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Apple introduces iMac with built-in iSight - Page 2

post #41 of 139
10/12/05 at 7:27pm
Quote:
Originally posted by pmjoe
Huh??? I don't have the Apple Bluetooth mouse, but something must be seriously screwed up with it if you have to re-pair it all the time. I turn my Bluetooth devices on and off all the time, and I've never had to pair them again with my Mac. That is the whole point of pairing the devices, so that you don't have to do it again.


True, it shouldn't act the way it does, but it does. It's not just my mouse, it appears to be anyone with an Apple BT mouse from what others have told me. I don't have any other BT mouse, as I'm fine with wired, and can't justify the cost of the wireless. The Apple BT mouse was a gift. It and my apple BT keyboard are just kinda collecting dust now. Maybe I should ebay them.

- JonYo
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post #42 of 139
10/12/05 at 7:30pm
Quote:
Originally posted by sjk
The "Discoverable" Bluetooth setting is enabled on my iMac.

Thanks for confirming mine's not a unique experience. Sometimes my BT keyboard losing pairing but it does reconnect after about 10-20 seconds. Once yesterday and again this morning the keyboard has had a particularly nasty problem with the delete key "sticking", irretrievably erasing a bunch of text, then disconnecting/reconnecting. Lost at least an hour of some finer writing to that. Normally I save more often and of course one of the few times I don't... argh! Both times I was furiously clicking the Desktop hoping to abort it... today I seemed to have more success. Another time might be reason to abandon the BT keyboard. Oh, I'd just changed the batteries last week and they last around six months.

Anyway, thanks for the useful feedback. Oh, which mouse do you use now?


I was fine with my regular old 1-button mouse that came with my PM G5 for a long time, but recently I bought the new mighty mouse, and I'm pretty happy with it. I didn't like the feel of the side buttons (the button press you get when you squeeze the thing), so I disabled that. I just use it as a normal 2 button mouse with a scroll wheel, plus using the scroll ball press to activate dashboard.

- JonYo
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post #43 of 139
10/12/05 at 7:35pm
OH MY GOD!!!! IT COMES WITH A IPOD SHUFFLE THAT STICKS ON THE SIDE..... OH. thats the Remote.........

Admit it some of you thought that when looking at the pics of it... if even for a nano second.
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post #44 of 139
10/12/05 at 7:44pm
I was wondering how good the X600 XT really is compared to other graphics cards like the 9800 XT and etc. Thanks
"People don't want handouts! People want hand jobs!" ~ Connecticut governor William O'Neil at a political rally, followed by riotous applause
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post #45 of 139
10/12/05 at 7:52pm
Quote:
Originally posted by jonyo
I was fine with my regular old 1-button mouse that came with my PM G5 for a long time,

I use the wired one-button on my wife's eMac.

Quote:
but recently I bought the new mighty mouse, and I'm pretty happy with it. I didn't like the feel of the side buttons (the button press you get when you squeeze the thing), so I disabled that. I just use it as a normal 2 button mouse with a scroll wheel, plus using the scroll ball press to activate dashboard.

Ahh, thanks for reminding me to stop at the Apple Store tonight on my way home from a post-"One More Thing" dinner gathering so I can check out the MM. And if one of the more clueful geniuses I know there is around I'll ask him about this BT mouse pairing nonsense.

I don't mind control-clicking with a one-button mouse but the scoll pea on the MM might tip the balance in its favor.
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post #46 of 139
10/12/05 at 8:17pm
OMFG this is a fucking awesome iMac upgrade. this totally rocks. seriously. its actually an updated GPU x600pro and x600xt, with OMFG pci-express. up to 700mhz fsb and 2ghz of g5 power.

now, if only they can pull off ONE whole year of production without stupid capacitor and midplane f*ups (not apple's fault in a sense i suppose), this along with the 7200rpm sata-s and 512mb built in, very very compelling...
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post #47 of 139
10/12/05 at 8:21pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Algol
I was wondering how good the X600 XT really is compared to other graphics cards like the 9800 XT and etc. Thanks

it is interesting that in tomshardware's latest graphics roundup for PCI Express cards, 9800XT is not mentioned there at all...
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...charts-07.html

edit
however if you look at this page
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...s-pcie-07.html

it shows the AGP 9800XT in doom3 definitely outclasses the
PCIexpress x600xt (the benchmark for x600xt in the first link is certainly lower than that for the 9800xt in the second link)
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post #48 of 139
10/12/05 at 8:36pm
Did anyone else notice that there is a free upgrade to 1 GB of RAM on the 17" model (but not the 20" for some reason)? At least that seems to be the case in the Education side of the store...
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post #49 of 139
10/12/05 at 8:49pm
I'm really impressed with Apple over the iMac upgrade.

Without having to commit all its fortune into a media center PC gamble (that Microsoft is losing so badly at), Apple has added essential multi-media functionality; with an ease of use that will shame the entire computer industry into trying a little harder. Brilliant!

The sphere of influence of the iMac has suddenly expanded from the desk top, to include a radius of 6-8 feet. This (seemingly) small change will have a dramatic impact on where people want to put their iMac; which can only increase demand for this little beauty.

Finally, the impressive technical specs show that Apple is getting extremely serious about competing with the rest of the computer industry on price. As the other computer lines get refreshed, the entire lineup is going to position Apple very, very well for the transition to Intel processors. The computers that are coming out this fall and winter are going to be compelling enough to convince many people not to wait for a Mac with Intel Inside! Again, brilliant!!!
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post #50 of 139
10/12/05 at 8:58pm
dws: spot on mate, spot on. the interesting fact is that the market has compelled them to move in this direction but they've taken an innovative and much-reduced-risk approach and leveraging all the iMac g5 goodness to date.
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post #51 of 139
10/12/05 at 9:46pm
Quote:
Originally posted by sunilraman
it is interesting that in tomshardware's latest graphics roundup for PCI Express cards, 9800XT is not mentioned there at all...
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...charts-07.html

edit
however if you look at this page
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...s-pcie-07.html

it shows the AGP 9800XT in doom3 definitely outclasses the
PCIexpress x600xt (the benchmark for x600xt in the first link is certainly lower than that for the 9800xt in the second link)

I was under the impression that the X600 XT was a better card than it seems to actually be. I suppose it is better than the 9600 hundred though LOL... of course that wouldn't take much. Apple really should bite the bullet and put in a 9800 XT class GPU in my opinion.

edit: looking back over the chart the X600 only appears to be about 2fps faster than the 9600. Oh well the isight is nice.
"People don't want handouts! People want hand jobs!" ~ Connecticut governor William O'Neil at a political rally, followed by riotous applause
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"People don't want handouts! People want hand jobs!" ~ Connecticut governor William O'Neil at a political rally, followed by riotous applause
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post #52 of 139
10/12/05 at 10:18pm
Originally posted by Algol
I was under the impression that the X600 XT was a better card than it seems to actually be....

heh. me too. i guess that's marketing for ya
i got fooled. thank the gods for tomshardware to set the records straight
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post #53 of 139
10/12/05 at 10:40pm
Quote:
Originally posted by pix
This will be mine! I still have the original iMac G4 and it is showing it's age.

20" one I think. :-)

Pix, I love the original iMac G4, especially the 20" model since the screen is awesome and the repositioning is both ergonomic and cool. 8) I actually bought one I located through Small Dog over the iMac G5. I might well have gone for this new one, but i still wonder at the practicality of the rotating panel/slab approach to the "monitor" when compared to the pure beauty of the Sunflower! Aesthetically, the 15" is better balanced, but with what we do with our machines today, I think you've still got a lot of go, go in that iMac G4 if it is 20"
"Run faster. History is a constant race between invention and catastrophe. Education helps but it is never enough. You must also run." Leto Atreides II
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"Run faster. History is a constant race between invention and catastrophe. Education helps but it is never enough. You must also run." Leto Atreides II
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post #54 of 139
10/12/05 at 10:44pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Cubit
Pix, I love the original iMac G4, especially the 20" model since the screen is awesome and the repositioning is both ergonomic and cool. 8) I actually bought one I located through Small Dog over the iMac G5. I might well have gone for this new one, but i still wonder at the practicality of the rotating panel/slab approach to the "monitor" when compared to the pure beauty of the Sunflower! Aesthetically, the 15" is better balanced, but with what we do with our machines today, I think you've still got a lot of go, go in that iMac G4 if it is 20"

I think one of the main factors that caused apple to give up on the original iMac G4 was production costs. These new imac G5s are much cheaper looking back and apple probably has better margins. In fact I know they do overall from their quarterly results.

edit: And the heat of the G5 may have made it hard to produce one using the old design.
"People don't want handouts! People want hand jobs!" ~ Connecticut governor William O'Neil at a political rally, followed by riotous applause
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"People don't want handouts! People want hand jobs!" ~ Connecticut governor William O'Neil at a political rally, followed by riotous applause
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post #55 of 139
10/12/05 at 10:48pm
Quote:
Originally posted by FireEmblemPride
I'd be all over this if I didn't own a Cinema Display. =/

That is an odd dilema to have, but I have it too! I've been running my Cinema HD 23" with my powerbook since I never could spring for the PowerMac I originally bought it for! That time i did the opposite from the days when I bought my first Cube where I bought the Cube&15" and then went out and bought the then 22" Cinema Display for a ton!
"Run faster. History is a constant race between invention and catastrophe. Education helps but it is never enough. You must also run." Leto Atreides II
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"Run faster. History is a constant race between invention and catastrophe. Education helps but it is never enough. You must also run." Leto Atreides II
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post #56 of 139
10/12/05 at 10:57pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Cubit
Pix, I love the original iMac G4, especially the 20" model since the screen is awesome and the repositioning is both ergonomic and cool. 8) I actually bought one I located through Small Dog over the iMac G5. I might well have gone for this new one, but i still wonder at the practicality of the rotating panel/slab approach to the "monitor" when compared to the pure beauty of the Sunflower! Aesthetically, the 15" is better balanced, but with what we do with our machines today, I think you've still got a lot of go, go in that iMac G4 if it is 20"

Sadly not.. When I said 'original iMac G4' I was talking literally. 15" screen and 700mhz G4 processor. I work in Photoshop quite often and it can be a bit of a tight squeeze doing anything. Plus this old thing is showing it's age, it can be slow when I run a several apps, I have to use USB 1.1 for my iPod Shuffle, I only have the old Airport not the 802.11g one, I don't have a DVD burner at all let alone a dual layer one, the memory in this is PC133, I have a nVidia GeForce MX 2 32MB graphics card and a 40GB hard drive in it. I have a slight screen fault too, a line of blue pixels down the far left of the screen.

It is most definately upgrade time for me.

I do admit I prefer the design of this iMac though. I'll miss it just like I missed my Amiga 1200 back in the day when I had to get something with a bit more power.
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post #57 of 139
10/12/05 at 11:05pm
oh F**** ME i just found out that the new iMac g5 is thinner, AND [Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive DualLayer] is now standard i better cancel my credit cards before getting my (over)dose of RDF by watching the steveNote. bloody hell. looks like they've said, well, screw the powermac and powerbook this quarter (unless of course these are updated next week, which is possible)

fair enough steve. this qualifies as a *great powerpc product* well done, and you came through on that promise. respects.
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post #58 of 139
10/12/05 at 11:07pm
oh bloody hell, what happened to apple? they went mad, i tell ya, "512MB of 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-4200)" DDR2 ram? pc-4200? stop the madness!!!
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post #59 of 139
10/12/05 at 11:33pm
I want a 30" for my living room...

maybe I should have waited to buy my 20" four months ago... but who could have seen this coming.
Miles
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Miles
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post #60 of 139
10/12/05 at 11:44pm
Quote:
Originally posted by sunilraman
oh F**** ME i just found out that the new iMac g5 is thinner, AND [Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive DualLayer] is now standard i better cancel my credit cards before getting my (over)dose of RDF by watching the steveNote. bloody hell. looks like they've said, well, screw the powermac and powerbook this quarter (unless of course these are updated next week, which is possible)

fair enough steve. this qualifies as a *great powerpc product* well done, and you came through on that promise. respects.

Most Apple rumor sites and such are pointing to a Powermac and powerbook update within the next few weeks.

- JonYo
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post #61 of 139
10/13/05 at 3:48am
sorry to all the pMac, and pBook boys.
However if you remember Apple recently patented a camera in a screen in a moveable assembly. This was originally thought to be them tidying up their patent portfolio but it could be that the new iBooks and pBooks could get similar cameras in them. If so that means a new form for the laptops. This would then require perhaps an update on the pBooks.

If you search www.macuser.co.uk news for Apple tidies you should get the article.
Cant figure out how to link direct to the article.
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post #62 of 139
10/13/05 at 6:19am
$1200 for a 2GB memory upgrade? Apple must be out of their minds... or at least the people who buy it are.
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post #63 of 139
10/13/05 at 6:22am
Quote:
Originally posted by sunilraman
fair enough steve. this qualifies as a *great powerpc product* well done, and you came through on that promise. respects.

I will have to eat crow because I agree with your statement. This is a great powerpc product.

I am just pissed because I can't justify the purchase right now.
Hard-Core.
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Hard-Core.
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post #64 of 139
10/13/05 at 6:39am
Quote:
Originally posted by schmidm77
$1200 for a 2GB memory upgrade? Apple must be out of their minds... or at least the people who buy it are.

Note that the 1.5G option is $200. The cost of a 2GB stick is pretty damn high. On crucial's website it's above $1000. The big question is: Is the built-in 512MB a slot ("not user accessible") or is it soldered onto the motherboard?
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post #65 of 139
10/13/05 at 7:06am
spline: early indications show it is ONE user-accessible slot
aplnub: i hear ya brother. i was a bit down this afternoon 'coz i was like, i can't afford this at all right now

$200 for 1.5gb is frackin reasonable man...
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post #66 of 139
10/13/05 at 7:06am
Quote:
Originally posted by Splinemodel
Note that the 1.5G option is $200. The cost of a 2GB stick is pretty damn high. On crucial's website it's above $1000. The big question is: Is the built-in 512MB a slot ("not user accessible") or is it soldered onto the motherboard?

judging by the upgrade options, there is only one available slot for memory upgrades.
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post #67 of 139
10/13/05 at 7:15am
I know it wouldn't be the most seemless way to do it, but couldn't you buy the video adapter and run a cable to your tv so you could use front row on something besides the iMac?
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post #68 of 139
10/13/05 at 8:09am
Originally posted by aturner10
I know it wouldn't be the most seemless way to do it, but couldn't you buy the video adapter and run a cable to your tv so you could use front row on something besides the iMac?

wirelessly would be the key here. you have the imacg5 in like the den, or study or something, where you might sometimes chillout/ work/ etc... but then have it wirelessly stream (via airTunesVideo or something) to the big plasma in your living room.

yeah. you could run the cable out of the iMacg5 (video mirroring or display spanning with screen_spanning_doctor hack) but it just doesnt make much sense to have a 20 inch screen near the big 42" hdtv unless you live in very cramped conditions.....

edit: note the imacg5 has only vga or s-video or composite(not component) output with the optional adapter(s?)

so they are not really gearing it for you to hook it up to your big screen tv... not yet anyway.
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post #69 of 139
10/13/05 at 8:23am
Quote:
Originally posted by nathan22t
what kind of batteries does the remote use?

its not often that i have to change the batteries in TV type remotes, but it does happen

CR 2032 or something.
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post #70 of 139
10/13/05 at 9:20am
Quote:
Originally posted by sunilraman
spline: early indications show it is ONE user-accessible slot

Right. . . The thing is, I want to know if it's in any way possible to swap out the non-user-accessible memory. I have very memory-heavy requirements in a computer, but not really too much as far as CPU requirements. So I would rather have an iMac than a Powermac, but for the time being it seems like I can get a Dual 2.3GHz G5 w/ 2GB of memory and 20" cinema display for the same price as an iMac with 2.5GB.

I want to get a new computer before January, so I can sit tight and see what's the story. Or, for that matter, to see if dual core G5's come out.
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post #71 of 139
10/13/05 at 9:35am
yeah i see your point. i have no further information at this point except if it is a standard 1 512mb built in, 1 accessible slot, it means that built in memory is from our apple experience, probably *impossible* to swap out. but you can prove us wrong
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post #72 of 139
10/13/05 at 9:35am
Even apple do not offer an upgrade to that memory chip on the store. It seems highly unlikely that it is possible to switch it at all. I suspect it is just chips soldered onto the board by the look of things.
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post #73 of 139
10/13/05 at 12:07pm
Quote:
Originally posted by pix
Even apple do not offer an upgrade to that memory chip on the store. It seems highly unlikely that it is possible to switch it at all. I suspect it is just chips soldered onto the board by the look of things.

That's possible, although I'd bet it's not. I have a feeling this whole memory debacle was a marketing move to keep powermac sales up until new powermacs are out. After all, they need to clear the channel.

The rationale: Companies that make memory sticks buy huge quantities of 1: memory chips, 2: memory stick controller ICs. It's cheaper for Apple to put a sub-$1.00 connector on the iMac board somewhere and fill it with an OEM RAM stick than it is to solder RAM onto the board. I bet the stick is on the other side of the board directly beneath the user upgradable slot.
Cat: the other white meat
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post #74 of 139
10/13/05 at 12:56pm
doesn't the X600 have VIVO, ie H.264 decode acceleration?
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post #75 of 139
10/13/05 at 1:01pm
According to hardmac.com the supply channels in Europe are pretty dry so I would say that PMs and PBs will be upgraded as soon as 10.4.3 is ready. Any developers working on it know how it looks for release? My bet (up to 25ยข) is on dual cores for both. Freescale and IBM are supposed to be ready now and it would be a great finale for the PPCs at Apple.

As for those that recently bought a iMac, don't feel too bad. I bought mine at 6 AM the day it was announced and paid for the 250 GB HD, the 512 of RAM, Airport, Bluetooth, iSight and Mighty Mouse. You got a better deal than I did, but I'm still in love with it. Just remember that there will be moans from those that buy now when the Mactel version is announced.

At work I have a 23" display attached to my BP and must say that I prefer it to the iMac for hours on the computer each day. It also lets me get a PM one day when I can afford it.

A very good day for Apple yesterday - the competition is going to go nuts.
Ken
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Ken
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post #76 of 139
10/13/05 at 1:09pm
i guess this means steve finally got over his bias against TV and its convergence with PCs.

and the PCI-express update definitely gives some credibility to the TS rumor of new powermacs next week. they can't let the iMac be the monster of the litter for long.
apple gets "it."
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apple gets "it."
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post #77 of 139
10/13/05 at 1:23pm
Quote:
Originally posted by sunilraman
oh F**** ME i just found out that the new iMac g5 is thinner, AND [Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive DualLayer] is now standard

The previous generation had a dual-layer 8X drive as well.
Quote:
CUPERTINO, CaliforniaMay 3, 2005Apple today unveiled a new iMac G5 line with faster 2.0 GHz PowerPC G5 processors, built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth wireless connectivity and ... a new 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support...

And as far as I can tell, the new ones are really only thinner at the edges.
My Hi-Def Library | My Complete DVD Library
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My Hi-Def Library | My Complete DVD Library
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post #78 of 139
10/13/05 at 1:26pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Splinemodel
That's possible, although I'd bet it's not. I have a feeling this whole memory debacle was a marketing move to keep powermac sales up until new powermacs are out. After all, they need to clear the channel.

The rationale: Companies that make memory sticks buy huge quantities of 1: memory chips, 2: memory stick controller ICs. It's cheaper for Apple to put a sub-$1.00 connector on the iMac board somewhere and fill it with an OEM RAM stick than it is to solder RAM onto the board. I bet the stick is on the other side of the board directly beneath the user upgradable slot.

Hmmm, indeed. Maybe we need to wait for kodawarisan to work some of that investigative magic...
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post #79 of 139
10/13/05 at 2:08pm
Quote:
Originally posted by sunilraman
Originally posted by aturner10
I know it wouldn't be the most seemless way to do it, but couldn't you buy the video adapter and run a cable to your tv so you could use front row on something besides the iMac?

wirelessly would be the key here. you have the imacg5 in like the den, or study or something, where you might sometimes chillout/ work/ etc... but then have it wirelessly stream (via airTunesVideo or something) to the big plasma in your living room.

Streaming wireless video from my eMac and iMac downstairs to AirPort Express connected to EyeHome in the living room upstairs has worked nearly flawlessly for almost a year. EyeHome's UI begs for improvement; it's usable enough. And no H.264 support (yet); that's okay for now.

AirTunes works great for streaming audio from different iTunes libraries accessed remotely with my iBook G3.

EyeHome is currently $99 (after $100 rebate) and it's easy finding an Airport Express for less than that. That's an under $200 wireless streaming media option you can buy right now.
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post #80 of 139
10/13/05 at 2:47pm
Anyone notice that there's no inbuilt modem?
Anyone on dial-up (there are still a hell of a lot of users on dial-up) have to buy an external Apple 56k modem add-on \
Would it have cost so much to include an internal modem? Space issues or just cost cutting?
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