Which G4 mac should I purchase for photo editing

I am looking at changing from pc to mac. I have been looking at geting a dual G4. I will be using this machine soley for photo editing ps etc, files from my D60.

My question is will the 1ghz dual G4 with a gig of ram be sufficient for what I want to do?

Or would I be better off spending the extra and going for the 1.25ghz dual G4?

Any comments from mac users would be apreciated.

Thanks Jason.

Jason

i just switched from a Dell Dimension to a power mac G4 for the same reason, photo editing. my G4 has dual 867MHZ processors, 512MB of ram, 80GB hard drive, 2 combo drives (DVD/CD) and an ATA Radeon graphic card along with a Samsung SyncMaster 957mb monitor. i have found this setup to be 100% better for photo editing then any windows based pc i have used. when using my Dell i could never get the image on the monitor to match the printed output. this was even after calibrating my monitor using a PhotoCal spyder. right out of the box the G4 printed pics that were so close to what i saw on the monitor i was amased. once i calibrated the monitor and profiled my printer (Epson Photo 890) the results are truly amazing. i am very critical of my pics and color matching and this has been nothing short of teriffic with the G4. what i now see on the monitor is exactly what prints. the Power Mac you are thinking of getting should and will do everything you want for photo processing. instead of getting a faster processor i would opt for more RAM and possiably the more expensive grapic card. i also found out that i didn't need the 2nd combo drive. just having 1 combo drive (or super drive) will save you some money, which you can spend on the extra ram. i do recommend getting Roxio Toast Titanium for your CD or DVD burning, as the CD burning software that came with the Mac isn't really all that good. there is is slight leaning curve when switching from a PC to a Mac. prehaps it was me but i didn't find it as easy as Apple's commercials lead you to believe. although after a week of using my G4 i was completely comfortable with it and all the little differances associated with the differant platforms. in all honesty i will probally never own another PC again, as i am now hooked on Macs. i hope this helps you in decieding on which Mac to get. if you have any other questions i would be more then happy to answer them (if i can) so please feel free to E-Mail me at [email protected]

--
George F

PS: i am using a Minolta S304 camera and edit all my photos in PS Elements 2

Most of the benchmark testing out there indicates that the speed differences between the two models mentioned are minimal.

I would rather use the money saved from buyin the dual-1 GHz and load the Mac with RAM. OS 10.2.3 loves RAM.

Perhaps SCSI drives will give you the performance boost which you're looking for.

Kevin

--
Macintosh and Windows PC are like Jacquar and Hyundai. They both will
get you point A to point B, but one will get you there smoother and nicer.

I concur with the above -- I'd look at getting an 867, and spend the extra money on ram, or other accessories. That's what I have, and it's plenty fast for photoshop or anything else.

Matthew Shelter said:

I concur with the above -- I'd look at getting an 867, and spend
the extra money on ram, or other accessories. That's what I have,
and it's plenty fast for photoshop or anything else.

Click to expand...

Thanks to eveyone for their comments.

I think that I will go with eithier the 867MHZ dual or the 1GHZ dual and throw some extra ram in.

Jason.

Wait a week before making your purchase. Just in case Steve Jobs anounces some major upgrade.

Either case, welcome to the Mac world. You won't regret this.

--
Macintosh and Windows PC are like BMW and Hyundai. They both will
get you point A to point B, but one will get you there smoother and nicer.

I have a 1gig duel and it's not nicknamed the wind tunnel for nothing...

If you want a quit office stick with the 867!

Jason Elliott said:

I am looking at changing from pc to mac.

Click to expand...

Welcome to a better life!

Jason Elliott said:

My question is will the 1ghz dual G4 with a gig of ram be
sufficient for what I want to do?

Click to expand...

Oh h#ll yes. I'm on a 2.5 year old single 450 with half the memory and to this day... it does all I need it to do on huge files very quickly. A dual gig would just be that much faster. I'll be picking up a dual gig on clearance at some point this year as I do a lot of video work and I am moving to FCP 3 and 10.2.

Jason Elliott said:

Or would I be better off spending the extra and going for the
1.25ghz dual G4?

Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about it. Like I said, I'm still so pleased with my single 450. That is what I love about the Mac. When I had PC's, I was always wanting more... I'm very content with my "old" Mac as you will be with your Mac.

Cheers,
Zack Arias
Atlanta, GA

http://www.usedfilm.com

I'm on a dual-gig QuickSilver and very, very happy. I'd suggest trying to find a used/clearance QuickSilver instead of the new MDD (aka "hair dryer") units. QuickSilver, although not exactly quiet, is much quieter than the MDDs. After reading a lot of complaints, I went into an Apple Store (actually, THE Apple Store...at Apple HQ in Cupertino) and listened. I couldn't believe how loud they are.

Actually, any G4 faster than 500 MHz will probably make you happy. Even my 500 MHz Pismo (G3) PowerBook is fast enough for most Photoshop 7 work I do.

Grab at least 1 GB of RAM. Also helps to have a second disk to use for scratch files. My machine has 1 Gig (soon to be 1.5) and has 2 80 GB Barricuda drives in it. With its two CRT monitors it's become an absolutely great editing system.

Check out macintouch.com for tips, including ways readers have found to quiet their environments a bit.

Good luck, and welcome to the Mac!
Abbott

Jason Elliott said:

Matthew Shelter said:

I concur with the above -- I'd look at getting an 867, and spend
the extra money on ram, or other accessories. That's what I have,
and it's plenty fast for photoshop or anything else.

Click to expand...

Thanks to eveyone for their comments.
I think that I will go with eithier the 867MHZ dual or the 1GHZ
dual and throw some extra ram in.

Jason.

Click to expand...

Jason,

I picked mine up last week with 1.25 gb of RAM. It's one hell of a machine. Bars in Photoshop barely exist after my 600mhz iMacs.

I am getting into OSX big time now and the only non OSX progarm that I'm stuck with is the software that runs my broadband connection. Booting into OS9 is no problem though.

The 17" LCD panel rocks!

Regards,

Richard

Jason Elliott said:

I am looking at changing from pc to mac. I have been looking at
geting a dual G4. I will be using this machine soley for photo
editing ps etc, files from my D60.

My question is will the 1ghz dual G4 with a gig of ram be
sufficient for what I want to do?

Or would I be better off spending the extra and going for the
1.25ghz dual G4?

Any comments from mac users would be apreciated.

Thanks Jason.

Click to expand...

Richard Goulden

Richard Goulden said:

I am getting into OSX big time now and the only non OSX progarm
that I'm stuck with is the software that runs my broadband
connection. Booting into OS9 is no problem though.

Click to expand...

What Broadband software is that?

Are you using Ethernet or USB?

I use the PowerMac QuickSilver G4/867 (not duel) with 1.25GB RAM and the 17" Apple Studio LCD monitor (the monitor ROCKS). Also have two external Firewire HDD's for an extra 200GB (for storing photos, of course). Anyhow, I'm very content with this setup and I use Photoshop daily - and for several hours. Works flawlessly and I love it. If I had it to do over again, however, I'd get the duel 1GB model and do it up real good. Best to you...

Mike

{

Hi Jason,

I have a dual 800 Quicksilver for sale if you are interested. Its decked out for pro audio/video/animation/imaging (I was using it for audio and some animation). The setup is as follows:

• 1.2Gb RAM
• 2 x 60Gb HD
• 1 x 18Gb HD - Seagate Cheetah Ultra160 SCSI
• ATTO UL3s Ultra 160 SCSI card
• Nvidia GeForce 3
• Superdrive
• pair of pro speakers
• Also has a little under two ytears remaining on Applecare warranty

You can save a bundle on this purchase as it is ready to go. It has been a wonderful machine for me and is extremely fast - the only reason im selling is that Im going the laptop route (work commitments).

Im from Sydney and noticed you are also from Australia. Feel free to send me an email if you are interested.

[email protected]

Regards,
Paul

Jason Elliott said:

I am looking at changing from pc to mac. I have been looking at
geting a dual G4. I will be using this machine soley for photo
editing ps etc, files from my D60.

My question is will the 1ghz dual G4 with a gig of ram be
sufficient for what I want to do?

Or would I be better off spending the extra and going for the
1.25ghz dual G4?

Any comments from mac users would be apreciated.

Thanks Jason.

Click to expand...

The dual 1 GHz machine is totally totally fine for your needs. I use a dual 500 with a gig of ram, and it is rarely if ever that I find myself pining after a faster machine. (I mostly work with 30Mb files from my S2 - nothing huge.)

I do think the Superdrive is worth having for backup purposes, and I'd max out the RAM (to 1.5 or 2 Gb, can't remember the max on the new machines) just for good measure, but there's very little if any reason to go for the 1.25 GHz machines imho.

I'm using a flat panel iMac. The only thing I regret is that I didn't get the Superdrive. I am perfectly happy with everything else about my machine. the biggest image files I work with are about 40 meg. Oh, and get Chimera. IE sucks rocks compared to it.

Charles Bandes said:

The dual 1 GHz machine is totally totally fine for your needs. I
use a dual 500 with a gig of ram, and it is rarely if ever that I
find myself pining after a faster machine. (I mostly work with 30Mb
files from my S2 - nothing huge.)

I do think the Superdrive is worth having for backup purposes, and
I'd max out the RAM (to 1.5 or 2 Gb, can't remember the max on the
new machines) just for good measure, but there's very little if any
reason to go for the 1.25 GHz machines imho.

Click to expand...

--
http://homepage.mac.com/stefancook

I think the new iMac has gotten to a point that it is much better valued than the Power Mac.

The new iMac can be all loaded up with SuperDrive + 17 in. LCD for the price of an entry level Power Mac! I really think Apple is going to be putting in the G5 chip around the 3rd or 4th quarter of this year to distant the "pro" machine from the consumer line.

Any one saw Steve Jobs a few days ago? The new 12" PowerBook were giving me goose bumps when Steve Jobs borught it out on stage! I want one!

Where is that Mac-PDA?! My stupid Palm is dying on me!

Kevin Lo said:

Any one saw Steve Jobs a few days ago? The new 12" PowerBook were
giving me goose bumps when Steve Jobs borught it out on stage! I
want one!

Click to expand...

I was so impressed that I had to post on Open Talk. I fear I may start up the old war again.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1018&message=4138948

Cheers,
Zack Arias
Atlanta, GA

http://www.usedfilm.com

Jason Elliott said:

I am looking at changing from pc to mac. I have been looking at
geting a dual G4. I will be using this machine soley for photo
editing ps etc, files from my D60.

Click to expand...

You should be looking at whether the software you need for your new Mac even exists. Is all the Canon software you'll need native to OS X? Other software that you typically use? Explorer runs poorly as do many of the Microsoft apps (no surprise there). You loose Outlook and you get Entourage which really isn't that good. Are the drivers for your peripherals available? If you have Epson printers, you're going to have to switch into OS 9 to be able to print properly. The OS X Epson drivers won't allow much in the way of paper size selection and you can't even center an image on the paper. What is up with that??? My eMac won't even recognize my Epson 860 printer! And the one little thing that gets me the most, the End button doesn't always take you to the end! Now really, what is up with that?!?!?!?! ; )

On the plus side, you'll gain alot more stability in the OS. CD Burning is effortless. iTunes is great. The Macs are just plain slick and oooze quality. Even the screensavers and backgrounds are better.

If I had the option, I'd go back. I miss my digital darkroom.

Good luck with your decision!

Mark