[quote] A new Cube for any more than $999 will be dead on arrival. Price is the main reason the Cube failed. Make the graphics upgradeable, put the ports on the back not on the bottom, price it at $899-$999 and you have a winner. Of course Apple could do a more sensible thing and price the current low end PowerMac G4 at $999 which is all its worth, but that would increase market share. <hr></blockquote>
I agree. but perhaps apple could release it as a midrange comp, lower imac prices, and release something like i stated previously: [quote] Ok, let's say Apple releases a G5 pm. the real g5. the imac stays with a g4. what if the g4e/Apollo came out as a midrange chip. it could end up in a cube. say 2 PCI, ATI radeon, cd-rw, 900 mhz, 50 gb drive and 256 mb on the low end. mid could have 2 PCI, nvidia geforce2, combo drive, 1000mhz, 70 gb drive and 256 mb. high end could have 2 PCI, nvidia geforce3, superdrive, 1200mhz, 90 gb drive and 384 mb. mobo(on all models) could be 133mhz, DDR SRAM. 2 drive bays on all models. up to 2gb ram. 3 firewire, 3 usb on cube. powered
usb keyboard. upgrade-able vid card, processor. pcmcia card slot. optical drive in front. 1 usb and firewire in front. optional sound card. include the apple studio 15in.
Prices? 1250, 1500, 1750. you got one sweet computer.
I have to agree with the last few posts, I think people would snatch up a $999 PowerMac. Apple makes a ton of money on the other model power macs, but if they are really interested in gaining market share, lower cost is the best way to go.
You have the iMac, great for customers, or new to macs. Its easy to use, nice to look at, everything comes built in. You can make CDs/DVDs.
You have the High-end powermac models, lots of disk, and er.. well, a decent amount of memory . And hopefully faster system bus and clock speed with a G5...
Then either a low-end powermac, or something else, with a lower pricepoint than the iMac. No monitor, upgradeable graphics, decent specs, but of course, not as high as the powermac. For those of us who already have a monitor... People like me would snatch it up ...
Of course, I have a cube too . I got one right after they stopped making them, good deal from a local ChumpUSA.
Maybe .... maybe they'll still sell G4 powermacs when they start selling the G5s. That would hopefully make a nice entry level powermac. Of course, then we'd all bitch that we want G5s too ... at a lower price ....
<strong>I left Windows because of OSX. I bought my Cube to run OSX. It has run every version of OSX from the beta to 10.1.2 like it was made for it (as it was). Jump into the future of Apple Cubit, a cool system like yours deserves the very best, I'd also recommend a WD Caviar 100 or 120 SE, the 8MB buffer makes it really responsive.</strong><hr></blockquote>
[quote]Originally posted by Qubit:
<strong>Thank you for the nudge. I have been sitting on the fence and you help me take the plunge. I have 1.5 GB in this one, so I am happy.
Could you fill me in a little more on the bit about the WD Caviar? <img src="graemlins/embarrassed.gif" border="0" alt="[Embarrassed]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>
Well I bought the "SE" model with 8MB cache, it is an OEM and came in a plain box with nothing in it but the drive, no jumper settings, or anything to help. I installed it relatively easily because the torx screw that is hidden by the heat sink was only finger tight. When I got it in and buttoned up I turned the Cube on and - it failed to recognize the drive. When I tried to boot it with the CD it failed to recognize it as well. To my horror the CD would not eject either!
I am fortunate to have a "Hot Line" to Apple professional support and the guru at the other end said to ship back to Apple in to have the CD removed! It was only after I hung up that I reasoned that putting the old drive back in might help. It did, and my Cube booted perfectly and then ejected the CD. I was back to square one but I got the CD out of there.
My next call was to Western Digital support and the guy at that end said that the jumper had to be moved as the factory setting (for the OEM) was set to "slave" and with that simple change I again swapped drives in my Cube. Since that time it has been running 24/7 with no problems and a very perceptible speed improvement.
My next move will be to exchange the processor card with one from a DP 500 from a "Sawtooth" AGP tower. I'm looking to buy one of those now if anyone has one email me at [email protected]
[quote] However, a true micro tower would be neat, something sized between the Cube and the PowerMacs.<hr></blockquote>
YES!
I think Apple should offer a "consumer" tower, with only 1 PCI Slot, and AGP slot, room for two HDs, and only a single drive bay. This would be perfect for those Mac users who want to choose a display, upgrade the video card or use a PCI card for some specific application, or just want the versatility that a tower provides. Apple could sell such a tower for much less than the EL Capitain case because it would have a lower manufacturing cost. Keep it simple, keep the materials and manfacturing cost cheap.
I think this would be an excellent Mac for Windows converts who want to switch to Mac, but already have a display and are reluctant to invest in a Powermac tower when they are new to Macs.
Alternatively, Apple would go a long ways towards satisfying those Mac buyers who want display choice, by offering a 17" LCD iMac. Such an iMac sure would hook me, and I even like to game once in awhile. But really, the GPU chipset in the new iMac is not bad at all, although it would be nice if Apple offered an $1800 iMac without superdrive, but with a better GPU and larger display.
Sorry, I wandered off topic...about the cube, I don't think the cube is a good idea to try again, because it seems that the manufacturing costs of the cube are too high to enable Apple to price the cube where it should be priced (1000-1400, no higher). A minitower would offer slightly more expandability than the cube, and it could be designed to be cheaper to produce.
In a sense, the new iMac IS a return of the cube. The iMac base is actually an improvement on the cube's design, with less expandability, but IMO better because the drive is horizontal, and because everything is self contained (no external power supply). Now make the iMac base into a full "breast", with room for an AGP slot, and sell it separately, and I bet it would fly off the shelves, because SEX sells! The iBreast would move off the shelves amazingly well, I suspect. Some guys would probably buy two of them just so they would look right on their desk!
Comments
I agree. but perhaps apple could release it as a midrange comp, lower imac prices, and release something like i stated previously: [quote] Ok, let's say Apple releases a G5 pm. the real g5. the imac stays with a g4. what if the g4e/Apollo came out as a midrange chip. it could end up in a cube. say 2 PCI, ATI radeon, cd-rw, 900 mhz, 50 gb drive and 256 mb on the low end. mid could have 2 PCI, nvidia geforce2, combo drive, 1000mhz, 70 gb drive and 256 mb. high end could have 2 PCI, nvidia geforce3, superdrive, 1200mhz, 90 gb drive and 384 mb. mobo(on all models) could be 133mhz, DDR SRAM. 2 drive bays on all models. up to 2gb ram. 3 firewire, 3 usb on cube. powered
usb keyboard. upgrade-able vid card, processor. pcmcia card slot. optical drive in front. 1 usb and firewire in front. optional sound card. include the apple studio 15in.
Prices? 1250, 1500, 1750. you got one sweet computer.
<hr></blockquote>
Then scrap the Cube idea and make the base G4 a $999 PowerMac for the masses. I would buy one right now if it were reasonably priced................
You have the iMac, great for customers, or new to macs. Its easy to use, nice to look at, everything comes built in. You can make CDs/DVDs.
You have the High-end powermac models, lots of disk, and er.. well, a decent amount of memory
Then either a low-end powermac, or something else, with a lower pricepoint than the iMac. No monitor, upgradeable graphics, decent specs, but of course, not as high as the powermac. For those of us who already have a monitor... People like me would snatch it up ...
Of course, I have a cube too
Maybe .... maybe they'll still sell G4 powermacs when they start selling the G5s. That would hopefully make a nice entry level powermac. Of course, then we'd all bitch that we want G5s too ... at a lower price ....
<strong>I left Windows because of OSX. I bought my Cube to run OSX. It has run every version of OSX from the beta to 10.1.2 like it was made for it (as it was). Jump into the future of Apple Cubit, a cool system like yours deserves the very best, I'd also recommend a WD Caviar 100 or 120 SE, the 8MB buffer makes it really responsive.</strong><hr></blockquote>
[quote]Originally posted by Qubit:
<strong>Thank you for the nudge. I have been sitting on the fence and you help me take the plunge. I have 1.5 GB in this one, so I am happy.
Could you fill me in a little more on the bit about the WD Caviar? <img src="graemlins/embarrassed.gif" border="0" alt="[Embarrassed]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>
Well I bought the "SE" model with 8MB cache, it is an OEM and came in a plain box with nothing in it but the drive, no jumper settings, or anything to help. I installed it relatively easily because the torx screw that is hidden by the heat sink was only finger tight. When I got it in and buttoned up I turned the Cube on and - it failed to recognize the drive. When I tried to boot it with the CD it failed to recognize it as well. To my horror the CD would not eject either!
I am fortunate to have a "Hot Line" to Apple professional support and the guru at the other end said to ship back to Apple in to have the CD removed! It was only after I hung up that I reasoned that putting the old drive back in might help. It did, and my Cube booted perfectly and then ejected the CD. I was back to square one but I got the CD out of there.
My next call was to Western Digital support and the guy at that end said that the jumper had to be moved as the factory setting (for the OEM) was set to "slave" and with that simple change I again swapped drives in my Cube. Since that time it has been running 24/7 with no problems and a very perceptible speed improvement.
My next move will be to exchange the processor card with one from a DP 500 from a "Sawtooth" AGP tower. I'm looking to buy one of those now if anyone has one email me at [email protected]
YES!
I think Apple should offer a "consumer" tower, with only 1 PCI Slot, and AGP slot, room for two HDs, and only a single drive bay. This would be perfect for those Mac users who want to choose a display, upgrade the video card or use a PCI card for some specific application, or just want the versatility that a tower provides. Apple could sell such a tower for much less than the EL Capitain case because it would have a lower manufacturing cost. Keep it simple, keep the materials and manfacturing cost cheap.
I think this would be an excellent Mac for Windows converts who want to switch to Mac, but already have a display and are reluctant to invest in a Powermac tower when they are new to Macs.
Alternatively, Apple would go a long ways towards satisfying those Mac buyers who want display choice, by offering a 17" LCD iMac. Such an iMac sure would hook me, and I even like to game once in awhile. But really, the GPU chipset in the new iMac is not bad at all, although it would be nice if Apple offered an $1800 iMac without superdrive, but with a better GPU and larger display.
Sorry, I wandered off topic...about the cube, I don't think the cube is a good idea to try again, because it seems that the manufacturing costs of the cube are too high to enable Apple to price the cube where it should be priced (1000-1400, no higher). A minitower would offer slightly more expandability than the cube, and it could be designed to be cheaper to produce.
In a sense, the new iMac IS a return of the cube. The iMac base is actually an improvement on the cube's design, with less expandability, but IMO better because the drive is horizontal, and because everything is self contained (no external power supply). Now make the iMac base into a full "breast", with room for an AGP slot, and sell it separately, and I bet it would fly off the shelves, because SEX sells! The iBreast would move off the shelves amazingly well, I suspect. Some guys would probably buy two of them just so they would look right on their desk!