Help me push an eMac on my housemate

[dfiler]

My house-mate's laptop died this week. Perhaps this was for the better, it was maxed out with 64 megs of ram for win98.

She has returned to school to get a masters in education and can't survive without a replacement computer soon. Currently, she's considering bargain basement PCs costing no more than 600 dollars. She also has a firewire camcorder and is only mildly interested in making movies on the computer.

I've got a dual450 with an LCD screen and its very tempting to badger her into getting a Mac as well. What are your thoughts on a refurbished eMac. 700mhz machines can be had for a little over 700 USD. How should I go about convincing her that the eMac is the machine for her?

[Bioflavonoid]

Well, I'd take an eMac over a crappy Wintel anyday. And that's the honest truth. It seems like it would be the perfect speed for her, too. Maybe you could try n' convince her to buy a 999 iBook (since she had a laptop earlier). Let's hope for another switcher!
EDIT: Make sure to tell her that any piece of software that you could possibly want is on the Mac. Damn urban legends. Mac OS X kicks ass too. :)

[ 02-01-2003: Message edited by: Bioflavonoid ]</p>

[Bioflavonoid]

O, and one more thing. An eMac would chew her old laptop and spit it out. 64 Megs of ram... those were the days...lol. <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />

[Steve]

I would just pick up a new iMac when they're released in a few days. eMacs and their CRTs are old news. When refreshed, the current low-end model will almost certainly be had at the $799 mark, perhaps less.

[ 02-01-2003: Message edited by: Steve ]

[ 02-01-2003: Message edited by: Steve ]</p>

[stunned]

Bring her to an Apple store and let her try out OS X and touch some Mac machines.

[Big Mac]

[quote]Originally posted by Steve:
<strong>I would just pick up a new iMac when they're released in a few days. eMacs and their CRTs are old news. When refreshed, the current low-end model will almost certainly be had at the $799 mark, perhaps less.
</strong><hr></blockquote>

You're saying the 15" iMac will be around $799? I'm sorry, but that's a bit difficult to believe. They've got the iMac CRT sitting at $799, right? Maybe they can push the eMac closer to that level, but the iMac with its LCD won't get there any time soon. Remember, this is Apple pricing we're talking about.

[Paul]

[quote]Originally posted by Big Mac:
<strong>

You're saying the 15" iMac will be around $799? I'm sorry, but that's a bit difficult to believe. They've got the iMac CRT sitting at $799, right? Maybe they can push the eMac closer to that level, but the iMac with its LCD won't get there any time soon. Remember, this is Apple pricing we're talking about.</strong><hr></blockquote>

he is talking about the current models after the line is bumped... i dont thing it would be unusual to see a refurbished low end 15" for close to that price

[murbot]

After reading your thread title, I had visions of you waiting on your balcony with a few AIers, then shoving a 50 pound eMac on her head.

Then you could have started referrring to your housemate as your flatmate.

:D

Whatever you decide to do, wait a few days at least. An eMac update is almost guaranteed next week. Won't hurt to wait a few days.

[EmAn]

[quote]Originally posted by murbot:
<strong>After reading your thread title, I had visions of you waiting on your balcony with a few AIers, then shoving a 50 pound eMac on her head.

Then you could have started referrring to your housemate as your flatmate.

:D
</strong><hr></blockquote>
<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />

[bunge]

Rendevous-enhanced iTunes might be a nice feature to pitch (even if it doesn't exist quite yet.)

[agent302]

[quote]Originally posted by murbot:
<strong>After reading your thread title, I had visions of you waiting on your balcony with a few AIers, then shoving a 50 pound eMac on her head.

Then you could have started referrring to your housemate as your flatmate.

:D

Whatever you decide to do, wait a few days at least. An eMac update is almost guaranteed next week. Won't hurt to wait a few days.</strong><hr></blockquote>

When is your wife getting back? :p

[Kesh]

Personally, I would avoid the eMac. Go straight to the iMac line. There are... certain problems with the eMac.

[EmAn]

[quote]Originally posted by Kesh:
<strong>Personally, I would avoid the eMac. Go straight to the iMac line. There are... certain problems with the eMac.</strong><hr></blockquote>
But there are... also good eMacs without problems.

[nosey]

[quote]Originally posted by Kesh:
<strong>Personally, I would avoid the eMac. Go straight to the iMac line. There are... certain problems with the eMac.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I hate to agree, but when I went into a Mac store up here near West Edmonton Mall, the emac had a squished screen. When I pointed it out to someone (okay, it was the receptionist, but she was cuter than the salesmen) all she did was shrug and say "I guess someone tried the wrong screen resolution..."

Yeah, like altering the screen res would make it go all slanted too...

Anyways, check the emac discussion forum at Apple before confirming her, and maybe get her to buy an iBook... Those are nice... Freindly, too...

[Overhope]

The eMac display problem has (apparently) been pinned down now, and a revised video cable released: <a href="http://www.macfixit.com/staticpages/index.php?page=20030131071918881" target="_blank">http://www.macfixit.com/staticpages/index.php?page=20030131071918881</a>

[steve666]

The screen was slanted probably because someone messed with the geometry controls. As someone stated the video cable was the problem with the bad eMacs and they have been fixed.

As for CRTs being old news, they are still selling strong and have some advantages over LCDs. To my eyes they still have better image quality than LCDs.............................................. ..

[nosey]

Well, I was standing near the machine, holding a scarf to my face because I was drooling over the 17 inch iMac, when out of the corner of my eye I notice something to my left.

I looked and saw the eMac acting funny. The store had opened ten minutes earlier, so I don't think anyone would have been playing with it, and I didn't notice it when I walked over (of course, I did have my eye on the iMac at the time..)

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I think she would be better away with the original CRT iMac...

[Defiant]

[quote]Originally posted by nosey:
<strong>...the emac had a squished screen. When I pointed it out to someone </strong><hr></blockquote>

because it's a mac with a CRT from Apple (yeah, Samsung or whatever, but it's still from Apple), you can change the 'alignment' of the screen just like you can do it with any other screen. one thing though is different. you have to adjust it with the system preferences, and it's very funny to play with it. :D

[ 02-03-2003: Message edited by: Defiant ]</p>

[dfiler]

=== UPDATE ===
You know... there's no way in hell I'm showing this thread to my housemate. This ain't help! <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />

We went to compUSA this weekend to get an estimate on merely fixing her broken laptop. Miraculously, it worked when we powered it up on their service desk. My guess is that the cold car drive unseized some bearings. At that point, she was reluctantly going to keep the machine longer, saving money for her program's trip to namibia this summer. Then we walked back to the apple section...

She immediately fell in love with all the macs there except for the towers. She didn't want to even consider anything that far out of her price range. After playing with the iMac arms and fondling the laptops, we returned to the eMac. She loved the all in one design and was pleased with not having to pay for the cool factor of an LCD screen. 'They both take up the same amount of desk space anyway' was her justification.

To respond to a couple of the suggestions:
- The g4 iMacs are way out of her price range. It doesn't matter if LCD screens are cool, she isn't going to rob, steal, or pillage just to get a cool screen.
- Same goes for the iBook. She simply doesn't have the money.
- The g3 iMacs are painfully slow in OS X and i wouldn't recommend them even to an enemy. I'd rather see her get a much, much, much faster PC than squint at the tiny screen while waiting for the computer to do something like display the file menu.
- Thanks for the heads up on tomorrow's rumored release of updated iMacs and/or eMacs. Hopefully, this will drop prices on old models and make Mac hardware more affordable for her.

[ 02-03-2003: Message edited by: dfiler ]</p>

[steve666]

[quote]Originally posted by nosey:
<strong>Well, I was standing near the machine, holding a scarf to my face because I was drooling over the 17 inch iMac, when out of the corner of my eye I notice something to my left.

I looked and saw the eMac acting funny. The store had opened ten minutes earlier, so I don't think anyone would have been playing with it, and I didn't notice it when I walked over (of course, I did have my eye on the iMac at the time..)</strong><hr></blockquote>

Its possible that the eMac on display was one of the defective ones..................................

[wolfeye155]

That makes no sense. The iBook's base price is $100 cheaper than the base price of an eMac... :confused: Am I missing something.

[dfiler]

[quote]Originally posted by wolfeye155:
<strong>That makes no sense. The iBook's base price is $100 cheaper than the base price of an eMac... :confused: Am I missing something.</strong><hr></blockquote>Yep. The refurbished eMacs in question can be had for 700 dollars. It is nearly twice the speed of comparable iBooks, and comes with a larger screen, larger hard drive, a mouse, a full keyboard, cheaper memory upgrades, and cheaper hard-drive upgrades.

Don't get me wrong, laptops are nice. However, you still pay a premium for the lcd and miniturized hardware.

Also, keep in mind that she might be interested in using iMovie and iDVD. While she's had a firewire camera for a while, she's never used it in conjunction with a computer. For inexperienced users on windows, the process is nearly impossible. I can't honestly recommend anyone buy a G3 machine with the intention of doing video editing. Plus, dirt cheap internal superdrives can not be installed in laptops and she can't pay the firewire premium for a burner.

The suggested purchase of an eMac was well thought out... This thread was an attempt to solicate eMac anecdotes which would push her over the switcher edge...
<img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />

[ 02-03-2003: Message edited by: dfiler ]</p>

[tomj]

okay, here's what we do...

you get her to stand outside the building about five feet away from you, i'll take the emac to the roof and BLAMMO!
we'll get 'er.

;)

[FormerLurker]

Well, I just unpacked one of those refurbished eMacs for a client today..... popped in a 512 MB DIMM, transferred all her data from her G3 iMac with FireWire target disk mode in a couple minutes,and the result was pure beauty !

Wonderful screen, nice speakers, and FAST AS HELL running OS X...

I don't NEED one, but it was soooo nice, especially for the price, that I find myself WANTING one!

[Luca]

With the new cheaper eMacs, it might be easier now to convince someone to get one of them. $1299 for an 800 MHz Superdrive version!

[DrCreations]

I agree with stunned, if you have an Apple store close by, or even if you have to take a nice road trip, the benifits of actually touching a new machine will help sell her ... but as it sounds, she is an educated woman, so ANY type of Apple you look at along with OSX ... will sell itself.

[Alpha Mac]

Dont forget the Edu discount.

[ 02-04-2003: Message edited by: Alpha Mac ]</p>

[bradbower]

I'd be careful. eMacs are pretty heavy, you could hurt your housemate. :(

[bradbower]

I really like the eMac's screen in person. Something about it.. reminds me of the beautiful Apple CRT days of yore. And it's so affordable. $929 edu.

[EmAn]

[quote]Originally posted by dfiler:
<strong>Yep. The refurbished eMacs in question can be had for 700 dollars. It is nearly twice the speed of comparable iBooks, and comes with a larger screen, larger hard drive, a mouse, a full keyboard, cheaper memory upgrades, and cheaper hard-drive upgrades.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
How do you figure that it's nearly twice the speed?

[MCQ]

[quote]Originally posted by Alpha Mac:
<strong>Dont forget the Edu discount.

[ 02-04-2003: Message edited by: Alpha Mac ]</strong><hr></blockquote>

Yep, a whole whopping $20 on the combo-drive model! <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />

Thank goodness that $929 model exists for edu, even though it's without a modem.