joker2
Nov 23, 2003, 10:50 AM
From
Washington Post's PC Buyer's Guide (http://www.washingtonpost.com/) (you'll have to scroll down to the bottom of the first section, I was not able to get a direct link)
a review of the 15" iMac.
Apple iMac
Price: $1,299
Display: 15-inch LCD (1024 by 768 pixels) built in.
Processor and memory: 1 GHz Motorola PowerPC G4 processor, 256 MB memory,
32MB Nvidia GeForce4 MX graphics accelerator.
Storage: 74.5 GB hard drive, 32x/10x/32x CD-RW/8x DVD-ROM combo drive.
Communication: 100-Mbps Ethernet, 56-kbps v.92 modem.
Expansion: Two six-pin FireWire ports, two USB 2.0 ports and one USB 1.1
port available. One video-out port requires adapter to connect to VGA
monitors or televisions.
Support: One-year warranty. 90 days of 9 a.m.-9 p.m., toll-free phone
support; $49-per-issue charge afterward.
Review: The iMac is tough to dismiss as "just another computer." Its 15-inch flat-panel
screen floats on an elegant chrome neck above a matte-white
hemisphere, within which hides the CPU -- a configuration that needs about a
fourth the space of my boxy, beige PC and CRT monitor.
Setup took seven minutes out of the box, without the manual ever being
opened. After I found a spare Ethernet cable (why not include one in the box
with the modem cord?), the iMac automatically, effortlessly, miraculously
networked itself to both the Macs and PCs in the home. Note that a firewall
is included but not enabled by default.
The unit was virtually noiseless. Its LCD looked a tad grainier than a CRT,
but only serious photo tweakers could be bothered by this. Apple's nifty,
bubble-shaped speakers delivered surprisingly rich bass.
Two full-size FireWire ports, plus the two USB 2.0 ports on the back and one
USB 1.1 port on the keyboard left over after connecting mouse and keyboard,
provide plenty of access for peripherals. Although some reaching around is
required (even for the headphone jack!), there's no need to get under the
desk to play pin the peripheral on the donkey.
The only internal expansion allowed is extra memory and an AirPort Extreme
WiFi card.
Throughout, this model lived up to Apple's ease-of-use pitch. It was eerie:
Everything just worked, an experience that has eluded me in several years of
reviewing desktop PCs.
The only real irritation in day-to-day use was the AppleWorks 6 word
processor, which garbled many Microsoft Word files. A bundled 30-day trial
version of Microsoft's Office v.X for Mac, meanwhile, can't print and
hassles you to buy the real thing -- $150 at the "Student and Teacher
Edition" discount, $400 otherwise.
Phone support, available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, barely exceeds banking
hours, and hold time averaged 16 minutes. The reps, however, were friendly
and competent, if eager to hawk AppleCare extended warranties.
Cost-conscious buyers should note that an Apple eMac with the DVD-RW
"SuperDrive" that this iMac omits will cost $200 less, even if it is bulkier
and boxier. The few all-in-one PCs are also cheaper, if uglier and thornier
to use. As Ikea furniture shows, style and affordability need not be
mutually exclusive; Apple should take note at some point.
-- Bob Massey
Washington Post's PC Buyer's Guide (http://www.washingtonpost.com/) (you'll have to scroll down to the bottom of the first section, I was not able to get a direct link)
a review of the 15" iMac.
Apple iMac
Price: $1,299
Display: 15-inch LCD (1024 by 768 pixels) built in.
Processor and memory: 1 GHz Motorola PowerPC G4 processor, 256 MB memory,
32MB Nvidia GeForce4 MX graphics accelerator.
Storage: 74.5 GB hard drive, 32x/10x/32x CD-RW/8x DVD-ROM combo drive.
Communication: 100-Mbps Ethernet, 56-kbps v.92 modem.
Expansion: Two six-pin FireWire ports, two USB 2.0 ports and one USB 1.1
port available. One video-out port requires adapter to connect to VGA
monitors or televisions.
Support: One-year warranty. 90 days of 9 a.m.-9 p.m., toll-free phone
support; $49-per-issue charge afterward.
Review: The iMac is tough to dismiss as "just another computer." Its 15-inch flat-panel
screen floats on an elegant chrome neck above a matte-white
hemisphere, within which hides the CPU -- a configuration that needs about a
fourth the space of my boxy, beige PC and CRT monitor.
Setup took seven minutes out of the box, without the manual ever being
opened. After I found a spare Ethernet cable (why not include one in the box
with the modem cord?), the iMac automatically, effortlessly, miraculously
networked itself to both the Macs and PCs in the home. Note that a firewall
is included but not enabled by default.
The unit was virtually noiseless. Its LCD looked a tad grainier than a CRT,
but only serious photo tweakers could be bothered by this. Apple's nifty,
bubble-shaped speakers delivered surprisingly rich bass.
Two full-size FireWire ports, plus the two USB 2.0 ports on the back and one
USB 1.1 port on the keyboard left over after connecting mouse and keyboard,
provide plenty of access for peripherals. Although some reaching around is
required (even for the headphone jack!), there's no need to get under the
desk to play pin the peripheral on the donkey.
The only internal expansion allowed is extra memory and an AirPort Extreme
WiFi card.
Throughout, this model lived up to Apple's ease-of-use pitch. It was eerie:
Everything just worked, an experience that has eluded me in several years of
reviewing desktop PCs.
The only real irritation in day-to-day use was the AppleWorks 6 word
processor, which garbled many Microsoft Word files. A bundled 30-day trial
version of Microsoft's Office v.X for Mac, meanwhile, can't print and
hassles you to buy the real thing -- $150 at the "Student and Teacher
Edition" discount, $400 otherwise.
Phone support, available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, barely exceeds banking
hours, and hold time averaged 16 minutes. The reps, however, were friendly
and competent, if eager to hawk AppleCare extended warranties.
Cost-conscious buyers should note that an Apple eMac with the DVD-RW
"SuperDrive" that this iMac omits will cost $200 less, even if it is bulkier
and boxier. The few all-in-one PCs are also cheaper, if uglier and thornier
to use. As Ikea furniture shows, style and affordability need not be
mutually exclusive; Apple should take note at some point.
-- Bob Massey
