[X4U] FireWire and low end Macs

[Zane H. Healy]

At 5:03 PM -0600 2/5/09, Joe Sporleder wrote:
>How big of a deal is FireWire to the folks on this list? We are a small

It is basically a must.  All my external disk enclosures are FW400, 
my videa camera is FireWire, and so is my Canopus ADVC-100.  I've no 
desire to start replacing cables (where possible), and devices where 
not.

>My idea of a dream mini workstation is an updated Mac mini that can 
>support up to 4GB of RAM and be able to support 2 screens, and also 
>has a firewire port plus a few USB ports. Basically, give me a Mac 
>mini (even if it needs to be a little larger), with similar specs to 
>the current iMacs, but let me chose my own monitor. I realize that 
>might not happen, and I suppose I need to reconsider iMacs in my 
>computing arsenal, as it appears Apple thinks this would be the best 
>matchup for my situation.

I'm currently running on a PowerMac G5 Rev.0 Dual 2Ghz with 7GB RAM, 
a 750GB HD and a 1TB HD.  I feel the need to upgrade for Adobe 
Lightroom 2 and Adobe Photoshop CS3.  I run a few RAM hungry apps 
besides those two, and I like to keep everything running at once, so 
that it is immediately ready.  My next system needs 8GB minimum 
starting out, but needs to be able to go to at least 16GB over the 
course of its life.

Personally I'd be happy with something between the Mac Mini and the 
Mac Pro that allowed 16GB RAM max (affordable RAM, that could be 
added in 2-4GB chunks), and had at least two user swappable HD's. 
While eSATA would be nice, Firewire would be a must.  I'd also want a 
video card, I don't do video built onto the motherboard, and a card 
slot or two is also highly desirable (if not for the PowerMac's card 
slots I'd have had to replace it last year when the onboard ethernet 
died).

I don't expect to see my ideal system, and as a result I hope to buy 
one of the Nehalem Mac Pro's when they're finally released.  While 
the initial cost of a PowerMac/Mac Pro is higher, in the long run it 
is cheaper, as I don't upgrade as often as I would with a consumer 
model.

Zane


-- 
| Zane H. Healy                    | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh at aracnet.com (primary)    | OpenVMS Enthusiast         |
| MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet)           | Classic Computer Collector |
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