Apple Power Macintosh G4 (M8787LL/A) Mac Desktop

i recently moved from a powerbook G4 550 to this machine and the difference in speed was astounding. The first OSX mac I've used where OSX feels snappy. I have been using this to run virtual PC Wiindows 2000 to use SAS, which is high end statistical analysis. Even in VPC, it runs fast enough to be pleasurable to use. some programs actually run faster in VPC than they do on OSX, such as Word.

It has 4 hard drive bays and an 2 optical drive bays. The first thing i did was add another fast internal drive--so simple and very nice not to have another external drive hogging my desk space.

they come with only 256MB RAM which is probably ok if you never run Classic or only a few apps at a time. but 512MB is probably the minimum you'd want for OSX. Another thing about RAM is that DDR RAM is much more expensice than PC 133 RAM, and as currently implemented makes no difference whatsoever. At least the DDR RAM for this model is cheaper than for the 2 higher end models.

In pictures, these macs look bad, especially compared to the previous Quicksilver macs. But when you see them up close, the opposite is true. the new towers are really beautiful. Unfortunately, you might end up putting it under your desk because the fas noise is irritating. It's like having a refirdgerator, especially compared to a quiet powerbook. there are 4 fans, and most complain about the dustbuster like fan that can come on under heavy loads. I have only heard it come on once for a few seconds so that's not the issue for me. The issue is the 2 power supply fans which just make a constant humming noise. they are much louder than the previous Quicksilvers, in my experience.

the mouse that it comes with is pointless. I find myself needing at least 3 buttons and a scroll wheel. but at least I sold it on eBay for $40. the keyboard is also junk. as you can see here, most of my sentences are missing caps because unless I pause and really make an effort to hold down the left shift key, it just doesn't register. so I've moved to using an older USB keyboard which also feels better and has a power button, which doesn't work to boot the machine, but does invoke the option to sleep, restart, or shutdown.

I got this at educational prices, which with tax are about the same as you can get online at most stores. Right now Apple is giving away Adobe InDesign with it which is a great deal. i don't need it so my copy is going to eBay, which altogether will ultimately have cut $250 off the price I paid.

overall a great machine. The fastest and most stable mac i have ever used and can handle everything i throw at it, even running a horrible Windoze OS! This mac has the best bang for the buck in the current lineup. Save your money on the only slightly faster and much more expensive 1Ghz and 1.25Ghz models. instead, use the money to get a nicer monitor, or max out the RAM, add a bigger and faster hard drive, or get a high end video card.

one other thing is that the case is just a work of art inside too. incredibly easy to upgrade. pop right open. i never imagined installing a hard drive would be so easy.