Jewish World Review May 28, 2004 / 8 Sivan 5764
Power Mac G5: A powerful tool
By Mark Kellner
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com |
For several years in the personal computer business, it seems that $2,500 or
so was the "sweet spot" of pricing. Ante up that kind of "moolah," the
thinking went, and you were sure to get one of the more powerful computers
around, one that wouldn't go stale before you got it home from the store.
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JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.
Opera: This browser sings
On the Windows side, prices are much lower: you can spend around $1,500 to
get a spiffy desktop PC; even $800 will buy a system that's more than enough
for most users' needs, we're told. You can even get a decent notebook PC for
that same $1,500, if not less in some cases.
So is it absurd to spend $2,500 on a desktop computer? Well that depends on
who you are and what you want to do. If, like me, you're an Apple Macintosh
fan, the $2,500 invested in a dual-processor Power Mac G5, with the CPU
chips running at 1.8 GHz is not a totally bad idea.
The Power PC G5 chip, unveiled to much fanfare last year, is a 64-bit
processor and delivers what Apple calls "an exponential increase" in the
machine's computing power. The 64-bit PowerPC G5 processor architecture lets
the Power Mac G5 handle more tasks more quickly, as well as support up to
8GB of main memory - four times more than a typical PC. As I've often said
before, the more RAM, the better.
My test unit of the Power Mac G5 boasts a little less than 8GB of RAM, but
it certainly has enough to handle my daily needs. The two processors cut
through tough tasks with ease, and this computer is whisper quiet. (I've
become accustomed to the whirring of the fan in the dual-processor Power Mac
G4 that sits at my day job, but quieter is better.)
There are ports on the front and back of the unit for 800 Mbps and 400 Mbps
"FireWire" connectors, as well as USB cables. The front-side ports -
something else missing from last year's G4's - make it super easy to hook up
a digital camera or other device on an ad hoc basis. And, frankly, you
haven't lived till you've transferred the contents of a digital camera to
your desktop machine via FireWire - it's super fast.
But I'll admit that I'm not someone who does a lot of video or audio editing
and manipulation. I don't have any software that is specifically designed to
take advantage of the dual processors, at least none that I'm aware of. So
is the power and performance of the machine wasted in my home office?
You could argue that, but I'd say no. First of all, go back to that $2,500
rule: this computer will have a couple of years of good life in it, at
least. When the next revision to the operating system comes down the pike,
it'll very likely run well on this machine. Future software applications may
also take advantage of the G5's power.
So for those who depend on a computer for their daily bread, especially if
you like the generally rugged stability of Apple's hardware and, especially,
its OS, the dual processor PowerMac G5 is an alluring purchase. It's faster
and more capable than most dual processor boxes that play in the Windows
space, and it's so quiet you can even hear the cicadas outside your door.
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