[Ti] Re: like hell freezing over ?

[Paul H. Yoshimune]

On Thu, Jun 09, 2005 at 07:17:57PM -0400, John wrote:
> 
> However, we know nothing about IBM's supply - if supply is limited,  
> Apple has to sell the G5 at a premium because they cannot supply  
> enough machines at a lower price point. Right? And at the same time,  
> how plentiful are G4's compared to P IV's?
> 
> The other thing - if Apple can skip the honking big heat sinks - not  
> too sure what Pentiums require - they might be able to shrink the G5  
> case. That'd be nice.

I don't mind the cases at all; in fact, I rather like them.  The fact that
they're somewhat bigger than a mini-tower PC isn't an issue for me, although I
can see where it would be for others.

> >If Apple moves to flimsy cases, fans with 3-month
> >lifespans (not to mention LOUD),
> >
> 
> Like the MDD fan noise a while back? Sure, they replaced the loud  
> power supplies - for a fee. It took Apple a LONG time to admit the  
> machines were out of spec, and loud. http://www.g4noise.com/ Granted,  
> the power supply was not an Apple designed part - but they spec'd it,  
> and had the opportunity to modify the case to draw air from the outside.

Can't speak to that, as I never had one of those.  I have heard the stories,
however...

> Or reliability, to say the least, I know from a Sys Admin that  
> earlier G5's he received had terrible life issues (DOA/failure rate)  
> - though they were on par with the Dell's (we're talking rollouts in  
> the upper hundreds). I just got a brand new G5 2.3 that didn't even  
> turn on! However, Apple was VERY good and replaced ASAP. As they should.

Again, more experience than I have with them.  I've only had to deal with a
few G5's, and they were all perfect from the word go.

> >cheap bolt-in HD brackets, impossible-to-
> >manipulate internals, etc.,
> >
> 
> Yes and no... Apple's expansion systems are very well thought out,  
> implemented. However, and this may be due to the G5 heat sinks/fans,  
> you can only fit two HD's inside a G5 - I'm sure 3rd party brackets  
> are available, but for pro Video users, an extra HD bay is a plus  
> (though Firewire, yes, is easily an option). The G5 is a big case.  
> Large.

I've never been big on stuffing a bunch of drives inside a case (both for heat
and power concerns), but someone does make a 4-drive bay for the G5s.  If I
get that many drives going, it'll be in an external box.

> >then I can see price drops, but hopefully that'll
> >never happen.  I absolutely love Apple's hardware design - it's  
> >well thought
> >out, robust, well-finished, practical, and pretty.  I guess I like Sun
> >workstations/servers for the same reasons... :-)
> >
> 
> Yeah, the loud Ti 550 fan, paint chipping, not to mention the hinge  
> design of the Ti (slim, for sure, but not user serviceable!), Airport  
> reception : ) I'm not saying Windows machines are any better (in  
> fact, most are really bad), but I wouldn't hold Apple up so high!  
> They are getting better - the fit and finish of the Albooks are nice  
> - haven't owned one, however. Dell cases (towers) are pure carp. The  
> split design is awful (though it allows a lot of space to work). And  
> to think Apple had it down long before Dell's wretched design!

I have a Ti 667 (first gen, GBE); it doesn't suffer from loud fan(s), paint
chipping, broken hinges, or any of those other maladies.  Again, maybe I'm 
lucky, as I've heard enough reports of that sort of thing to know it isn't
uncommon.  That said, I've seen Dell and Sony laptops fall apart in no time,
more than one of them which belonged to me.

I think the best thing going in PC laptops are the Thinkpads, which are really
quite nice.  The biggest things that I like about them are the keyboards,
wireless reception, and LCDs.  I'm dying for Apple to do the 1600x1200 thing...

> Or the cube - cracked Acrylic. Silent, yes. Cracked, yes.
> 
> Design: Yes!!!!
> 
> Robust:  Mostly
> 
> Don't get me wrong - I buy live and suggest Apple. I just find it  
> difficult to say their products are robust.

I guess I've just had good luck with their products.  I haven't had a single
Mac (desktop or laptop) that's fallen apart on me, had build quality issues,
etc.  Although the earlier models like the 660AV and 8500 weren't as solid as
the current G5, they were always ahead of their time in terms of accessability,
and fit and finish.  The PCs I was using at the time spent most of their time
with cables tangled everywhere, and unfinished case edges cutting me left and
right.  :-)

For the ultimate in robustness, though, I like Sun.  E450 under the desk,
SunFire V240 in the rack, Ultra60 in the office, etc.  Why doesn't everyone use
SCA drives in hot-swap sleds?  Processors on daughtercards?  Nicely managed
cables, etc.?  Oh well...

-- 
Paul H. Yoshimune
paul at yoshimune.com
http://www.yoshimune.com/