First Impressions of a G5 PowerMac
My dual 2 GHz G5 PowerMac arrived Friday about 1:30 p.m. via FedEx truck. I spent most of Friday and Saturday reconfiguring my computer set-up to accommodate it. It’s done now and up and working the way I want it, albeit not the way I originally planned. More on that later. But, for now, I thought I’d scribble down a few thoughts about the machine.
Mine is a “Revision A” PowerMac sporting dual 2GHz G5 CPU’s running under 512MB of DDR-3200 memory. The computer came with a single 160 GB hard drive (a Seagate ST3160023AS model) an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro video card (the 64MB model) and a Pioneer DVR-106 DVD +/- R/RW drive. I’ve expanded the memory up to 1.5 GB using a pair of 512MB memory sticks bought from Crucial.com, and I swapped out the DVD burner with a Pioneer DVR-107 that was in my dual G4 PowerMac. I’ve also added a Maxtor 250 GB Serial ATA hard drive with a 16MB cache. I plan on swapping out the current video card with an ATI 9800 Pro Special Edition card in the near future and slowly expanding the memory up to 4GB. But for now, it's good enough for me to get cooking!
One note, though. The description on the Apple website when I bought the machine said it came loaded with OS 10.2.7. It didn’t. It came with 10.3.5. Why do I care? Well, I had gone after a Rev A machine not only because it was $100 less refurbished than a Rev B but because I wanted it to be able to boot into Jaguar. It won’t. Apparently, when Apple refurbished the machine, they upgraded the bios so it won’t boot into anything less than its new OS. I decided not to send the machine back because of that, but Apple does need to be careful about what they’re advertising when it comes to a refurbished machine.
Overall, I am pleased with the G5. The fans knock a bit (a quiet knock!knock!knock!) just like my G4 PowerMac’s fan did before I replaced it. I also had a problem with the G5 recognizing the Ethernet after first working like a champ, and I eventually solved the problem by wiggling on the cable a bit vigorously. (I had already tried seating and unseating the cable, resetting the PRAM, and reloading OS 10.3.8 using the combo updater before I did that, not to mention checking out the cable by hooking up my other PowerMac to it. Thank God a good shake worked! The only option I had left was to call Apple Support!)
Now, I’m really ready to edit video. In the next few months, I’ll step up to the new video card and get a copy of Motion, though I’m waiting on both Tiger and the release of Motion 2.0 (at the National Association of Broadcasters’ convention in April, rumor has it.) And there will be no more Apple desktops bought by us for some time to come. I do have a PowerBook replacement scheduled for this year, but anything else would have to be driven by need or it won’t happen. I need money to spend on lights and cameras.
Mine is a “Revision A” PowerMac sporting dual 2GHz G5 CPU’s running under 512MB of DDR-3200 memory. The computer came with a single 160 GB hard drive (a Seagate ST3160023AS model) an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro video card (the 64MB model) and a Pioneer DVR-106 DVD +/- R/RW drive. I’ve expanded the memory up to 1.5 GB using a pair of 512MB memory sticks bought from Crucial.com, and I swapped out the DVD burner with a Pioneer DVR-107 that was in my dual G4 PowerMac. I’ve also added a Maxtor 250 GB Serial ATA hard drive with a 16MB cache. I plan on swapping out the current video card with an ATI 9800 Pro Special Edition card in the near future and slowly expanding the memory up to 4GB. But for now, it's good enough for me to get cooking!
One note, though. The description on the Apple website when I bought the machine said it came loaded with OS 10.2.7. It didn’t. It came with 10.3.5. Why do I care? Well, I had gone after a Rev A machine not only because it was $100 less refurbished than a Rev B but because I wanted it to be able to boot into Jaguar. It won’t. Apparently, when Apple refurbished the machine, they upgraded the bios so it won’t boot into anything less than its new OS. I decided not to send the machine back because of that, but Apple does need to be careful about what they’re advertising when it comes to a refurbished machine.
Overall, I am pleased with the G5. The fans knock a bit (a quiet knock!knock!knock!) just like my G4 PowerMac’s fan did before I replaced it. I also had a problem with the G5 recognizing the Ethernet after first working like a champ, and I eventually solved the problem by wiggling on the cable a bit vigorously. (I had already tried seating and unseating the cable, resetting the PRAM, and reloading OS 10.3.8 using the combo updater before I did that, not to mention checking out the cable by hooking up my other PowerMac to it. Thank God a good shake worked! The only option I had left was to call Apple Support!)
Now, I’m really ready to edit video. In the next few months, I’ll step up to the new video card and get a copy of Motion, though I’m waiting on both Tiger and the release of Motion 2.0 (at the National Association of Broadcasters’ convention in April, rumor has it.) And there will be no more Apple desktops bought by us for some time to come. I do have a PowerBook replacement scheduled for this year, but anything else would have to be driven by need or it won’t happen. I need money to spend on lights and cameras.
posted by Andy Foster at
3:18 PM
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