[indigoimac]

Well lots of questions here, but why not?

1) New eMacs any time soon?
2) Current eMacs- They use a desktop HDD, right?
3) What is the RPM rating for these HDDs? And are they quiet?
4) Is the machine itself quiet, in terms of fans?

Thanks, Indigo

[the_glassman]

1) You never know with Apple, it should be updated soon if they don't can it all together.
2) Yes they use a standard hard disc.
3) 7200 RPM Mine is quiet, but it depends on which make you have. You won't here it over the eMac however.
4) No, the machine is fairly loud, not MDD loud mind you, but not iBook quiet.

[indigoimac]

thank u

[mitchell_pgh]

I'm interested to see what Apple has in store for this computer. I'm wondering if we are going to see a G5 in it... with the Mac mini being a G4...

[Eriamjh]

New eMacs are expected in April. I recommend waiting if you can or buying a refurb and saving some money up front.

[Krusty]

Originally posted by indigoimac:

1) New eMacs any time soon?

Rumors and typical upgrade cycles for the eMac say yes. Last update was April of last year.

Originally posted by indigoimac:

2) Current eMacs- They use a desktop HDD, right?

Absolutely, though they are MUCH more difficult to switch out on your own than an iMac or Mac Mini.

Originally posted by indigoimac:

3) What is the RPM rating for these HDDs? And are they quiet?

The BTO 160gb in mine is 7200rpm, My buddy's 80gb in his superdrive eMac is 7200. I think the 40gb that is standard in the combo eMac is 5400rpm. The one in mine is a Seagate and I never hear it ... the rest of the machine is louder than the hard drive.

Originally posted by indigoimac:

4) Is the machine itself quiet, in terms of fans?

Not really. Mine is far quieter than my roommate's Dell. But ... is probably the loudest of the current Macs available. Its definitely livable .. but nowhere near silent

I'd have mixed feelings about buying an eMac right now ... Tiger is just around the corner and we would assume that the next iteration will at least have updates that will allow it to utilize Tiger's Core Image + the usual speed bumps + perhaps the option of BT 2.0 + maybe a faster DVD-RW (believe it or not, the eMac was the first Apple machine to get the 8x DVD-RW when it was intro'd last year) + rumors that Apple will finally be including 512mb ram as minimum on newly intro'd machines. Even if a refurb cost $100-$200 less, you'd get that value back if you waited to get one with Tiger included + upgrades, IMHO.

[indigoimac]

I'm just gonna wait for the new ones, mostly hoping for a better GFX card. What are the minimum requirements for Core Imaging?

[Krusty]

Core Image used to have a requirement page that specified 64mb graphics memory. Recently, that spec sheet was removed from the web prompting hopes that Apple is working hard on supporting 32mb Radeon 9200 cards (which are widespread in Apple's consumer products ..eMacs, Mac Minis, iBooks). I imagine there is about 100% chance that the graphics card in the next eMac will support Core Image ... whatever may be required for it).

Yah ... wait man. Apple only updates the eMacs about once a year and that time is rapidly approaching. Also, I don't know when Tiger will be released but remember the rule-of-thumb that Apple has always followed in the past: whenever a Tiger ship date is announced, computers bought after that time will be eligible for a $19.95 upgrade to Tiger if they didn't happen to ship with it on the hard drive. So .. the preferred path would be to wait at least until the upgrade + announcement of Tiger's ship date.

[indigoimac]

Well I probably won't consider purchasing until June or July I was just checking to see if it's worth getting one now, but I guess it's in Apple's hands now!