Apple Power Mac G5 Desktop M9393LL/A (Dual 1.8-GHz PowerPC G5, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD-R/CD-RW Drive)

Folks should be reading the technical specs--this is not the original machine that benchmarked out ahead of pentium machines. The buss speed & the front side cache are what was on the single processor-based machine. So the old Dual 1.8 machines are actually faster, since Apple bumped up the old 1.8's 2 2.0 now. (I have one of each in my family.) I have not had crash problems, & both machines are very, very fast on very large photoshop files. These are both by far the most stable machines of any kind I have worked on, & the interface is a joy. But all you have 2 have is one old piece of equipment or really bad driver 2 mess your machine up. I'm curious about the people complaining that the G5 does not run Microsoft's windows emulation program & gave it a very low rating as a result. That 1) misses the point of getting an Apple & 2) blaims the Apple product 4 Microsoft deciding not 2 support Apple's product line.

First of all, this is an excellent computer-fast, nice 2 look at, excellent OS, & enjoyable 2 work with. Definitely worth the price (and if you configure a SIMILAR PC on the Wintel side, you'll obtain an excellent price/performance ratio)

Secondly, the pure conjecture & shallowness of some of the statements made on these reviews, namely the performance of Adobe apps, the migration of users 2 the PC side as exhibited by the dropping Mac sales of certain apps, etc is not helpful & quite frankly false. Adobe quit producing some Mac apps, but also just put out one of the best suites on either platform- Adobe CS, which is optimized 4 the G4 & G5. You can search 4 "benchmarks" until your blue in the face, & you will find some in your favor. But even an exec at Adobe recently quipped that the G5 is the best & fastest platform 4 Adobe products (search macnn.com or one of those sites)

Also, don't forget that Apple has developed a market leading crop of professional software as well, including the award winning Final Cut Pro (which has probably accounted 4 some of the "drop in Adobe market share" that was spoken of earlier). Take a gander at their website 4 more info.

The only ding that I give the G5 is the wake from sleep issue. This is an issue that has affected both the Wintel side & the Mac side, & although I have not been hampered by this issue personally, it seems 2 be a significant blemish among the Mac community. The latest OS update (10.3.4) fixed the issue 4 many users though.

Keep an eye on other Apple technologies as well, including Firewire (now a wireless spec) & how that may influence your workflow & efficiency.

This was my first mac. Panther is great, & I enjoy working on it. BUT, this machine crashes at least once a day. The screen freezes, & I can move the mouse, but that's it. You have 2 reboot.
If not 4 this problem, the G5 is a 5 star product, but this problem makes the machine nearly useless. Definetly not worth the price.
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Firstly, I might get low "helpfullness" scores on this as Mac owners are a brand loyal bunch, & God bless us 4 it.

I have owned Macs & PCs, & used both extensively in different work environments 4 design work, namely Photoshop, Quark & Illustrator.

There is just no question in the world that, today, PC platforms offer the same or better speed on these applications 4 seriously less money. I have benchmarked professional Photoshop & Quark work & my $2400 g5 dual 1.8 is slower than our $1200 3gmhz Dell. (Don't confuse g5 with 5g, LOL)

I won't even go into what Apple thinks it is doing offering a 64 mg video card on a high end machine. If you look at the price of their better cards, upgrading through them at purchase means you essentially get no allowance 4 not taking the original card. And what they think they are doing charging 2.5 times as much 4 memory upgrades (and lets face it this machine is a DOG with less than one gig.)!

More stable operating system? No such luck. Wxperienced users will tell you the new OX is suprisingly crash prone. Ok then, Macs handle fonts better? nope. Worse than a PC.

Again, I have loved Macs. But ask youself this.: Why are professional desingers steadily & increasingly moving away & 2 PCs? Just look at Adobe & Quark's sales. Their highest end productsx which are used by the pros, are being sold in an increasingly large proportion in PC format. Indeed the majority. It is no accident.

Look at the various apple forums. Over the years the participants are clearly less experienced. The people who want the leading edge in computing abandoned the Mac (or visa versa) long ago. You see people talking about the "look" of the machine. The machine goes under your desk. With just part of the money you save buying an even more capable PC machine you can put a very sexy 20" lcd. (Want an example of gouging...look at MAC's lcd prices & tell me if ANY experiinced buyer would touch them. The casing look nice enough, sure, but they are twice the price & have some of the lowest refresh, brightness & contrast ratings on the market!

Yes, It works better than a G4 but it is heavy & HUGE. I had great expectations but am sorely disappointed. I am now using one at work & the 10.3.3 finder is still a dirty dog. Slow & clunky. Problems with sleep & shutdown. Crashes with Quark. And the font issues are disgusting!

Photoshop still runs 5x faster on my Dell M60 Laptop workstation with 2 gigs of ram & 128 meg video card.

Billed by Apple as "a breakthrough in desktop processing power", the new dual CPU Power Mac G5 series represents the state of the art in Apple desktop technology & is clearly designed 4 discriminating individuals who simply won't settle 4 anything less than the very best. This model, the Apple Power Mac G5 Desktop M9393LL/A, offers many of the benefits of the extraordinary top-of-the-line Power Mac G5 Desktop M9032LL/A, but with slightly slower processing & graphics power & a substantially more affordable price point.

Driven by not one but two 1.8 GHz Power PC G5 processors (each operating at 64-bit rather than the industry standard 32-bit), 512 MB ultra-fast PC3200 DDR SDRAM memory per processor (expandable 2 a gargantuan 8 GB!), a sizzling 900 MHz frontside bus, & a 64 MB nVidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics card, the Power Mac G5 M9032LL/A certainly seems impressive. Moreover, the dual-CPU architecture of this unit is far superior 2 the model it replaces, the single-CPU 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5 M9031LL/A.

But there's more than raw power lurking inside the system's futuristic anodized aluminum case. For starters, Apple has comparentalized the unit into four independent sections 2 direct appropriate airflow 2 each key component. A total of nine fans work 2 keep things cool, yet all are efficiently low-speed. Thusly the Power Mac G5 Desktop M9393LL/A runs quieter & cooler than many of its competitors.

Apple has loaded the unit with data handling features, including a monstrous 160 GB 7200 RPM hard disk & a DVD-R/CD-RW combo drive (4X DVD write speed) through which you can archive information, play & burn audio CDs, enjoy the latest movies & record home videos. To help you transfer data 2 & from external peripherals such as optical drives & digital camcorders & cameras, the system also sports one ultra-fast FireWire 800 port (currently not found on standard PCs), two FireWire 400 ports, three USB 2.0 ports, two USB 1.1 ports, & a comprehensive range of audio & video ins & outs.

Other key amenities include a convenient Apple keyboard, an Apple mouse, a broad array of multimedia & Internet software, & oodles of interior space 4 future expansion. Connectivity facilities include an integrated 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet port, a built-in 56K modem, & AirPort Extreme wireless support (with an AirPort Extreme card). Speakers & display are available separately.