Speed and Elegance in a Desktop Package: iMac G5 Review

[MacBytes]

Category: Apple Hardware
Link: Speed and Elegance in a Desktop Package: iMac G5 Review (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20040919131620)
Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)

Approved by Mudbug

[macridah]

damn it ... i would like to read that article, but I don't want to register just to read another good article about the iMac ... I already know it's awesome.

[edesignuk]

Standard post requesting someone that is registered with washingtonpost.com posts the article here for the rest of us, many thanks :D

[iMeowbot]

Speed and Elegance in a Desktop Package


By Rob Pegoraro
The Washington Post
Sunday, September 19, 2004; Page F06

With the iMac G5, Apple has pared the desktop computer down to little more than the parts that people look at and touch -- keyboard, screen and mouse.

Where the now-discontinued iMac G4 consisted of an LCD attached by a metal arm to a hemispherical base, the new iMac is all screen. Every internal component, from the DVD drive to the power adapter, has been fitted into the back of the display, which pivots slightly atop a "foot" made from a single slab of aluminum.

Unlike all-in-one PCs from Gateway and Sony that also combine screen and computer in one housing, the iMac G5 doesn't look like a hunchbacked monitor: It's only about two inches thick. The power button and two FireWire and three USB 2.0 ports reside on the back, leaving a front that consists of just the LCD and a chinlike expanse of white plastic below it that hides the power adapter and speakers.

This machine looks as different from the iMac G4 as that model did from the original, bulbous iMac G3. But it shares its ancestors' design goal -- to be a desktop that takes up as little desk as possible. The iMac G5 has the smallest footprint of any Mac, or, for that matter, any desktop I've ever come across. With the $99 option of a kit that adds a Bluetooth wireless receiver and a wireless keyboard and mouse, it doesn't even dirty the desk with extra wires. Any smaller, it would be a laptop.

But unlike any laptop Apple makes, the new iMac runs on the same G5 line of processors as its Power Mac and Xserve machines while costing a lot less, from $1,299 to $1,899 before any options.

That's an appealing pitch for computer users who don't want a hulking tower-case desktop invading their personal space, but who also don't want to sacrifice the comfort of a bigger screen, full-size keyboard and separate mouse. After testing a mid-range iMac G5 last week, I think Apple has delivered on that promise -- with one glaring exception.

That's the default allocation of memory, just 256 megabytes in each of three standard configurations ($1,299 for a 17-inch display, 1.6-GHz G5 processor, 80-gigabyte hard drive and DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive; $1,499 for a 17-inch display, 1.8-GHz G5, 80-GB hard drive, DVD-RW/CD-RW drive; $1,899 for a 20-inch display, 1.8-GHz G5, 160-GB hard drive, DVD-RW/CD-RW drive).

The 17-inch, 1.8-GHz model I used came with 512 megabytes onboard, but when I removed one memory module to see how it ran with a normal allocation, the results were just this side of miserable anytime I had more than a few programs running. Songs in iTunes stuttered if I manipulated an image in iPhoto at the same time, Microsoft Word 2004 took a painfully long time to launch, and switching between programs sometimes entailed lengthy pauses.

Combining a high-powered G5 processor with only 256 megabytes of memory is cruel and unusual computing. Apple should bump the minimum up to 512.

The DVD-RW SuperDrive that came in the tested model, with CD- and DVD-write speeds well behind those of DVD+RW drives in other desktops, constituted another brake on the iMac's performance.

In daily use, the G5's extra speed wasn't even that easy to notice sometimes. As a whole, the computer felt distinctly snappy compared with a two-year-old iMac G4. But when I timed basic iPhototasks, the G5 took only a few seconds less than the G4 did. The benefit's bigger with processor-intensive chores such as video editing.

Apple assembled a fairly crafty system to keep this processor from overheating. The iMac's three cooling fans are whisper-quiet when the machine is at rest, but as you put the processor to work, they will rev up, then gently decelerate when computing activity abates.

This noise doesn't get bothersome until you start to max out the processor, at which point a sustained whine emanates from the machine.

If you open the iMac's case -- just loosen three screws and slide off the back panel -- you can eyeball its layout of fans and cooling ducts, plus a novel advantage for an iMac: components you can replace yourself. Previous iMacs were packaged like appliances, with no user-serviceable parts beyond the memory and wireless-card slots. Here, the hard drive and other components can be replaced and, in some cases, upgraded at home.

The iMac G5 packs Apple's usual bundle of its thus-far virus-, spyware- and worm-free Mac OS X operating system; its outstanding iLife suite of music, photo and video software; and a mediocre set of productivity applications (AppleWorks is woefully antiquated, and Intuit's Quicken 2004 has already been replaced by Quicken 2005).

There's also one amazing extra, a setup utility that automatically moves your data, settings and even programs from any old Mac with a FireWire port and Mac OS X. Start up this program, connect your computers with a FireWire cable, reboot the old machine, confirm what files it will transfer, then sit back and watch. This data transfusion took about an hour -- not bad for a perfect transfer of everything I'd done over the past 2 1/2 years. The Windows world has nothing equivalent to this.

On the other hand, the Windows world offers many less costly desktops. Apple is overdue to offer a cheap, compact desktop without a built-in monitor; without that, it has no answer to the quite capable $500-and-less systems available.

For now, Apple has chosen to play in the higher end of the market, and it has done so with its usual style and elegance. It has thought seriously about how desktop computers can stay relevant in an increasingly laptop-centric market, and the result is one of the only desktop computers worth talking about.

Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro at rob@twp.com.

[blackfox]

<nevermind>

[JDOG_]

Geez this reads like an Apple press release.

[edesignuk]

Geez this reads like an Apple press release.
Not really, I can't see Apple slating themselves for being cheap skates and only giving you 256MB standard even in the top end.

[munkle]

What, no bitch about the graphics card?!! Can tell he doesn't frequent Macrumors! ;)

[Sharewaredemon]

What, no bitch about the graphics card?!! Can tell he doesn't frequent Macrumors! ;)

haha, well it can run motion

[LimeiBook86]

Thanks for posting the article, it was a good read. :)

Apple needs to boost the memory up to 512 and eventually make the next revision with a better graphics card, an ATI 9600 128mb would be good.

(Is that a real model? I get confused with numbers...)

[Vonnie]

On a entirely different note, if you are tired of registering to view a washingtonpost/nytimes/... article: check www.bugmenot.com, enter the url of the annoying register-first site, and get a login/pass. Very usefull site :-)

[Savage Henry]

Interesting read. Sure it points out the already worn argument of the woefully insufficient 256 ram, even for the top model, which I'm sure Apple will change, along with the graphics card, in the upgrade version 9 months from now. I'm not sure whether the DVD-RW drive will be upgraded though.

But I was also interested to read that the speed had not picked up considerably in his eyes.

[edesignuk]

On a entirely different note, if you are tired of registering to view a washingtonpost/nytimes/... article: check www.bugmenot.com, enter the url of the annoying register-first site, and get a login/pass. Very usefull site :-)
Great tip! And better yet, if you are using Firefox, Install this (http://extensions.roachfiend.com/bugmenot.xpi) BugMeNot extension :cool:

[Porchland]

Thanks for posting the article, it was a good read. :)

Apple needs to boost the memory up to 512 and eventually make the next revision with a better graphics card, an ATI 9600 128mb would be good.

(Is that a real model? I get confused with numbers...)

I think Apple purposefully gave themselves some room to move in the new iMac G5. I would expect that we'll see an Apple Store special after Christmas that adds an AirPort card "FREE!" and possibly BT, more RAM or a better graphics card.

With the AirPort add-on, Steve can stand up at a keynote and say, "The No. 1 thing people have told us about the new iMac is that they use it wirelessly. The form factor is too purfect to plug anything into it. So today, AirPort is standard." Blah, blah, et cetera.

[Abstract]

^^ Sometimes I think this as well, especially during the G4 PowerMac days when they knew that people expected an update ever 6-9 months, and yet they couldn't offer much of a speed increase because of Moto, so they held back on features in order to be able to offer upgrades if Moto couldn't come up with the goods. :o

[rogozhin]

From the article:

Apple is overdue to offer a cheap, compact desktop without a built-in monitor; without that, it has no answer to the quite capable $500-and-less systems available.

Why do some people continue to compare everything Apple does to a $500 POS system? If price is the only criteria that matters to you, then go ahead and waste your 500 bucks; if you want to USE your computer and enjoy doing so, you'll have to either build your own box or spend considerably more than that, no matter which computer company you decide to go with.

[Josh]

From the article:



Why do some people continue to compare everything Apple does to a $500 POS system? If price is the only criteria that matters to you, then go ahead and waste your 500 bucks; if you want to USE your computer and enjoy doing so, you'll have to either build your own box or spend considerably more than that, no matter which computer company you decide to go with.


The point is though, you can build a custom top-of-the-line AMD or pentium system, with a gig of ram, dvd burner and not only will it cost HALF that of the bottom-end power mac, but it will also out perform it.

Macs are ALOT more pricier than PC's - there is no way around that. Some people accept that fact and realize it will never change, and others attempt to rationalize it.

Don't get me wrong...I LOVE apple computers. But lets face it....Apple is NOT a threat to MS, and is not even competition (less than 5% market-share is not competition). If Apple wants to stand a chance (or even take over, as I believe they could) they need to chop their prices in half, at the very least.

But you know what? Thats never going to happen. Why? Because Apple computers are like cigarettes; people are going to continue buying them regardless of how much they cost. Macs are only expensive because they can be. Steve Jobs isnt a stupid man, he knows people will buy apples no matter what. Apple can get away with overcharging for things that do not warrant the high cost. A PC company cannot get away with that. If a pc company's prices are too high, people will just go elsewhere. You can't do that with Apple. You can only get them from Apple. Therefore, they will charge you whatever they feel like charging you and you can't do a thing about it. The price of Macs could unexplainably double, and no one would stop buying them, they would just create more rationalizations as to why it's "worth it".

[Chip NoVaMac]

The Wash Post is not always even handed.

Attached is a scan of the Wash Post Sunday Source.

A bit of a dig at Apple, that I thought for a fluff piece was a bit much....

[Sharewaredemon]

The point is though, you can build a custom top-of-the-line AMD or pentium system, with a gig of ram, dvd burner and not only will it cost HALF that of the bottom-end power mac, but it will also out perform it.

Macs are ALOT more pricier than PC's - there is no way around that. Some people accept that fact and realize it will never change, and others attempt to rationalize it.

Don't get me wrong...I LOVE apple computers. But lets face it....Apple is NOT a threat to MS, and is not even competition (less than 5% market-share is not competition). If Apple wants to stand a chance (or even take over, as I believe they could) they need to chop their prices in half, at the very least.

But you know what? Thats never going to happen. Why? Because Apple computers are like cigarettes; people are going to continue buying them regardless of how much they cost. Macs are only expensive because they can be. Steve Jobs isnt a stupid man, he knows people will buy apples no matter what. Apple can get away with overcharging for things that do not warrant the high cost. A PC company cannot get away with that. If a pc company's prices are too high, people will just go elsewhere. You can't do that with Apple. You can only get them from Apple. Therefore, they will charge you whatever they feel like charging you and you can't do a thing about it. The price of Macs could unexplainably double, and no one would stop buying them, they would just create more rationalizations as to why it's "worth it".

I'm sure someone can link this guy to the article someone did where they matched the prices accordingly and found macs not that much more expensive, and the power mac cheaper.

[applemacdude]

I will buy this imac once apple learns to put a ADEQUATE video chip in them.........