Gateway hopes "One" will tempt would-be iMac buyers (photos) - Page 3

Why don't you just sell your Mac and admit that you made a mistake? You're just not a Mac kind of guy. No harm in that. Get a PC and find your 'bliss'.

I don't think you understand me. Since a hard drive is one of the main components in a computer, and sizes increase significantly over time, I think it makes sense for a consumer to be able to replace the drive themselves rather than have to take the machine to a service centre.


Yeah, I'm going to end up with a second hand Mac Pro. Buying a brand new one is expensive and overkill for my needs. If the iMac had that one feature though, it would fit the bill perfectly.

I do not, on the other hand, know of any good use for that PCIe slot.


That's the exact opposite of everything I've heard so far. The reviews I've read of the new iMac said that the new enclosure was held together by a complex system of magnets and that taking it apart wasn't something that even experienced tinkerers should mess with.

Then these repair centers are total retards. This is the easiest iMac yet to replace the hard drive.

I bought a 24" aluminum iMac the day they came out and a 750gb hard drive. I bought 2 suction cups at Wal-Mart for $1.50 and lifted the glass off (you barely even have to try). Unscrewed about 10 screws to release the LCD and that's it.

Right under the LCD sits the hard drive. It's not even held together by screws. You just push on it and lift.

If I can figure that out without ever seeing one of these iMacs before, then maybe I should be working at these repair centers.

Let me guess - upgradeability is the number one spec for you, right?

You'd pay the $1500 for this, then replace the hard drive, processor, and GPU, and add a second hard drive. Then overclock the FSB. Then swap out the LCD for a "decent" one.

If by competitive you mean flattery by imitation ...Honestly, the slate form is nice, but I hope it doesn't restrict the viewing angle of the screen to be slanting away from the user. I almost always use my screens 90deg perpendicular to the desk plane, or otherwise slanting *towards* me slightly (particularly when gaming).

BTW typing this on the matte screen iMac 17" Core2Duo. A classic, timeless. I don't think the Gateway will rival these qualities.

The problem is not so much taking it apart, but rather putting it back together. I probably could do it too, but that's not to say it's easy. Indeed, Apple has advised techs to use white gloves throughout the whole process so as not to leave fingerprints on the inside of the glass, and to be extra careful with dust particles gathering on the inside...

I understand that such a compact computer needs to make some concessions like this one, I just wished that Apple didn't rip off customers with their excessive hard drive upgrade prices...

BTW, do you have to break any of the "Warranty void" stickers to remove the hard drive?

If I were at home with my Mac I would have done a proper job on this... but at work I'm stuck with MS Paint!!!

I really don't understand the polemic about the possibility to change the hard drive in an iMac. Even in the Macbook it is very easy to do it and Apple has an DIY guide on this.

Not sure what planet you are from, but it ain't this one.

Nonsense. The demographic of iMac users is anyone wanting a Mac for home use. It is the ONLY Mac that comes close to being a reasonable price for the average home user. That is pretty much why I ended up buying an iMac. I wanted a Mac and the Mac Pro is too expensive and the Mini is overpriced for what it offers. The fact that I can't upgrade one bloody part of it beyond the memory was a trade-off I had to accept to get a Mac. Would I have liked a better option, something with an actual upgrade path? Heck yes.

Of course, when I think about, what peripherals are available to fill those empty PCI slots in a Mac Pro. Are there actually video cards available with Mac drivers? Sound cards? TV Tuner cards? Will a Mac recognize a PhysX board? Anything that a home user would be interested in?

Is that because you are choosing to ignore the techs that think otherwise (like myself) generally you are only going to hear complaints from people that are going to complain, there are many out there that are indifferent and aren't saying anything, if you ask those same techs if it is the worst machine to get into, they will likely say no (if they say yes, then I'd question their experience, the original Macintosh was more difficult to get into, heck the CRT iMacs are harder to work on.) The only thing required to take the glass off the complex system of magnets (how are magnets complex?) is a suction cup with a handle. There are 10 screws beneath that to take the front bezel off. and a few screws to get the LCD out, after that you have access to everything. This model doesn't require the care nesessary to take off the foil shielding that was sealed all the way around the perimeter of the bezel, that rarely came off without ripping the foil and ruining it. Putting it back together doesn't require replacing any sealant. Talk to the 5 techs in my shop and they will say the same thing, the goofy latch alone on the previous 2 versions of the iMac often took 10 minutes to get open alone.

But does it really matter to the consumer how hard or easy something is to take apart for a tech, all the tech shops I've worked in charge the same amount for a drive replacement no matter how difficult or easy it is to get into. We charge 39.95 for drive replacement on anything, even iBooks (by far the most difficult to take apart.)

The article implied, to me at least, that there were some Firewire and USB etc ports on the unit itself, and more were offloaded onto the power supply.

The idea being that you take any permanent fixtures and plug them in to the power supply on the floor (thus keeping all the cables entirely totally off the desk and out of sight), and then only use the on-unit ports for devices that frequently move around and only need temporary connections.

For that purpose, I'd prefer having the ports on the side rather than the back, so it's easy to find them without fumbling around the back of the unit when I'm ready to plug/unplug.

I think both have their points. A long-term device like a printer, scanner, iPod, external hard drive can connect to the back, but a thumb drive or camcorder should have an easier to access port.

When I had my mini, rooting around back there had often disconnected an audio cable, among other things.

The keyboard that comes with the iMac has 2 USB 2.0 ports on it, one for the mouse and the other can easily be used to plug in devices you need access to often, like flash drives. The keyboard is the most convenient place for it.

And good luck finding this $1500 PC laptop that actually not a complete piece of garbage. Or pay an extra $400 and go for the MacBook Pro, that has actually been called a desktop replacement because it is so powerful.

Over time, yes to almost all of those.

Yes, upgradeability is the number one most important spec for any intelligent computer consumer. Only an extremely foolish person doesn't regard this as critically important. If you hate upgradeability, perhaps you enjoy lighting money on fire as well.

I only paid about $1500 for my G4 tower when I bought it. Since then I've upgraded the internal hard drives twice, upgraded the optical drive twice, upgraded the graphics card once, upgraded the processor once, upgraded the RAM three times, replaced the monitor once, and increased its functionality by adding 2 PCI cards. Why is it 7 years later, when the cost of comuters has dropped dramatically overall, I now have to pay twice as much to get the same functionality? I desperately want to buy a new Mac, but Apple simply does not make one that is both useable and affordable. Give us iMac specs in an open box that allows the user to swap out any and all components as needed over time, and Apple will have their best selling computer ever.

Oh this was a great story to bring the pathetic fanboys out of their closet!!!

There are so sooo many posts i could reply to here, but i have a life and do not have time, but..

1 - You mac fanboys have no idea how many normal people actually do upgrade their PC's, upgrading to a larger and faster hard drive is a doddle on a normal PC and so many people do it, not just techies.

2 - there are some desktop components in this machine, the iMac is nothing more that a laptop, the only desktop component in an iMac is the 3.5" hard drive.

3 - Apple is a company, they make computers, they make lots of money from fanboys, they are not a religion, Steve Jobs is not God. They love the fact that people masturbate over the latest update to iPhoto - they have based a whole business around that fact!! get over yourselves please and get a life! This site makes me embarrassed to be a Mac user.

I'm sure he must have meant to say "Only retarded people would live in a country where they pay taxes to support a bureaucrat Privacy Commissioner to caution people against buying the iMac because of difficult hard drive access."

These same retarded people would probably listen -- like sheep -- to someone who, although "extremely partial to the Mac OS," would counsel friends and family to buy ANY COMPUTER RUNNING THE VASTLY MORE INSECURE WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM before buying a current iMac because of what potential data insecurity might occur IF their hard drive failed and IF the Apple Tech working on it was a info thief.

Dude, how much did they pay you for your soul?

Well, that's it then. I'm buying one of these Gateways, since it's not made by a big, bad computer company with products people get off on, or run by anybody famous.

And I guess I'll throw my MBP 2.33GHz out in the dustbin as well, since it's only a laptop and not nearly as wonderful as a Gateway One must be, what with all its desktop components and superior hard drive replacement accessibility.

And do you know how many people then bring in those computers they updated to have a tech fix it for them? Most of the time because they didn't set the jumpers right. People that buy these types of computers just don't do upgrades other than RAM, I've not once been asked up upgrade any of the previous 6 versions of the Gateway Profile before this.



How many laptops are running ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro video cards? I'm sure if there are any out there, they are faster than the Gateway, and more expensive. How do you know what "desktop" components are in the Gateway? Is there really any distinction anymore? Any MacBook Pro will outperform this Gateway. So what difference does it make that it is Desktop or Laptops parts? You are not ever going to be able to upgrade anything in the Gateway besides the Hard disk and RAM.



The same can be said about NASCAR, Star Wars, and so forth, but if you are going to use a piece of equipment to do work, you might as well enjoy it. This still doesn't address the point we've all made, the Specs on the iMac are far better than the Gateway and it costs less. To me it matters not that the Hard drive is easy to get to because I do ALL my own service on ANY machine out there, and make money from those that can't.

So far it looks like it has done a fine job bringing the trolls out the closets.

Please do not feed the trolls.

Save this for the PO forum.


I know it's hard to hear, but if someone's only interested in typing letters in Word, surfing the Web and checking email, there's not a whole lot of difference between the two major platforms.

The virus thing is a problem, but manageable. I've been on the Mac since we all needed to keep SAV definitions fully updated or risk having every Quark or Pagemaker file we shared contaminated. With the increasing popularity of the Mac OS, that time may come for us again in the future.

The hard drive thing isn't some random feature that I'm harping on because I think my iMac disk will fail. It's about best practices. To lock up the components of a computer simply to force replacement sooner in its life cycle is wasteful and unnecessary. The iMac already has a forced obsolescence factor by virtue of its screen. Given that there is no mid-pro tower in the lineup, it's silly to further inconvenience users who might want to upgrade a drive (or ask a friend to do it for them.)

Aside from disk failure, our storage needs may increase very quickly. iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie certainly made storage needs jump when they were each introduced. With TV and Movie downloads on the horizon, it's not unreasonable to think that many consumers might need to upgrade their drives in short order.

Apple's a great company, but it is a company. It looks out for itself and its shareholders. That's not always the same as looking out for its users. The recent iMovie debacle and the forced iPhone rebate show that the company makes mistakes and responds to its users demands.

So instead of the fanboys arguing nonsense like "no-one really needs to replace an iMac drive', maybe more users should speak up and tell Apple that access to internal components is a core need that should be worked on in the next rev.

Its cool nonetheless, and points out how Apple is still the only innovator when it comes to style. But that doesn't mean that Apple can't be improved upon.

I actually think the imac should have looked more like this. It would have very nicely tied together the ipod, iphone, and imac for an aesthetically uniform line of products. Instead, the new imac has aluminum which is very nice, but doesn't look at all like the touch, iphone and nanos (at least not from the front view).

If this could run MacOSX, I would seriously consider it as a replacement to my ancient powerbook. This gateway is beautiful, but as long as its running MSFT, it will lose in the long run. I think Gateway needs to find a way to let people install OSX on their PCs. Is this possible?

This may have been covered in a different thread, but why can't Gateway/Dell/HP just start making their systems compatible with OSX? Does Apple have a patent on a certain system that restricts other pc's from running OSX? Aren't they all running the same 'intel inside' hardware now?

And you still have a 167 mHz frontside bus.

I think you will find that if you had sold the G4 on eBay when you wanted to upgrade, and bought an Apple Refurbished machine, the difference in what you paid to get the new machine would have been less than all the money you poured into the upgrades. And you'd have a new power supply and a 1.5 gHz frontside bus and FireWire 800 and optical audio out.

And your name-calling makes me embarrassed that we have such rude users here, so I am reducing the number by one, namely you.

I do understand that hard drive upgrades may be a limiting issue. The amount of data that computers need to store grows all the time. I certainly couldn't get away with just one hard drive, but I'm not the iMac target market. I do want an iMac some day as a workbench machine, but that's not now. I'd rather install a hard drive from Best Buy than pay Apple 2x-3x as much for their hard drive upgrades.


The display panel is an obvious desktop component. The rest of the stuff, that's hard to say, the circuit boards aren't the same, it's all custom integrated.

The problem with that argument is that somehow, Apple's unit has more for less money, faster clocked chip, larger screen, even when hampered with the use of more expensive notebook CPU.

Cool. I'm still working with a last-generation iMac keyboard, and it only has USB 1.1 ports.

Of course, since every Gateway "One" comes with a Bluetooth keyboard as standard equipment, I suppose that's not an option for them.

With the layout of my desk, I would just as soon plug my printer's USB port into a box on the floor midway between the workspace and the printer caddie. Of course, other peoples' different layouts may lead to different conclusions.

I'm torn with an external hard drive that never goes anywhere - on the one hand, it's comforting to be able to see the diagnostic light. That being the case, I might be inclined to keep it on my desk anyway, and in that case plugging it into the back of the computer wouldn't be adding any significant amount to the clutter on my desk....

On the other hand, all my internal hard drives spend their entire life out of sight, so why should an "always-on" external hard drive be any different? In that case, I may be inclined hide the internal hard drive away somewhere, and then it'd be nice to not have any extra cables creeping off my desk top to service it.

Certainly, if the PSU needs to be distinct from the rest of the computer for some reason, it makes sense that the GbE port may as well be offloaded to the same place - I mean, the cables supplying power and Ethernet are both originating at the same place (a port on the wall) so they may as well both terminate at the same place too.

And if, as a result, I end up with only one cable winding its way up into the back of my computer instead of 5 (AC, Ethernet, printer, external hard drive, S/PDIF), hey, I'm all for it.

Well, at least you'd be avoiding that expensive Apple Tax™. Because, as any Windoze fan boy will tell you, those Apples are so much more expensive for weaker hardware...oh, wait...nevermind!



I do agree that placing some ports in the power brick is a logical idea that reduces desk clutter.

Are we sure this thing is an All In One?

That looks awfully like the base unit to me...

Can you imagine how much it will cost to replace that particular Power Brick?

at least they didn't copy the mac.

I actually think this design is NICER than the iMac in some ways. I really like the all black glass face. It's looks much better than the raccoon effect of the 1" black border on the iMac. That said... I think the iMac foot is nicer looking that having the machine come right down to the desk with a little 'kick stand' in the back.

Not even close.

The upgraded G4 I have at home keeps up with the G5 I have at work just fine. The upgrades really were not all that expensive, considering hard drives, RAM, and monitors were things I would have bought anyway no matter what computer I had. Factoring the most I could possibly have gotten for my G4, and the least I could have gotten a refurb G5 for, the difference is still a lot more than what I've outlayed, AND I got to buy the components one at a time, each time making the computer a little better. Plus, I can take some of those componenets with me and put them to use with a new machine.

The only reason I want to replace that tower is I have maxed out my upgrade paths over those 7 years, and it's time to start from scratch again.

Good point, but in my experience, I've yet to replace any power brick on any piece of electronics I've ever owned...

I'm sure one of the primary reasons people switch to macs is the operating system, not just design and aesthetics. I doubt this computer will make a difference to apple sales.

I don't think it'll have a noticeable effect on Apple's sales, but it'll be interesting to see what happens to it nonetheless.

Many of the "anti-xMac" crowd reckon that Windows users don't buy all-in-ones because no-one makes a decent Windows all-in-one. Now, there is one so we can see whether there is all this supposed pent-up demand from Windows users to get an all-in-one.

Half a Jedi. Half a Jedi...

Lemon Bon Bon.

Patent for a built in camera?.. are you joking.. apple wasn't even the first to offer a built in camera.. they just have a better design style but they are not the first and how exactly could this be patented?. What exactly would a company patent?.. the the camera is built in?.

What if you want to upgrade your hard drive before it fails?. Also i am working on a computer that has a hard drive failure.. try telling the person who paid over $2000 for it to go buy another one.. Computers are not disposable accessories.. people don't just go buy another one.. mac owners are certainly elitist.. maybe that's why apple overprices their computers.. they know mac owners have tons of money to buy another one rather than fix the one they own.