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iMacs Freshened with 2.0 GHz G5, Bluetooth, WiFi
amichalo writes "Apple has updated the popular consumer level Mac, the iMac G5.
So better support the now standard Mac OS X Tiger, Apple has made significant improvements to all standard configurations including 512MB RAM, Radeon 9600 128MB graphics, and on 2.0 GHz models (17" and 20"), a slot-loading dual-layer 8x SuperDrive is standard. The 1.8 GHz 17" model includes a slot-loading Combo Drive.
Also standard are Apple's AirPort Extreme 802.11g WiFi and Bluetooth. Pricing remains at $1300, $1500, and $1800 respectively for 1.8 GHz 17", 2.0 GHz 17", and 2.0 GHz 20", though 2.0 GHz models include additional upgraded features.
These improvements are significant as this line has not seen a refresh in about a year and the upgrade to a Radeon 9600 graphics card will allow the new iMac to take better advantage of Tiger features such as Core Image, which is significant because the video card cannot be upgraded. Lastly, Apple is continuing the interactive chat and QuickTime support program for the iMac G5."
just to clarify.
they've also update the emac
Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
"Best game on the Mac". Are there others?
Something is happening here but you don't know what it is, do you, Mr Jones.
If you're referring to the clock speeds mentioned, vs the clock speeds of Intel or AMD chips in 2002 (which has, oh, nothing to do with the OS), then I suggest you do some reading as to the actual comparative performance, especially in the graphics processing areas where macs are traditionally strong.
I'm not a fanboy, but I've never liked the way chips are advertised by clock-speed, it's quite misleading.
you misspelled 2007.
http://cse.stanford.edu/class/sophomore-college/pr ojects-00/risc/risccisc/ this is probally what your refering to.
also try http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=3997
To break existing 800 MHz iMacs! Those damn things just keep running!!! How is a self-respecting hardware junkie supposed to talk his wife into letting him purchase the latest and greatest from Apple, when they just keep working :-(
We have two matching 17" LCD, 800 MHz iMacs, purchased in November, 2002. They have run 24x7 since we purchased them, with the exception of the power outages caused by the hurricanes in September of 2004.
No matter where you go... there you are.
Funny, but I have both an iMac G5 and a PC. My two kids are always playing games on the PC. But when they do their homework it's on the Mac. One is in college and the other starts in the fall. I have asked both of them what computer do they want for school. They both wanted powerbooks, like mine. I talked to them about games, they said that their playstations are much better at gaming than either the Mac or the PC. So I guess a PC has alot of games, but to do real work it's best to have a Mac.
"upgrade" to a mac user means "buy a whole new computer"
By and large, yes it does.
But you're not telling the whole story. You left out the part where the mac user sells the old mac on eBay for far less of a discount than you'd need to put on a similarly aged PC. Easily over half the original price, in my experience. Sometimes ends up being as much as 2/3rds the price of a new mac just by selling your old one, depending on how frequently you upgrade.
Upgrades are for chumps.
Random and weird software I've written.
Keep in mind that there are only so many parts in the iMac G5 - you can basically break it down to: SATA drives, PSU, Midplane, Inverter, Display (+ memory). Things that are separate parts in many machines but not the iMac G5: video card, speakers, bluetooth, antennae, modem, fan(s), cables, and sometimes even the processor(s) and ports.
Considering that drive and LCD failures are unlikely to be heavily seen in any computer's first 6 months on the market, it's not surprising that most of the failures we hear about are the Midplane or PSU. PSU is an easy one - "won't power on/won't stay on." Inverter typically presents itself as a "no backlight" issue. That leaves a laundry list of problems that all reside on the midplane: Fans stop spinning, unit overheats. Fans spin too fast constantly, too loud. No AirPort signal. Bluetooth not recognized. Video scrambled. Ethernet port not working. Memory not recognized. Kernel panics on startup. Bad FireWire port. No sound. ALL of these require replacing the midplane.
My point? Not all iMac midplane failures are equal, and unless they are all failing for the same reason at the same point, there is no larger issue. Apple simply chose to put "the whole computer" on the midplane, so yes it gets replaced more frequently than many other parts (there are hardly any other parts to replace!), however from a customer service standpoint it makes repairing your own computer a heck of a lot easier. There are really only so many parts to go bad in an iMac, and surprise, a few of them have. Also realize that this computer has been flying off the shelves since day 1, so there's going to be a larger number of reports than usual. Add to this people who were shipped a PSU to replace and really needed a midplane, or vice versa, but consider the problem a 'dual failure' because both parts ended up being replaced (I've seen this case a lot online). This was a failure on Apple's support end to accurately identify the problem, but nonetheless does not constitute a dual-failure epidemic. The iBook G3 logic board recall, on the other hand, represents a specific widespread failure that manifests itself in the exact same way every time.
Sorry to go on a bit of a tirade, but I really feel that - like with the iPod 'battery issue' - the majority of iMac owners are happily enjoying their purchases and the fact that anyone with a sad story and no technical knowledge can post to a website really tends to have a run-away effect in the Mac community. It would be nice to see more people address these failures with some consideration for how the thing is built.
You do make some valid points about upgrade potential with component based systems compared things like the iMac. I tend to see the iMac as more akin to a laptop than a desktop for this very reason.
On the other hand, PC hardware changes so rapidly that sometimes an upgrade is practically new system anyway. About a year and a half ago, my 800mhz duron system failed -- cpu fried. I decided I'd use that opportunity to move to an athlon -- this meant a new video card due to incompatability between MB and video card, new ram because old ram wouldn't fit, and a new power supply just to be safe (old one was a 350, I moved up to 500). So by the time I got done, all I had of the "old" computer was the case, burner, and hard drive.
Anyway, it is also true that if you want to upgrade the video on a PC, you might just have to change out the motherboard as well because of rapidly changing plug shapes, voltage levels, or what have you.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
That is a valid point, but neither you nor your brother-in-law represent the average user. "Normal" people see computers as appliances; they don't know what a video card is or what Quartz 2D Extreme is or anything like that. To them, paying for a new computer that comes in a box and is easy to set up is far preferable to buying and installing a video card. And you can upgrade the memory and hard disk in all Macs.
Also, as a large number of people have pointed out, the low-end Power Mac now costs exactly the same as a midrange iMac, so you really can make a pure tradeoff between expandability and a free monitor.