Holy Cow I just spent a lot of money!!!

[blix]

Well, I did it.

In a matter of days, I will have in my hands (arms?) a brand new G5.

Crap! this is so exciting and scary at the same time!!! I'm scared because I'm taking on a freelance job and I just hope I can withstand the rigors of working two jobs. I'm also scared because freelance gigs have been known to completely vanish into thin air leaving me with a hefty bill.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
:eek2::amy::eek2::eek2::darth::-pg-:
*$(#($*&#((#$)Blix is freaking out%&$*(#*()@#&*#$^^$#&

[TrinityOfOne]

Whoa!! That's cool Blix!

One day, when I can work out a fool-proof way to hijack a security truck, I too may buy a Mac.

[burndog]

Congrats Blix, hope the setup goes smoothly, it's always fun trying to figure out if you have all that you need backed up...in the past I have always forgotten something.

And I know what you mean by freelance jobs, just never count your chickens until they're hatched. Best of luck to ya!

[Scott]

Congrats Blix! You'll LOVE IT!!!! Great machine! I hope the job works out really well.

[Raphael]

I got mine through a fantastic deal with my employers. They buy me the Mac and I pay them back over 4 years.

Clever bit... I take a salary cut by £300 a year so I don't pay tax on the money and the get to claim the sales tax back as though the machine is for work. I'n 3 years time I buy the mac from them for the final payment.

Sweet huh?

[Taz]

[QUOTE=Raphael]I got mine through a fantastic deal with my employers. They buy me the Mac and I pay them back over 4 years.
[/QUOTE]

And by the time you're done paying it it'll be obsolete....

;)

[blix]

LOL! Good comeback, Taz! I thought Raphael was going to say something about putting in his two week notice upon delivery!

I lucked out with a sweet deal. My buddy's dad works for Apple and he always said, "If you ever need a computer, just let me know!" So here's the config:

065-4931 Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5
065-4976 1GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 2x512
065-4925 160GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
065-4928 8x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
065-4892 ATI Radeon 9600 XT w/128MB DDR SDRAM
065-4986 AirPort Extreme Card
065-4923 Apple Keyboard & Apple Mouse - U.S. English
065-4896 Mac OS X - U.S. English
065-4894 Accessory kit
Unit Price: $2,337.00
Quantity: 1
Net Price: $2,337.00
Estimated time to ship: 5-7 bus.days

With the RAM, video card and AirPort Extreme upgrades, it comes out CHEAPER than the stock version in the store or online. I've also got a LaCie 22" monitor and a 250GB FW 800 external drive on the way.

Yeah, I can use all the well wishing, good lucks I can get. I'm switching! This will be my first Mac and I'm a little nervous -ONLY- because there will be some "re-programming" of my brain. I've done all my research, checked all the forums, played, and worked on Macs as often as possible and I feel pretty confident the transition will be smooth.

There are just so many 'unknowns' lurking in the dark! I may be buggin' you Mac users every now and then!

I'll let you know when I'm up and running!

-B

oh- and Trin: let me know how that heist goes! Hope they've got email in jail. :D

[Scott]

Oh man! Your first Mac.... wow! No more autoexec files or service packs!!!!!! You hav eno idea what a great experience you're in for blix :)

[PDG]

Greeeat...another mac addict to make me feel mechanically inferior. :flag waving: I give up. :D

[blix]

Yeah, I know, man. Don't get me started! Windows has so many silly flaws it makes me sick to see people just roll over and take it. It's wrong. If you bought a car that had that many problems, you'd probably knock some heads around! OS X is so far ahead of Windows.

ahhhh, why preach to the choir? You've already been saved!

-B

[QUOTE=PDG]Greeeat...another mac addict to make me feel mechanically inferior. :flag waving: I give up. :D[/QUOTE]

LOL PDG! Too bad I won't have it to complete our cage match! Then you'd really be in touble! :coolio:

[Dave]

$2,337 .... that's about £500 here now ..... cheap as chips! :)

Good luck Blix, I wish I could go there.

[TrinityOfOne]

Dave, that's just for the tower, the monitor is extra :)

[Scott]

but.. the towers are liquid cooled!!!!

[Raphael]

Hey Taz, yes by the time I pay for it, it'll be obsolete but then I sell it back to work For a deposit on a G6 ;)

[TrinityOfOne]

I just did a little test drive in the Apple store:

For a G5 dual 1.7ghz with 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, DVD-R/CDR-W, NVidia GeForce5200(64mb), 20" cinema display and Apple Careplan.

£2,866.99/$5,173.76

I think I'll carry on using the PC for now.....

[Dave]

I have an internet friend in California who sells these things for a living (or did the last time we chatted), I could always ask if anyones kjeen on spending a smaller heap of cash than their local rip-off merchant charges .... offer not good outside of USA.

£2,900 not bad eh Trin .... I could run to four of them or a new kitchen for my wife .... :)

[Scott]

Didn't like the Mac eh Trin :)

[TrinityOfOne]

It's not that I didn't like it, I just can't afford it.

[burndog]

Sounds pretty awesome Blix, I am sure there are alot of envious people here.

[Raphael]

The main Pricey thing in that line up Trin is the monitor. That'll be the same if you get Mac OR Windoze machine.
try:

http://www.jigsaw24.com/proddesc.asp?ITEM=M9454BA

And you can always look in the Refurb section, mine had a nick in the casing handle and was £200 less.

[blix]

[QUOTE=Raphael]The main Pricey thing in that line up Trin is the monitor. That'll be the same if you get Mac OR Windoze machine.
try:
http://www.jigsaw24.com/proddesc.asp?ITEM=M9454BA
And you can always look in the Refurb section, mine had a nick in the casing handle and was £200 less.[/QUOTE]
True!
I had to go with a CRT since I'm doing color critical work. Everything I read about the LCD's from Apple was GREAT, but still not as accurate as a CRT. I went with a LaCie ElectronBlue 22 reconditioned for somwhere around $529. ($799 new!)

I really wanted the Cine Display but I figured I'd save myself a couple grand and go with something that represents color better.

-B

[TrinityOfOne]

[QUOTE=Raphael]The main Pricey thing in that line up Trin is the monitor. That'll be the same if you get Mac OR Windoze machine.
try:

http://www.jigsaw24.com/proddesc.asp?ITEM=M9454BA

And you can always look in the Refurb section, mine had a nick in the casing handle and was £200 less.[/QUOTE]

Hmm, that's true. I've got a 17" CRT already, I just like the width of the cinema displays, more space to play with.

[Raphael]

LOL, hey Trin who WOULDN'T like a 20" Apple Cinema Display. I'm on a Formac 19" ProNitron CRT, cost £250. It does the job ;)

[TrinityOfOne]

I just live for the day when I can buy a colour monitor :)

[burndog]

Hey Blix, I assume you have everything up and running now, is it everything you were expecting?

What kind of work do you do that requires such accurate colour?

[blix]

Everything is up now and it is sweet! The only hard part is the whole OPT/ALT CMD/CTL key arrangement. The keys are all switched up now, but it won't take long.

It is everything I hoped for. There is so much integration that just blows windows away. The whole iLife suite is so cool. My wife and I are going to love making slide shows and recording music and even editing short video clips of our baby boy.

As for the color issue: I'm working my way into freelancing from home. (Crazy, I know!) I'm working for a photographer who shoots 100% digital. She sends me DVDs of all the RAW images. I then manage the images from start to finish. Rough edit through the album design. I need my monitor to hold calibration so that I get predictable results from the lab.

Don't want no green-skinned brides!

-B

[PDG]

[QUOTE=blix]Everything is up now and it is sweet! The only hard part is the whole OPT/ALT CMD/CTL key arrangement. The keys are all switched up now, but it won't take long.

It is everything I hoped for. There is so much integration that just blows windows away. The whole iLife suite is so cool. My wife and I are going to love making slide shows and recording music and even editing short video clips of our baby boy.

As for the color issue: I'm working my way into freelancing from home. (Crazy, I know!) I'm working for a photographer who shoots 100% digital. She sends me DVDs of all the RAW images. I then manage the images from start to finish. Rough edit through the album design. I need my monitor to hold calibration so that I get predictable results from the lab.

Don't want no green-skinned brides!

-B[/QUOTE]

You know about the RAW droplets for batch processing, right? If not, check it out here (http://oceania.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=27784
). You'll eventually get to a stage where you'll be able to tell which pics requires x type of processing and these droplets will be golden...

[Scott]

There's some freeware that will remap those keys if you want, Blix. I can dig around for it if you need it.

[blix]

[QUOTE=PDG]You know about the RAW droplets for batch processing, right? If not, check it out here (http://oceania.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=27784
). You'll eventually get to a stage where you'll be able to tell which pics requires x type of processing and these droplets will be golden...[/QUOTE]

I'll check out that link again some time PDG. There seems to be a server problem at the moment. I'm interested in the droplet you mentioned. I have always used Dr. Brown's Image Processor in the past. I love it. It will take RAW images and convert to jpeg, tiff, psd. You can choose to do all or only one output type simultaneously and you can even resize jpeg with sharpening. It's sweet.

BUT- the photographer I'm working for wants me to use Phase One C1 which is by far the most popular among the pros these days. I like it okay so far, but wish I could just use Image Processor to convert and then do color in PS on TIFFs. Phase One costs $600 and I'm not sure I'm all that into it.


[QUOTE=Jolt]There's some freeware that will remap those keys if you want, Blix. I can dig around for it if you need it.[/QUOTE]

That is tempting, Jolt! It probably would save me some time..... ahhh, what the heck? If you come across it or just have a keyword I can Google, let me know!

-B

[Scott]

There's two...

uControl
http://gnufoo.org/ucontrol/

And DoubleCommand
http://doublecommand.sourceforge.net/

I haven't used either so I can't comment on stability or ease of use.

[blix]

Cool, thanks man! I'll check 'em out!

-B