IBook vs. iMac, and Airport Questions

Hi everybody,
After the announcement of the new iMac, I am seriously considering buying an iMac. However, I have a few questions, is the G5 alot more powerful than the G4? because the .48 Ghz difference, as a PC user, doesn't mean that much to me. I am a teenager, I do enjoy my games, but also want something that I can be productive on. I make web sites and do graphic editing with photoshop. However, I do not have the funds to spring for a powerbook or powermac, so I have the choice of the iBook or the iMac. I need to know what would be more useful for me, I do not need too much portability, but does the portability outweigh the extra .48 ghz, or is that .48 Ghz actually a significant difference? And my last question is: Is the wireless card in both computers compatible with any wireless router, or only an apple one?
P.S. based on my computer listed below, you can see I am due for an upgrade
Thanks,
Myrdog

I am the proud owner of an iMac G5 and an iBook G4 and I can tell you that the iBook G4 is a very sturdy and reliable computer. In terms of power, the iBook G4 is a bit limited on RAM specs if you are working with Adobe Creative Suite, for example, and needed to open several apps at once. Or if you are editing video; in that case the iBook works fine but there can be some problems because the graphics card in the iBook is much less powerful than the iMac's graphics card. One more thing about the new iMac G5: it uses DDR2 533 SDRAM, which is faster per megabyte/gigabyte. You will pay a lot for maxing out RAM though.
Either choice would be a good one; it really depends on your budget and what you want to do with it. I use my iBook to do web design with Macromedia Studio 8, and the programs run quite well. For most purposes, the iBook shines.
Justin

Similar Messages

IMac and Airport Extreme

I have a new iMac and, in the specifications for the iMac, I read the following: "Built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking (802.11n)."
Presently, I have the iMac connected to a standalone Airport Extreme and I have two networks: one network goes to the Apple TV and the other network is connected to two Apple Express base stations. I am under the understanding that I need to have the standalone Airport Extreme and cannot get rid of it and use the iMac to connect to both of these networks, directly. Based on what I have read, it appears as though the iMac would not be able to stream in AirTunes. I understand that this is a basic question. My question is whether I need to keep the standalone Apple Express base station or whether I can stream directly to these two networks by way of my iMac? I am almost positive that the answer is "yes," (I do need to keep the standalone Airport Extreme) but I want to make sure. Thanks again for any help you might be able to offer.

Duane -
My control over the appropriate terminology leaves a lot to be desired, but I set up a network with the Extreme (the Apple TV is connected to this) and I set up another network with one of the Expresses (and joined the other Express to it). Trust me, there is a lot of confusion on this end, but I did get the Apple TV to work and the Expresses to play simultaneously, which is what I wanted. I'm just trying to see if I can ditch the Extreme so I can minimize the amount of crap on my desk.
Cheers,
-m

IMac and Airport problems

Hello All - be gentle with me - Im not very techie and Im a windows refugee! so Im not well versed in the ways of Mac fully yet!!
Im having a problem with my iMac (which i love) and airport wifi..... The iMac is 5 months old and is running OS x 10.5.6 I am using a wireless Netgear modem/router on 802.1n. I have 100% signal strength in the Airport Status bar and it connects perfectly.....however about 4-5 minutes the signal just disappears and the Airport status bar greys out and I lose my wifi connection. When you click on the Airport in the status bar, even the network name has disappeared, and then about 20 seconds later it reappears and reconnects itself automatically. Its like the card is turning itself off and then back on again and rebooting and its doing it like clockwork.
I didn't really notice it at first, but it came to light when i bought a Time Capsule - which after 10 days of failed back ups I took back to the shop thinking it was that that was faulty.
As the problem is still there, i figured it might be a router/modem issue so i got our IT guy to check all the settings and he confirmed it was properly set up and working fine.
I've just bought a Mac Air Book also running Leopard 10.5.6 and the weird thing is that the Airport connection on that is bullet proof, as is the wireless connection on my daughters Windows XP Profession SP3 lap top - which leads me to conclude it has to be either a faulty airport card in the iMac or some sort of software issue ??
Any one got any suggestions how to fix the issue - as its driving me nuts! Is this a known issue ?

OK - this is early days, but this fix touch wood appears to have worked (after spending hours on the phone to Apple Support (who in fairness were very helpful)).
We tried all the usual routes - run disk checker, resolve conflicts, moving plists out of the library - exactly the same, if not worse.
Then we tried this - which HAS worked so far - 24 hours and it hasn't dropped once.
Dig out Disc 1 that came with your mac and put in to the drive. Click on the Apple logo. and then select - OSX Software. The Mac will want to restart - let it.
You then need to tell it to install OS X again. MAKE SURE you click the Install and ARCHIVE option - if you dont it will wipe your disk and all your settings and data. The Archive option basically saves all your settings and reinstalls them once the software has reinstalled.
My iMAC came with OS X 10.5.2. - once all this had reloaded (mine took about 2hours) - airport worked fine. Then the problem arose - my iMac is set up to automatically download and install updates - after about 10 mins, it beetled off to check, then loaded and installed Mac OS X 10.5.6 update together with Aiport Utility 5.3.2; Quicktime 7.6; Remote Desktop client 3.2.2; iTunes 8.0.2; and Frontrow 2.1.6 - it managed to download the whole lot in one go - about 750mb seemlessly without falling over - as soon as it installed however - my wifi connection went down.... :o(
So I figured there had to be a problem with one of the updates - so i started from scratch again and install/archive OS X 10.5.2. I then turned off the auto install updates feature, so i could manually install each update in turn, to see which one it was that upset Airport.
I found that if you download and install the updates 1 by 1 - then Airport remains happy....
I did it in this order..
Remote Desktop
Quicktime
iTunes
Airport Utility
Front Row
OS X 10.5.6
As I say i dont know if this is a permanent fix, but in 24 hours it hasn't dropped wifi once, and that's way longer than it has survived for the last 2 months.....
I have no idea why this apparently seems to work either - but it does seem to have cured it....

Air Port in my Imac and Airport Express with my 360

Hi all,
Not sure if Im being nieve but I am trying to set up a network between my Imac and an airport express, with the ulitmate goal of connecting my Xbox 360 to that network. My imac has an airport card and Ihave tried doing the WDS setup any help that any one can offer would be great.
Thanks

G'day Duane,
Just clarifying things here, is it still possible to connect a 360 (via MS' networking adaptor) to a wireless network created by an iMac's built-in airport? Currently I'm using a network encrypted by a WEP password which works all fine and dandy with my MacBook. On the 360, it recognises the network, allows me to enter the password and connects, only to tell me when testing the XBL connection that the wireless network is not connected. The same problem happened when I took off the security. Is there a way around this apart from connecting an ethernet cable to my MacBook/directly into the router?
Cheers in advance,
-Tom

Two iphones, one imac and syncing questions

Me and my wife each have an iphone. Want to set up a mobileme family pack, to give her a unique email address, i have my own email address. can I then simply connect both phones to the imac, and let them sync independent of each other?
Any other issues? Thanks!!
Jeff

Yes.
You can sync as many as you like to the same computer. Each is different and can bet set up however you like.

Trying to connect iBook with iMac with Airport and Ethernet

I have just purchased a wireless router, and all works fine connecting to the internet from the iBook (with Airport) and via an ethernet cable on the iMac.
To share files from the iMac on the iBook I have no problems when the two computers are connected with the Ethernet cable either directly or through the router. However, when I try to connect to the iMac from the iBook using Airport (iMac still connected with cable to router), although the iMac icon shows, when I press 'connect' I get the message "no response from the server. Please try again".
What else do I need to do / what settings on which computer do I need to alter? All advice gratefully received! iMac 9.2.2 / iBook G4 OS 10.3.9 Mac OS 9.2.x
iMac / iBook Mac OS 9.2.x

Jaelke, Welcome to the discussion area!
More than likely your wireless router isn't bridging AppleTalk from the wireless network to the wireless network.
From your iBook, try typing in the IP address of the iMac when attempting to connect to the iMac.

Using an iBook G3 on and Airport Extreme Network

Hi,
We currently have an iBook G3 800 MHz (no airport card) and are planning to get a new superfast 24" iMac 3.06 GHz. My son will be getting a newer MacBook (assumedly with Airport Extreme built in) through school.
My question: If we set up an Airport Extreme wireless network, will including the old iBook (since it has only non-Extreme Airport potential) slow the rest of the network down, and, if so, would the slow down be enough to notice?
Would upgrading the OS on the iBook (currently 10.3.9) matter?
Thanks,
Rob S.

Hi, Rob. Welcome to Apple Discussions.
+If we set up an Airport Extreme wireless network, will including the old iBook (since it has only non-Extreme Airport potential) slow the rest of the network down+
Yes.
+would the slow down be enough to notice?+
Probably not (at least for the internet). If you're swapping files between computers, it will slow that down on your network, but not troublesomely so (at least, not in my experience). The way I understand it, unless you have internet access in excess of 11 MB, you are not going to slow your internet experience down at all by having the iBook up and running on your network. We use ours on our 10 MB internet and don't see a slowdown with our newer computers when the iBook G3 is on the network.

Connecting iBook with iMac and onto the internet

Ican't get a connection figured out, so that I can access the web from my iBook, through the iMac, both with Airport extreme cards.
iMac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.9) iBook G4

va3tm, Welcome to the discussion area!
So your iMac is connected via Ethernet to the internet? Open the iMac's Sharing preference pane, click on Internet, and enable sharing Ethernet to AirPort.
If you the firewall enabled on the iMac, in the iMac's Sharing preference pane, click on Services, and enable Personal Web Sharing.

Would like to buy TC to replace AE for iMac and MBP; questions

hi all--
currently i have a dual-band airport extreme on bridge mode connected by ethernet to my AT&T Uverse wireless router. we have several Airport Express' and an ATV2 in the house and the 2 wireless connections; the g put out by Uverse, and an n put out by the AE. I switch to either one depending on location. I have a WD 1TB drive hooked up to my 750GB iMac via FW800. for years that was fine as the iMac was the main computer and i just worried about it's backups.
now we have upgraded a 2007 MacBook to a new MBPro w/ a 500GB SSD, 12 GB RAM, and an i7 chip. needless to say, now THIS computer has become pimary, as it blazes!! but now since there's so much info on it, it really needs to be backed up as well.
i'm OK with basic/moderate connectivity, but sometimes get confused by more complex issues. so let me throw my wants at you. i'm hoping that i can buy the 3TB TC to replace the AE and WD drive, split the TC drive into 2 partitions, and keep the iMac hooked up to it via ethernet, and let the MBPro back up wirelessly to it's own partition.
i guess this might be pretty basic and obvious, but before i buy all this and sell my old equipment, i'd like to make sure it should work. i've never set up a TC before, but i hope that i can just tell it to use the prior settings for the AE to get most setup issues out of the way. and i'm not quite sure how (or when in the process) to partition the TC drive, assuming i can.
if someone can advise me whether this setup is possible, and how to (or a link on how to) partition to TC drive for the 2 computers that would be fantastic. the main reason i'm unsure about doing this is that on Apple's TC page, they really only seem to discuss all computers backing up wirelessly, which would be silly for the iMac since they're side-by-side.
any thoughts for me, my faithful bretheren?

You cannot partition the TC drive but the two computers can use TM to their own areas without any need for you to intrude.. That part Apple do a good job of. The backup sparse bundle is effectively a disk image and the computer keeps track of it by virtual of serial numbers.. you will have no issues.
And the iMac can use ethernet which will be much faster.. you should do both backups initially by ethernet.. once completed the MBP can backup via wireless.. but the speed of wireless will make a mockery of your SSD.. wow, 500GB SSD.. !!
The TC should be relatively easy to slot into place of the AE.. it is really the same thing.. but I sure would NOT sell it all off until you get everything working.. and I would still keep the firewire drive just as a further backup.. there is nothing wrong with using a different software and then leaving the FW drive in a friend or relatives house for a rainy day.

IMac and Airport Express

I just purchased Airport Express and now my IMac is WI Fi. I've noticed that it comes on even though I have not tried to wake it up. Does this mean I need to turn the machine completely off when I'm done? I prefer to leave it in a sleep mode since I'm on and off my Mac most of the time. I also have an IPad 2 and Apple TV on this network. Any feed back would be appreciated. Thank you....

I'd start with unchecking the option, System Preferences > Energy Saver > "Wake for network access".
See if that works and go from there.
Regards,
Captfred

How to configure iMac and Airport Extreme for remote access?

I want to view videos stored in iTunes on my iMac remotely over the Internet when I away from my home network. My home network setup includes AirPort Extreme with Comcast High Speed Internet Service (16Mbs/6Mbps). I use AirPlayit to support the iMac as a server and have the iPad 3 and iPhone 4 apps for AirPlayit. I have no problem viewing my videos over my home network on any of my mobile devices but for some reason I am unable to configure my firewall so that I can access my iMac remotely when I am away.

Turning off the wireless on the TP-Link router does not make it a simple modem.
You need to configure the AirPort Extreme in Bridge Mode to operate correctly with another router on the network.
Open AirPort Utility and click on the AirPort Extreme icon, then click Edit
Click the Network tab a the top of the window
Make sure that the setting for Router Mode is "Off (Bridge Mode)"
Click Update to save the new settings
Wait 30 seconds for a green light on the AirPort Extreme, then power off the complete network....all devices....in any order you want.
Wait a minute, then start the TP-Link modem/router first and let it run a full minute
Start the AirPort Extreme next the same way
Keep starting devices one at at a time the same way until the entire network is back up.

IP Address Conflicts - iMac and Airport Express, Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion

In our home we have an iMac, two Mac notebooks, an iPad, an Apple TV and a Sony Playstation that all use wi-fi. I have a recurring problem. When several devices are connected to the Internet through Airport Extreme (wi-fi) downloads really slow down. Since the Airport Extreme is connected directly to a Motorola cable modem that also has wi-fi, I often shift my iMac wi-fi connection to the Motorola cable modem to speed up the Internet. Lately I have been getting an IP address conflict message in a pop-up box when I shift to the cable modem wi-fi. The system preference shows the IP address automatically assigned via DCHP. It also offers the option of DHCP plus manual.
I am now using Snow Leopard and intend to upgrade to Mountain Lion.
How can I resolve the conflict? Or, should I consider some other wifi network configuration? Is the upgrade to Mountain Lion likely to resolve the problem or make it worse? Can I use the DHCP plus manual to manually assign an IP address to the iMac to resolve the IP address conflict, and, if so, what it the procedure?

Is the DHCP assignment being done by your cable modem or your AirPort Extreme?
What is the exact text of the conlict message, and where does it pop up?
If your cable modem and your AirPort Extreme are both running DHCP servers for the same subnet (which they really should not be allowed to do), they must be set to assign addresses from disjoint pools.

Purchasing Imac and CS4 question

I am planning purchasing an imac in the next couple of months. Mostly work with adobe suite and possibly doing some video editing with After effects.
My question is this; are there any significant benefits with the higher end graphics card and some of the newer features in CS4? I'm debating between a refurb 2.8 and 3.06 but not sure if the added cost is justified.
Also I have read a number of rumors that the iMacs will receive a speed bump before the holidays, can anyone comment if that is likely or unlikely to happen?
thanks in advance.

If you were to buy new you could go for the 2.8 and upgrade the graphics processor for $150. I doubt you will see much difference with the lower power GPU in 2D graphics Apps unless you are planning on running multiple displays. However if you were going to use After Effects or Premier the 8800GT might do better.
OTOH since you are buying for the future the overall CPU gain is probably worth the extra cash. Think of it this way, one year from now will you be wishing you had the additional 200MHz and better GPU?
For reference I am running CS3 Design Premium, After Effects CS3, and FCP Studio on 2.16GHz iMacs with 3GB RAM and X1600 Graphics without any noticeable problems.
George

Modem and Airport question....

Hi!
Everyone know Macbook have airport...
So i have a modem ethernet Netgrear.
I don' t want to buy a router because i don' t want 2 wireless hotspots (my macbook is already a wireless hotspot thanks airport)
Is there a way to find a kind of ethernet wireless key (so i can connect ONLY my macbook to my modem wireless) and connect all pcs and macbook in my house to my mac using my airport?
Thanks in advance...

Alberto Ravasio wrote:
But if you feel comfortable with your decision, you already have everythig you need.
Plug the ethernet cord from your ethernet modem into MacBook's ethernet port.
That sort of defeats the original idea that the MacBook could be moved around like a mobile HotSpot.
In any case it does sound like the original poster is overthinking this. Wireless routers are extremely cheap these days (I paid US$50 for a D-Link 802.11n wireless router), and keeping a MacBook always active (no sleep or shutdown) to serve as a wireless HotSpot is a new idea to me.
I don't know of anything that would plug into an ethernet port as a "dongle" like a "USB key". Like I said, I don't know if there would be power. Even cable/DSL modems with USB ports usually have the "B" connector. I haven't heard of any type of dongle that plugs into a USB B port - and it wouldn't be powered anyways.

I5 iMac and Firewire question...

I have a Firewire 400 external hard drive that I need to hook up to my new i5 iMac. From what I've read, I need to buy a 6-pin to 9-pin Firewire cable. Right?
If I read right, FW400 is 6-pin, FW800 is 9-pin, and the small FW connector seen on DV cameras and such is 4-pin?
Thank you for making me less of an idiot

Yes that is right!
To go from FireWire 400 to 800 you will need either a cable or an adapter:
9 pin 800 to 6 pin 400 > http://www.firefold.com/9-Pin-to-6-Pin-C54.aspx
or this adapter > http://www.sonnettech.com/product/fw_adapter.html
For a camera with a 4 pin Firewire connection you would need the following:
9 pin to 4 pin > http://www.firefold.com/9-Pin-to-4-Pin-Firewire-Cables-C53.aspx
The FireFold (cable's) and Sonnet (adapter) above are just examples that I used, thay can also be found on line at OWC, Cables to Go, Your Cable Store or at most of the larger Computer/Electronics' outlets.
Dennis

IBook vs. iMac, and Airport Questions

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