I have been out frolicking with hobbits for far too long, but now I have returned...
I visited my local Apple Store because I was excited to test drive the new eMac. I thought it looked cool on the Apple website, and I was dying to play with it.
I couldn't have been more disappointed.
This is what is wrong with the eMac, at least if one wants to view it as a consumer machine:
1) It's butt-ugly and looks cheap. Apple plastics are refined and clearly the result of thoughtful industrial design. The eMac is a vast expanse of whiteness, punctuated with a flip-out door that looks flimsy. At least the new iMac flip-out door is seamlessly integrated into the design. Perhaps the curvature helps.
2) The sound quality of the speakers is abysmal. I have a Lime iMac DV at home that I use it as a stereo of sorts. I can turn up the volume and the speakers still sound pretty darn good. The eMac's sound is muddied and whoever stuck them in there didn't pay attention to the larger space within, so the vibrations caused add to the bad sound quality. The speaker design is easily the eMac's biggest failure.
3) If it's a G4, I wouldn't have known, since it ran so slowly. Slower than my G3 DV at home, even. Granted, there were several programs open, but please... I opened the same number on an iMac and it was totally smooth. Perhaps the eMac had been toyed with, or poorly configured once it hit the store shelves, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt there. But it left me very unimpressed.
I was seriously considering purchasing an eMac due to its price point and the features offered. (I thought I could easily live without a DVD burner for now.) Forget it. I'll spend the extra $800 to get the top of the line iMac instead. Hell, I'd pay the extra money for the bottom of the line iMac.
If it weren't for the educational market which was the genesis for this machine, I would have predicted another Road Apple on our hands here.
[quote]1) It's butt-ugly and looks cheap. Apple plastics are refined and clearly the result of thoughtful industrial design. The eMac is a vast expanse of whiteness, punctuated with a flip-out door that looks flimsy. <hr></blockquote>
Exactly. There is just nothing inspired or innovative or even clever about the design. The eMac is the first Apple product in a long time that says "I was built to meet a price point." The old iMac didn't look that way, and the new iMac certainly doesn't.
If it were black it would look better, and the tilt/swivel stand should NOT be extra-I mean, get real Apple!............................................ .
I saw this puppy in person for the first time today at CompUSA. It sure has a lot of "face" to it, doesn't it? Not at all "sleek and sexy" like the other Apple product lines, it does have a certain spartan functionality to it. I can see this going over with a certain crowd. Hey, the Cube was stylish and cool, and it didn't sell worth a damn because the bang for the buck was missing.
Unfortunately I have not been able to see one in person as of yet, but I must admit, the day it was announced I thought it looked very friggin cool. I can see how the front door looks too big and clunky, but otherwise I love it. (But, my opinion could change once I see one lol) By the end of the summer I will decide whether to purchase one of these or one of the new iMacs....
I dunno. The transition from square to circle is kind of interesting:
The square front is also the problem I had with the old iMac, but I got used to that. The difference to me (without seeing it in person and without any real sense of scale since it's always pictured on a white backdrop) is that the thing doesn't really articulate how it sits on the desk. It's the same at the top and bottom, so it doesn't really sit, squat, kneel or tip-toe on the work surface. the iMac was more thoughtful in this respect. Maybe I need to see it with the optional stand.
I saw one today at JandR briefly and I must say I thought the thing was pretty damn cool.
When I first saw the announcement and pr pictures I thought, eh, cheap imac knock off, then I started to like it amd then I read these comments and expected the worst.
But I honestly liked it. I wish they had a stand there because I think with the stand it would just be awesome. I really like the plastic they used and the color. the sides look great and the ports are lined up very well.
the screen impressed me as well. I did notice flicker at the max resolution but the 2nd ne from the top was perfect.
overall, very impressed and apple should sell a boatload to schools
Yup, applenut, it rocks with the stand. It looks like it's just floating there and you can tilt and swing it pretty effortlessly. Looks a lot better in person than on Apple.com.
I went to the Apple Store to take a look at it yesterday. To me it looks like two completely different computers with and without the stand. With the stand it looks great, much nicer than the new iMac. Without the stand it looks horrible.
Aha...maybe THAT'S why. Perhaps I should see it on its stand? The CompUSA demo model was just sitting there looking weird. I was looking around for a stand, to see if they actually carried them there and sold them. Didn't see one.
I like everything about the eMac, EXCEPT that front face. I dig the glossy white, the port arrangement, the specs, the price, etc.
Still can't help but think Apple could've come out with this a year or so ago, thereby answering everyone's request for a 17" iMac and sparing us the patterns.
Its pretty bizarre for Apple to sell it without the base. Its a 17 inch monitor, it basically HAS to be adjustable. Do makers of 17 inch monitors charge extra for a base? Apple is a very wierd company. Of course I knew that already, its just that Jobs comes up with things that just make me shake my head in wonder...................................
I just got the new issue of Macworld with the eMac on the cover. There's a large photography inside (an entire page, basically) of the eMac on the stand, viewed from the side (so you can see the ports).
Whether it's the stand, the lighting, etc. it's an awesome photo and makes the eMac look VERY nice.
Aha! That's where I saw the nice image of the eMac. I thought those images made it look much nicer the small ones on Apple's pages. Perhaps the stand is the key...
pretty dumb to charge for it. It's one thing to make it removable, another to ask for another 460. I suppose the decision was that it would either eat into profits or raise the price of the eMac enough to make Apple uncomfortable, but I think the increased (potential) volume of sales could offset the cost of putting the plastic thingy in each box. Hm... maybe they just couldn't fit it in the packaging, so they have to sell it separately.
what, is murbot going to take pics of his new eMac for you, pscates? <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> <img src="graemlins/surprised.gif" border="0" alt="[Surprised]" />
damn, someone beat me to the eMac/black imac photos.
anyway, one thing i miss is the crt imac's handle (if we are assuming that the emac form is derived from the crt imac). sure, i don't use it often, but it is really nice when you need to move the unit (and easy for a cable lock).
Comments
I visited my local Apple Store because I was excited to test drive the new eMac. I thought it looked cool on the Apple website, and I was dying to play with it.
I couldn't have been more disappointed.
This is what is wrong with the eMac, at least if one wants to view it as a consumer machine:
1) It's butt-ugly and looks cheap. Apple plastics are refined and clearly the result of thoughtful industrial design. The eMac is a vast expanse of whiteness, punctuated with a flip-out door that looks flimsy. At least the new iMac flip-out door is seamlessly integrated into the design. Perhaps the curvature helps.
2) The sound quality of the speakers is abysmal. I have a Lime iMac DV at home that I use it as a stereo of sorts. I can turn up the volume and the speakers still sound pretty darn good. The eMac's sound is muddied and whoever stuck them in there didn't pay attention to the larger space within, so the vibrations caused add to the bad sound quality. The speaker design is easily the eMac's biggest failure.
3) If it's a G4, I wouldn't have known, since it ran so slowly. Slower than my G3 DV at home, even. Granted, there were several programs open, but please... I opened the same number on an iMac and it was totally smooth. Perhaps the eMac had been toyed with, or poorly configured once it hit the store shelves, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt there. But it left me very unimpressed.
I was seriously considering purchasing an eMac due to its price point and the features offered. (I thought I could easily live without a DVD burner for now.) Forget it. I'll spend the extra $800 to get the top of the line iMac instead. Hell, I'd pay the extra money for the bottom of the line iMac.
If it weren't for the educational market which was the genesis for this machine, I would have predicted another Road Apple on our hands here.
Gandalf
Exactly. There is just nothing inspired or innovative or even clever about the design. The eMac is the first Apple product in a long time that says "I was built to meet a price point." The old iMac didn't look that way, and the new iMac certainly doesn't.
at first i wuz i little shocked about the radical move from apple. (both hardware and design)
then i put i off as a "compaq-dell-noname-thing".
then i saw it at a apple-seminar in zuerich, switzerland and...
once i got a close look at all the details (or lacking details) i felt that "apple-design-magic" to it.
i think its beautiful!
i just turned from "junior member" to "member"!?!
jupiiiiiii!!!!
on the other hand...
peve! you got work to do instead of hanging around on the web!
and get some sleep!
...
nighynight dudes
The square front is also the problem I had with the old iMac, but I got used to that. The difference to me (without seeing it in person and without any real sense of scale since it's always pictured on a white backdrop) is that the thing doesn't really articulate how it sits on the desk. It's the same at the top and bottom, so it doesn't really sit, squat, kneel or tip-toe on the work surface. the iMac was more thoughtful in this respect. Maybe I need to see it with the optional stand.
When I first saw the announcement and pr pictures I thought, eh, cheap imac knock off, then I started to like it amd then I read these comments and expected the worst.
But I honestly liked it. I wish they had a stand there because I think with the stand it would just be awesome. I really like the plastic they used and the color. the sides look great and the ports are lined up very well.
the screen impressed me as well. I did notice flicker at the max resolution but the 2nd ne from the top was perfect.
overall, very impressed and apple should sell a boatload to schools
I like everything about the eMac, EXCEPT that front face. I dig the glossy white, the port arrangement, the specs, the price, etc.
Still can't help but think Apple could've come out with this a year or so ago, thereby answering everyone's request for a 17" iMac and sparing us the patterns.
Whether it's the stand, the lighting, etc. it's an awesome photo and makes the eMac look VERY nice.
Check it out.
pretty dumb to charge for it. It's one thing to make it removable, another to ask for another 460. I suppose the decision was that it would either eat into profits or raise the price of the eMac enough to make Apple uncomfortable, but I think the increased (potential) volume of sales could offset the cost of putting the plastic thingy in each box. Hm... maybe they just couldn't fit it in the packaging, so they have to sell it separately.
Damn, that black sucker actually looks pretty cool, eh?
Wonder what an eMac would look like on a silver flat desk...
Maybe I was just in a feisty mood the day I saw it. Every picture I see of the eMac, I dig. Maybe I should go back and look at it again.
Perhaps I judged to hastily...
Wouldn't be the first time.
(murbot, got your e-mail...you get mine back?
Anyone else having this trouble? Seems to do this every few days lately.
I'll shoot you another.
Oh, and no comment Eugene.
anyway, one thing i miss is the crt imac's handle (if we are assuming that the emac form is derived from the crt imac). sure, i don't use it often, but it is really nice when you need to move the unit (and easy for a cable lock).