[geeks] Need help choosing a G4 system

[Andrew Weiss]

On Thursday, September 4, 2003, at 11:08  PM, Gavin Hubbard wrote:

> Its official. I'm giving in to my curiosity and have decided to buy a 
> new
> Apple G4 desktop. I will mainly use it for general desktop, email & 
> document
> management, web browsing, and basic photo editing tasks.
>
> It looks like Apple has timed the platform transition pretty well and 
> there
> aren't many G4 systems left in the sales channel. If I want to get a 
> G4, I
> really have to make a choice this afternoon. I have three options in 
> front
> of me:
>
> 1. New 1GHz G4, 256MB, 60GB, combo-drive, Nvidia Geforce 4MX/64MB. 
> $1265
>
> 2. New 1.25GHz G4, 256MB, 80GB, combo-drive, ATI Radeon 9000/64MB. 
> $1476
>
> 3. Refurbished 1.25GHz dual G4, 256MB, 80GB, combo-drive, ATI Radeon
> 9000/64MB. $1647
>
Don't get the newest models.  You need to be careful.  There are three 
MD (mirror drive) model sets.

Power Macintosh G4 Mirror Drives
Power Macintosh G4 FW 800
and

Power Macintosh G4 (MD 2003)

The original MD comes in Dual 867, Dual 1Ghz, and Dual 1.25 Ghz 
models... 1.3GBps system bus throughput 256K L2 cache running in a 1:1 
config.

Two sys bus speeds 133 Mhz and 167Mhz.
PC2100 for 867 and PC2700 for the other two. 2GB Max memory.

Video options are ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (64) or Nvidia GeForce 4MX or Ti 
(32, 128MB)

Airport ready

The FW 800 comes with: 1Ghz, Dual 1.25 Ghz, or Dual 1.42 Ghz options
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro AGP (128MB)
FW 800
Airport Extreme Slot (not backwards compatible with Airport different 
form factor)
Optional (configure to order) Bluetooth module (not available if it 
didn't come with the system)

The FW800 is the BEST G4 system out there

because....
the MD 2003 is a downgrade

It comes as follows:
All 1.25 Ghz options... dual or single
Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti (128) or ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (64MB)
No FW800, No Airport Extreme..., No Bluetooth

It was designed to NOT compete with the G5.

Andrew