[ckohler]

I'm seriously considering upgrading from my iMac 400 DV (Indigo) to the base Cube and the Apple 17" CRT monitor. I've been looking around, but have yet to find anyplace with a chart that compairs the Cube with the iMacs in relation to overall speed and performance. Does anyone here know where I could find such a chart?

Secondly, I've upgraded my iMac with a 256meg dimm (100mhz). Am I right to assume that the Cube will accept the same kind of memory as the one I put in my iMac DV? This would be great since I could keep my memory when I upgrade. Thanks in advance for your help.



[This message has been edited by ckohler (edited 03-08-2001).]

[Norm1985]

Well, to answer your second question... The Cube does use PC100 memory. The same as your iMac. So you have absolutly nothing to worry about.

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Mac OS for productivity.
UNIX for stability.
Palm OS for mobility.
Windows for solitaire.

[Fyre4ce]

Although I have never worked the numbers, I believe that the Power Mac turns out to be a better buy than the Cube. For the same price, you may not get better specs by going with the tower, but you certainly get upgradability. In fact, I'm nice enough to do a comparison between the iMac, the Cube, and the Power Mac, right here, right now!

iMac (Graphite) - $1699
600 MHz PowerPC G3 processor
256 MB RAM
40 GB HD
CD-RW drive
10/100BT Ethernet
15" CRT (built in)
RAGE 128 Ultra w/ 16 MB

Cube - $2498
450 MHz PowerPC G4 processor
256 MB RAM
40 GB HD
CD-RW drive
10/100BT Ethernet
17" CRT
RADEON w/ 32 MB DDR

Power Mac - $2598
466 MHz PowerPC G4 processor
256 MB RAM
40 GB HD
CD-RW drive
10/100/1000BT Ethernet
17" CRT
RADEON w/ 32 MB DDR

Based on these numbers, which I just got from the Apple Store, it is obvious to me that the iMac is the best value. The 600 MHz G3 is pleanty fast. If you would like to upgrade to the Cube, you get a bigger monitor, better video hardware, and perhaps a little extra performance for $800. I don't think it's worth it, but if you are willing to go from the iMac to the Cube, you definately should to the Power Mac. For an extra $100, you get some extra speed (from the PC133 RAM and the 133 MHz FSB) and a massive increase in expandability. So, for you, I would go with either the iMac or the Power Mac. The Cube makes no sense. Hope that helps!

EDIT: Sorry, didn't read your first post carefully enough! You are asking about speed exclusively. The answer is no one knows yet. The new iMacs haven't been out long enough for someone to test them. Here is a comparison between slightly dated machines, which may be of some help to you: http://www.barefeats.com/apple2.htm/ It looks as though the iMacs are much slower than the G4's. If you want a G4, though, you should still go with the Power Mac. What I said about the Cube v. Tower still holds.

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Fyre4ce

"I need a vacation." - Terminator robot

[This message has been edited by Fyre4ce (edited 03-08-2001).]

[NeoMac]

WHAT?!

The 600Mhz iMac cost $1,499.00 , NOT $1,699.

You overshot the price by $200!

[Fyre4ce]

originally posted by NeoMac:
WHAT?!

The 600Mhz iMac cost $1,499.00 , NOT $1,699.

You overshot the price by $200!

No, I didn't overshoot the price, I added an extra 128 MB RAM for a total of 265 MB. I know what you're going to say... "RAM is more expensive from Apple!" and I would agree with you. When actually buying the computer, it is best to buy it with the minimum amount of RAM and then upgrade through Crucial, but the difference in price for the Apple upgrade can be ignored in this example because all three models have it, and we are only comparing relative value.

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Fyre4ce

"I need a vacation." - Terminator robot

[This message has been edited by Fyre4ce (edited 03-08-2001).]

[ckohler]

Thanks for the info Fyre4ce.
Just FYI, both of those G4s you described (the cube and the tower) are waaay outside of my price range. I can't spend more than around $1,600 for a new computer.

If you look at Apple's online store, one can get a refurbished Cube for only $1,099 and it's the same as their current base model one. Add to that the refurbished 17" monitor for only $350 and I've got a full fleged G4 system for around $1,500 bucks!

I'm not really interested in the PCI slots that the tower provides. I'd never use them. The only nice thing about the tower Macs are their 133mhz bus.

The reason I'm wanting to move to a G4 over keeping my iMac is beacuse I want Altivec support for apps that I use often such as VirtualPC, Photoshop and iTunes. Also, I'm a huge OSX fan and I'm hoping Aqua is going to see some sort of performance boost from the G4.. not to mention the G4 has a 1mb L2 cache. The cache alone should be a big improvement over my currrent 512k. I also plan on adding the Radeon card to the Cube shortly after i purchase it. That should help give it a bit more pep.

Anyway, anyone here every moved from a recent iMac (slot-load) to a Cube? Did you see and feel a general performance boost? If I didn't mention before, I have the previous model iMac 400mhz DV.. not the ones that have CD-RW's... so I'm not giving that up when I move to the base model Cube. In fact, I'll be gaining 50mhz, twice the disk space and a DVD-Rom over the standard CD-Rom I have now.

Thanks,


[This message has been edited by ckohler (edited 03-08-2001).]

[marc]

Current prices at the online catalog stores: iMac 600 $1499, Base Cube G4 450 $1299 + 17" Monitor $499 (or roughly $300 more than the iMac). No sales tax at these places, and usually some goodies (extra memory or cheap OS-X).

As for the comparison, try here: http://www.barefeats.com/apple2.htm It compares the 450MHz Cube to the 500 MHz iMac. That was as close as I could come. HTH

[tooki]

I suggest against a refurb Mac for a number of reasons, including 1. the insultingly short warranty, 2. you must buy from Apple, which can end up costing you more than from a mail order house.

Look at my "Buying tips" thread in the PowerBook forum for more detailed explanations.

tooki

[zigzag]

Go to macworld.com and look for the recent Powerbook diary by Andrew Gore. In the final installment, he compares the G4 Powerbooks against a G3 Powerbook. His conclusion: the G4 is basically the same as a G3 except for Altivec-enhanced applications. The G3 even beat the G4 in certain tests that did not utilize Altivec. Still, I'd go for the Cube G4 - you'll probably be glad you did with OS-X and newly-optimized applications coming out over the next year or two.

[Agent69]

If you decide to go with a Cube, just be sure that it is what you want. I have one and I am extremely happy with it but it isn't for everyone.

Agent69

[ckohler]

Originally posted by tooki:
I suggest against a refurb Mac for a number of reasons, including 1. the insultingly short warranty, 2. you must buy from Apple, which can end up costing you more than from a mail order house.

As far as I can find, $1,099 is the lowest price anywhere for a Cube... including eBay. Does anyone know of a mail order house that has it for the same or less? I couldn't find one.

Also, if I got a refurb Cube and refurb monitor then bought the $250 three year extended warrenty, it'd be the same price as a brand new Cube and new monitor. On top of that, the set would then have a 3 year warrenty verses only one year for the brand new set. Seems like a better deal to me nomatter how one slices it. Did I miss something?

Originally posted by zigzag:
the G4 is basically the same as a G3 except for Altivec-enhanced applications. The G3 even beat the G4 in certain tests that did not utilize Altivec.

I had come across that article once before as well. It basically means that if you want to pay the admission price for a G4, then you'll get *some* apps that run twice as fast, but only some. I really wish I knew how much OSX will take advantange of Altivec internally. Nobody seems to know.. even with all those internal builds floating around. Still, I do use VirtualPC and that does take advantage of Altivec. Also, the G4 has a full 1mb of cache which should speed up things some all over I believe.

If I had to pick the best features of the iMac 600 verses the refurbished Cube set they would be as follows:

iMac
-------
Faster mhz processor.
60gig HD and 64mb more ram
CD-RW (aproximate value $200)
Very portable

Cube
--------
Altivec support and 1mb backside cache
17" Apple monitor with two extra USB ports
Videocard and Harddrive are both upgradable
Better sounding speakers

It's a tough call, but I still feel the Cube's advantages are better ones. Also, I hear that the Radeon card is the best video card out there for the Mac currently, and I would never have that option with the iMac.

Any more thoughts on this? Thanks for all the info so far.

[ariella]

i would definitely go with the cube over an imac any day. you would definitely benefit from the altivec support in photoshop as well as the 17" display.

[Wardy]

Regarding the Cube vs PowerMac G4 - the Cube has no fan. This is a huge advantage for people (like me) who have the computer in the bedroom with someone else trying to sleep

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iMac Rev A, 96Mb, MacOS 9.1, UMAX 1220U, Epson SC 740

[SpeedRacer]

If you even remotely care about upgrading your machine go with the Cube. As an iMac owner who has just recently "test drove" an iMac for a couple days, i can honestly say it is the perfect next step if you loved your iMac, but wanted a bit more expandability and power.

And don't play down the portability factor of the Cube. With a 15'" LCD it takes up less desk space than an iMac and is very easy to from one place to another given that you can hook it up to any VGA-based display (eg: no need to cart around your display).

FYI: On the latest developer release of X (k78) i found a Cube/450 to run dramatically faster than my iMac/333 - even faster than (dare i say it) the Tower/450 at work. YMMV.

Good luck!

Speed

[atunnell]

I just last week got a new Cube 500mhz and 640 RAM, and a ibook indigo with 320 RAM, coming from a imac 333mhz box with 196 RAM. I noticed even on the ibook BEFORE I ADDED the extra ram that it was alot more snappy than my imac. I love my Cube, but with the amount of funds you have I think the top of the line imac is your best bet for max preformance for your price point. I would also add as uch RAM as you can, as I can really notice the difference under both OS 9.1 and OSX beta with the extra ram. Good luck!

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--------------------------------
Aaron Tunnell
Virginia Tech
Techology Education
Cube.640.40.GF2.15"
ibook indigo 320.Air
Imac rev. D 192.6
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[tsheley]

I just bought a entry level Cube for $1295 with a free 256 meg upgrade + $30 install fee from Club Mac. I also got a new Viewsonic EF70 monitor from Buy.com for about $280 with shipping. Added together with the shipping on the Cube it came to just over $1600. Not to bad.

Can't wait to get it tomorrow.

[Sawtooth2000]

Just for the record

The iMac and Cube BOTH have a VGA-connector
Neither the iMac or the Cube have a fan.
Both fanless.

Maybe you should think about what you need/want more:
CD-RW vs. DVD-ROM

this is one significant difference.

-'tooth

[ckohler]

Thanks everybody for your comments. I ended up getting the base Cube (refurbished) and a new 17" Apple Studio display, both from the Apple Store online. They had it sent to me in under 2 days. Everything has gone flawlessly and the Cube has already exceeded my expectations. Not only is this thing beautiful, but it's a real solid performer.

As I planned, I took my 256mb DIMM out of my iMac and plugged it right into the Cube in less than a minute. OSX really does fly on this machine. I can tell that Altivec is making the compsiting, shadow and transparency elements just a bit snappier. Overall, I'm very happy. This machine has been far under-rated I think.