The eMac comes packed with features and attributes that could easily make the dean's list. Come to think of it, you might say it is the dean's list made manifest. It's true that... more
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A review by dadmancat on Apple eMac PPC G4 17" CRT July 1st, 2004
Author's product rating:
Speed
Very fast
Design
Satisfactory
Manufacturer Support
Excellent
Ease of use
Very easy
Value For Money
Excellent
Advantages:
It's great
Disadvantages:
It's ugly
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
And so it came to be, that I finally bought a Mac after a lifetime of loving them, but never having the financial clout to splash out on one.
Therein lies the beauty of the Emac. Aimed primarily at Education, they're priced semi-affordably, whilst not skimping on the innards.
Well, that was the case. This opinion is slightly misleading, as Apple have recently relaunched the Emac with more powerful processors (mine is the 1.25ghz) whilst, get this, slashing the prices.
You can now own an exceptional computer that mocks the the fastest of fast PCs for a mere £550 including the dreaded VAT. Upgradeable from the easy to use Apple website, I pushed the boat out and doubled the memory to 512mb (upgradeable to 1gig), and leapt from a 40 gig hard drive to an 80 gig, and still it weighed in at less than £700, and if you've ever yearned for a Macintosh, that is not to be sniffed at.
Admittedly the Emac is the ugly duckling of the Mac range, an all-in-one affair that saves space on a tower, but ultimately makes the monitor unit both unsightly and extremely heavy. The single unit houses all the components (accessible from the bottom should you wish to tinker) and a 17" flatscreen CRT display. Nestled beneath the sickeningly good display, are two adequate stereo speakers, and in between can be found the CD-RW / DVD-R drive. You can of course upgrade the drive to become DVD-RW (Superdrive which burns DVDs at x8) too, and I'm already regretting my decision to save in that area. One slight, minor niggle is that unlike it's sleeker cousins, the G5s, the CD tray slides in and out like a steam engine, all clatters, shrieks and groans.
Another drawback is that the unit just sits where it is put, and you will need to purchase a sit and swivel stand should the angle of the screen not suit your requirements.
However, beyond the fact that it is ugly, heavy and static, it shines in every other department.
It comes preloaded with Panther (OSX 10.3) and also runs in classic mode (OSX 9) so that all of your applications will be supported. And boy does it handle said applications nicely. It positively purrs along, without a pause or stutter as you push Photoshop to its limits and play with the world of Digital Video. 1.25ghz of processing power seems like some kind of typo, surely it's a dual processor, or maybe a G5 in disguise. It certainly helps that both Panther and Classic OS are great operating systems that make Windows (even in its most recent guise) seem like some prehistoric joke. Neither will the Mac alienate new users with its operating systems, it's all so intuitive that it hurts, the only thing that may offend is the lack of a right mouse button, but hey, who really cares about that?
Connectivity? Well, that is all arranged in a small recess on the right hand side of the unit. 3 USB 2.0 ports (with an extra one positioned on the back of the keyboard) which will back support USB 1 devices. 2 Firewire 400 ports for the ultimate in high speed connectivity, a phone jack for the inbuilt 56k modem, and an ethernet 100Base-T port to enjoy the simplicity of networking a Mac (even to a PC). There is also an (as yet untested by myself ) VGA slot so that you can link your Mac to a projector or display device. Headphone and speaker sockets are there too, and the Emac comes shipped as Airport and Bluetooth ready, though if you wish to be totally wireless you will need to invest in a card.
What would you possibly want to use all of the above connections for? Well, the Emac comes with 5 knock-out programmes along with Panther. Garageband lets you get all midied up (or not) to create music from scratch. IPhoto is simplicity itself when it comes to grabbing your pics from a digital camera. After downloading (using USB or Firewire) then you can edit the snaps, create albums, burn a CD or DVD of your collection, or just start building libraries.
ITunes is the Ipod's music repository, and the 2 connect and interact seamlessly, or you can just use it for saving your music files as MP3s, WMV, AAC, and so forth. Build playlists, DJ sets, or whatever you wish, ITunes is as complicated as you wish to make it.
IMovie is my current favourite, impossibly easy to use, but very powerful as a bundled programme. Grab DV footage from your camcorder (staggeringly quick with Firewire and that mind bogglingly effective 1.25 processor) and play with it. Edit, cut, paste, add music, add commentary tracks, add effects, add titles and on and on. It does everything you would want it to, stopping short of being a professional package.
IDVD lets you create DVDs, not just burning them, but creating chapters, menus, buttons, special features, subtitles, etc. Here's the best bit though, they all interact seamlessly. Create a short film in IMovie, score it in Garageband, save it in ITunes, drag it back to IMovie, throw in some stills from IPhoto, and author it all onto a DVD in IDVD. Don't expect to be able to make a cup of tea while the Emac labours over it though. Because it won't. Ever.
Last evening I put the finishing touches to a 10 minute film, with soundtrack, the project weighed in at 2gig, and the Mac never missed a beat, not even with Classic Mode running in the background, and ITunes happily playing in the foreground. IMovie huffed and puffed a little when I compressed the 2gig file to a Quicktime movie that could be emailed. Oh? Didn't I mention its flexibility with file formats? That it will compress or buff up your finished product to whatever file size or format that you require?
Shame on me. Then again, the Emac, Panther and it's family of programmes does so many things so very well, I'm bound to forget something.
ISync lets you synchronise your machine with any other Macs, or Mac products you may own. So the Mac at work, at home and the Ipod can all be at one with each other. It will also sync with PDAs and PCs. That's just showing off though.
As a further enticement, ITunes Music Store has finally launched in the UK, allowing you to hook up online with Apple and download music for 79p a track. Apple online support is great and again makes a mockery of the clunking world of Microsoft and Windows. Browse the support using either Internet Explorer, or Macs own internet browser 'Safari' which I confess to not being overly found of. 'A little buggy' best describes it.
Whilst online, you may wish to make the most of IChat or ISight, Apples own competitors to MSN Messenger, ICQ and the like. I'm yet to test those, but imagine they perform as well if not better than their competition.
So, it's ugly, heavy, and the best thing since sliced bread. Don't be fooled by the ancient sounding processor, or intimidated thinking Macs are impossible to upgrade, they're not. 10 years in professional design using up to the minute PCs and Macs leave me in no doubt that these are great little machines rather than fashion accessories. Apple shipped mine to me in under a working week. It cost less than £700. What's stopping you?
Advantages: money saver , space saver , an elegant look Disadvantages: using SD RAM, Processor speed is less
This product is from very good company which have quality and style in their product. It si good money saver and space saver. But for Techies it is not so much of use bcaz it is using SD Ram and less speed processor , but for childeren this one is avery good option and people have less space and want to use for some homepurposes it is very reliable and complete value for money.
This product include everything which you want in your PC and it give ... ...sale services which one is very good from apple. You can use it to make a small home network as it consists of ethernet card and I t consits of Combo drive by which you can read and write Cd and can read DVD. So we can say that this product is very good for home users and childerens, but not suitable for those who want to program in using some hevy softwares like MAYA etc.
I recommend this product for homes and for small bussiness purposes and in ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Cheap, good spec, attractive Disadvantages: May be bulky for some
Being an Apple you can only expect top quality and this is what you get. The eMac is mainly targeted for students going off to university, as it is the cheapest Mac in the range. The spec is good with 40gb hard drive, which is standard for most PCs now. The large 17-inch screen has great colour and depth. The overall design of the Mac is excellent and well thought out and the eMac delivers all the things the iMac can do without the high price. For ... ...it makes the eMac much better than its PC rivals. The prices I have stated are from the Apple website (UK store) and both are availabe readily. That aside, this is a very affordable Mac and is perfect for students that want to use the reliable Mac system. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Speed
Design
Manufacturer Support
Ease of use
Value For Money
somewhat helpful
15.05.2004
(16.05.2004)
Space saver Review ofApple eMac PPC G4 17" CRTby
gerrards6
Advantages: Compact, Neat, Tidy. Disadvantages: Not messy enough, Tower to contend with/Hide
Why did'nt M.S go this way It Looks good, Feels good, Its Tidy, Its reliable, Its very easy to work with.
A machine designed for Student's in Mind, well I am a student of Life. and I like it very much- A nice design that dont look out of place in most rooms in the house. I use OS.X and have have a Lexmark all in one Printer. We use this for everthing from Pics to Food. Dont be frightened cos its not the other kind of Computer, Go and have a play ... ...are nice and easy to use, the screen res. is excellent a good quality picture.
I use Aol for internet server and they are very up to date, as far as Mac are concerned. But Dont be Put off cos its not Called a P.C. It does the same job! if not Better Than its Competitor. And Its easier.
If you want a quality machine that is Fast and Classy then this is it! ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Good for Designers Disadvantages: Not Many
...Ok ignore that the thing looks sexy.
This is a super machine, everything that it comes with is easy to use and based around people who use technology for the 21st century.
All you have to do is pretty much turn it on and thats you set. No pc installing rubbish.
I have been using it for 4 years now to get me through my Graphics degree. It has helped me alot as all the photoshop software you put on it expects to be used with a mac. I say this as the only downful is when you get something sent to you thats meant to run on a CD-ROM for a pc so you can be let down by that.
But this is also good for those who like making music which you can through the 'Garageband' package it comes with to get you started.
It has it's own video editing suite which is helpful when putting on images from cameras to video cameras. You can make...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
...for a Macintosh, that is not to be sniffed at.
Admittedly the Emac is the ugly duckling of the Mac range, an all-in-one affair that saves space on a tower, but ultimately makes the monitor unit both unsightly and extremely heavy. The single unit houses all the components (accessible from the bottom should you wish to tinker) and a 17" flatscreen CRT display. Nestled beneath the sickeningly good display, are two adequate stereo speakers, and in between can be found the CD-RW / DVD-R drive. You can of course upgrade the drive to become DVD-RW (Superdrive which burns DVDs at x8) too, and I'm already regretting my decision to save in that area. One slight, minor niggle is that unlike it's sleeker cousins, the G5s, the CD tray slides in and out like a steam engine, all clatters, shrieks and groans.
Another drawback is that the unit just sits where...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Looks great, works great, doesn't crash. Disadvantages: Pretty but badly designed mouse. That's it!
...In Brief: Works the way a computer should - reliable and straight forward.
Using Apple computers every day for work and pleasure I never tire of their simple, well thought out design. I bought my eMac when I left my job and started up business on my own. I am a grphic designer and already had an older G3 Mac but needed something up to date but not too expensive. The eMac fitted the bill perfectly. The monitor is big and sharp enough to work with and the processor is fast enough for anything bar high resolution video work. The memory needed to be topped up as with most computers but everything else is there ready to use. Including a nice bundle of software called iLife wich does all kinds of fancy stuff with images, video and music.
Although originally designed for the education market and then marketed to consumers...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
The eMac comes packed with features and attributes that could easily make the dean's list. Come to think of it, you might say it is the dean's list made manifest. It's true that the eMac's design aesthetics are distinctly Apple-like. But the inspiration for the eMac came from you. For example, you asked for a 17-inch screen - while making it clear that you didn't want to have to buy new desks to accommodate a physically bigger computer. By the same token, you liked the idea of having a supercomputer in the classroom. You wanted your students to have the benefit of a PowerPC G4 processor, but it had to be affordable. You also wished for a computer with a space-saving design - and you insisted on not having to go out and buy new peripherals for it. To this last point, the good news is that thanks to Mac OS X, the eMac works with most of your existing printers and scanners. You can also use your Mac OS 9 applications in Classic mode.
Telecom
Modem: Fax / modem - integrated
Max Transfer Rate: 56 Kbps
Protocols & Specifications: ITU V.92
Networking
Networking: Network adapter - integrated
Data Link Protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet
Power
Device Type: Power supply
Voltage Required: AC 100/220 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Power Provided: 170 Watt
Operating system / software
OS Provided: Apple MacOS X / MacOS 9 / preinstalled
Software: Drivers & Utilities, AOL, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat Reader, AppleWorks, EarthLink, Apple QuickTime, Apple iTunes, Apple Hardware Test, Otto Matic, Quicken 2002 Deluxe, World Book Mac OS X Edition, Apple iDVD 2, Apple Mac OS X Mail, Apple Mac OS X Chess, Apple iPhoto, Apple iMovie, Deimos Rising, Apple iChat
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