[bstieritz]

Hello fellow mac addicts,

after a lot of a brain-racking over a new machine, the new 1ghz emac with the superdrive seemed to me the best decision in the long run. The superdrive offers excellent dvd burnability and the machine is an excellent value. I even haggled with the apple phone sales person (Lisendro) and was able to get a $100 credit in addition to my higher education price and a free canon printer.

During my decision process, I searched nearly every nook and cranny for reviews and opinions on the new 1ghz emac, but didn't find very much so I feel it my karmic duty to be one of the first people to post my first impression of this machine for all to see.

Let me first start off by saying that apple phone sales rock. Lisendro was extremely helpful and courteous and the discount just made my day. I still have to call, however, and inquire about the rebate for the printer because there was no paperwork included with the computer that I could see. Anyway, I ordered my emac and printer last thursday and was impressed at apple's free shipping deal (fedex ground) getting the package to my place by monday!! That's an impressive turnaround considering there was no charge. I knew the machine would only come with 256mb of sdram (not ddr like the imac) so my next visit was to crucial.com to order me some ram. I snatched up a 512mb chip for 75 bucks (with coupon code) and free 2-day air shipping, also. The ram arrived at my house the same day as the computer and printer . . . nice.

Out of the box, the emac looked fantastic . . . mmmm, that refreshing "new mac smell." Everything was packed very nicely and well organized, not crammed into one compartment. Even if fedex dropped this thing 800x (which could have been the case by the looks of the box . . . is it bad to see tire marks running across the side of the box ? Included with the machine is a redesigned keyboard, non-adjustable (unlike like the pro) and apple has moved the usb ports from the corners to the middle near where the usb cable connects to the machine. One cool/geek design feature of the new keyboard is the lip of plastic surrounding the keyboard. This alone wouldn't be very exciting but after closer inspection I see that each key is suspended and surrounded by sealed plastic. What does this mean to the average joe? If you knock a glass of soda into your keyboard during your next drunken stuper, not only will the liquid be contained in the keyboard so as not to bleed over your desk and precious electronics but since the keys are suspended upwards, the circuitry will not be affected by the spill. Hard to describe without actually seeing but believe me this is a good thing.

Other stuff that came with the machine: modem cable, blank dvd-r, blank cd-r, user manual and warranty info, back up and restore discs and a copy of the current 2003 WorldBook Encyclopedia Media Cd. Once again, no rebate forms or info. concerning my printer rebate though, so make sure and ask when you purchase yours.

After connecting all the cables, I powered up the emac and was pleasantly surprised at the very fast startup time. The 1ghz processor really flies. I'd estimate with the stock ram it only took about 15-20 seconds to startup. Sure beats staring at the beachball of death for 4 minutes, doesn't it?

On screen, you are first greeted with some sweet music to help get you through the apple registration process, where you will set up your internet connection. I was offered 12 free issues of MacWorld magazine if I completed apple's registration . . . why the heck not?? free = smile

Upgrading the ram in the emac is painfully simple. Just turn off the machine, flip it on it's front, unsrew one screw holding the little door on the bottom and your set. One comment about the screw . . . I've read a lot about this screw giving people trouble, even stripping so bad they had to farking drill the thing off to remove the door. I think apple has heard the cries because the new screw is very heavy duty and it's philips-head, not flat-head. After the ram upgrade, I restarted (which blazed through in about 5-10 seconds!!) and checked to make sure the machine had recognized my previous actions. You could already tell she liked the extra memory . . . I could almost hear her saying "thanks brian."

I next decided to check out the speakers. Not too bad but planning on investing in some sound sticks with the sub. Included speakers are good for everyday tasks, but for music there is no contention. Also, some people have commented on the speakers producing feedback to the moniter at high volumes. This has not happened to me. I have turned them up to full volume and have not witnessed any screen changes. There is a small issue that does arise when turning up the speakers. The plastic surounding the speakers likes to vibrate just a little bit . . . a little annoying. Oh, and I've read a lot about the fan on the back of the machine being too loud. I won't lie to you, it's not as quiet as an imac, but it's not that bad. I'd compare it to a box fan turned on in the corner of your apartment on the lowest setting. You are aware that it's there but you sort of drown it out after a while. I certainly wouldn't let it keep you from buying the machine.

Another issue concerning the monitor is with the screen flaking out when the resolution is adjusted to the highest setting. This has apparently been fixed because I've been working with the machine on the highest setting (with the text size increased) for the last four days and have had no problems. The screen is very crisp for a CRT and I've experienced no eye strain. Comparing the monitor to the imac's LCD, there is no question. The LCD's are much crisper and brighter . . . but CRT's are reliable and much cheaper.

Next I installed Office X (along with other software like photoshop, studio mx, safari and downloading itunes 4) and the printer. I attend university so I was able to buy the educational version for 5 bucks. Talk about a bloated program. Microsoft claims to give you the choice at install to either do a traditional, install the whole sha-bang, or do a stream-lined custom install where you choose the programs you'd like to place on your system. Well, I thought I'd choose the custom to get past all the microsoft fluff (basically side-stepping programs like messenger, etc.) but after installing I found that microsoft had hidden these programs in a small folder within the program anyway! Psh. Farking bill g.

The printer was an easy install and the i850 is great for the money. Unfortunetly, the driver disc included with the printer are for the OS 9 install, so if you are running OS X you'll have to chuck the cd and visit Canon's support website for the updated OS X drivers. Tried it out by printing a few black and white documents and one 4 x 6 photo of my cat (Leo) and both came out fast and of good quality. The printer even does borderless pics . . . Leo approved of his pic.

Other first impressions of the machine are positive. Its size is a little more stream-lined than your average 17-inch crt so it's not as large a footprint and seems to be less deep than most. The speaker grills are non-removeable now which is probably a good thing because they look like they'd be fun to play with for a mischievous kitty. OS X is a great program. Very smooth-running and great to look at. For linux-junkies, the "terminal" is a great place to hang out. iTunes is great for music and syncing with your ipod. Probably wouldn't stick with explorer as my browser; Safari is much more stable and isn't as bloated a program.

In the end, I'm very happy with the emac and would recommend it to anyone looking for a G4, sweet as heck machine, for right around a grand.

[Shikimo]

Thanks for the news! I have also just decided to save the $$ and get the emac superdrive. If you have a chance, a couple of questions:

1) How did you get your student discount down to $1100 (USD, I presume)? It's $1149 here (Portland State University) and at the website, still a fine deal but I like 50 bucks as much as the next guy. Also, the Canon i850 is $149 here. Minus the $99 rebate, howd'ya get it for free?

2)Any issues installing the ram? I'm an amateur, but the guy at the store said it was a piece of cake, as long as I am careful about static electricity. He also said that it's annoying to try and put ram in after mounting the swivel stand...I'm just gonna load up two 512's from the start.

3) Is there any distortion on your screen when the speakers are at high volume? I've got a good stereo and thus don't really care how those little speakers sound, but the reports of this distortion make me nervous, cuz speaker shielding technology is old and easy and any problems with this represent what seems to me like a big engineering screw-up, kinda like all the other emac screen problems. Here's to hoping they have taken care of all of them!

Thanks for the feedback, and I look forward to reading more about your system. I think I am going to drive to the Apple store in Seattle and just buy mine off the shelf, cuz I'm never home to take delivery.

[asmack]

Originally posted by bstieritz:
After inspecting all of the parts everything seems in good working order (although, I'm a little perturbed because I was expecting an apple pro mouse, as promised by apple.com . . . it is not a pro).

Just out of curiosity, where does it say on Apple's website that the new eMacs come with a pro mouse? Not that it really matters, since I would ditch the mouse for a two-button mouse with scroll wheel, but that's just me.

Originally posted by bstieritz:
One big change to the new emacs with superdrives is the lack of os 9 bootablility . . . but, don't worry it's still there!! Instead of booting from startup, you simply "switch" between the two systems.

Well, technically this isn't the same as booting into OS9, but rather, going into Mac OSX's Classic mode.

Anyway, very good initial review. I think I speak for all when I say we would like to hear some more. And some pictures would be nice, too!

[AssassyN]

Welcome to the MacNN Boards, and congrats on your eMac purchase!

And yeah, the eMac clearly comes w/ the regular Keyboard/Mouse, just look at the pics at www.apple.com/emac

Sounds like you're very pleased with your machine, and if you're able to in the future, up your RAM to 1GIG for max. performance. Enjoy!

[bstieritz]

K0nally posted by Shikimo:
Thanks for the news! I have also just decided to save the $$ and get the emac superdrive. If you have a chance, a couple of questions:

1) How did you get your student discount down to $1100 (USD, I presume)? It's $1149 here (Portland State University) and at the website, still a fine deal but I like 50 bucks as much as the next guy. Also, the Canon i850 is $149 here. Minus the $99 rebate, howd'ya get it for free? [/QUOTE]

Ok Shikimo . . . here's the deal on the, er, deal I got from apple.com. Apple gives courtesy credits if you really ask nicely. Actually, it's more like you have to nag nicely. My apple salesman (Lisendro) finally gave me a credit of $100 (50 off the computer and 50 off the printer) after i kept asking if he could go any lower on the price. So, if you haven't already paid for your machine, really try and haggle with the sales people at apple . . . they have the power. I also decided to go with the apple loan through NBNA and I'm not sure if this had anything to do with my discount. A little side comment about the printer: it's very nice. It sports a panel of brushed aluminum across the top and prints out a nice borderless 4 x 6. Plus, the cartridges that come with the machine are completely full, unlike most other manufacturers who shaft you with cartridges you'll soon have to replace.

ram is a piece of cake . . . you will do fine. There's a small door on the bottom of the machine, with a single screw in the middle holding it on. This is where the two ram slots are housed and the back-up lithium battery. Just unscrew (carefully so as not to strip), take off the door, touch the metal panel next to the ram slots to get rid of any static electricity you might have running through you and install. You might want to install before putting on the tilt and swivel . . . I'm not using the tilt and swivel at the moment, but have seen how it's mounted to the emac (by a few screws placed right over the door where the memory is installed) and it looks like you might be forced to uninstall the tilt and swivel before installing the ram, anyway.

I have turned the speakers up to full volume and notice no distortion on the screen. Sounds like there's a very faint vibration in the plastic surrounding the left speaker at high volumes . . . sort of annoying but not bad if you plan on using external speakers. I think a lot of the issues mentioned in the past have either been corrected with the new shipment of emacs or will peak their ugly head in a few months. Let's hope they've all been addressed.

I've heard it's often better to buy from your local apple store because of the ease in returning if the machine should have a defect. One draw back would be maybe losing the opportunity to haggle over the price. I have an apple store here in town and they've never budged on a price . . . especially the academic pricing.

Good luck finding an emac of your own!

[bstieritz]

Originally posted by asmack:
Just out of curiosity, where does it say on Apple's website that the new eMacs come with a pro mouse? Not that it really matters, since I would ditch the mouse for a two-button mouse with scroll wheel, but that's just me.



Well, technically this isn't the same as booting into OS9, but rather, going into Mac OSX's Classic mode.

Anyway, very good initial review. I think I speak for all when I say we would like to hear some more. And some pictures would be nice, too!

Thanks for the comments . . . and after checking out the links you guys provided me on apple.com I figured out I was incorrect to assume this about the emac. I do think maybe apple offers the pro mouse with the emac in other countries. I originally got the idea after I did a search for emacs on google last week and a few pages (possibly old cached pages) mentioned the superdrive system came with a pro mouse and keyboard . . . it just sort of got me excited, I guess. haha

Thanks for clarifying my point about "classic mode" in OS X. My terminology sucks and clarification is always appreciated . . . wouldn't want to mix anyone up.

Any suggestions on a good 2-button scroll mouse?

[Shikimo]

Thanks for the answers...I am playing hookey on Friday to drive up to the Bellevue, WA store and buy my goods (pretty much the same setup you have). I have a local reseller here that says they will take care of any warranty work for me, which is cool cuz Bellevue is 170 miles away. I'll let everyone know how it goes!

[asmack]

Originally posted by bstieritz:
Any suggestions on a good 2-button scroll mouse?

I use a Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical. I'm very satisfied with it. Best mouse I've ever used.

It's symmetrical for right or left handed use, it has a nice textured surface to make it easy to grab on to, and 2 buttons are all you really need (3 if you configure the scroll wheel as a button). I have configured the right mouse button as the "back" button on all my browsers. Makes it easy to just lean back and surf for hours without ever touching the keyboard...

[slider]

I am very happy with my Logitech MouseMan Optical Mouse. You can get it cordless, which I have, or corded for $35. I would also recommend you use USB OverDrive http://www.usboverdrive.com/USB Overdrive instead of what ever drivers come with which ever mouse you go with, no issues.

[AssassyN]

Just a note about the Pro Mouse/Keyboard; every eMac sold BEFORE this revision including the new 1Ghz eMac *had* a Pro Mouse/Keyboard, thus is why you saw pictures of previous eMacs with them, and found them on google.