking, proofing, etc. The core of the prepress department is a $150,000 Scitex Dolev imagesetter, which in short is a big ol' camera, that images the file onscreen to film for print purposes. The Dolev requires a computer to run it (and do all the processing, trapping, etc), and you have a choice: use Scitex's proprietary Unix-based system, which runs on a IBM PowerPC tower (same chip as the Mac), or purchase software to run on a Mac. Of course, the bigger and better the Mac, the faster the whole process works. For us, that meant a G4.
Loaded with 384 megabytes of RAM, with the standard 27 Gigabyte hard drive, the 450Mhz G4 is simply a powerful workhorse. Driving the Dolev takes muscle, and the G4 delivers flawlessly. In most cases, the Dolev software can run in the background while other applications are running at the same time, so I check files, open images in Photoshop, art in Illustrator and layouts in Quark without a hitch. Admittedly, I can only run one at a time, only because the Dolev RIP software hogs most of the memory (85% or better).
As with any Apple, the machine is easy to use, fast enough for most needs, and is upgradeable in minutes. Adding all that RAM was a matter of simply opening the side door, installing the RAM in easy-to-reach slots, closing the door and powering up the machine. No computer on the market makes getting into the inside easier.
I recommend this computer highly. I plan to purchase one for home use in the future, to run side-by-side with our strawberry iMac. The graphite colorscheme is awesome.
The only drawback to the system, as is with all Apples that ship today, is the mouse. The round puck is great for kids (and on iMacs in schools, I'm sure it works fine), but in a professional arena, it doesn't make the grade. I purchased a third-party (or after-market) contraption by Contour called UniTrap, which takes the original Apple mouse and converts it to a more standard "tear drop" shape (like a two-piece shell, it envelops the mouse).
I highly recommend the G4. I'm excited about the direction Apple is headed. This 450Mhz model is a dream; I imagine that the 500Mhz version is dreamier! :)
Vince
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
MulgaMutt
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 4 members
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