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AndreaStu
User

Posts: 5

Advice on new Mac - 2007/12/06 22:55 Hi all,

I'm currently using a nice old smurf which I have upgraded a bit. It is a G3 300 with 1 gb of ram, a usb 2.0 card and a superdrive (pioneer) which I installed. I also have an external 120 gb Fantom hd. It's running 10.3.9. It's a sweet old computer, but it's not doing it for me anymore. There is a serious lag between actions taken with the mouse and what shows up on the monitor (old 17" cinema display I bought with the smurf). It's incredibly slow loading any graphics intensive web page, even though I have a nice fast DSL connection.

I'm a visual artist. I use the computer for a lot of internet stuff. I scan paintings and drawings to post online. I do some typical business related stuff. I recently started learning CS3 and want to move into more computer art, so I want a machine that can run CS3. Also, I will be launching a website within the next month or so. I've seen my friends' machines running Leopard and I'm in love with it.

Like most visual artists, I don't have a huge amount of money. I'm feeling kind of frustrated running a machine that feels like it is held together with chewing gum and bandaids. It has a lot of little problems that add up to headaches. For example, even though I installed a superdrive, I can only burn CDs from music files. I can't put a document of any kind on a CD. Every time that iTunes gets updated (which seems to be about every week or so), it gets all gummed up and I end up having to create new iTunes folders and moving all my music. I'd like to run Firefox, but whenever I do I get little freezes and browser crashes. Even Safari crashes a lot.

All these frustrations make me feel like I want to get a new machine rather than a used one that could be upgradeable to Leopard. I just really crave a machine that works smoothly out of the box.

So I'm thinking of buying the mac mini core 2 duo 1.83. I can buy this new for less than a good Power Mac G5 machine from what I have seen and I think it would be more seamless in running CS3. I don't think I need the core 2 duo 2.0 because the main differences are: combo drive instead of super drive (fine for my purposes), smaller HD (I already have the Fantom and if I need more storage I can buy another external - I like the external's portability) and slightly slower processor. I'm thinking that after struggling with this 300 mhz machine, jumping to a 1.83 will seem like warp speed so the difference between a 1.83 and a 2.0 will be meaningless to me.

So, good people, what is your opinion? I know I wouldn't have the expandibility I'd have with a tower, but I think I wouldn't need it. I'm thinking of using this mac mini for 2-3 years and then seeing what is on the market. Who knows what would be available then? And by then my income will be a bit better and my credit will be much better. I can then use the mac mini for some other purpose, like maybe a music only machine.

Will this mac mini let me run CS3, do some heavy internet stuff, take care of my iTunes, and run basic business related stuff (mainly in NeoOffice) without all the headaches? Also, can I use my current studio display with it for a couple weeks until I buy a new display? What third-party flat planel displays can people recommend? I've looked at the prices and it seems there are some beautiful third-party flat panels for around $300-400 out there, far less than any Apple display.

Please weigh in with your opinions and experiences.

Thanks,
Andrea

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krowmagnum
User

Posts: 948

Re:Advice on new Mac - 2007/12/07 01:11 CS3 will run on a Core 2 Mini, but I would up the RAM to 2GB though.

CS3 doesn't need a lot of video power so the Mac Mini does ok running it as long as there is enough RAM to play with. And anything you run on it will be lightning fast compared to your old Smurf G3.

Also, your Smurf may just have a bad stick of RAM causing your problems.

Are you getting kernel panics with the gray screen with the circle and multiple languages ?

You shouldn't be having the problems you mentioned unless there is something bad in the G3 and RAM is usually the culprit. I would try taking out one stick of RAM at a time to see if the problem persists, or run a test on the RAM to see if anything shows up as bad. Here is a good RAM testing app:

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/24508

Also, I would boot from the OS install CD and repair permissions. And run DiskWarrior or TechTool Pro if you have either of those programs to make sure your files are in order.

Keep in mind the Mac Mini is not made for production work and there are some good deals on nice used Dual CPU G4's out there for about what a Mini would cost or even less. And a late model DP G4 will run Leopard just fine and is much more suited to what you want to do.

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AndreaStu
User

Posts: 5

Re:Advice on new Mac - 2007/12/09 19:48 Hi Krowmagnum,

Thanks for all your excellent advice. I had previously verified permissions and run disk 1st Aid and nothing showed up as wrong. I had not tested the RAM. I used the link you gave and downloaded Rember. It was really easy to use. It didn't find anything wrong. So, I still don't know what the deal is with the Smurf. I'm not getting kernel panics, but I have beachballs spinning madly.

I had looked at PowerMax and a few other places to see about buying a used G5 and they were so expensive - more than the new Mac Mini. But, I decided to check out Craig's List and I found what I hope will end up being a good deal. I'm picking it up tomorrow night. It is a Quicksilver 933. It's not a DP, but it's a newer G4. It only has 256mb RAM, so tonight I am ordering more. I will max it out at 1.5 gb. I'm going to take the pci card for usb 2.0 and the airport card out of my G3 and put them in the G4. With the external hd I have, I'm hoping it will be pretty smooth to transfer everything over. The Quicksilver has a 60gb had, compared to the G3's 6gb, so I think that will help to make things run smoother. I'll be able to keep more on the internal drive that I now have to keep on the external. The G4 is only $350. By the time I buy the ram and Leopard, it will still be less than the mac mini. I hope I can get a year or two's good use out of it.

The requirements for CS3 indicate a minimum of a 1Ghz G4, but I'm going to try it on this machine anyway. I have access to CS2 also, and I'm sure I can run that on it. I may upgrade the processor at some point.

So, thanks again for your input!

Andrea

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krowmagnum
User

Posts: 948

Re:Advice on new Mac - 2007/12/10 21:30 Good choice for an upgrade.

I have a Quicksilver 867MHz G4 and it runs Leopard pretty well with enough RAM. The QS is a very good Mac and even without an upgrade you should be able to get a couple of years use out of it. I also went from a Smurf 450 to the QS G4 and it's so much better at running the later versions of OS X.

A video card upgrade would make Leopard smoother and may add Core Image support but it'a not necessary. I upgraded mine with a 64MB GeForce card from a later MDD G4 (no core image support) and it works good enough for me. You could easily spend a couple hundred dollars on a video card but even if your QS has a 32MB video card you can get by. A faster video card will make Leopard feel snappier though.

I have CS2 on my QS 867 and it runs fine. I've never tried CS3 so I don't know if the installer will work on less than a 1000MHz Mac but it probably will. If you can get by with CS2 I would suggest running it instead of CS3, especially for production work. You may do a lot of waiting using CS3 but you may as well rty it anyway.

I don't know what to tell you on the Smurf other than doing a fresh install of the OS and remove any third party PCI cards and see if it helps. It's a good Mac to keep around for back-up if needed since it's not really worth much.

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