[Doncom]

Of the following systems, which would you choose for an incoming college student:

Flat Panel iMac System
iMac 1GHz w/ 17" TFT
80GB Ultra ATA drive
512MB DDR266 - 2 DIMMs
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
==
Educational Price - $1,844.00

or

(new) eMac System
1GHz/256SD/80G/Super/56K
(new) iPod - 15GB
eMac Tilt & Swivel Stand
Kensington Microsaver for eMac (security lock)
Office v.X for Mac Academic
==
Educational Price - $1,808.90


Primary Differences:

Video:
- iMac: nVidia GeForce4 MX w/64MB
- eMac: ATI Radeon 7500 w/32 MB
MB Speed:
- iMac: 133MHz bus
- eMac: 133MHz bus
edit: oops, no difference.
RAM:
- iMac: Faster DDRAM
- eMac: Slower SDRAM
Display:
- iMac: 17" Widescreen LCD (better for movies/work)
- eMac: Standard 17" Flat Screen CRT (better for games)

In the end, I guess I'll wait for some benchmarks to come out, but I was curious to know what everyone thought was the better deal.

Potentially, the computer will be used by myself as a Computer Engineering major at Cal Poly SLO.

Thanks in advance!

[Superchicken]

uhh the iMac is a 133Mhz Bus. I think the speed diff if there is one would be freakishly neglijable. The things you gota consider, how much cash can you spend, how much cash do you WANT to spend, what is worth your cash,and uhh... do you think the eMac is ugly?

Personally I would preffer the iMac because it's just freakin cool! But the practical me would say hey I save money with the eMac... deppends on what you want really... some day I'll probably end up with an eMac after I get my first notebook just becuase they're cheap and run OS X.

[SeSawaya]

I think it depends on how much you use it. Those CRT screens kill my eyes after a short while. LCDs, i can look at them most of the day.

But man, extra money for an iPod!!!!! oh baby!

[Doncom]

Woah.

I just realized with my $1800 budget (ceiling), I could also afford this system:

eMac & iBook AirPort System
(new) eMac
- 800MHz PowerPC G4
- 128MB SDRAM
- 40GB Ultra ATA drive
CD-ROM drive
iBook
- 800MHz PowerPC G3
- 512K L2 cache @800MHz
- 128MB SDRAM memory
- 30GB Ultra ATA drive
- ATI Mobility Radeon 7500
- 32MB DDR video memory
- CD-ROM
Two AirPort Cards
==
Educational Price - $1848


Despite how much I like the iMacs, eMacs are so cheap (w/education discounts)!

Now obviously, I don't really need two independent computers, but well, just goes to show you that Macs aren't all that expensive after all . . .

[pliny]

Yeah really. I think the new emacs are a very good deal. I like them.

[Luca Rescigno]

None of the above. Get a 12" PowerBook

EDIT: I only say this because I started college with a new (to me) dual G4/500 and after my first semester I swapped it out for an 800 MHz iBook. Having a laptop with wireless was so nice... but first check and see how well connected your campus is. I found the iBook extremely convenient for:

1) Killing time in the library between classes
2) Moving from the dorm to my home (it's my freshman year so I'm still going home quite often)
3) Taking online chemistry quizzes from anywhere, instead of having to go back to the dorm to take them. This saved me a couple times.

[mikerally]

Not much of an arguement anymore, the G3 iMacs have been yanked from the Education Store the minute the revised eMacs were released.

May 6th really is the end for the G3 iMac, you'll probably see some left over at retailers for sale, but you're not going to get them from Apple anymore - they're gone from the USA and UK Education stores.

With an eMac for $799, there really isn't a market for the G3 iMac anymore (not unless Apple is into flogging them off at $399).

[Doncom]

Originally posted by mikerally:
Not much of an arguement anymore, the G3 iMacs have been yanked from the Education Store the minute the revised eMacs were released.

What? Um . . . I'm not considering a G3 iMac. Maybe you responded to the wrong post?

[Doncom]

Originally posted by Luca Rescigno:
None of the above. Get a 12" PowerBook

EDIT: I only say this because I started college with a new (to me) dual G4/500 and after my first semester I swapped it out for an 800 MHz iBook. Having a laptop with wireless was so nice... but first check and see how well connected your campus is. I found the iBook extremely convenient for:

1) Killing time in the library between classes
2) Moving from the dorm to my home (it's my freshman year so I'm still going home quite often)
3) Taking online chemistry quizzes from anywhere, instead of having to go back to the dorm to take them. This saved me a couple times.

Cal Poly is fairly well connected, and I was considering this as well, but I don't know if I'm willing to sacrafice the speed, screen estate, (and physical security) of a desktop. It's not something out of consideration, but it's not quite my first choice . . . yet. On the otherhand, it seems like a good compromise between the speed of a PowerMac and the portability of an iBook . . . hmm . . .

[Dex13]

emac, buy it, you'll be happy.
I think it will prove to be better than the imac in the long run.