Posted on 09/22/2004 7:28:01 PM PDT by Swordmaker
It has been a good year for Apple. Since the beginning of 2004, I've discussed GarageBand, AirPort Express and the latest iPod. If you go back 12 months, you can probably even throw in iTunes Music Store, the original G5 and the official release of iChat AV. This isn't favoritism, I'm just impressed. Rather than spend money on its silly "Switch" ad campaign, the company has spent it inventing actual reasons for people to switch from Windows to Mac, not least of all personal style. The iMac G5 is super suave, but it's also a pretty good deal.
If you're big enough of an Apple fan to own an iPod, you probably already have a good idea of what the iMac G5 is all about: the familiar white sheen, the brushed metal L-shaped stand, the brilliant widescreen LCD. Throw in Apple's wireless Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and you've got a scene of Kubrickian merits. Only the cable that runs from computer to an iPod (or printer or digital camera or PDA) disrupts the sci-fi harmony. In terms of actual computing power, it occupies a nice space between the PowerBooks and the dual-processor G5 PowerMac.
The coolest enhancement you may not have heard about is the automatic Mac-to-Mac upgrade software. When you start the iMac for the first time, it asks "Do you already have a Mac?" If you say yes, it asks what kind and then, if it qualifies (running OSX, has native FireWire support, etc.), it asks you to connect a FireWire cable. It then sucks all of the pertinent account information, favorites, applications and documents from the old computer to the new one, virtually cloning it head to toe. I tried the migration with a PowerBook that had about 5GB of personalized data, and it only took 15 minutes or so before the iMac was up and running everything the PowerBook was meant to. Only one application needed to be re-registered, and the software even told me which one that was. I don't know much about the legal side of software licensing, but moving even expensive apps (we won't name names) was frighteningly easy. By the way, none of the data on the older Mac is harmed in the process.
One of the big PC trends right now is the "desktop replacement," that is, a notebook with a big screen and a processor meant to be plugged in: they don't get very far on batteries, but as a fully enclosed system with integrated wireless networking, they're far more convenient around the house. The trouble is, every notebook is more expensive than its similarly powered desktop-PC equivalent. The new iMac is the "desktop replacement" replacement: most of the positive notebook attributes (except, of course, that you wouldn't take it to Starbucks) with a much smaller price tag.
When I say smaller price tag, I don't mean it's cheap. In fact, if you opt for the Bluetooth kit (short-range wireless networking) and its compatible wireless keyboard and mouse, you will pay an extra $100 (Bluetooth kit alone is $50). To make sure your purchase makes sense in a year, you'd probably opt for the middle or higher of the three models, because of the processing power and also because of the SuperDrive, which can burn DVDs as well as CDs.
Even after a lot of customization, the 17-in. iMac G5 is still perhaps $1,000 less expensive than the 17-in. G4 PowerBook it outperforms. So, if the reason you're shopping for a notebook is so you can use it at the kitchen table (or even at your house but also your summer rental), save some money and put the rest into the iMac G5.
iMAc G5 PING! Time Magazine makes it Gadget of the Week.
If you want to be included on the Mac Ping List, please let me know through freepmail... if you want off, you can do the same.
iMAc G5 PING! Time Magazine makes it Gadget of the Week.
If you want to be included on the Mac Ping List, please let me know through freepmail... if you want off, you can do the same.
Sorry for the double ping. Don't know where the second one came from... is there a new FR glitch???
Isn't Al Gore on the board of Apple?
I read on the TweakHeadz Lab site that Garage Band was a killer little app. He also praised Logic 6 Pro and the G5 (as well as various PC music apparatus...he uses both).
Yes, unfortunately.
But their personal computers are still the best in the world, and I'm not going to let their management's political affiliation stop me from buying computers I love instead of computers I loathe (anything running Windows).
D
BTW, I'm writing this on a Windows box and I'm running my anti-spyware program which has already found over 100 parasites and it's far from done. I can't wait until I completely switch over.
The Apple folks are all a bunch of lefties, I think, but I forgive them. They do make the best computers.
This is being posted using a G5 with a 21 inch cinema screen monitor. I am 17 year PC user and switched to my G5 6 months ago. I could not be happier. Since all I do on my computer is Adobe, music, and web surfing it's the perfect machine.
BTW, check out Walt Mossberg's glowing review in today's WSJ. It's a pay site so I won't link to it but it's worth a buck to buy the paper if you don't already subscribe.
I don't let the political affiliation of those who make my car stop me from buying it, either. It's just one of those things that is unavoidable.
I posted it:
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