[POLL] Desktop G3 VS Mini Tower. Which do you prefer?

[Johnnya101]

Debating on the pros and cons of each...

So, decided to see what you all think!!!

What do you like better? The desktop or MT? I used to like the tower, but having owned one, I think I might want to try out the desktop. That ways I can have a monitor on it.

Anyways, have at it! If you have something else to say post it!

-My first poll, hope I dont mess up!-

 

[Compgeke]

Minitower looks better. The desktop version is boring.

 

[Carboy7]

Wow! Some people like the minitower, I guess. Who would've thought?

 

[EvieSigma]

Desktop with ZIP drive. The outrigger case is neat.

 

[Unknown_K]

My tower has a zipdrive. Anyway I voted tower since it is my favorite (only have 1 plus 2-3 desktops).

 

[Johnnya101]

Wow, would've thought it was the other way around....

Keep them comin!

 

[EvilCapitalist]

Personally I like the desktop.  The minitower doesn't offer anything different hardware-wise and had a lot more wasted space inside the case making it unnecessarily larger.

 

[bunnspecial]

The internal plastic is slightly more durable on the MT vs. the desktop.

Wheres the choice for the AIO?

 

[Johnnya101]

Forgot! The main ones you always see are those two. I'll add it quick.

EDIT:

I can't since it's been too long

 

[trag]

Isn't there more room for drives in the minitower?   I have a faint and probably unreliable memory that that is the case.    The G3 wasn't the one in which you could install another drive or two in the bottom? 

 

[Johnnya101]

Hmm, You CAN but there will be no cover...

 

[Johnnya101]

Oh wait, my bad, an hdd will fit inside, unlike a cd drive which would need a special open cover

 

[beachycove]

Indeed. The DT allowed for two hard drives, with one in the base, plus cd, and zip -- i.e., the same as the MT but more compactly arranged.

Where the G3 DT is more problematic is in RAM selection, as the dimms have to be small/ low enough to allow the case to fold down. That can be a problem. But no such issues in the MT. The MT is also, in my experience, more robust physically, with less delicate plastics, etc.

Of all the beige G3s, I much prefer the MT, having had several of each of the models, including the Molar Mac, pass through my hands over the years. Fan and drive noise are reduced on the floor, too. Much better, all told.

 

[bunnspecial]

I have a server config minitower(says Macintosh Server G3 on the front) with 3 10K HDDs from the factory. It has one in the normal above the PSU configuration along with two in the bays below the CD-ROM. Interestingly enough, the label actually specifies 4 HDDs. There's no obvious place for the 4th, though, no empty connectors on the SCSI ribbon, and no sign of an IDE cable ever being run.

One other thing-I find it easier to cool CPU upgrades in the MT vs. the desktop.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I always had a thing for the MT, but then a DT somehow fell into my lap. I trashed the plastics, loaded it to the gills with I/O options, put rubber feets on the "side" and overturned it into a G3DT MetalMiniTower™ so it would take up less desk/floor space than either stock config. I was intended to make access for swapping out PCI cards for testing a breeze, very similar to the way I play NuBus games with the pet IIfx.

Me loves me some heavily modified G3DT.   

 

[just.in.time]

Owned a G3 desktop in the past and while it was great, I like the styling of the mini tower a bit more

Also, the benefit of being able to put the monitor on top of the desktop has faded significantly as flat panels came along. So much wasted space on a desk surface.

 

[bunnspecial]

Owned a G3 desktop in the past and while it was great, I like the styling of the mini tower a bit more

Also, the benefit of being able to put the monitor on top of the desktop has faded significantly as flat panels came along. So much wasted space on a desk surface.

I find it a bit amusing that to many "computer guys" now, a desktop means any computer that's not a laptop. Admittedly, I'm guilty of it myself.

Back in the day, there was certainly a clear difference between a desktop and tower. I can remember that-as a rule-towers often took more of an "enthusiast" approach since they were easier to work on and had more expansion options. You also had the mega towers that had half a dozen 5 1/4 expansion bays.

Granted, using a desktop on its side wasn't unheard of either. The IIc/IIci/Quadra 700 were all designed with this in mind. I had a 386 desktop that ran for a couple of years on its side like a desktop. The only real issue you could have was with CD-ROM drives(which of course weren't present on those Macs I mentioned, and my 386 had an external), but then a lot of makers were thoughtful enough to put "fingers" on the tray to hold the disk in place.

 

[Cory5412]

Added AIO to the poll. Unsure if it will let you change your vote, if you want to do so.
 
 
I like both enclosures, with the right RAM, the two systems (and to a lesser extent the AIO) have very similar expansion capabilities, so it was really a matter of what was more convenient. Although, Apple continued its tradition of (for no particularly good reason) making the fastest CPUs available only on the tower. I would love to see a desktop /333 or the totally kitted out config Apple sold of the tower /333 version set up as a desktop. (I just looked, it turns out that really only the /333 wasn't made available in desktop, but I have seen very very few /300 desktops.)
 
G3 CPUs make almost no heat. By today's standards, they are the types of CPUs that would get installed in computers that are literally fanless. Early models are said to have out a sweltering ten watts of heat, and the later model G3s put out about 6 watts, so it's not like there's an awful lot to cool, at least until you get to putting more/bigger/faster disks in and perhaps upgrading to the G4s.
 
I'm not totally sure I can say for sure that I like one more than the other(s). I have a 7300/200 for outrigger action, and I have a /300 or /333 minitower. Both are very nice.
 
 

I find it a bit amusing that to many "computer guys" now, a desktop means any computer that's not a laptop. Admittedly, I'm guilty of it myself.

 
Most modern towers are small and quiet enough to fit on top of a desk. It makes a certain amount of sense that people call even the least practical of modern towers "desktops" -- especially since what I've observed is many people who build enthusiast computers in various tower enclosures keep them atop their desks anyway. Similarly, I have a slim business desktop at home that I cram under my desk, so it makes sense that we've just adopted the one term "desktop" to describe stationary computers.

 

[bunnspecial]

I will not install a G4 in a desktop-the minitowers and AIOs are just plain easier to cool.

Granted my best one is a minitower with a 1ghz Sonnet. It's a monster of a processor card that actually has two fans on the heatsink and requires external power. It makes the computer fly, though.

I have a 500mhz Sonnet G4 in my AIO, and it's a lot more mild mannered but still puts off enough heat that I felt better with an extra fan blowing across it.