Mediocre geometry, moire, convergance issues. This is just life for cheap monitors. The eMac doesnt even have the controls required to adequetly adjust it.
I missed finding these for a while, but there are at least some geometry controls for the eMac (and for the old CRT iMacs too) under System Preferences. Are you aware of these controls, and find them inadequate, or were you unaware that they existed at all?
I was used to adjusting monitor geometry using physical buttons and didn't think about the idea of doing such adjustments through software until I simply got desperate with an old iMac, which had a small raster which was way under-utilizing the already small screen real estate, and started poking around in System Preferences hoping to find something to help.
The last eMac I adjusted this way looked pretty good as far as I was concerned. Not superb, but better than a dirt-cheap monitor.
I played on a eMac for a few minutes in a shop today, the screen seemed a bit disappointing to me, everything looked a little too soft. I wondered if somone had played around with the display settings, but when I went to system prefs, the displays icon appeared greyed out and unselectable for some reason.
I played on a eMac for a few minutes in a shop today, the screen seemed a bit disappointing to me, everything looked a little too soft. I wondered if somone had played around with the display settings, but when I went to system prefs, the displays icon appeared greyed out and unselectable for some reason.
I think I may just get an iMac G3 on ebay instead. I dont really see much of a speed difference.
I think I may just get an iMac G3 on ebay instead. I dont really see much of a speed difference.
I guess it depends on how you use your computer. I think a 1.25Ghz G4 is noticeably faster than a 600Mhz G3. For the difference in price (you say) $300-400 on eBay for a G3 vs. $650 (plus tax) for an Apple Certified open-box eMac I'd definitely go for the G4 eMac. You might consider longevity too. The G3 has probably been running for a few years, and could break any time.
I think I may just get an iMac G3 on ebay instead. I dont really see much of a speed difference.
depends what you need it for i suppose, but ive found the emac to be pretty nice to use, and ours only have 256mb ram - easy to add more, i found more ram in my g3 800 laptop made a big difference - but its still not as good at some things as the g4 emac
if you want to movie edit or anything else above web browsing (even photoshop) i'd get the emac. that said, im no movie editing pro so the stuff that does still take time didnt worry me
our emac was an education purchase, but i think retail u get some extra software (but im not sure i rarely visit the non-edu non-au online store!)
anyway good luck- i still cant decide if its better to get my bro to buy a new one now or wait for the g5 revision - it could be 6 months or january! or even if jan might bring a price drop?? im at least waiting until jan 11th or whenever the next conf is - esp in australia where the exchange rate is making the price seem higher everyday! i really think they should re-evaluate the price every 6 months, but i guess that'd stuff up their marketing
oh well - im looking forward to a decent revision of this machine so i can convert more of my family and friends ;P
I played on a eMac for a few minutes in a shop today, the screen seemed a bit disappointing to me, everything looked a little too soft. I wondered if somone had played around with the display settings, but when I went to system prefs, the displays icon appeared greyed out and unselectable for some reason.
This means these options have been locked out by the eMac's administrator.
I guess it depends on how you use your computer. I think a 1.25Ghz G4 is noticeably faster than a 600Mhz G3. For the difference in price (you say) $300-400 on eBay for a G3 vs. $650 (plus tax) for an Apple Certified open-box eMac I'd definitely go for the G4 eMac. You might consider longevity too. The G3 has probably been running for a few years, and could break any time.
I got my emac refurb'd from Apple. It was an 800/128/CD, no modem, for $500 ( incl tax and 2 day shipping ). Since then Ive upgraded it with a DVD writer and 512mb of ram, and overclocked it to 1.2 ghz. It has been a sweet deal. Oh, the stand is well worth it. Best monitor stand Ive ever used. The next thing Im doing is getting a nice monitor for it and some more ram. This is the closest thing we'll ever get to the headless consumer mac.
I missed finding these for a while, but there are at least some geometry controls for the eMac (and for the old CRT iMacs too) under System Preferences. Are you aware of these controls, and find them inadequate, or were you unaware that they existed at all?
Sure am, I was most impressed when Apple released their first monitors with computer controlled controls.
Ive got 6 geometry controls on my emac. Hardly compares to the multitudes that I had on my last monitor ( for my PC ). Theres no convergence control. Theres no vertical geometry control. Pincushion is very basic. Theres no moire control.
While I happily use my eMac everyday it is very much a cheap machine.
Since you brought it up, can you explain to me what relationship companies like Sonnet have, if any, with companies Motorola/Freescale? It never struck me as a substitute for Freescale or anyone else Apple may rely on for CPUs for the eMac or anything else. While we're on the subject, what kind of bus speed does this 1.7-gigahertz G4 muster?
I almost wanted that Mac too, but it never could be sold at the eMac's price point; the iMac's mechanical arm was the sticking point. That's why the form was retired when it was.
Comments
Originally posted by Republic
I should admit, though, the eMac needs to go on a diet...
I agree - especially next to the new iMacs - but they are quite large - what about using an el-cheapo 17" LCD?.
Dell does this with its low end models?.
Originally posted by mmmpie
Mediocre geometry, moire, convergance issues. This is just life for cheap monitors. The eMac doesnt even have the controls required to adequetly adjust it.
I missed finding these for a while, but there are at least some geometry controls for the eMac (and for the old CRT iMacs too) under System Preferences. Are you aware of these controls, and find them inadequate, or were you unaware that they existed at all?
I was used to adjusting monitor geometry using physical buttons and didn't think about the idea of doing such adjustments through software until I simply got desperate with an old iMac, which had a small raster which was way under-utilizing the already small screen real estate, and started poking around in System Preferences hoping to find something to help.
The last eMac I adjusted this way looked pretty good as far as I was concerned. Not superb, but better than a dirt-cheap monitor.
Originally posted by xflare
I played on a eMac for a few minutes in a shop today, the screen seemed a bit disappointing to me, everything looked a little too soft. I wondered if somone had played around with the display settings, but when I went to system prefs, the displays icon appeared greyed out and unselectable for some reason.
I think I may just get an iMac G3 on ebay instead. I dont really see much of a speed difference.
Originally posted by steve666
I think I may just get an iMac G3 on ebay instead. I dont really see much of a speed difference.
I guess it depends on how you use your computer. I think a 1.25Ghz G4 is noticeably faster than a 600Mhz G3. For the difference in price (you say) $300-400 on eBay for a G3 vs. $650 (plus tax) for an Apple Certified open-box eMac I'd definitely go for the G4 eMac. You might consider longevity too. The G3 has probably been running for a few years, and could break any time.
Originally posted by steve666
I think I may just get an iMac G3 on ebay instead. I dont really see much of a speed difference.
depends what you need it for i suppose, but ive found the emac to be pretty nice to use, and ours only have 256mb ram - easy to add more, i found more ram in my g3 800 laptop made a big difference - but its still not as good at some things as the g4 emac
if you want to movie edit or anything else above web browsing (even photoshop) i'd get the emac. that said, im no movie editing pro so the stuff that does still take time didnt worry me
our emac was an education purchase, but i think retail u get some extra software (but im not sure i rarely visit the non-edu non-au online store!)
anyway good luck- i still cant decide if its better to get my bro to buy a new one now or wait for the g5 revision - it could be 6 months or january! or even if jan might bring a price drop?? im at least waiting until jan 11th or whenever the next conf is - esp in australia where the exchange rate is making the price seem higher everyday! i really think they should re-evaluate the price every 6 months, but i guess that'd stuff up their marketing
oh well - im looking forward to a decent revision of this machine so i can convert more of my family and friends ;P
Originally posted by xflare
I played on a eMac for a few minutes in a shop today, the screen seemed a bit disappointing to me, everything looked a little too soft. I wondered if somone had played around with the display settings, but when I went to system prefs, the displays icon appeared greyed out and unselectable for some reason.
This means these options have been locked out by the eMac's administrator.
Originally posted by iDave
I guess it depends on how you use your computer. I think a 1.25Ghz G4 is noticeably faster than a 600Mhz G3. For the difference in price (you say) $300-400 on eBay for a G3 vs. $650 (plus tax) for an Apple Certified open-box eMac I'd definitely go for the G4 eMac. You might consider longevity too. The G3 has probably been running for a few years, and could break any time.
I got my emac refurb'd from Apple. It was an 800/128/CD, no modem, for $500 ( incl tax and 2 day shipping ). Since then Ive upgraded it with a DVD writer and 512mb of ram, and overclocked it to 1.2 ghz. It has been a sweet deal. Oh, the stand is well worth it. Best monitor stand Ive ever used. The next thing Im doing is getting a nice monitor for it and some more ram. This is the closest thing we'll ever get to the headless consumer mac.
Originally posted by shetline
I missed finding these for a while, but there are at least some geometry controls for the eMac (and for the old CRT iMacs too) under System Preferences. Are you aware of these controls, and find them inadequate, or were you unaware that they existed at all?
Sure am, I was most impressed when Apple released their first monitors with computer controlled controls.
Ive got 6 geometry controls on my emac. Hardly compares to the multitudes that I had on my last monitor ( for my PC ). Theres no convergence control. Theres no vertical geometry control. Pincushion is very basic. Theres no moire control.
While I happily use my eMac everyday it is very much a cheap machine.
Sonnet doesn't state the max bus speed. They seem to be using it at 100 - 133Mhz for the G4 systems they are providing upgrades for.