[ElDiabloConCaca]

Your 500MHz PowerBook is still very usable by today's standards -- I work solely on a 500MHz G4 machine with a 100MHz bus and it suits me well for heavy design work. Still, I understand that some people will not put up with the amount of progress-bar waiting that I do, so your point is very valid...

With that being said, I do not think you'll be setting yourself up for obsolecense with a G5-based Macintosh. They'll still be fully supported for the next 4 or 5 years at least, and probably beyond that. They're quite nice processors, too. Saying that purchasing a G5-based Macintosh is setting yourself up for obsolecense is like saying that purchasing a 2005-model car instead of a brand-spankin' new 2006 model car is setting yourself up for obsolecense: it's simply not true. I don't know why SubaruWRX said that. Universal Binary applications (applications that run natively on PPC or Intel processors) will be available -- in fact, you'd be stranding yourself MORESO, at least for a while, if you went with the Intel iMac, since not all software currently runs (or runs all that great) on the Intel-based Macintoshes. In addition, your Final Cut Pro will not run at all on the Intel-based machines, and requires a $50 cross-grade from Apple to get it running on the Intel processor.

What are you more concerned with -- raw performance and bragging rights, or a big screen and a great computer even if it's not bleeding-edge new? If the former, go with the 17" Intel iMac. If the latter, 20" G5 iMac.

I would get the 20" G5-based iMac if I were in your situation, but then again, I use computers until they just won't run anymore. Your level of proficiency and ability to be productive is not based upon how fast the processor is inside your computer. A 500 GHz processor will not increase your artistic ability, nor will it make you type any faster or cut video any better.

Just my few cents worth...