[G4] Buying a G4 Questions

[Mel]

I was looking at most of the same choices and I went with the 
Quicksilver 933 with the Superdrive that I bought refurb from PowerMax 
for $1500. IMHO this hits the sweet spot for performance and price. The 
933 has the 133MHz bus (same as the Dual 867) and a fast 7200 RPM disk 
drive with SDRAM. The DDR machines do not make full use of the DDR and 
the memory is more expensive as well. The 933 has the same GeForce4 MX 
video card with 64MB RAM as opposed to the Dual 867 with 32MB. The 933 
also has 2MB L3 cache vs. 1MB for the Dual 867. Some of the OS will 
feel a little quicker in the Dual, but most application software can't 
take advantage of the dual processors, so you're not losing much. The 
933 will be faster for most single-threaded applications. For a good 
comparison check Apple Knowledge Base article #42739.
The Superdrive is great for DVD-R, but not so great for CD-R. The 
Superdrive (8x4x24 for CD) is just slow if you are used to anything 
faster (I had a 16x12x32 burner I put in my previous Beige G3 tower). I 
put together an external FireWire CD-RW from a 48x24x48 burner and 
FireWire case that I mostly use for burning CDs and use the Superdrive 
for DVD. External drives will not work with iDVD, so get a machine 
equipped with the Superdrive if iDVD is important to you.
I have had very good experiences buying refurb machines from Apple, 
Small Dog, and PowerMax. The only way I could tell that my 933 from 
PowerMax was not new was that it was in a brown box instead of the 
glossy white one with pictures. Everything else was like new, including 
the packaging and even protective strips on the drive doors and USB 
connectors. They even included the Jaguar update package. From what I 
have seen, the prices on refurbs are about what you end up with on eBay 
for equivalent machines and you get the full year warranty on the 
refurb. My advice would be skip eBay and pick up a refurbished 933. 
Good luck whatever you decide.
Mel

On Monday, January 13, 2003, at 09:42 PM, Wade Perry wrote:

>
> Oh Wise and Opinioned "G" listers,
>
> I am currently a member of the "G" list for G3's. I thought I would 
> solicit
> opinions and advice for the G4, from the folks who own them. I am 
> currently
> looking at purchasing a used G4 (e-Bay), and would like some additional
> input.
>
> I currently have two teenage daughters, two "G3"'s (Beige 233MT over 
> clocked
> to 300,Beige 333MT over clocked to 375, both maxed on ram @ 768) , on 
> home
> network with DSL, printers. Both girls need desktops for school at this
> point, so I'll give up my trusted friend.
>
> I am looking at  733 to 933 MHz. I really like the 2002 MDD 867. 
> Prices seem
> to be reasonable at around $1000 to $1500 usd. 2001 models of G4's in 
> this
> MHz range are going for around $300 to $500 less, have slower system 
> bus
> speeds, and SDRAM vs DDR. All other issues seem to be negligible. 
> Would also
> like to have have Superdrive. I am looking for experience/opinions 
> with the
> above items.
>
> Is it worth the extra $$ to go for 2002 model with DDR ram and faster
> system bus (167 MHz vs 133).
>
> Would I be wise to look at the 533 MHz Digital Audio (2001)?
>
> Is the Apple Superdrive worth the additional investment, or should I 
> just
> buy an after market DVD-R (RW,R+, etc)
>
> Looking forward to your replies.
>
> Wade A. Perry
>
>
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