New G5's with dual 2.5 processors are fast...
Written: Nov 02 '04
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Pros: Speed, beauty, ease of installation.
Cons: Price, minimal USB 2 ports
The Bottom Line: Great linux-based workstation-level Mac at a high price.
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| fatta's Full Review: Apple Power Mac G5 Dual (M9457LL/A) Mac Desktop |
I recently purchased this computer for work in order to perform complex image processing analyses which can take hours or days at a time. This was previously done using PC's running Redhat. The configuration on this G5 was the dual 2.5 processors, 4 GB ram, 250 GB harddrive, the Nvidia GEForce 6800 dual DVI video card, and a 20 inch Apple LCD. The final price was ~$6000 as configured, and was about $1000 more than a comparably configured Dell. The remaining specification details you can find on Apple's site.
Being new to Macs, I was impressed with the beauty and simplicity of this system out of the box. The case is made of brushed aluminum which gives a custom look to match the custom pricetag. Opening the case is very easy and unmasks a clear internal plastic cover which allows admiration without exposure. The entire design is quite impressive and well organized. Directions are printed on labels on the case itself so you don't lose them. In terms of connectors, the basics are there, although I don't think enough USB 2.0 connectors are available (only 3) for the multitude of USB peripherals these days.
As for setup, it was quite easy. One surprise was how long installation of basic programs like MS Office took. On a powerhouse workstation-level system as this, I expected installation to take a few minutes. Instead, installation to several hours. One additional problem relates to inadequate documentation about the contents of the CDs which accompany the G5. You are made to think you have a backup of the OS (which I found out was not true, since Panther is a 3 CD install by itself).
When up and running, the speed of this system really showed its true colors. Graphics were fast, and processing was amazing. On testing of some custom imaging software, a task which took 400+ seconds on a 700MHz G4, 230 seconds on a 2 GHz Athlon, 60 seconds on a 3 GHz Xeon, took less than 30 seconds on this system.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 6000
Operating System: Macintosh
Processor speed: 201-300
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: SuperDisk
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
fatta
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Location: Bethesda, MD, USA
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 2 members
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