G-Tech G-DRIVE COMBO 500 GB

Advantages: This great machine offers many upgradable options and very easy to install
Disadvantages: it is rather big and heavy to move around

...I moved to apple from PC 5years ago and have never looked back the hardware and software and technical help you receive is second to non. I upgraded from an IBOOK G3 to the powermac G4 mainly for the option to expand in hardware such as more ram, hard drive size and other extras like TV cards etc. for this reason alone very quickly and easily i was able to run a 2gb ram, 500gb hard drive G4 supercomputer with TV card too and for a fraction of the cost if i were to buy it all pre-installed. So this computer allows a complete novice to open up and add RAM, HD and PCI card upgrades easily, and for that alone it should win awards. But awards should also go to the overall design, look and feel of the machine and not just the tech speck. for this machine is not a boring magnolia or black box that you would want to hide away if it were a PC... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Cheap to buy and massively upgradeable.
Disadvantages: Not as compact as an iMac. Limited bus speed.

...on the front, and all of the sockets for connectivity are behind the machine. Specs: The CPU is a 300, 350, 400, or 450 MHz G3 chip with a 1MB L2 backside cache running at 2:1 (512K on 300 MHz model). RAM in second user machines is variable, but with the number of web and graphics companies moving to G5s it's not uncommon to see machines with 320MB on the market. It can be expanded to a gigabyte of RAM with four 250MB modules. Video is via a PCI ATI Rage 128 card with 16MB RAM. Hard-drives were a standard IDE 6GB drive. There are four PCI slots (one for video), to accept any number of simple upgrades. The machine has 10/100 Base-T Ethernet, 2 400 Mbps fire-wire port, 2 12 Mbps USB ports, and an ADB port for legacy keyboards and mice (from older beige machines). When buying a blue & white G3, you are better off with a Rev 2 motherboard. These had... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: compact, looks great, G4
Disadvantages: price

...The cube is the latest product from Apple. It is a G4 supper computer in a 8inch cube. There are two models, one with a G4 450, 64MB RAM and 20GB HD and one with G4 500, 128MB RAM and 30GB HD. Both have DVD, USB, Firewire, 16MB ATI Rage 128 pro and 10/100 BaseT ethernet. They also ship with the new optical mouse, new keyboard and Harmon Kardon USB speakers. This machine looks fantastic (see the apple web site for pics) it is a white cube suspended in a clear case. on the top is a slot load DVD drive and an air vent. There is no fan so it is silent (apple claim only 19 decibels). The insides are easy to acsess by flipping the machine over and lifting them out. You can install 1.5 GB of RAM (if you have £3000). It also has the new monitor connector which carries signal power and USB in one lead, but is only compatibly with the new apple... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful