For Sale: G5 PowerMac Dual 1.8, SD, 160GB+900GB RAID, 1GB

It’s likely heading for eBay soon, but not before I offer it to friends and family. The system bone stock is worth about $1,200 on eBay. Compare to a new dual 2.0 which is currently $2,000. With all the extra drive space and RAM, it should fetch about $1,600. If you don’t need 900GB of storage, I can pull the disks and cut the price. Photos are available here. The eBay ad follows.

If you are looking to buy a dual G5, I assume that you already know all about them so I won’t repeat the obvious.

This system includes EVERYTHING that shipped with it from the factory. Box, keyboard, mouse, USB extender, vga adapter, airport antennae, unopened manuals, software recovery DVD, power cord, and modem cable.

What is different about my G5 from other dual 1.8s:

1. Single owner – purchased new, a copy of the sales receipt is included.
2. Perfect eBay feedback – Bid with confidence!
3. Applecare – purchased with CPU, good through 12/9/06.
4. 1GB of RAM.
5. Stock 160GB drive + 900GB!
5.1. (3) top of the line 300GB DiamondMax 10 drives in a CCD RAID.
6. Fast-Ethernet PCI card (adds second ethernet port)
7. SeriTek 4 port SATA PCI-X card
8. Lots of valuable extras!

That’s right, $600 worth of hard drives, a 4 port SATA card ( $125), and the G5 Drive Bracket (http://www.g5drivebracket.com/) are used to pack a few more disks in there and make a killer file server. If 900+160GB is not enough for you, install a few larger drives and have even more space! Voila, one big box that works great as a workstation with gobs o’disk or use it for network attached storage (NAS).

Other Installed Software:

Mac OS X 10.4
iLIfe ’05, Garage Band Jam Pack
iWork ’06 (Keynote & Pages)
Virtual PC 7 (w XP Pro)
Photoshop CS
Dreamweaver MX
Microsoft Office X
Reunion
Endnote 9
TechTool Deluxe
Route 66
MYOB Account Edge 3
FileMaker Pro 6
Calendar X
Quicken & QuickBooks
Remote Desktop
Final Cut Express (if I can find my install DVD before this system ships)

Current State
I have wiped the system clean and installed a fresh copy of 10.4 and all the patches (up to 10.4.6). I then installed all the aforementioned software and ran each program to register it. This baby is ready to unbox and run. Just create a new administrator user, delete the existing one, and you’re good to go. I am a professional systems engineer, specializing in UNIX systems so if there is any special configuration you’d like, be sure to ask before it ships.

I recommend leaving the drives as configured, with a 160GB boot disk and a large RAID. If anything happens to a disk in the RAID, it is very convenient to have the boot disk managed separately, with all your disk and volume management tools on it.

OPTIONAL extras
If you want any of this stuff, wait until the auction closes (and you win, obviously) and then make a separate payment for the extras that you want and be sure to tell me what you want. Everything here is priced based on closed eBay auctions and thus is very competitively priced.
23″ Cinema HD Display – $740 shipped – purchased with this system, so it is covered under the same AppleCare policy. Otherwise, I probably would not list it. I regularly use it with my 20″ iMac Core Duo and it is pixel perfect. There are ZERO defects on the LCD and everyone that sees it appropriately oohs and ahhs. It is a gorgeous display. There are some minor aging marks in the clear plastic surround but it is in very good condition.
20″ Cinema Display – $575 shipped in original box – a little older than the 23″, used as external display for PowerBook (ie, casual use) and second display (when needed) on dual G5 system. Pixel perfect, not a bad pixel to be seen! Enclosure is also in very good condition.
Airport Extreme WiFi Card – $50 installed. – If the two built-in ethernet ports aren’t enough, drop in an airport card. You can have it join your existing network or become the base station that provides WiFi for you.
Bluetooth Keyboard – $45 shipped in original box – almost brand new, used only a few times (I prefer having the extra USB ports from the wired keyboard).
iSight Camera – $100 shipped in original box – in perfect working condition, includes mounting accessories for PowerBook and Cinema Displays. Works great but new Mac Book Pro and iMac have built in iSight.
Mighty Mouse – $35 shipped – barely used. I like it much better than the Pro mouse, but I still prefer my Logitech MX510.
USB Hub – $0 – just ask and I’ll throw it in. I used it with this system.

INSPECTION & SHIPPING
Available for inspection & pickup in Dallas, TX area. Local pickup will obviously avoid shipping fees. For safety, the drives should be removed from the system for shipping, unless local pickup is arranged. So, minor assembly may be required.

What did you use it for?

I have a home business and used this computer for several purposes:
a. File Server – who doesn’t need a TERABYTE of storage attached to their home network? We stored all our media on it (iTunes libraries, ripped DVDs, Movie projects, and photo libraries). Then we always had access to the latest files no matter which computer we were using. Whether working on a home movie or just making a backup of a DVD, my PowerBook and other dual G5 can write to the network faster than to their local disks.
b. Video production – I dabble with a DV camera every now and then.
c. Media Server – Since we stored all our music and photos on it, it made sense to plug the Toslink (fiber optic) cable into this G5 and route it to my receiver. We controlled iTunes via Remote Desktop from another computer or using a bluetooth remote.
d. Firewall. The second ethernet card connected to my cable modem. The onboard ethernet connects to my home network. Then I configure IPFW (the Mac’s built in firewall) and natd to act as the gateway between my home network and the world. It is a little harder to set up than the little toy routers but infinitely more configurable than the routers/access point combos. It is also much easier to troubleshoot issues like, “why isn’t my VoIP working” on a real firewall system.

You might be saying to yourself, “why isn’t he using an Xserve?” I have two good reasons; 1) have you compared the cost of an Xserve to a dual G5 desktop? 2) have you listened to an Xserve? After listening to one, can you think of a place in your house you would want it? You can put this puppy under your feet, and still hear yourself think.

Reasons to prefer a G5 system
1. Production – If you are buying a system to get work done, you don’t want to be wasting time hunting for Universal Binaries for your apps and watching for updates all the time so that you can finally get a version that runs quickly again. All the Mac software on shelves today runs GREAT on a dual G5 and will continue to for a number of years.
2. Professional Apps – Many of the professional design tools like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, MS Office, and others will not be available for at least another year. While they all do run on the Core Duo, the still run much better on the Power Mac. The dual G5 systems will continue to be at the high end of PC performance for another couple years.
3. Classic – Classic is dead on Intel macs. If you want a fast computer and classic, you want a high end dual (or quad) G5 system.
4. Bleeding Edge – The dual G5 systems are mature and as solid as tanks. Everything just works[TM]. Excepting a short bout with a batch of bad RAM, my G5 systems never crash. They do their jobs faithfully, typically making less noise than my wife’s Dull Latitude laptop. While I am quite fond of my Core Duo iMac, it is not without it’s share of issues. Certain programs simply will not work on the Intel macs. Remote Desktop v2 is a prime example and requires a paid upgrade to function. Many other apps will required a paid upgrade but will not be available for some time. Some software may never become available as a Universal Binary. Regardless, a PowerPC system will continue to work great with nearly ever mac program for the foreseeable future, which is exactly why I will keep at least one around for a few more years.

Why is it for sale?

Two reasons. 1) Upgrades – I routinely upgrade my hardware, typically keeping machines a year or two and then upgrading to the latest and greatest. The dual G5 systems are fantastic but I have more of them than I have space for. 2) Development & Testing – As you have no doubt guessed, I’m an early adopter. I like playing with the coolest new toys and testing new gear. Of course, this requires having good backups for when things go truly wrong but I don’t mind. 3) iMac Core Duo – I have one sitting on my desk. I like it very much and it effectively replaces one of my dual G5 systems. However, there are some bumps along the Intel path. For instance, when it’s time to do some Photoshop or Dreamweaver work, the dual G5 remains a consistently better performer. Oops, flash still doesn’t work on web pages because there is no Universal plugin, time to use a PowerPC system. For these and many other reasons, I will keep a couple PowerPC systems around for quite a while longer.