Is this a good buy for an iMac?

Question

I'm wanting to buy a used iMac for my 15 yr. old.  She is very involved in the arts/drawing, etc. and will probably be going to an art school instead of an university.  Here is one I have found and I wanted some opinions on if this sounds like a good deal.  She would just be using it at home to get used to a Mac since she hasn't used one before, and this has Photoshop on it as well which I like getting way cheaper than buying new!  Thanks- Here's the description posted:

Selling this used G5 loaded with tons of great software

Specs:
Speed 1.8 Ghz
Memory 768 MB

What this machine has:
Latest version of Apple OS, Leopard 10.5.6 (see pic, will include disk if wanted)
Microsoft Office Suite ($150 value)
Fetch FTP client ($29 value)
Stuffit Expander ($80 value)
Upgraded to latest version of ilife, “iLife 09”
Free trial version of “iWork”
Adobe CS3 Photoshop (worth A LOT)

Open source apps on machine:
Transmission (torrent downloader)
Adium (Instant Messenger client)
Handbrake (media converter)
VLC (all in one media player)

This is a great computer, I used it primarily for all things media but once I got office installed I used it more for work purposes.
It is used so a few dings here and there, the apple keyboard and apple mouse are "ok" (I actually use a dell mouse with it)
This is a PPC processor and not an Intel.

Cody M · Accepted Answer

Well it would depend on the cost really on whether its a good buy or not. As a graphic designer, macs are widely used in the art fields and she needs to know how to use them.

G5 macs are the white plastic models and are usually anywhere from 5 to 2 years old for a G5 imac. That model is good from how it sounds. microsoft office and photoshop are good, adium is free for any mac, but is great. the new ilife is not bad either. here are the questions i would ask and things i should point out:

-its a powerpc, this means that leopard is the last mac operating system it will run. apples next operating sytem, snow leopard, due out this year, will not run on powerpc, only intels. if your daughter needs to update her OS she will be out of luck. Mac os doesnt change a lot in appearance, but it does add new features. will she need them? apple wont just drop support the day snow leopard is out, and the mac will still run, but it will only get security updates

- iwork trial is 30 days, and is on every mac. its the same as microsoft office, only cheaper and made by apple. if it has office on there just use that

-photoshop is good at editing photos and some drawing, but other adobe programs do differnt things. what kind of ar does she want to do? animation? adobe flash. web page designer? adobe dreamwaver. drawer? adobe illustrator.  print production? adobe indesign. she might get by with just photoshop for a while, but if she really wants a full skill set she will need more than photoshop.(it is super expensive though)

-torrents arent really a good thing, mostly for downloading pirated software. id take it off if i got it

-do you or anyone you know know how to use a mac? if you cant figure out how to use something or find something on the computer do you have a mac guy? they arent hard to use with experience, but someone unfamiliar with them might have a hard time with them. i would suggest reading david pogue's mac osx guide for leopard if you dont know a person familiar with macs ( http://www.amazon.com/Mac-OS-Leopard-Missing-Manual/dp/059652952X  )

it doesnt seem bad. for just getting used to a mac its good it seems, but she may need a more modern mac for college

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Is this a good buy for an iMac?

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