First Cube ... but

[maclamb]

We're replacing our pecees with macs and I just got a used cube.
I am so impressed!
The design, engineering, performance (OSX 10.5)
Very cool

One thing - I am using it with a Viewsonic P810 21" CRT and highest video mode is 8X6
Do I replace the video card to go to a higher resoultion? or is the monitor size the issue?

 

[maclamb]

fixed the video issue

If I turn off the "Show reccomended Modes" in the Display Panel I get all modes and all work and can choose what I want.

 

[King Cobra]

So you finally discovered the convience of a Cube? Quiet, compact, makes peecee users extremely jealous...

I know that feelin', buddy!

I just gotta ask, though...how did you get OSX 10.5 loaded on there?

Enjoy the Cube/CRT setup man. Even you said it yourself: Very Cool.

 

[maclamb]

came w/ a 10.1 CD - then loaded security update, then 10.1 installer then went right to 10.1.5 combo update.

I was going to give it to my girlfriend - but now I may keep it instead...

 

[madamimadam]

Originally posted by maclamb
came w/ a 10.1 CD - then loaded security update, then 10.1 installer then went right to 10.1.5 combo update.

I was going to give it to my girlfriend - but now I may keep it instead...

Yeah, so what about your upgrade to 10.5???

 

[mymemory]

I hate the cube, it looks nice but is so fragile and I have to flip it over all the time to plugs things, besides lots of visible cables every where. Not for me.

I used to have one totally naked (without the enclosure) laid on one of the sides, that way looks cooler

 

[AlphaTech]

I have to ask this mymemory, HOW is polycarbonate 'fragile'??? Before you start spewing moronic information consider this... Polycarbonate is used in a multitude of products that REQUIRE high strength plastics. Items like motorcycle windshields (can take highway rock hits with barely a scratch/nick) and illuminated signs (the kinds that can take hurricane force winds and laugh). When I worked at the sign shop in FL, we used polycarbonate in all signs that had to tolerate high wind conditions (pretty much all of FL exterior signs).

If I remember correctly, either 3/16" or 1/4" polycarbonate can withstand a hit from a .22. Now, I wouldn't go and shoot at a cube or other Mac with that for a shell, but polycarbonate is NOT fragile. Sadly, the same cannot be said for your mind.

 

[menoinjun]

holy crap alpha!

Well, I personally love the cube, and hope to get one eventually. Alas, right now funds are saying NO!!

Maybe after I get a REAL job.

-Pete

 

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by ptrauber
holy crap alpha!

What was your favorite part???

 

[maclamb]

10.1.5 not 10.5

apologies - I mistyped. - My cube is at 10.1.5
Do have 10.2 on order.

I *DO* wonder what 10.5 will bring and when we will see it....maybe 2005?

 

[ftaok]

c'mon alpha ...

Originally posted by AlphaTech
I have to ask this mymemory, HOW is polycarbonate 'fragile'??? Before you start spewing moronic information consider this... Polycarbonate is used in a multitude of products that REQUIRE high strength plastics. Items like motorcycle windshields (can take highway rock hits with barely a scratch/nick) and illuminated signs (the kinds that can take hurricane force winds and laugh). When I worked at the sign shop in FL, we used polycarbonate in all signs that had to tolerate high wind conditions (pretty much all of FL exterior signs).

If I remember correctly, either 3/16" or 1/4" polycarbonate can withstand a hit from a .22. Now, I wouldn't go and shoot at a cube or other Mac with that for a shell, but polycarbonate is NOT fragile. Sadly, the same cannot be said for your mind.

Give the guy a break. I'm quite certain that he meant that the outer shell is easily scratched. The context that he used to refer the the fragility of the cube was that he had to keep turning it upside down (and such) to plug stuff in. Thus leaving it susceptible to scratches and nicks.

If you look a little, you'll see that mymemory is from Venezuela. English is probably not his first language.

Cut people a break sometimes. Oldies, sheesh!

 

[mcrain]

Oh, I think Alpha was right on this time.

Since we are on the subject of cubes, I have a quick question for someone like Alpha (tech savvy).

Q. There was some recent discussion that some of the chip upgrades being offered (upgrading a G4 400 to a G4877 or whatever) might be usable in a cube. Does anyone know or has anyone confirmed that these upgrades can or can not be installed in a cube?

Thanks.

 

[AlphaTech]

mcrain, the Sonnet upgrades (800MHz and 1GHz) will work within a cube. You need to get a kit that runs all of $20-$30 and you are there. I put it in the other thread, just go to Sonnet's web site and take a look.

 

[dubbelhund]

upgrading cube processor

Yes! If anybody knows anything about upgrading the cube processor, I 'd be thrilled. Overall I am happy with mine and I strongly disagree with Apple that it was a mistake to introduce the cube. Although it is not perfect - I have had my share of problems and I definetly think it deserves to be improved upon. Here's another stupid question. Does anybody know if it is possible to run the X-server at home as your everyday desktop computer, Is there any disadvantages to that?

Q. There was some recent discussion that some of the chip upgrades being offered (upgrading a G4 400 to a G4877 or whatever) might be usable in a cube. Does anyone know or has anyone confirmed that these upgrades can or can not be installed in a cube?

 

[dubbelhund]

cube processor upgrade

thanks! I checked out the site. So, the installation kit is $ 30 but the actual processor is $ 499 ($ 699) right? Also does anybody know if there would be any significant difference jumping up from a 500 MHz chip to an 800MHz - isn't it the bus speed that really matters? any opinions on this?

 

[kiwi_the_iwik]

If you liked the idea of a Sonnet upgrade, then you'll love...


...Powerlogix's 1 GIGAHERTZ UPGRADE FOR THE CUBE!!!!

It's a comparable price to the Sonnet - around £350 retail - and you can even install it yourself (with no £30 upgrade kit required)

Check it out - it's well worth the purchase, especially if you want to use the full capabilities of Final Cut Pro 3...

 

[mymemory]

Re: c'mon alpha ...

Originally posted by ftaok
Give the guy a break. I'm quite certain that he meant that the outer shell is easily scratched. The context that he used to refer the the fragility of the cube was that he had to keep turning it upside down (and such) to plug stuff in. Thus leaving it susceptible to scratches and nicks.

If you look a little, you'll see that mymemory is from Venezuela. English is probably not his first language.

Cut people a break sometimes. Oldies, sheesh!

Bingo!

I haven't see a motorcycle with a bullet in the windshield, may be Alphatech is having that experience every time he goes out (no wonder why), Now I can tell why he spend so much time in the forums (the only place where he thinks can't get shoot).

Any way, I haven't see a motorcycle without scratches on the windshield AND I HAVE SEEN LOTS OF CUBES WITH THEM TOO. It is plastic not diamont.

Any way, the cube I had had a dual 500Mhz processor. Looks like you can drop any kind of processor that came out with that generation. The only thing to be carefull are the video cards, some of them won't fit in the slot (I mean where the monitor connectors are, not the one inside the mother board).

 

[sneed]

Originally posted by AlphaTech
I have to ask this mymemory, HOW is polycarbonate 'fragile'??? Before you start spewing moronic information consider this... Polycarbonate is used in a multitude of products that REQUIRE high strength plastics. Items like motorcycle windshields (can take highway rock hits with barely a scratch/nick) and illuminated signs (the kinds that can take hurricane force winds and laugh). When I worked at the sign shop in FL, we used polycarbonate in all signs that had to tolerate high wind conditions (pretty much all of FL exterior signs).

If I remember correctly, either 3/16" or 1/4" polycarbonate can withstand a hit from a .22. Now, I wouldn't go and shoot at a cube or other Mac with that for a shell, but polycarbonate is NOT fragile. Sadly, the same cannot be said for your mind.

Not for nothing, and I loved my cube BTW, my cube had micro cracks in it. And it seems to me that was not an uncomon problem when they first came out.

Polycarbonate may be strong, but with structural weaknesses, I think one can make the 'case' that you should handle them with care.

 

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by sneed
Not for nothing, and I loved my cube BTW, my cube had micro cracks in it. And it seems to me that was not an uncomon problem when they first came out.

Polycarbonate may be strong, but with structural weaknesses, I think one can make the 'case' that you should handle them with care.

I believe that the micro cracks appeared due to the fabrication process. In the 2-1/2 years that I was at the sign shop, we never had any polycarbonate signs show cracks, nor have any of them fail. Then again, we also had an oven that could be set to the correct temperature to mold the polycarbonate.

ALL plastic can be scratched, just as metal can be scratched (usually with just as little effort). Scratches does not equal structural weakness, nor do cracks that appeared in the initial run of the cube (they fixed the fabrication process to take care of that in the cubes produced later).

BTW, there are more then a few grades of lexan/polycarbonate. To look at them for yourself, go to http://www.matweb.com/ and enter "lexan" inside the search field (top right hand corner, next to the 'search' button). It only comes up with 187 hits. Even 1/8" thick Lexan 101 has a tensile strength of 10000_psi.

 

[Gatorman]

Here's something interesting....

I went to the Apple Store the other day and was checking out the 17" i-mac. I mentioned to one of the salesmen, as I was talking to him, that my family owned a cube. He told me (and I thought this was a neat little tidbit) that the cube is going to be the only Apple computer that will ever gain value. Because it is a rare model, and so few were produced, the Cube will not depreciate in value, but actually go up. And that's the gospel truth!

I thought I'd share that interesting little bit of info with fellow cube owners.

 

[sneed]

Originally posted by AlphaTech


I believe that the micro cracks appeared due to the fabrication process. In the 2-1/2 years that I was at the sign shop, we never had any polycarbonate signs show cracks, nor have any of them fail. Then again, we also had an oven that could be set to the correct temperature to mold the polycarbonate.

ALL plastic can be scratched, just as metal can be scratched (usually with just as little effort). Scratches != structural weakness, nor do cracks that appeared in the initial run of the cube (they fixed the fabrication process to take care of that in the cubes produced later).

I realize that scratches do not equal structural weakness, but cracks in the case could indicate structural weakness, regardless of how they were created. Say that those cracks developed along the seam, for example, or were clustered in one spot. I am not saying you had to treat it like an egg, but cracks (unless dealt with) tend to get bigger under force, so it makes sense to avoid applying force to the case. Yes?

That they fixed the process, doesn't mean that early version aren't still circulating out there. The original post, as a matter fact, received his used, so who know whether his is affected.

 

[topicolo]

Re: Here's something interesting....

Originally posted by Gatorman
I went to the Apple Store the other day and was checking out the 17" i-mac. I mentioned to one of the salesmen, as I was talking to him, that my family owned a cube. He told me (and I thought this was a neat little tidbit) that the cube is going to be the only Apple computer that will ever gain value. Because it is a rare model, and so few were produced, the Cube will not depreciate in value, but actually go up. And that's the gospel truth!

I thought I'd share that interesting little bit of info with fellow cube owners.

just like the "limited edition" 20th aniversary mac eh? Only 10000 were ever made but a check on ebay says that it's not selling for the $4000 or so that apple originally charged for them.

 

[kiwi_the_iwik]

Re: Re: Here's something interesting....

Originally posted by topicolo


just like the "limited edition" 20th aniversary mac eh? Only 10000 were ever made but a check on ebay says that it's not selling for the $4000 or so that apple originally charged for them.

Yes - but with the 20th Anniversary Mac, you were stuck with (a) outdated architecture, and (b) non-upgradeability. What you saw is what you got...

However with the Cube, at least you have the power to change the components:
• Hard Drive
• Graphics Card
• Display
• Memory
• CPU
• CD/DVD Drive

And - of course - with a small footprint and nice features, it looks cool on any desk.

 

[mcrain]

I was looking at buying a cube in addition to a new powerbook today, and the cube's are pretty expensive these days. Considering the price of a new imac or a low end powermac, a used cube is pricey.

I want one, but they're pricey.