Father Jack Hackett

I'm thinking of getting a Mac for audio applications (ProTools, Reason etc). Looking at a powebook dual 1.25gHz G4 desktop. They go for £800 - £1000 on eBay without the monitor. Anybody know any other places to get well-priced Macs - new or secondhand?

Cheers!

angrynorth

If you are looking for a spanker try AllanB (on here) from MacWarehouse. I don't have his email to hand but you may be able to get it from other Mac threads.

Markus

Would second talking to Allan, he da man!

Father Jack Hackett

Not sure if I'm looking for a "spanker" ... depends what it is ...

angrynorth

LOL Spanker = New one

GaryK

or get on down to the apple refurb store, up to 25% off 'nearly new' items, open only on a wednesday, in fact opens in 5 mins, gotta be quick though first come first served.

Gary

class_A

If you're looking 2nd hand, also try Cancom for their refurb store. BTW, Mac kit tends to go for over the odds on eBay.

Cheers,
Alex

M J B

I use www.jigsaw24.com at work and cant fault the service.

Markus

have used Jigsaw in the past, pretty darn good too.

I actually use apple to purchase kit, mainly as we get a rather nice developer discount. pity I can't afford a nice new G5 for home

lightning101

SPANKER IN A MAC - LOL

Father Jack Hackett

Thanks for the responses guys. Guess I'm looking for either a spanker or a spanked LOL . Prices seem higher than PC's for equivalent performance but I'd really like to try a Mac for creative stuff.

A couple more questions:

Is it easy/cheap to add memory to Macs?

Is a dual 867 likely to have better performance than a single-processor 1.25, other things being equal? I will be using it for CPU-hungry audio apps ...

The faq at the Apple refurb store recommends setting up a store account before the store opens, but there's no way on the site to do so. Do they mean a regular Apple Store account?

Thanks again,

Jack

angrynorth

Piece of p, pull the circle thingy at the top to open the side and place memory inside. Most versions of OSX will allow you to do this even whilst the machine is on. but I wouldn't recommend it

I've got a Dual 867 here at home and it crunches things very well. The dual processors are recommended for apps such as Photoshop and Reason. So with those programmes then yes it will be quicker. In normal operating then the 2nd processor won't make a massive difference so its really up to you.

So long as you have a good amount of Ram you should be able to run almost anything with ease. My cousin has a 400Mhz G4 with 768RAM and that will run GarageBand (very processor and ram intensive) and Photoshop no problem.

Not sure on that one but I would assume so. I think the reccomendation is because you have to be very quick to get the best deals

Tis OK

Andy

class_A

Dual 867 here also

RAM is very easy to add as Andy said, no tools needed not even a screwdriver to open the case.

Mac OS X loves the dualies, so yes go dual IMHO.

An Apple Store account is just an Apple ID. Just to go http://www.apple.com/ukstore and click the Create Account link in the top right. Apple recommend setting up your account before the Refurb Store opens as products tend to move very quickly. I'd recommend saving your card details alongside your Apple ID and turning on 1-Click ordering, then you can quickly move in for the kill on a Wednesday morning.

Cheers,
Alex

GaryK

FJ

Yep as Alex said dont bother with ebay you wont get a bargain on there, and there are some scams involving apple kit too. As for running audio s/w no problem, I run a 12" powerbook, dont run reason cos it isnt my bag but run traktion (£50 sequencer which is awesome) and arturia storm (a reason alternative) with quite a few VST plug-ins. In fact the one app that complains the most is garageband when Im streaming lots of audio tracks simultaneosly but I can work around that.

cheers

Gary

AllanB

I'm on hols at the moment watching the rally in Bournemouth.

I know I may appear biased but here is my opinion formed for 12 years of service in the mac market.

Feedback from customers daily is that Cancom offer terrible service. Ok they are cheap. Read the T&Cs and then you'll get an idea. Basically if anyhting goes wrong its all down to you to pack despatch , track insure the whole lot.

MacWarehouse, Jigsaw and ComputerWarehouse are Apples premier resellers. We only get this due to our stock holding, support infrastructure, financial stability and basically doing things write.

The AppleStore is available by all means but see the various postings about the service or total lack of on the register or ask Andy Mahon who posts on here.

If you are going to buy a Mac get it from a well know Mac specialist not someone who does it as a sideline and won't or cannot ofer you any extra help. Its worth spending a little extra to get got backup.

We do not sell second hand Macs at MacWarehouse only new machines. Also do be careful with ebay. One of my collegues lost over 1K but he could'nt see the signs as he was a very young guy.

If you do need any help selecting a new machine maybe you would like to email my boss as I'm off today. His email address is tom.greed@eu.mwhse.com .We can offer 6 months interest free credit which might make a new machine just that more affordable.

I'm back at work on Monday and will pick up my home mails then so don't hesitate to ask for any help or advice.




AllanB

GaryK

Allan,

you must be the only person on SN who openly promotes your business and the mods dont touch the thread, why is that? Still I know you try and help people out.

Gary

class_A

Just to clarify the ease of RAM installation, Apple uses industry standard RAM modules no different from PCs. I buy my RAM from Crucial

Re: resellers. I only have experiences of MacWarehouse, MicroAnvika @ Selfridges and Apple Store for Education (as I qualify for discount), all for personal purchases. I find Apple to be "efficient" but not hugely helpful Apple ship times aren't the quickest either. MW and MA give much better service, including product knowledge and politeness, which is very important to me.

You can also CTO a system through a reseller, you don't have to go through the Apple Store.

Mossman

Top chap and great service.
Mossman