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Report on New PowerMacs

ibookin'

ibookin'

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 7, 2002
1,164
0
Los Angeles, CA
I finally went to the Apple Store today and used some of the new PowerMacs. I tried both the 867MHz and 1GHz varieties. I will address the two categories that people seem to be wondering about most. This is by no means a comprehensive review of the new PowerMacs, just my observations of the new machines at my local Apple Store. If you have any questions please post them and I will try to answer them as best I can.

Speed:
These machines SCREAM on Jaguar (build 6C115). I opened System Preferences and moved the window around the screen as fast as I could, with hardly any change in the CPU Usage (even on the 867). Also, the Genie Effect is the smoothest I have ever seen; you can put a playing Quicktime movie on the second screen (17" Studio) and have it move over to the Dock on the first screen (23" Cinema) with no stops or jerks. There was also no trouble minimizing iTunes at full size, iPhoto, browsers, etc. Photoshop also ran very, very well, and the machine was able to run Windows 98 on Virtual PC 5 with no major performance issues (except for when you are trying to run a game). Unfortunately, I had no Quicksilver to compare the new PowerMacs to, but when we see a professional review of the machine we can see some benchmarks and real Photoshop tests. The only thing these PowerMacs can't do speed-wise is resize a browser window. Although the process is smoother on these Macs than older systems, it is still not as fluid as on my PC.

Looks:
Many people have complianed about the new PowerMac's looks. While it does not look as good as the Quicksilver in my opinion, it does look much better than in pictures on the Apple site. The front drive housing is indeed chrome, and while it is strangely placed, it looks pretty good. The "odd looking" vents in front do not look so odd in person. The back vents, however, look very overwhelming, but who puts their PowerMac with the back facing out, anyway?:confused: (If you do, please don't flame me).

Take a look at the picture.

Anyway, this is just my experience with the new PowerMac at the Apple Store Glendale. Can't wait for real reviews.
 

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No Dual Cinemas. A 17" and a Cinema. It just looks like Dual Cinemas because of the pictures (taken with a Nikon Coolpix 950 for anyone who cares).
 
Wow

Wow, that picture you took actually flatters the Powermac. It looks better in that pictire than in Apple's. :)
The only complaints I have about it is the cyclops eye speaker at the top and the design and placement of the vents, other than that it looks fine. Even the center mounted drives don't look awkward. Nice work.:cool:
 
Products on Apple's site never look as good as they do in person. I think it's that garish white lighting they use.
 
wow... these photos make me think it looks better than the quicksilver in my house...

my work place (a pc only school district) is considering getting one of these for the training videos i've helped create (on my home mac of course)... hopefully the request goes through :)
 
Looks even better close up. What color is the power button, is it lighted? Also, what kind of light was it photographed in, it looks like somekind of yellowish flourecent light going bad or something. The colors look a little off. Not to burden you with too many questions, but how was the noise level? I've heard that for the most part it was quiet, but the power supply fan was the noisy one.

thanx
 
Originally posted by edvniow
Looks even better close up. What color is the power button, is it lighted? Also, what kind of light was it photographed in, it looks like somekind of yellowish flourecent light going bad or something. The colors look a little off. Not to burden you with too many questions, but how was the noise level? I've heard that for the most part it was quiet, but the power supply fan was the noisy one.

thanx
Click to expand...

Anything for Macrumors' #1 Drag Princess:D

Answers:
-Yes, the power button is lighted

-It was photographed in whatever light the Apple Store has, with no flash (probably flourecent).

-The noise level was not so bad. You couldn't hear it unless you were really close to the machine, but even the Quicksilver sounded quiet in the Apple Store. Anyone who has one, please post your experience with the noise level.
 
ahhh, glendale

i talked with their audio guy today about the whole noise issue...he said the new g4s are as loud as the QS's..though he said they are probably quieter than my external glyph cheetah drives...i can live with that.

and like you said-who could tell the relative noise levels at that store anyway.

thanks for the pics btw.

i'm gonna zip past there tomorrow and check em out.
 
The second picture of the new Power Mac G4 certainly makes it look better, and the detailing around the drive doors certainly look qualty as does the chrome finish, I look forward though to seeing one in the flesh and seeing for myself.......

Those air vents are growing on me though....... :D
 
thanks for the info and pics, the new PM doesn't look nearly as bad in these pics as it does at the apple site!
 
Yes they are loud. You can really hear the fan revving up.

In a quiet room, you can DEFINATLEY hear it. I'd say that it is as loud as the quicksilvers but I've never heard a DP quicksilver outisde of the store.

It is a little annoying...but with music playing it is not a problem. Besides...if you have external drives (or professional video decks) it doesn't add much noise to what is alredy there.

It ain't an iMac (I confess I'm in love with the 17inch iMac) I would have gotten that if I didn't need dual monitors and processors for my editing/compression setup.

Oh and heres a little tidbit...it actually comes with an optional speaker grill. Did the last ones do that?
 
grills

Im pretty sure that the grills over the speakers are new. I think they started with the eMacs.

Here is my question:
If I get The 867 then I wont get another computer for the next 2 1/2 years, if I get the 1 GHz I wont get a new computer for the next 3 years. Which one should I get?
Im thinking the 1 GHz. I like the higher bus and DDR. Plus Dual One Gigahertz slides off the tongue better then dual eight-hundred and sixty-seven megahertz. :D - I bet y'all havn't heard of anyone geting a more expensive model just because of how it sounds when spoken....

I guess I'm just crazy.... :D :( :D

:rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by Hemingray


No, I believe that started with the eMac.

And for anyone who's considered getting the new DDR dual 1GHz, check out BareFeats' disturbing benchmark results:

http://www.barefeats.com/pmddr.html
Click to expand...

THos benchmarks suck :( - they are all very similar, and dont show much about the speed of the dual 1 GHz machines.

I still need someone to tell me which computer to get... :D
 
Originally posted by scem0

I still need someone to tell me which computer to get... :D
Click to expand...

Think about the economy of both machines. With the $1699 Dual 867 you get 2 1/2 years out of it, working out to $679.60 a year. With the $2199 Dual 1GHz (minimum config, same as 867 but with 80GB hard drive), you're paying $733 a year. This does not, however, factor in any work you are doing with the machine. If the Dual 1GHz saves you time and money over the years, the real cost of the machine will be different.

Just my 2 cents
 
Re: grills

Originally posted by scem0
Im pretty sure that the grills over the speakers are new. I think they started with the eMacs.

Here is my question:
If I get The 867 then I wont get another computer for the next 2 1/2 years, if I get the 1 GHz I wont get a new computer for the next 3 years. Which one should I get?
Im thinking the 1 GHz. I like the higher bus and DDR. Plus Dual One Gigahertz slides off the tongue better then dual eight-hundred and sixty-seven megahertz. :D - I bet y'all havn't heard of anyone geting a more expensive model just because of how it sounds when spoken....

I guess I'm just crazy.... :D :( :D

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It all depends on what you're wanting to do with it. If it's playing games or 3D or video, the 1 GHz will help. If it's graphic design, the 867 MHz will do nicely. If it's surfing the web and listening to music, the original iMac will do. Oops, you didn't wanna hear about that. :D

If the 1 GHz sounds better when spoken, can your ego bear to listen to your empty wallet when it cries? :D Remember that the difference will buy quite a bit of software. :)
 
since you tested this machines.. do they come built in with jaguar? all models? I ask because I asked a sales person a an apple store and they told me that any computers assembled after the 19th would have the jaguar disk on them.

Does this mean that the ones that are in the stores now do not have the upgrade and will have to wait for the 24th?? or you get jaguar ahead of everyboday if you buy today?
 
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