“A few months ago, Apple released an updated iMac outfitted with a 20-inch LCD display. At $2,199, it may seem a little pricey for a consumer computer
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I saw the iMac 20″ at the local Apple Store. Sweet. I’d buy another one if it came in aluminum like the PBs, and had a G5. That 20″ display is awesome. Those who use the new iMacs love them. I have one of the original 15″ flat panel iMacs sitting on my desk. It runs Panther Server and sits there, quietly, dependably ‘serving’ 24/7. In fact, it runs Panther better than it did OSX 10.1, or Jaguar. Crashes? Lockups? Hasn’t happened.
What is this??!
Everybody cheers Mac??
I am not used to this. I need FUD. Where is Enderle&Co;?
I’d love to see a 20″ iMac with a single G5 processor, even at 1.6GHz would be great. But please not in aluminum, the white looks good just as it is. I hope Apple keeps the aluminum look with the “Power” line and the white with the “i” line just as it is now.
1.25 G4 in a machine that cost over 2 thousand dollars??? MacHome is as blind and biased as any mac loving site. give me a break. put a G5 in it and better video card and ill buy one. leave stale 2 year old G4 in it and you can forget it. Beautiful machine wrapped around stale hardware G4 & fx5200 = slow and old. fx5200 is nothing more then geforce2 or 4mx rebranded. G4 has and is going nowhere.
Unfortunately it is not perfect. Everyone should look at a computer to see if it has the “legs” to last five or more years. Sure, you might replace it in three, but you might hand it down to a friend or relative and why would you give them an obsolete machine?
It should come with at least 512 MB of RAM. Virtually every piece of software out there just gets more RAM hungry with every upgrade. 256 MB of RAM is barely enough now.
Also it should come with Firewire 800. I believe many of the future versions of iLife will take advantage of the faster interface and may require it to be fully functional — think editing your own home HDTV movies three years from now when NTSC is off the air and HDTV is all there is.
Additionally the video hardware is a bit underpowered. The GeForce FX 5200 Ultra will barely suffice for many of today’s games — a lot of home computers are used for games as well as Quicken and such. This video system will be underpowerd in a few years for anything but the poorest games and may be underpowered for some productivity apps. And
Unlike some of my associates I do not believe gigabit Ethernet will be necessary in many home computers within the next five years. Thus I feel the 10/100Mbps Ethernet is just fine.
Please don’t get me wrong. I do think the 20 inch iMac is a great machine. Indeed, I am considering getting one for my wife’s home office. However, it is definitely not “a perfect consumer computer”.
Sooner than you think… A new G5 iMac with a 20 inch display in the base model…
Yup – you heard it here today…. by the end of March…. maybe sooner.
hello,
the key word is “consumer.” just as most people don’t care about the difference between “celeron” and other processors, the selling point is the bigger display which everyone can appreciate, and the whole package working together. that’s why the review is spot on. people buying the iMac want a packaged appliance, not something to keep upgrading, changing, etc regularly. that’s its draw, and until people stop buying it, it will remain that way. sure, faster processor makes a difference, and that will happen soon enough, but what’s with all this commenting upon things that most people really don’t care about.
how many people get into the details of the various model engines and technologies beneath their cars? I’m running a 1.33 Ghz G4 on the 17PB, and I sure as heck don’t feel the need to upgrade UNLESS I come against a barrier.
in terms of price: well, it’s not cheap, but remember, the reviewer made it very clear you are getting a computer for $900 that does everything together, and even admitted its high price relative to commodity PCs. and everyone reading this article knows that it’s a matter of time for the G5. at least we have a G5 now to look forward to, unlike before.
FW800 on iMac? gimme a break, why don’t you complain it doesn’t have the same technology as on the xServe? in fact, for most of you people, you won’t be happy unless Apple sold xServes in an iMac enclosure and sold for $800!
“All the ports necessary to connect extra drives, scanners and so forth are there, including FireWire and USB 2.0. There’s also the requisite 56K modem and 10/100BASE-T Ethernet jacks,” Steinberg reports.”
Maybe this guy hasn’t looked at the back of a wintel box lately, but most motherboards have usb, video, sound, and ethernet integrated. The last two I bought included a modem specific slot and a modem card (nice, cuz modem irq was always a pain) and a couple firewire ports. They also allow for upgrading the video for crazy gamers.
Which of course just means that wintel, by trying to integrate hardware, is again catching up to apple. And again, since these motherboards are delivered to my door, with a 2 ghz processor, for about $170, beating the bejeebers out of them pricewise.
in case it isnt clear, that is $170 each.
Or about two pound fifty pence at today’s exchange rate
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Yes Dave, I have cancelled my tour of europe this year 🙁
Dave, I asked this elsewhere, how likely is it that Tony Blair has to undergo a vote of confidence?
Joe McConnel, name that source.
If you can get a motherboard with these things already installed or right on the motherboard itself:
2 GHz processor (hopefully it is NOT a 2 GHz Celeron)
2 or more USB 2.0 ports
Sound ports (in and out, I assume)
10/100BT or 10/100BTX port
2 or more 1398 (Firewire 400) ports
Modem specific slot with 56kbps modem installed
4x AGP slot (state of the art is 8x, but a 4x would do)
all for U.S. $170 including shipping, then we all want to know where you are getting them. Please give specifics.
“…Apple increased the weight to over 40 pounds. Know this before you try to take the unit out of the box; it’s not a pleasant surprise”
Ummm … shouldn’t he have figured this out from trying to move the boxed computer in the first place? Cardboard and styrofoam can’t weigh THAT much….
Let me first state that I have a very vested interest in this thread.
I have a $2,500 check coming to me that, in whole or in part, is being devoted to Apple or Apple-related products.
I had been thinking very much of getting the 20″ iMac–god is that screen gorgeous–until a friend mentioned the problem with the thing–it is an incredbly great and incredibly expensive monitor attached to a soon-to-be obsolete base that can’t be upgraded.
Looking around, it appears that I can take my Cube, get the free-standing cinema 20″ display and pop in the Cube 1.2 GHz processor card–which already has 1.25 GB of memory– and a new video card for the same price as a new iMac, or save the $1299 and just keep the current 17″ screen.
I can’t see how the smart decision isn’t to just sit with the Cube.
Jerk- If I were you, I would use that money to buy a refurb G5. The Dual 2 gig is a steal at 2399, if I remember correctly. I’d rather have a flaming computer than 3 extra inches of display…
MV–if I was gonna get a work machine I’d agree completely! But this is for the bedroom and a giant cheesegrater wouldn’t work. The Cube is perfect, an iMac would work too, but there isn’t anyplace here a G5 would fit.
And…well…I already suggested and my wife killed the idea.
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btw, completely random subject–who do you have to threaten with permanent bodily injury to get one of the m-audio 49e keyboards? Geez, local Apple Store has a whole Garageband display with them, and then when I asked for one the salesgirl laughed and said Apple “was exploring other options.” WTF?
I feel your pain Jerk, iam waiting for that G5 Imac and as soon as apple shows me one they have another sale. kind of silly to have a nice screen attached to such old technology.. and people like Glick7 or should i say trolls make me laugh. they dont have a clue to what they are mumbling about and is probably some kid on his mommy’s Pc wishing he had a mac and wishing he knew what he was talking about. Like 20″ would be the base model give me a break. come on apple we are waiting.
Shadowself, no problem, although you misread my post. The mobo has video on board, not just a slot. The graphics are GEforce4mx, fairly good, and it has a 4x slot as well. I misstated about the modem, that was another board I bought. Add $15 for any cheap 56k to make up for it. The mobo came from here: http://www.dumpinggoods.com/dumpinggoods/itemdesc.asp?CartId=8215970SDB-ACCWARE-XI214&ic=MB-EPX-0004
but it was new, not refurb, and cost more, $93. There are several other places to get them for under $100.
The cpu is a xp2000 for $52 from here:
http://www.bzboyz.com/
The epox board allows for overclocking to about 1950 mhz on this processor, from the stock 1.67. Lots of bang for buck, but it ain’t a mac.
ACKKK got to be complete. The board has 2 usb, a 10/100 ethernet on board and comes with 2 slot addition firewire ports that plug into the mob. It has sound, including 3 channel if you have a subwoofer. It’s an epox 8rga in case that link is funky.
It ain’t so. New Apple machines do not come with the latest iLife suite (including GarageBand). I found this out the unpleasant way. Add $49 + tax + shipping to the cost of all Macs if you want the latest software.