[G4] G5 or G4?

[dkmnow]

The only potential issue I know of is if you ever need to run OS 9.   
The original, that is, as opposed to Classic.  Can't do it with a G5,  
or with most of the MDD G4s. The first run of FW400 MDDs are true  
"dual boot," in that they can run the old OS 9 so long as it was  
installed from the original factory discs.  The FW800 MDDs can't.   
There was a later run of FW400s, but I don't know if they retained OS  
9 capability.

I use a Dual-876 FW400 MDD, and I like having OS 9 as a sort of  
emergency backup OS.  It's tiny, and can be easily copied over to  
other archival drives or partitions so they can be run independently  
if need be.  But that's only useful if you're computing on a frayed  
remnant of a shoestring budget like I am.  Oh, and I've found this  
machine/setup to be unparalleled for doing once-in-a-blue-moon file  
recoveries on old/oddball drives.  Having four bays and multiple file  
system capabilities casts a pretty wide net for doing recoveries.   
And Apple never got around to giving us back our four-bay machines  
until the Mac Pro.

Okay, so there's another G5 drawback: they only give you two internal  
hard drive bays, rather than four -- and only one optical drive bay,  
whereas the MDDs have two.  Those things matter especially when  
you're having to make do with old/used components.

Otherwise, if you know you'll never need to run OS 9, and don't need  
all those drive bays, I don't know of any drawbacks in moving up to a  
G5.  Sure wish I could.

--DKM



On Jul 1, 2009, at 1:53 PM, the Claytons wrote:

> I've decided it's time to buy a new used Mac. My Quicksilver 733 G4  
> is getting long in the tooth and I've gotten all these years from  
> the original hard drive, but I worry.
>
> Logic says that a G5 is the way to go, still I'm intrigued with the  
> idea of a "late model" G4 (perhaps a MDD 1.25) that I can max out  
> at perhaps half the price.
>
> I'm recently retired so I really don't need the latest and greatest  
> and fastest. But I do want to get many years service from it.
>
> Any ideas, arguments, suggestions?
>
> Ray
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