eMac...quite, uh, "unattractive" in person...
There, I'm being nice.
Seriously, just saw my first real-life eMac at my local CompUSA. Ugh...it's HUGE. I saw a post the other day (by Eugene, I think) who said it was SMALLER than the pictures make it look.
WHAT?!? :eek:
It's GIGANTIC! The front of it is just this big ugly square, and the area below the screen (where the CD tray and speakers are) just looks so big and clunky.
I don't know. Can't put my finger on it exactly, but something about the eMac (viewed head-on, anyway) is just jarring and a bit ugly.
From the side, it's a lot nicer. I think maybe something to do with that huge CD tray opening door. Looks weird. Just looks like there's SO much empty, wasted blank space on the face of it.
Idea (and spec-wise), it's an awesome machine! Basically, a 17" G4 iMac that everyone's been begging for. But I was shocked at actually seeing one.
Even more telling: they had it displayed next to (on the left), an Indigo and Snow CRT iMac. Small, tight and nice looking (maybe the gentle curves on the front?). On the right of the eMac were two 17" Studio Displays, the CRT models from MWNY 2000 (those models on those clear Mobius strip bases...I LOVED that monitor).
Sitting between those two exquisite pieces of Apple hardware, the eMac probably looked uglier and clunkier than it really is.
Maybe if I saw it sitting by itself somewhere, with nothing cooler to compare it to...
Your thoughts? Anyone else seen the eMac in person? Do you agree or disagree with my take on it?
It just looks big, blocky and clumsy to me.
Seriously, just saw my first real-life eMac at my local CompUSA. Ugh...it's HUGE. I saw a post the other day (by Eugene, I think) who said it was SMALLER than the pictures make it look.
WHAT?!? :eek:
It's GIGANTIC! The front of it is just this big ugly square, and the area below the screen (where the CD tray and speakers are) just looks so big and clunky.
I don't know. Can't put my finger on it exactly, but something about the eMac (viewed head-on, anyway) is just jarring and a bit ugly.
From the side, it's a lot nicer. I think maybe something to do with that huge CD tray opening door. Looks weird. Just looks like there's SO much empty, wasted blank space on the face of it.
Idea (and spec-wise), it's an awesome machine! Basically, a 17" G4 iMac that everyone's been begging for. But I was shocked at actually seeing one.
Even more telling: they had it displayed next to (on the left), an Indigo and Snow CRT iMac. Small, tight and nice looking (maybe the gentle curves on the front?). On the right of the eMac were two 17" Studio Displays, the CRT models from MWNY 2000 (those models on those clear Mobius strip bases...I LOVED that monitor).
Sitting between those two exquisite pieces of Apple hardware, the eMac probably looked uglier and clunkier than it really is.
Maybe if I saw it sitting by itself somewhere, with nothing cooler to compare it to...
Your thoughts? Anyone else seen the eMac in person? Do you agree or disagree with my take on it?
It just looks big, blocky and clumsy to me.
Comments
Also, on the other side of the CRT iMacs, they had a couple of LCD iMacs, so it was really easy to step back and look at the size difference between the new LCD G4 iMacs and the eMac.
I'll gladly stick with my small, compact flat screen wonder.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not "anti eMac", and I would recommend them (have in fact, quite a bit) to a newbie or someone looking to get into a really nice, solid Mac for a good price.
It's just amazing how photos on a website give one impression. Then real life completely negates it!
The screen is nice, however! When you run it at the very highest resolution, there's some flicker to it. But if you knock it to the next one down (1152x864, I think), it looks wonderful!
I?ve yet to see/use it in person so I?ll hold off any final judgments until then.
I designed a couple that I thought were really nice (one with an integrated 4-port USB hub), but not knowing what to actually DO with it and where to take it, simply let it slide.
Actually, that's probably THE nicest feature on my LCD iMac: the movable, flexible screen! I use it ALL THE TIME.
Sometimes, I simply walk by my iMac to check my e-mail real quick, while standing up. I simply raise the screen up on it's chrome pole and tilt the screen back. Perfect!
When I'm working on something exact, I'll scootch it down and kick it toward me. When doing no-brainer things like iTunes encoding, surfing, etc., I'll usually kick it up a little higher.
If I pop in a DVD or am sitting in my chair in a particularly slouchy way, I can tilt it down to face me.
Basically, no matter what I'm doing OR how I'm sitting (or standing), I'm able to put the screen in the PERFECT spot. I really, really have come to appreciate and dig that feature!
All that time with a static, non-moving CRT iMac DV...no wonder my head and neck hurt all the time.
I can put my finger on it. The problem with it is, it looks like a peecee company's ripoff of the original iMac, not like an original Apple design.
BUT, for its intended environment/user base, I guess it had to be built a certain way.
No big deal.
then the other day i went into an apple store and saw one....it's ugly...there's nothing about it that stands out
it's like it's beige, but not....it's bland.... it's middle of the road...IT DOESN'T INSPIRE....even though the screen is 17", it looks like it's 15"....
it isn't even original if you think about it...the imac was original when it came out...this is more or less an upgrade....more of the same....we're ready for something different, like the NEW imac...
for some, it's perfect....great specs at a great price....
for me, i need more, and the NEW imac provides that....now i'll just have to wait for the 17" 1.2 ghz model (come on MWNY!)
It's like the Canon S200 vs the S330. My S330 just seems gargantuan compared to the S200 when the difference is only about two millimeters in each dimension.
One thing I wonder about is the speakers. Why aren't the speaker cones protected? How many minutes will it take kids to poke pencils through them?
<strong>I thought it looked nice in real life. The screen and bezel are the largest part of the box so when you view it face on that is all you see. When you use the stand it gives the impression of a flat screen floating in space.
One thing I wonder about is the speakers. Why aren't the speaker cones protected? How many minutes will it take kids to poke pencils through them?</strong><hr></blockquote>
I agree completely with the first statement. It is nice IRL. I still want/am getting one.
As for the speaker cones, look in ALL of the Apple site's pictures... there is a snap-in cover for the speakers.
I think the eMac is what the 'new iMac' should have been from the very beginning. The current new iMac certainly deserves to be part of the line up, but not as an iMac. Nothing about it says 'iMac'. When you see the eMac, you see the new iMac - you know that's what it really is. The LCD new iMac It's more like Apple's new alternative system like what the Cube was.
I think the eMac is clean and sleek looking. The display is brilliant and the speakers are much louder and richer then you'd expect. It seemed nice and snappy and the casing is clearly rock solid. I am debating picking one of these up. It's NOT much bigger than the old iMac and the new display puts that fishbowl 15" horror of the classic iMac to shame.
apart from the speakers that is..
Worst apple design for a LONG time
i Hate it..
it looks like a Dell-Mac... <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" /> <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />
There's no accounting for taste, but personally I agree with you 110%...
People, the 'great-big-white-blob-thing' look is very cool. Although, of course, those of you who experienced the seventies the first time around may not think so.
eMac: the computer for the padded vinyl bar in the basement...next to the orange hot tub... :eek: <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
From the side, it's pretty snazzy-looking. Maybe I can get used to that huge square front eventually?
In any case, I do agree with what someone above said: this IS what the iMac probably should've been all along (or at least for the past year or so). People have been screaming for a 17" iMac since about early/mid 1999!
Would've been cool had Apple gone from the original tray-loading series right to this design, still incorporating all the new features that were first found on the DV iMacs in October 1999 (Firewire, 100MHz bus, etc.). Even if they were 400MHz G3 (two years ago, that was a totally snappy set-up to own!), the fact that it had a 17" screen would've sold tons of people on them.
Instead, they kept the same 15" design about two years after it became old hat, and no amount of Ruby, Flower Power or polka dots (or late-to-the-party CD-RW drives) could help it.