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Updated eMac Line Released Today

Posted by pudge on from the mmmmm-emac dept.

TellarHK writes "Today, Apple's eMac line got a nice upgrade with all models getting a 32M Radeon 7500 video chipset, display capable of 1280x960 resolution on a 17" flat CRT, and price cuts across the board. $799 will get you a base model with 40GB of drive, 128M of RAM (continuing the rather odd stinginess on RAM configurations), and an 800Mhz G4. $999 will get you an extra 20GB of drive and a 1Ghz processor, while $1299 lands you a whopping (ahem) 256M of memory, 80G, and a SuperDrive at 4x."

23 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. Nice by Erect+Horsecock · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not a bad update but 128MB of RAM on the lowest and middle configuration? C'Mon Apple! OS X needs at LEAST 256 MB to be useful and more is even better. The video card is also at the bare minimum for OS X with the ATI 7500, but thats understandable in a .edu machine. The Speed bump and the rest is a nice update and for the price its a pretty good deal.

    On another note Thinksecret nailed this one a month ago. They also get the iBook update on the nose too. Seems to be the only rumor site with a shit anymore...

    --
    I hope you die painfully and alone.
    1. Re:Nice by rastachops · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hmm but oddly they also are Airport Extreme compatible... so far its just been the Power Macs & PowerBooks that are AE compatible!

    2. Re:Nice by MalleusEBHC · · Score: 4, Informative

      The video card is also at the bare minimum for OS X with the ATI 7500

      I run OS X with either an AGP Rage 128 with 16 MB VRAM or a Rage 128 Mobility with 8 MB VRAM. It runs just fine on those without Quartz Extreme, so I'm sure that a Radeon 7500 running QE will be quite nice. It's not like a 17" CRT is that monstrous.

      I do agree that you need more RAM, but as another poster has already pointed out, it is nice to be forced to buy as little RAM as possible because of Apple's prices on memory. I would always spec out from the Apple store with the least memory and then go buy what RAM you need from somewhere else. It will save you a bundle.

  2. Other upgrades by PKFC · · Score: 4, Informative

    You also get an Airport Extreme wireless slot and iTunes 4 included along with the rest iLife. I think the bus speed has been bumped up to 133, but I could be wrong about that

    1. Re:Other upgrades by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You know, I was all set to go, "Aw, man, they're screwing the low-end customer! I should have the option of buying the cheaper, old-style AirPort if I want to, to save money!" Then, just one a whim, I went to the Store and checked.

      AirPort Extreme costs exactly the same as AirPort did.

      Bastards. Taking away my sense of righteous indignation like that.

      Apple used to be the company that I loved to hate. But for the last couple of years, it's been harder and harder to hate them. With this new Music Store thing, I'm starting to think that maybe I hate to hate Apple.

      Which means I'm starting to love Apple.

      Augh! Somebody hose me down, quick!

    2. Re:Other upgrades by capmilk · · Score: 2, Informative

      You are perfectly right about the bus speed. Have a look at the eMac's tech specs page.

  3. Education Store prices by gadwale · · Score: 3, Informative


    FYI, if you are a student you can get better prices at their online educational store:

    (For my school - University of Maryland at College Park)

    $749.00
    800MHz PowerPC G4
    128MB SDRAM
    40GB Ultra ATA drive
    CD-ROM drive
    Discounted from $799 retail price

    $949.00
    1GHz PowerPC G4
    128MB SDRAM
    60GB Ultra ATA drive
    Combo drive
    Discounted from $999 retail price

    $1,149.00
    1GHz PowerPC G4
    256MB SDRAM
    80GB Ultra ATA drive
    SuperDrive
    Discounted from $1,299 retail price

    $1,528.00
    Image
    1GHz PowerPC G4
    1GB SDRAM
    80GB Ultra ATA drive
    SuperDrive
    AirPort Extreme built-in
    Discounted from $1,698 retail price

    Even better deals can be had at Apple B&M stores in universities.

    You have to be a valid student to get these prices.

    There are also refurbished products that you can buy with Applecare over here.

    Adi Gadwale.

    1. Re:Education Store prices by Drakonian · · Score: 3, Informative
      You can also get a 1-time (ever) hardware discount if you sign up for the Apple Student Developer program. It's hard to track down prices but I think they are very substantial, ie better than education.

      http://developer.apple.com/membership/hardware.htm l

      --
      Random is the New Order.
    2. Re:Education Store prices by discstickers · · Score: 3, Informative

      Ya, you have to click like 50 links to get to the actual store.

      Once you get there though, the discounts are realllllly nice. And the higher end you go, the better. Don't forget that you have to pay $100 to join ADC. Still, I think the discount on some models aproachs 20-25%.

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    3. Re:Education Store prices by Mister+Black · · Score: 2, Informative
      Per this page:

      ADC Student Program members are entitled to one purchase of a discounted development system (one (1) CPU with one (1) monitor; or one (1) iMac, PowerBook, or iBook per lifetime (non-renewable and subject to change) at approximately a 10-20% discount.
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  4. They also have the new keyboards by Erect+Horsecock · · Score: 4, Informative

    see here

    --
    I hope you die painfully and alone.
  5. Apple charges a lot for RAM by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 2, Informative

    Oddly, I find the low RAM configurations something where it looks like Apple is trying to give me a break, since they sell RAM at INSANE prices, and you can buy it much more cheaply from someone like Crucial.

    1. Re:Apple charges a lot for RAM by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 2, Informative

      From what I've heard, you can buy GOOD RAM and pop it right in. If it's from Crucial, they even have a section for buying RAM for Macs. I've never seen it fail, though I hear stories now and then about after market RAM not working at all.

    2. Re:Apple charges a lot for RAM by phillymjs · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Apple charging high prices for RAM is like 7 Eleven charging ~$20 for the smallest bottle of Tylenol made-- it's all about convenience.

      People in the know buy the bare minimum RAM from Apple, and max out their machines with third-party RAM from a trusted source. Personally I swear by Other World Computing's "store-brand" RAM. I buy it for myself and recommend it to clients, and I've never had a problem with any of it.

      ~Philly

  6. Re:cool stuff by foobar3149 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What I do not understand is why all their sub-1000 dollar models have built in mointors. I would love to see a powermac without a built in monitor in the sub-1000 dollar range i.e. an e-mac without the built in monitor.

  7. Quality of the monitor? by angle_slam · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This seems like a bargain too good to pass up. But I wonder about the quality of the monitor. If I were to get a Mac, it would be for photo and video editing. Is the integrated monitor on the eMac of good quality?

  8. USB 1.1! by angle_slam · · Score: 2, Interesting

    No USB 2.0 ports! Why not?

    1. Re:USB 1.1! by Gropo · · Score: 2, Informative

      Because a mouse/keyboard/joystick only needs so much bandwitdh... And for every conceivable USB 2.0 peripheral that requires the bandwidth of USB 2.0 there's a non-CPU-dependant FirewWire alternative?

      Oddly enough, apparently Apple's actually using USB 2.0 controllers on the newer MoBo's, just hobbling it to 1.0 in the firmware. I guess it's hard to find supplies of new 1.0 parts nowadays :P

      --
      I hate Grammar Nazi's
    2. Re:USB 1.1! by bpbond · · Score: 2, Insightful

      1) FireWire
      2) If you need USB2-type speed, Apple wants you to buy a better machine anyway.

      --
      "Science is a tribute to what we can know although we are fallible" -Jacob Bronowski
  9. Pretty good...IF Apple's cured the eMac QC issues by 0x69 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    *IF* Apple has fixed the huge early-failure defect problem they were having with eMacs, then these look like nice econo-G4 systems. Base price is about where the much weaker G3/15" CRT iMac was until recently.

    They're really short on memory for most uses, but good 3rd party memory is so cheap that it's often thrown in free when you buy the system.

    Size & weight are what you pay for the eMac being a G4 at G3 prices - look, lift it, & measure your desk before you buy.

    --
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  10. Re:cool stuff by TiMike · · Score: 4, Informative

    The eMac (Education Mac) has it built in because according to Apple:

    " Schools have told us they really like an all-in-one design because it saves space in classrooms and computer labs." emac

  11. Time to get out the Big Foam Cluebat by Llywelyn · · Score: 2, Informative

    "They need firewire,"

    Got it. 2 Firewire ports.

    "USB2"

    Why? They have Firewire.

    "256MB starting RAM"

    http://macseek.com

    Or you can just add it in their online store.

    "and a good useable mouse, not a hockey puck."

    Um, the Apple Mouse that comes with it ain't a hockey puck.

    " DVD authoring would also be preferrable, but maybe not on the base model."

    It is. Just not on the base model.

    Of course, if we are upgrading for the base model, the one that is automatically equipped with a Superdrive has 256MB of RAM.

    --
    Integrate Keynote and LaTeX
  12. Re:Refurb by Mister+Black · · Score: 2, Informative

    Go to the main store site ( http://store.apple.com ). Then scroll down and on the bottom left hand is a section labeled "Special deals" with a red tag labeled "SAVE". That's the refurb section.

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    You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here.