The eMac is definitely the Rodney Dangerfield of Macintoshes. But it really is a good value and had Apple had the foresight to release this machine when everyone was clamouring for a 17 iMac CRT, I'm sure it would have sold well.
That said, much of my decision to get the now "lowly" 15 inch FP iMac, was because it was damn cool...and still is. Sure it's not that fast or expandable, but is there any other PC like it on the world?--no!
But the bottom line is, you have a pretty fast machine there. Think of the money you saved could easily spring for an iPod, or maybe even a new iBook.
I just made a car analogy expressing my personal feelings and i provocated a small flamewar.
I must admit that i am particulary proud of this one : shame on me
I have just changed my cars, a coupe that i loved for a bigger car for my family.
During the process i have considered to buy a Passat : it was a good car, well built, but without a strong personality. This car have also been developped more than six years ago and a new generation is on the way. So i made an another choice.
That's why i make this analogy. Now if somebody wants to kiss his Passat : feel free for him to do so. Passat are good cars, and nobody should be ashamed to have one. It's the same for emac it's a pretty good computer with an excellent ratio quality/price, but without a strong personality.
Concerning the Golf Der Kopf is right , in Europe it's not considered as a chick car. I never done this analogy in order to keep my teeth in my mouth. Sometimes criticising one's car is worse than criticising his girlfriend
Sit on a couch (you need to be low for best results) at about 45 degrees to front on and look at the shape of the back curve of your eMac. That's all I'm saying about THAT one.
Watch iTunes visuals in full screen mode at night with the lights off. The outer plastic casing around the display lights up with the colours.
I'm in a very small dorm room so my eMac is within a few feet of my bed. Maybe I should get a wireless keyboard and mouse for it! Yeah, they're pricey, but that would be cool - I could lie in bed and set the resolution to something big like 800x600 (or just increase the font size by a lot). That would make it more fun!
EDIT: Hmm... bluetooth module, keyboard and mouse together would be almost $200. Maybe a $2 USB extension cable would be better.
I'm in a very small dorm room so my eMac is within a few feet of my bed. Maybe I should get a wireless keyboard and mouse for it! Yeah, they're pricey, but that would be cool - I could lie in bed and set the resolution to something big like 800x600 (or just increase the font size by a lot). That would make it more fun!
EDIT: Hmm... bluetooth module, keyboard and mouse together would be almost $200. Maybe a $2 USB extension cable would be better.
Or you could get a wireless keyboard from a different company, like Logitech so you don't spend as much.
You feel the personality of a Mac when you look into the glowing display and start to work or play. The hardware becomes invisable as the Mac experience comes to life..........
I'm in a very small dorm room so my eMac is within a few feet of my bed. Maybe I should get a wireless keyboard and mouse for it! Yeah, they're pricey, but that would be cool - I could lie in bed and set the resolution to something big like 800x600 (or just increase the font size by a lot). That would make it more fun!
EDIT: Hmm... bluetooth module, keyboard and mouse together would be almost $200. Maybe a $2 USB extension cable would be better.
Actually I'm still a bit pissed they only gave the LCD iMac one arm instead of two, like a real Luxo lamp. Sure it would like ugly but I'm sure with a bit of deft furniture manipulation you could then lie on a couch or in bed with the display suspended above your head. The same result could be achieved with an eMac and a small cherry picker.
Of course you have buyer's remorse. While the eMac isn't ugly, I'd definitely consider it "retro" -- speaking in technological terms, that ain't good.
Nothing on the machine is more offensive than that miserable CRT. It's bad. When I first saw it, I thought it was actually quite a respectable display, but then I looked at it a little more, and then I used a couple of eMacs (that replaced gum-drops) and came away more dissapointed each and every time. It has completely unacceptable moire that you can never fully eliminate -- it just rears its ugly head on various parts of the screen (depending on background) and there's nothing you can do about it. Crap, especially since bill for an eMac ought to AT LEAST buy a 15" LCD model by now, and for the more expensive eMacs, the same money would get you a 17" TFT display over at the PC aisle, (albeit an analogue one, which is still an improvement over the CRT machine in 99% of cases)
For any of Apple's AIO's to be worth the cost of entry, they'd have to take the iMacs and drop them into the eMac price points while selling one basic eMac config for about 600USD (and no more). Then, they might, only just, be considered acceptable bargains.
It's very hard to see how anyone in Luca's position wouldn't be better served by a 14" iBook. The display is certainly better than that horrid CRT, at 14" it's big enough to be the primary display without the need for a 2nd screen. It would take up less space in a location where ergonomic placement is virtually impossible -- even with an iMac where you might get the screen positioned right, a great many dorms don't leave you enough room for a properly placed keyboard and mouse.
Furthermore, when the dorm is just too loud, or your room-mate is punishing half the floor in a fit of beer and enchilada enduced gas and vomit, you can pack up the book and head of to library/common room/cafe (most of them with some form of 802.11) and surf/work in peace.
PS, I know you got the machine before the advent of the iBook G4, but should you feel the justified need to replace it, do not repeat the mistake of getting another AIO. 14" iBook G4 is the alpha machine as far as you're concerned.
PPMS.
If you must insist on car analogies, then the eMac is a rusted out AMC gremlin.
I swear Matsu, you must have a post generator, like the insult generators out on the web. No way you can sit there and write these mini novels about the same topic day in and day out.
I had a VW Passat VR6 and the thing hauled ass! So did my 89 Jetta GLi before I smashed it on the highway.
eMac is like a PT cruiser: cheap, ugly, and you need to get used to how it looks.
My PT Turbo is anything but cheap, and it can do a 1/8 mile drag in 10.3. Actually the level of thought that went into this car's design reminded me of the care that Apple takes when engineering a product.
I live in CT too, so if you want to race, let me know so my "cheap, ugly" PT Turbo can whoop your a$$.
I do agree with Matsu?s suggestion that perhaps a new 1GHz G4 14? iBook is a wiser choice in this situation.
Nothing like being unleashed from your desk/table and free to go wherever to use your Mac.
I?ll never buy another desktop again, I can just about promise you that, after spending just 5-6 days with my PowerBook.
There?s NOTHING like knowing all that crap I so dearly love (OS X, iTunes, Mail, Illustrator, etc.) is with me anytime the mood strikes.
Get that 14? iBook, Luca. Those have TONS of personality and you can go anywhere. iBooks/PowerBooks allow you to be cool anywhere, not just your dorm room.
1. I don't have a problem with the eMac's display. I know Matsu cries bloody murder at the mention of it, but I really don't mind. Moire? I don't even know that that means. Sure it looks kind of fuzzy compared to an LCD, but it's still good for a CRT. Don't try and sell me on the CRT being bad - all you can really do is convince me that an LCD is better (which I agree it is).
2. I moved to the eMac from an 800 MHz G3 iBook, which I found to be very slow. I'm going to hazard a guess that the most important factor in the eMac feeling significantly faster (nearly twice as fast based on XBench scores) is the addition of AltiVec, and the second most important factor was the much faster hard drive. Processor speeds are similar - a 25% increase won't make a huge difference. So adding AltiVec (which I would have gotten with a G4 iBook) and a faster hard drive (which I wouldn't have) made a big difference. I would guess that the iBook's Radeon 9200 Mobility is about the same as my Radeon 7500 because mine isn't a lower-clocked mobility variant.
3. I like the ergonomics of a desktop more than a laptop. I know it's weird to hear someone saying they prefer desktops over laptops, but that's what I'm saying now. I would dig a flat panel iMac. I wish they were cheaper (i.e. where they should be, pricewise). If I had waited for the iMac update, I could have gotten a refurb 800 MHz Combo iMac for just a little more than what my eMac cost, and I would have done it too.
Anyway, I already owned a laptop and I know how everyone loves them. Personally, moving from the iBook to the eMac has at least shown me that laptops aren't the desktop replacements everyone says they are. OS X uses the disk all the time, even if you have lots of RAM, so it seems to me that having a faster hard drive helps a lot. I just can't get a faster one for an iBook, unless I want to void the warranty. I don't want to do that because iBooks have historically been prone to failure, at least more than eMacs.
If I do replace this eMac, it'll be with a Cube, a flat panel iMac, or (if I keep the eMac for a while), a used PowerMac G5, not an iBook.
EDIT: pscates, your PowerBook? I thought you got a G4 iBook, as a holdover?
Also, I think I might get a laptop sometime if my situation involves me needing more mobility, but right now I don't need mobility. I rarely visit home and I never need internet access or a computer for really any reason when I'm out and about. Last year a laptop made sense because I had a roommate and I was visiting home almost every weekend. This year I have a single room in a quiet area of the dorm - no need to pack up and flee.
The eMac's CRT uses a non-trinitron (phosphor mask type) screen. These screens often produce moire patterns as the scanning guns beam a pattern through an offset grid-like pattern on the screen itself. OTOH, trinitron screens use an Aperture Grill, a screen of thin wires that form really long slots. Because the openings are larger, the trinitron screen seldom produces the moire patterns that occur with non-trinitron screens. LCD's also avoid this problem since each pixel is it's own color source (one pattern is not fired onto another)
Apple could have at least chosen a decent CRT for the eMac, they didn't, pathetic.
Comments
That said, much of my decision to get the now "lowly" 15 inch FP iMac, was because it was damn cool...and still is. Sure it's not that fast or expandable, but is there any other PC like it on the world?--no!
But the bottom line is, you have a pretty fast machine there. Think of the money you saved could easily spring for an iPod, or maybe even a new iBook.
I just made a car analogy expressing my personal feelings and i provocated a small flamewar.
I must admit that i am particulary proud of this one
I have just changed my cars, a coupe that i loved for a bigger car for my family.
During the process i have considered to buy a Passat : it was a good car, well built, but without a strong personality. This car have also been developped more than six years ago and a new generation is on the way. So i made an another choice.
That's why i make this analogy. Now if somebody wants to kiss his Passat : feel free for him to do so. Passat are good cars, and nobody should be ashamed to have one. It's the same for emac it's a pretty good computer with an excellent ratio quality/price, but without a strong personality.
Concerning the Golf Der Kopf is right , in Europe it's not considered as a chick car. I never done this analogy in order to keep my teeth in my mouth. Sometimes criticising one's car is worse than criticising his girlfriend
Sit on a couch (you need to be low for best results) at about 45 degrees to front on and look at the shape of the back curve of your eMac. That's all I'm saying about THAT one.
Watch iTunes visuals in full screen mode at night with the lights off. The outer plastic casing around the display lights up with the colours.
EDIT: Hmm... bluetooth module, keyboard and mouse together would be almost $200. Maybe a $2 USB extension cable would be better.
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
I'm in a very small dorm room so my eMac is within a few feet of my bed. Maybe I should get a wireless keyboard and mouse for it! Yeah, they're pricey, but that would be cool - I could lie in bed and set the resolution to something big like 800x600 (or just increase the font size by a lot). That would make it more fun!
EDIT: Hmm... bluetooth module, keyboard and mouse together would be almost $200. Maybe a $2 USB extension cable would be better.
Or you could get a wireless keyboard from a different company, like Logitech so you don't spend as much.
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
I'm in a very small dorm room so my eMac is within a few feet of my bed. Maybe I should get a wireless keyboard and mouse for it! Yeah, they're pricey, but that would be cool - I could lie in bed and set the resolution to something big like 800x600 (or just increase the font size by a lot). That would make it more fun!
EDIT: Hmm... bluetooth module, keyboard and mouse together would be almost $200. Maybe a $2 USB extension cable would be better.
Actually I'm still a bit pissed they only gave the LCD iMac one arm instead of two, like a real Luxo lamp. Sure it would like ugly but I'm sure with a bit of deft furniture manipulation you could then lie on a couch or in bed with the display suspended above your head. The same result could be achieved with an eMac and a small cherry picker.
Nothing on the machine is more offensive than that miserable CRT. It's bad. When I first saw it, I thought it was actually quite a respectable display, but then I looked at it a little more, and then I used a couple of eMacs (that replaced gum-drops) and came away more dissapointed each and every time. It has completely unacceptable moire that you can never fully eliminate -- it just rears its ugly head on various parts of the screen (depending on background) and there's nothing you can do about it. Crap, especially since bill for an eMac ought to AT LEAST buy a 15" LCD model by now, and for the more expensive eMacs, the same money would get you a 17" TFT display over at the PC aisle, (albeit an analogue one, which is still an improvement over the CRT machine in 99% of cases)
For any of Apple's AIO's to be worth the cost of entry, they'd have to take the iMacs and drop them into the eMac price points while selling one basic eMac config for about 600USD (and no more). Then, they might, only just, be considered acceptable bargains.
It's very hard to see how anyone in Luca's position wouldn't be better served by a 14" iBook. The display is certainly better than that horrid CRT, at 14" it's big enough to be the primary display without the need for a 2nd screen. It would take up less space in a location where ergonomic placement is virtually impossible -- even with an iMac where you might get the screen positioned right, a great many dorms don't leave you enough room for a properly placed keyboard and mouse.
Furthermore, when the dorm is just too loud, or your room-mate is punishing half the floor in a fit of beer and enchilada enduced gas and vomit, you can pack up the book and head of to library/common room/cafe (most of them with some form of 802.11) and surf/work in peace.
PS, I know you got the machine before the advent of the iBook G4, but should you feel the justified need to replace it, do not repeat the mistake of getting another AIO. 14" iBook G4 is the alpha machine as far as you're concerned.
PPMS.
If you must insist on car analogies, then the eMac is a rusted out AMC gremlin.
Originally posted by Outsider
I had a VW Passat VR6 and the thing hauled ass! So did my 89 Jetta GLi before I smashed it on the highway.
eMac is like a PT cruiser: cheap, ugly, and you need to get used to how it looks.
My PT Turbo is anything but cheap, and it can do a 1/8 mile drag in 10.3. Actually the level of thought that went into this car's design reminded me of the care that Apple takes when engineering a product.
I live in CT too, so if you want to race, let me know so my "cheap, ugly" PT Turbo can whoop your a$$.
Nothing like being unleashed from your desk/table and free to go wherever to use your Mac.
I?ll never buy another desktop again, I can just about promise you that, after spending just 5-6 days with my PowerBook.
There?s NOTHING like knowing all that crap I so dearly love (OS X, iTunes, Mail, Illustrator, etc.) is with me anytime the mood strikes.
Get that 14? iBook, Luca. Those have TONS of personality and you can go anywhere. iBooks/PowerBooks allow you to be cool anywhere, not just your dorm room.
Originally posted by progmac
it's a shame to see this thread got back on topic. i liked it better when we were talking about the girliness of the VW golf.
for the record, girls do not dream of a VW Golf. ugh, gag.
Originally posted by mac's girl
for the record, girls do not dream of a VW Golf. ugh, gag.
hahah, my point! it is more of a man's car. girls want the bug. also for the record, i really like the navy blue bug and the dark grey bug.
Originally posted by Eugene
dzhsun, the Golf and Jetta are chick cars not because chicks love them, but because guys hate them.
::Runs out and hugs his Jetta
2. I moved to the eMac from an 800 MHz G3 iBook, which I found to be very slow. I'm going to hazard a guess that the most important factor in the eMac feeling significantly faster (nearly twice as fast based on XBench scores) is the addition of AltiVec, and the second most important factor was the much faster hard drive. Processor speeds are similar - a 25% increase won't make a huge difference. So adding AltiVec (which I would have gotten with a G4 iBook) and a faster hard drive (which I wouldn't have) made a big difference. I would guess that the iBook's Radeon 9200 Mobility is about the same as my Radeon 7500 because mine isn't a lower-clocked mobility variant.
3. I like the ergonomics of a desktop more than a laptop. I know it's weird to hear someone saying they prefer desktops over laptops, but that's what I'm saying now. I would dig a flat panel iMac. I wish they were cheaper (i.e. where they should be, pricewise). If I had waited for the iMac update, I could have gotten a refurb 800 MHz Combo iMac for just a little more than what my eMac cost, and I would have done it too.
Anyway, I already owned a laptop and I know how everyone loves them. Personally, moving from the iBook to the eMac has at least shown me that laptops aren't the desktop replacements everyone says they are. OS X uses the disk all the time, even if you have lots of RAM, so it seems to me that having a faster hard drive helps a lot. I just can't get a faster one for an iBook, unless I want to void the warranty. I don't want to do that because iBooks have historically been prone to failure, at least more than eMacs.
If I do replace this eMac, it'll be with a Cube, a flat panel iMac, or (if I keep the eMac for a while), a used PowerMac G5, not an iBook.
EDIT: pscates, your PowerBook? I thought you got a G4 iBook, as a holdover?
Also, I think I might get a laptop sometime if my situation involves me needing more mobility, but right now I don't need mobility. I rarely visit home and I never need internet access or a computer for really any reason when I'm out and about. Last year a laptop made sense because I had a roommate and I was visiting home almost every weekend. This year I have a single room in a quiet area of the dorm - no need to pack up and flee.
The eMac's CRT uses a non-trinitron (phosphor mask type) screen. These screens often produce moire patterns as the scanning guns beam a pattern through an offset grid-like pattern on the screen itself. OTOH, trinitron screens use an Aperture Grill, a screen of thin wires that form really long slots. Because the openings are larger, the trinitron screen seldom produces the moire patterns that occur with non-trinitron screens. LCD's also avoid this problem since each pixel is it's own color source (one pattern is not fired onto another)
Apple could have at least chosen a decent CRT for the eMac, they didn't, pathetic.
Originally posted by ethar
This car is girly? You've got to be kidding me.
not girly, just ugly. sorry.
this girl never wanted a VW bug... i prefer performance cars. from the VW Corp., i'd go for the audi s4 with its 4.2 litre V-8.
(i hit 500 posts...nice!)
Originally posted by mac's girl
not girly, just ugly. sorry.
this girl never wanted a VW bug... i prefer performance cars. from the VW Corp., i'd go for the audi s4 with its 4.2 litre V-8.
(i hit 500 posts...nice!)
not ugly. it has distinct edges, something i really miss in modern cars. audi shmaudi. Too pretentious for me.