Calling all eMac owners...

[18thTomorrow]

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for information on the latest eMac models, but haven't been able to find any good threads or reviews. I have a friend who's thinking about getting one (a windows convert! haha) and she has a couple specific questions re: the graphics card. Previous threads have said it's sort of wimpy--is that true for the updated machine? What exactly is the card in the updated machine? I couldn't find the info on the website and I would like to research it a little bit for her. She's not into gaming or graphics work or anything; however, being a college student she does want to be able to watch DVDs on it without nasty skipping or anything. How does it do in that area?
Thanks for the help!

[Miner Willy]

I've got the 1.25ghz eMac with Super drive and it's great. Stuck 1 gig of RAM in it and it really rocks. Yeah it's not a G5 but at the moment it's got a much faster DVD-R(W) drive in it.

Works great for graphics stuff except 3D, no probs with video editing or anything like that, could be a bit snappier for DVD authoring but if you do that much of it you should buy a dual G5.

If you are skint and want a mac buy one of these little puppies.

I love my emac

Forgot! You should be able to watch DVD's all day, but of course your friend will be using it mostly for studying

[sockeatingdryer]

Yes, do what he said and get one.
I just ordered a SuperDrive one last Friday and put Bluetooth, 512M RAM (should have done 1G, but can do that later) I'm a high school student, and it's perfect for my needs. Great for watching DVDs, I'm sure.

[evil]

i have a 1ghz model and i think they upgraded the graphics chip in the newest ones..but i just want to say that the emac is a monster for the price. many people...not only emac owners say that it is the cheapest mac per power or something.
regardless ...unless you are creating professional movies or want to play the most hardcore graphics intensive games you will be very happy.
i have done many things with mine . including using final cut asnd palying new games such as call of duty and sim city 4 and its good stuff.
i recommend. it is a great computer for the price.

[crowdaddy]

How does it handle Call of Duty and the other games you have used on it?

[LANcaster]

The graphics chipset in the latest eMac models is an ATi Radeon 9200 (32 MB version) more eMac graphics related info is available here - http://www.apple.com/emac/graphics.html .
I would imagine the new models would run Call of Duty fairly well as long as you don't set the graphic options too high and I'm pretty sure it'll handle DVDs without any trouble .

[unfaded]

It runs games fairly well, just not very pretty. Turn down your stats and you'll be fine, that's what I do.

[Fender2112]

I got 1 GHz eMac last September for me wife and kids to play around with. I upgraded the RAM to 1 MB. It has the Combo drive. Which is fine for what we use it for - internet, kids games, burning CD's.

They only problem I have is my wife has become obsessed with blogging.

[Tommy!]

There is absolutely zero problem with using the eMac for your friends' needs or anyone's needs really. eMacs are used all the time at school in combination with G4s and G5s for video and audio editing. My mom uses hers for email, etc., and I have used it for games. It plays Tony Hawk 4, a pretty recent game, with no problems at all. It plays DVDs like a champ--Apple wouldn't sell a computer with a DVD drive that couldn't play DVDs out of the box, your friend will understand that after owning it for a while . eMacs are essentially bulbous imacs for a crapload less money. Upgrade the RAM though

[nyprospect]

How does the emac compare to a crt 17 monitor .Im sure its heavier but im trying to decide wether to replace my desktop pc p4 3.0 ghz or just stick to my pc

[kainjow]

eMacs are great machines. I paid around $750 (edu discount) for mine and later upgraded memory to 640MB and it works very smoothly. It works very well for almost anything except graphic intensive stuff (games must be set at lower settings to work smoothly). But it's a great value, and would recommend it to anyone who's wanting a Mac. Just make sure you buy some good speakers for it (perfect match)

[paulypants]

I've installed an eMac Lab and the machines really impressed me (and they are the last model)

for the price they are a steal, and they have a standalone graphics card--many PC's at that price range have built-in graphics

def worth every penny

good luck,
-pants

[Miner Willy]

Yeah we all know that the Radeon 9200 card isn't the fastest out there but I've been playing Call of Duty on my eMac (1.25ghz with 1gig RAM) with any problems. The only thing I had to do was set the resolution to 800x600 and I was away. That's something you can't do with an LCD iMac without it looking all fuzzy..

[Anna]

another good thing...at least no one will steal it.... no handles... and weighs in at something ridiculous. No mac is as good as the G5, but any mac is better than no mac.

[kuyu]

I've had my eMac (700 Mhz G4) for a year and a half, and I love it. Mine plays DVD's perfectly, and games look good. Expose gets a bit choppy with >15 windows open.

I've played AOE2, Warcraft III, and Jedi Outcast with no problems. In fact, Outcast and Warcraft looked the same or better on my mac than my roommates 128 Mb Nvidia card!

My only complaint is the weight, ~50 lbs., which sucks if you have to move it. Also, make sure she gets the biggest HD. I cheaped out on that and seriously regret it.

I wish they would put a 64 MB card in one, but it's still a sweet mac. In fact, I'm going to buy another one in August, even though I have the cash for a G5. It's plenty powerful and will last for years. Plus, EDU applecare on one is only $119!!! Can't beat that.