[nJm]

I've been thinking about getting a new Combo drive eMac for my mother. Just needs something for email, internet and dealing with digital photos (I know, the eMac is perfect for this). Anyway, my main concern is with the CRT. I went to an Apple Reseller today and their emac display model had noticable shimmering at anything above 1024x768. I've heard of numerous people complaining about the life of the eMac CRT, and problems like this. Are they all like this or is it more a case of all the problem ones get their owners onto forums where they complain?

I am waiting to see what the new iMac is like, hopefully it won't cost that much more than the previous ones!

[Detrius]

I have replaced a few display assemblies, but far more of these have been sold than I have fixed. Very few people get onto the message boards and announce that they do not have problems. You can't base purchasing decisions on the existence of problems on the message board. Besides; if it's under warranty, what difference does it make? As long as you don't have common hard drive problems, you don't have a problem.

Oh, and BTW, get the AppleCare. People get upset about their 13 month old machine breaking... I hate dealing with that. People are unreasonable in these situations. They took the gamble by not getting the extended warranty and they should accept the consequences of that decision. Everyone should just get the extended warranty and be done with it. People don't complain about their 37 month old machine breaking. They aren't happy, but they accept it.

Sorry for the tirade.

[Luca Rescigno]

Main problem comes from the poor location of the speakers. At anything above a low volume, noise from the speakers will cause the display to shimmer. This is really apparent at the higher resolutions. There are other eMac display problems but this is the main one, because it's actually a design flaw and not just a one-in-a-thousand problem. I haven't seen an eMac that DOESN'T have problems with this. If you run it at 1024x768 or perhaps 1152x864, it'll be much better. 1280x960 is a bit too high, and the 72 Hz refresh rate is not very nice to your eyes. To alleviate it, just get a set of external speakers. Logitech makes a pretty good set of 2.0 speakers that are fine if you don't need much volume. My mom has them and she's happy with them.

I'd also recommend an extended warranty if you know it's for someone who will be using it for a long time. eMacs are a lot more like laptops than desktops - unlike a PowerMac, which you can open up to replace various parts, the eMac is pretty much sealed up and it requires a technician to get inside and fix things. AppleCare for iMacs and eMacs is pretty cheap, buy it.

[DoraExplorer]

For what it's worth, I've had my eMac for a year and I've never had any problems with the CRT. It's crisp and clear. I have it at 1152x864.

I also have the Applecare.

[nJm]

Thanks for the responses. Unless the iMac has something I think she would want/need (other than cool looks) I think I'll get her an eMac next week

What sort of ram does it have? Is it regular DDR, or is it a laptop SO-DIMM?

Oh, and how quiet is the 1.25 eMac? Her current HP tower has a really noisy fan and it drives her insane. The eMac would be left on a lot of the time as it would be a print server to the other computers in the house.

[DoraExplorer]

Originally posted by nJm:

Oh, and how quiet is the 1.25 eMac? Her current HP tower has a really noisy fan and it drives her insane.

There's an entire discussion about how noisy the eMacs are. You might find it on a search. But to save time, I'll summarize the entire thread:

It's kinda noisy.
No, it's not. It's a soothing hum.
Yes, it's noisy. Compared to a laptop.
Well, maybe, but not compared to a Dell Tower.


I have 1.0 eMac. And, yes, it's noisier than my iBook, but quieter than my old Mac clone tower.

[Luca Rescigno]

Originally posted by nJm:
What sort of ram does it have? Is it regular DDR, or is it a laptop SO-DIMM?

It uses regular DDR DIMMs. Should work with either PC2700 or PC3200.

[nJm]

Thanks for the info. It sounds like it would do the trick fine. I'll just wait a few days to see if the new iMac is coming out. If not I'll go grab one.

Cheers.