New PowerMac ugly?

[edesignuk]

IMHO the old QS case design looked much nicer than the new one, what do you think?

[clubsport]

I have to say yes, it is ugly. There is a resounding majority in the Mac community that agree with us, but what are you going to do? They're still fast (very!), and they don't look as bad as a PC! Thank God for that!

[iGav]

I wasn't much of a fan of the old Quicksilver case.... I preferred the original Graphite one......

The redesign for the latest model certainly seems to be for more functional reasons than just aesthetic eye candy.....

I'll need to see one in the flesh to really judge though....... the frontal vents though look kinda mean...... but the vents at the back are totally mental....... :p

[jelloshotsrule]

definitely ugly

the back is a beast too.... ahh well

[dnte42]

Very unattractive. Just put a paper bag over it and you're good :D

[Mr. Anderson]

eh, not much exciting going on with the new case - nice to see the rumors were correct, which is good for rumors in general. But there was a part of me hoping the pics were fake or of a prototype, not the real one.

Oh well, lets see what happens on the next models released in 4-6 months......

D

[mymemory]

I didn't like the old Quick Silver enclosure, the enclosure before that one is nicer. The Quick Silver enclosure was too cold for me.

The actual enclosure looks nicer, it is a matter of getting use to it. It is something you will spect to see in a japanese cartoon (anime) or something like that.

The non sense is the dual optical drive. I would like to be able to place a zip drive or a removable drive!!! that would be good. A 120GB drive that I can take every where with a fire wire conector.

[iGav]

Originally posted by dukestreet
eh, not much exciting going on with the new case - nice to see the rumors were correct, which is good for rumors in general. But there was a part of me hoping the pics were fake or of a prototype, not the real one.

Oh well, lets see what happens on the next models released in 4-6 months......

D

the top of the line ones don't ship for maybe 2 months....... makes you wonder when we'll actually see another revision, it could be quite a way into next year..... certainly not MWSF if we go by current offerings.......

[iGav]

Originally posted by dnte42
Very unattractive. Just put a paper bag over it and you're good :D

What with those air intakes...... :p :p :p

[jelloshotsrule]

Originally posted by dukestreet
Oh well, lets see what happens on the next models released in 4-6 months......


not only what igav said (who knows when new ones will be released....) but it sucks that after every upgrade most people are saying, well, we'll see what comes next.

at some point, the goods need to be delivered.... and it will take a new chip i think because from a business standpoint they won't just take the old chips and boost em much much faster in one jump... i mean, if one day you can get a 800 for 1699 and the next day you can get a 1.2 ghz or 1.2 ghz dual for that price (according to the speculation, not the reality)... then people would complain like hell, even more than the guy who got his computer in feb and is complaining.....

so i guess the key is the power4..... i guess

[dnte42]

Originally posted by iGAV


What with those air intakes...... :p :p :p

Didn't you hear? In lieu of G5's Apple got Motorola to make G4's that supply their own air, and Apple just put holes in the enclosure to save on material costs...:rolleyes:

[Moxiemike]

The Quicksilver was way more elegant.

This looks a bit like they took the older drive harness from the graphites mad eit match the xserve, took the front fromt the quicksilver which was supposed to match the tibook--- really damned hodgepodged.

IMHO

[iGav]

Originally posted by jelloshotsrule


not only what igav said (who knows when new ones will be released....) but it sucks that after every upgrade most people are saying, well, we'll see what comes next.

at some point, the goods need to be delivered.... and it will take a new chip i think because from a business standpoint they won't just take the old chips and boost em much much faster in one jump... i mean, if one day you can get a 800 for 1699 and the next day you can get a 1.2 ghz or 1.2 ghz dual for that price (according to the speculation, not the reality)... then people would complain like hell, even more than the guy who got his computer in feb and is complaining.....

so i guess the key is the power4..... i guess

The 1Ghz and more so the 1.25Ghz look like they're going to be stormers..... ;) :)

Unfortunately whatever Apple release there's going to be a certain subset of people that don't like it..... or believed the unsubstantiated rumours doing the rounds...... This latest revision looks like been a top notch machine though.......

Either way though... what's currently available doesn't really affect me, cos I'm not buying until early next year.....

Can't wait to see the bench marks for the 1.25ghz one though...... ;) :)

[edesignuk]

Good, then it's not just me then that thought it was ugly :D
But who really cares, it's the inside we care about, and that DP 1.25Ghz looks VERY nice!

[edesignuk]

Quick comparison...

[dnte42]

That was the nice thing about the Quicksilver, everything in the front looked like it belonged there. Blended nicely, etc. With the new ones, that faceplate just comes out of nowhere...why make it chrome? Why? Chrome on the iPod was a mistake as well, but thats a whole other can of worms.

[Geert]

I find the case rather nice.
It shows that we're dealing with a beast here.

[dnte42]

The case does have a rather aggresive look to it, which is probably why I don't like it. Apple hasn't really been so bold with any of their recent designs and it will just take time to get used to.

[jelloshotsrule]

Originally posted by iGAV
Either way though... what's currently available doesn't really affect me, cos I'm not buying until early next year.....

Can't wait to see the bench marks for the 1.25ghz one though...... ;) :)

of course it affects you... the better this line is, the better the next will be...

had this line been up to 1.6 ghz. then the next would have to be 1.8+... or some new chip

so unless the next one's a new chip (hopefully) then this line greatly influences the next....... eh?

if they gave us fw 2 on this one, then we'd defly have it on the next one. but since it's not here now, we might not get it next revision. etc etc.

see???? :D

and yeah, the optical drives just look out of place... oh well

[eyelikeart]

I don't know if I like the 4 holes in front...kinda odd...

and the front panel is very industrial looking...

it's definitely not as graceful looking as the previous version...

but whatever...it's got DDR...dual processors....

now if they just dump Motorola and go with a capable chip manufacturer... ;)

[iGav]

Originally posted by jelloshotsrule

of course it affects you... the better this line is, the better the next will be...


Not necessarily........ assumption is the mother of all f*@k-ups....... :p

I know what you're getting at...... but at this point..... whatever the spec of the current machine is, does not affect me at this time........ we don't know for sure what future incarnations of the Power Mac range hold for us, neither do we know the specs..... So ultimately the next generation may/or may not have any influence from the current range......

No one knows........ :D

[job]

Originally posted by verbose101
Quick comparison...

The new one actually does not seem that bad....

I'd have to see it in person, but then again I'm not going to buy it for looks.

The new dual-1Ghz is looking really good right now....although I can't decide whether or not it is better to have a faster bus or a larger L3 cache...

[mnkeybsness]

the new case almost looks like some peecee guy came by and added a few "mods" to it....reminds me of a custom-built wintel CRAP.....i'm just happy i've got the quicksilver

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by clubsport
I have to say yes, it is ugly. There is a resounding majority in the Mac community that agree with us, but what are you going to do? They're still fast (very!), and they don't look as bad as a PC! Thank God for that!

so ugly, yes, but the stats bring us closer to the athlon XP and pentium 4...perhaps the benchmarks will have us exceed the pc world

either way, no one can say the pcs are WAY faster than the powermacs

if the first processor runs at 1.25 ghz and the second one almost as fast (duals never double speed 100% in benchmarks), it is safe to say we can match any 2 ghz pc machine...but i will wait for the benchmarks

the basic dual 867 still seems the best dollar for dollar deal but i know many of the macrumors crowd does not have that budget issue like me so i know i will no doubt be seeing g4-dual 1.25 ghz in some of the member's signatures...:p

[Chomolungma]

I think everything looks fine except for the optical drives. The design looks PC i.e. it looks like it was slap together with no thought. Gives the appearance of the off the shelf component. How about slot loading CD/DVD bay like the TiPowerBook?

[job]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
the basic dual 867 still seems the best dollar for dollar deal but i know many of the macrumors crowd does not have that budget issue like me so i know i will no doubt be seeing g4-dual 1.25 ghz in some of the member's signatures...:p

Hmmmm...


• Power Mac G4 Dual 867MHz w/133MHz system bus
• 256MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM - 1 DIMM
• 80GB Ultra ATA drive
• Optical 1 - Combo Drive (DVD/CD-RW)
• Optical 2 - None
• ATI Radeon 9000 Pro dual-display w/64MB DDR
• Apple Pro Keyboard - U.S. English
• Mac OS - U.S. English

$1,820.00

---------

• Power Mac G4 Dual 1GHz w/167MHz system bus
• 256MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM - 1 DIMM
• 80GB Ultra ATA drive
• Optical 1 - Combo Drive (DVD/CD-RW)
• Optical 2 - None
• ATI Radeon 9000 Pro dual-display w/64MB DDR
• Apple Pro Keyboard - U.S. English
• Mac OS - U.S. English

$2,270.00

Surely a 133Mhz increase and a slightly faster bus is not worth $450!

I could get an iPod with the difference! :eek:

(I copied this from a previous post of mine in the New Discussion Forums)

[sneed]

Originally posted by verbose101
Quick comparison...

I think both are pretty ugly compared to the graphite. If I buy a new one, I'll probably mod it.

[bousozoku]

i have a b&w and a quicksilver that are my main machines.

This new machine looks like it should have those little LEDs that I see on some of the cars around Orlando with a huge, round exhaust pipe, and maybe a racing stripe.

[ShaolinMiddleFinger]

I like the new design.

I read in one of the other threads that it's there so there's more air flowing in allowing the fan to be more quiet.

The guts are what's important anyway.

You can still put it side by side to a PC and the Mac will still look better. Some people just need to get used to it. I had to get used to the new iMac....

[Megaquad]

I love te new PowerMacs and everything,but something bothers me..
Those 2 optical drive plates,do they go down when you insert/eject cd's or you remove them when placing optical drive? that would mean one thingie is down when you get PowerMac?:confused:

[Mr. Anderson]

I've been thinking more about the new design and come to the conclusion that its sort of like a child going through puberty - they're having an awkward phase - the machine hasn't grown into its own yet.

Its showing signs of new things (especially the chrome for the optical drive) but it just doesn't fit right to me.

So hopefully in another iteration or two the design will mature enough and be something a little more worthy of Apple.

D

[bousozoku]

Originally posted by dukestreet
I've been thinking more about the new design and come to the conclusion that its sort of like a child going through puberty - they're having an awkward phase - the machine hasn't grown into its own yet.

Its showing signs of new things (especially the chrome for the optical drive) but it just doesn't fit right to me.

So hopefully in another iteration or two the design will mature enough and be something a little more worthy of Apple.

D

Yeah, it's having a breakout on the backside. :D

[graydecember]

...covered in silver iDucttape. Especially the four front holes, which I think I there so that pc slobs who wish to switch will know where to put their booger-y fingers.

This design somewhat reminds me of the shi**y 'book shelf' stereo systems which look like robots- some kind of fancy 'thing'/facets installed meant to entertain the brutes. I wonder if apple will soon put an LCD disco floor EQ readout on the front soon?

(Sorry to be such a troll)

Quicksilver is beautiful. And I respectfully disagree with the comment that Chrome was a mistake on the iPod- I think Chrome is a material of such integrity that it looks good, even when scratched and worn (like wood or copper, even steel). When any kind of plastic is worn, it's garbage. When we have electronics which are capable of Wabi-sabi, then they will truly be worth something, rather than being what they are now (hand me downs, at best, that end up in the landfill)

[dnte42]

To clarify a bit, when I said that chrome on the iPod was a mistake, I just meant that something that gets handled so much gets a lot of fingerprints, every single one of which is very visible. Then they get smudged and so on. It looks great when it is new, but as soon as you touch it it needs a cleaning. Oh well, I still would have gotten it if it were pink and fuzzy (and no, that doesn't appeal to me in the least :p).

[SilvorX]

i was a lil upset bout the specs (too expensive n not high enough specs) but they finally brought in ddr ram...
im hoping of getting one soon but i doubt i will :(

[dwishbone]

ever heard the expression "It's so ugly it's cute?" or "A face only a mother could love"?

Those both fit the new G4 perfectly. It is not as sharp looking as the Quicksilver and Graphite cases, but it does have some strong points in its design.

I agree with the puberty analogy. The B&W was its birth, the Graphite was its first steps, the Quicksilver was its few years was its 8-12 year old period.
The new case is definately an early teenager period as it starts to make changes.

As going back to its new look, you all say you hate it...but if you has one of these bad boys on your desk you would all be worshipping and drooling over it.

[djniche]

I'm sitting im front of a G3 and I have to say that the new design is much better. The quicksilver takes the price for sure but I think that apple will have a new radical design with the next refresh of the powermacs. It would make sense for the G5 to have a whole new look.

[jefhatfield]

they purposely made this last mod of a g4 ugly, so that when g5 comes out, we will praise it...he he

compared to most pcs, this is still a better design

i admit, the quicksilver is the best tower design and they should have just kept that design

[job]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
they purposely made this last mod of a g4 ugly, so that when g5 comes out, we will praise it...he he


Let's hope it's the last G4 revision..

Pray for the next gen chip..........

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by hitman


Let's hope it's the last G4 revision..

Pray for the next gen chip..........

i will start praying now;)

[job]

Originally posted by jefhatfield

i will start praying now;)

Me too. :D

[wheeliejack]

uhhh, i like it.

hehehe, i remember when the QS Models came out. alot of people actually hated it. and when they got it, they fell in love.

and i like DDR too.

wj.

[tjwett]

butt ugly. looks like 6 different people slapped it together. booo.