“The arrival of Apple Computer’s iMac G5 raises the question: How much better can a computer get? In the case of the iMac, the answer is, substantially better, in ways large and small,” Mark Kellner writes for The Washington Times. “In a world in which you can get a very good Windows-based computer and flat-panel display for less than half the $2,152 price tag of the (very well-equipped) 20-inch iMac G5 sent for review, why shell out the extra money for the Apple logo and operating system?”
“Well, the Apple logo and operating system are themselves compelling reasons: Apple Computer is known for building very good computer systems, ones that are high in ‘initial quality’ and that last in the long term. And Mac OS X, now in its ‘Panther’ incarnation, is a rock-solid operating system that doesn’t crash,” Kellner writes. “Both things are worth a premium. But the stylish appearance of the iMac G5 is another plus. This striking design may impress you, or it may not. However, the system’s performance and technical accomplishment in loading the ‘guts’ of the PC so stylishly behind the display likely will soften even the hardest of computing hearts.”
Full article here.
yes you can get a pc crapbox for half the price of a 20 inch imac. but does that crapbox come with a 20 inch monitor? no. is it also by definition a peice of crap? yes. please no more articles that cannot compare hardware in a reasonable way.
Actually…it does crash. Just not as often. Otherwise I agree totally.
mine crashes maybe once or twice a year… ohhh, the agony.
moo.
I’ve had APPLICATIONS crash on my iMac G4 (15 in. flat panel, 800 MHz, 768 MB RAM) but no SYSTEM crashes or lock ups since I bumped up the RAM, and thats with me runningOS 10.2.8 (I know, I know … I need to upgrade to 10.3.5 but 10.2.8 works fine for me)
I’m not sure Apple is doing itself any favors by giving reviewers the most revved-up iMacs possible. Sure, they get great reviews, but it inevitably brings up and reinforces the “Macs are expensive” myth. No reviewer ever mentions that you can get a very good Mac OS-based system for half that price, too. Hell, you can an iMac G5 for 40 percent less.
And what’s up with the hard drive size comparison to the Cube? Relevance?
Once or twice a year for me too. At most. And it’s on 24×7.
unfortunately – this article appeared in the washington times, not the washington post. the times is a conservative paper in a very liberal town. plus, the paper is owned and managed by the Moonie’s (seriously) so not too many people take their publsihed news that seriously.
being a conservative, i have to say the paper is an embarrassment. oh well. the washingont post, being more obviously liberal in its news reporting is more objective then the times.
i get kernel panic often .. but it is not Apples fault .. it is my USB ISDN modem ..
otherwise is MAC OS X 10.3 rock solid .. only bad and low quality hardware can bring it down as described above
I’ve never had a system crash in the three years I’ve been using OS X. So for me, yeah “never” fits.
=]
Webbyswim, I hope you realize that the people currently in office aren’t conservatives either.
y’know, now that i think about it, i can’t remember the last time my computer crashed. it has under some previous version of os x, i’m certain but i don’t think it ever has under panther at all. that is pretty amazing.
Yes, I allowed my minions to say OS X was good. I did it out of the goodness of my heart. I myself am A Windows man – in fact, I actually own Microsoft too!
Scorp_56,
I’ve got virtually the same system – well almost: iMac G4, 700MHz, and 640 MB RAM –
also on 10.2.8.
‘can’t remember when the last ‘crash’ was – but over a year ago and that was quite insignificant – just a restart.
I’m quite satisfied with the O.S. – no need to change …
anyway I’ll get an automatic udate with the new 20′ iMac in the summer of 05.
– but I wont sell this Mac; it’ll sit next to the new one.
I actually emailed Mark on his half the cost comment .. His reply? “We’re veering into what some techies would call the “granular” area: My comparison in the article was between a regular CPU and LCD screen versus the all-in-one iMac. When I say the $999 VAIO is “comparable,” it’s not to say that it is “equivalent.”
May I adjourn at this point?”
Sooooooo…. the real truth emerges.. comparable, equivalent, whatever….
Dave
Another thing about Macs is the resale value. They keep their value for a long time. And since they are usually well cared for and thus have less problems, this adds to their sellability. Try selling that Dull you get now for close to what you paid for it three or four years down the road. Chances are the thing won’t even be running, but you won’t get nearly what you shelled out for it.
no crash issues here.. welcome to vertical integration
Nice Article. Wonder if in future incarnations Apple will make the RAM 512 standard? Myself I would buy the wireless Apple keyboard but need many many more buttons on my mouse (well, trackball actually)
freebee;
My Macs have never ever, ever crashed…….never. Stay current with the updates and enjoy what Windows users will never have.
My iBook has NEVER crashed since I bought it nearly a year ago. My eMac crashed about 18 months ago, a restart sorted it out. My Xserve in work has had one Kernel Panic (after installing Retrospect – surprise) ad the 8 G4’s in our studio are on 24/7 and not one has crashed.
Interestingly, I had to attend an office run by a HUGE employment agency. The staff were sitting there twiddling their thumbs because the Win2k server had crashed and all the terminals were unuseable. “Happens about twice a week” the beleagured IT guy told me, to which I shook my head and offered to fix it by plugging in my iBook.
Windows sucks ass, I really hate it so much.
YOU MEAN….there’s actually a reason to read the Washington Times? Who would have thought?
Indeed, SGMan.
“We’re veering into what some techies would call the ‘granular’ area: My comparison in the article was between a regular CPU and LCD screen versus the all-in-one iMac. When I say the $999 VAIO is ‘comparable,’ it’s not to say that it is ‘equivalent.'”
The standard PC reviewers technique: Pick one thing and show how PCs are cheaper.
I went to the Apple Store to try to come up with a $2152 iMac G5. It had 512MB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, Airport Extreme, and Bluetooth with wireless keyboard and mouse.
I went to look for this magical $999 with a 20″ LCD, I couldn’t find it. All I can think of is he has a $699 VAIO with a separately purchased 21″ CRT. See? You can get a PC with 20″ (or so) of viewable real estate for half the price of an iMac G5! The fact that the PC is a 2.6GHz Celeron, has no wireless, a smaller hard drive, no SuperDrive, etc. etc. is beside the point.
One thing new, though: He’s the first one I’ve seen to try to support it by claiming “comparable” versus equivalent. What were his criteria for “comparability”? Big screen?
Dance, Mr. Kellner! Dance!
The Washington Times does some good reporting and breaks some big stories. They also have weekly National Edition.
They may not be in the same category overall as the Washington Post, but they’re not a total rag either.
My eMac had quite a few kernel panics when I first got it. Took out the additional RAM that I had purchased with it, and never had a crash since. Got it three years ago. Just put in new RAM to max it out and haven’t had the problems that I had previously had with additional RAM. Occasionally I’ll have a program freeze up, but I’ve never had to restart for that. Only restarts in the last 30 months have been for software updates. Just upgraded to Panther 6 weeks ago…both Jaguar and Panther have served VERY well.
Never had OS X lock up. The only time i’ve ever had a problem was when i tried opening all the apps i had. Got to about 30 then had to restart because it was going to slow. Plus i only have a 400MHz Blue and White G3 with 384MBs of RAM.