[UnixMac]

While looking at the bottom of my new G5.. I noticed something which really put a smile on my face. "assembled in the USA"

While, I'm sure that many of the components are made in Asia and maybe Mexico etc... it is nevertheless encouraging to see that final assembly is still American on a box that costs $3000+ (closer to $5000 with all the crap I have in it!).

Apple store employees are all American, additionally Apple still has (mostly) American (and some Canadian) tech support with Apple Care which is also a big plus.. in a time when almost all Dell and Gateway tech support is in India.

For me, that's reason alone to buy a Mac.

[wtmcgee]

Very good points. I don't really base my buying decisions solely on country of origin, but it sure is nice when it works out that way.

[UnixMac]

Originally posted by wtmcgee:
Very good points. I don't really base my buying decisions solely on country of origin, but it sure is nice when it works out that way.

Don't get me wrong, I don't either.. I drive a VW and a Volvo, own Swiss watches and guns, and love japanese audio equipment, but I like my Apple (an American firm) products to have some American origin (other than the designed by Apple bs, that a lot of their stuff carries).

Anywho.... it a well made computer, that's for sure.

[Keiretsu]

WD Raptor 10000RPM 74GB

Two questions:[list=1][*]noise level compared to the stock drive[*]speed difference to the stock dive[/list=1]

I plan to do the same ... if there is no negative effect in terms of noise and a positive effect in terms of speed!

[Keiretsu]

Originally posted by wtmcgee:
Very good points. I don't really base my buying decisions solely on country of origin, but it sure is nice when it works out that way.

Even US hand-made PCs with US made Windows will get Virus and Spyware problems (whether it's US malware or form another origin!)

[UnixMac]

Originally posted by Keiretsu:
Two questions:[list=1][*]noise level compared to the stock drive[*]speed difference to the stock dive[/list=1]

I plan to do the same ... if there is no negative effect in terms of noise and a positive effect in terms of speed!

It's like this... if your one of those guys that looses it when his computer makes the slightest noise, or when the fans spin up for 3 seconds occasionally, steer away from it. It's basically noiseless when it's doing nothing (other than spinning 10000RPM).. however, when the read write head moves back and forth to read apps etc... it makes that classic Hard Drive deep clicking sound (slightly audible but by no means loud). This is very temporary (a couple of seconds), as you're not opening and closing apps every minute (I may do it once in an hour or less).

Now as for speed.. on x-bench I got an almost 20% increase in speed across the board with most tests vs the 250GB Maxtor MaxLite II that Apple sent me, but real world results are even nicer.

My boot up is snappier, Apps like Photoshop, FCP, and Word launch in what seems like 1/3 less time, and with the advantage of using it strictly as a system/application drive and the other drive as a user/data drive, I get the tramendous added benefit of the multi-threading of the SATA bus, as data is being sent by both drives at a rate that almost (but not quite) bottle necks the bus, and therefore provides my system with double the thru-put in certain instances (like clicking on a .jpg on my User drive and having Photoshop open from my System drive all at the same time).

Over all score (0-10).... 9 Cost $250 (+/-)

Also, look at this thread, I started. It has some good info and a good link to a "how to".
http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=2228300#post2228300


Good luck (and I believe the Raptor is made in the USA!)

[BZ]

Do you know if there is a plan to up the size of the drive? 74GB is just still a bit small. 120GB I could do.

BZ

Originally posted by UnixMac:
It's like this... if your one of those guys that looses it when his computer makes the slightest noise, or when the fans spin up for 3 seconds occasionally, steer away from it. It's basically noiseless when it's doing nothing (other than spinning 10000RPM).. however, when the read write head moves back and forth to read apps etc... it makes that classic Hard Drive deep clicking sound (slightly audible but by no means loud). This is very temporary (a couple of seconds), as you're not opening and closing apps every minute (I may do it once in an hour or less).

Now as for speed.. on x-bench I got an almost 20% increase in speed across the board with most tests vs the 250GB Maxtor MaxLite II that Apple sent me, but real world results are even nicer.

My boot up is snappier, Apps like Photoshop, FCP, and Word launch in what seems like 1/3 less time, and with the advantage of using it strictly as a system/application drive and the other drive as a user/data drive, I get the tramendous added benefit of the multi-threading of the SATA bus, as data is being sent by both drives at a rate that almost (but not quite) bottle necks the bus, and therefore provides my system with double the thru-put in certain instances (like clicking on a .jpg on my User drive and having Photoshop open from my System drive all at the same time).

Over all score (0-10).... 9 Cost $250 (+/-)

Also, look at this thread, I started. It has some good info and a good link to a "how to".
http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=2228300#post2228300


Good luck (and I believe the Raptor is made in the USA!)

[Eriamjh]

The key word is "Assembled". That means that just about everything else is manufactured overseas.

It's better than nothing...

[proton]

It really depends where you are.

My PowerMac G5 purchased in Australia is "Assembled in China"

- proton

[angelmb]

I live in Europe but my Apple t-shirts are assembled in the USA

[Link]

'bout damn time they returned to the US my g4 was made right before they shut down that place in sacramento (elk grove, right?)

[UnixMac]

Originally posted by BZ:
Do you know if there is a plan to up the size of the drive? 74GB is just still a bit small. 120GB I could do.

BZ

I know there is a speed increase around the corner (but isn't only about 10%) and it's gonna come at a cost!

As for size, I don't think so, there is something about high speed drives, they can't be too large. The other size is 36GB.

The good news is that my entire OS X and many 3rd party apps all squeeze into 23GB, leaving me with lots of room to add apps. remember, all my data files are gonna reside on the 250GB Maxtor... so you don't need that much space for apps.

[UnixMac]

Originally posted by proton:
It really depends where you are.

My PowerMac G5 purchased in Australia is "Assembled in China"

- proton

That where I thought these were all made... I was genuinely shocked when I read the made in USA.. (again, that's final assembly, but still!).

[memory-minus]

Originally posted by UnixMac:
<snip>...additionally Apple still has (mostly) American (and some Canadian) tech support with Apple Care which is also a big plus.. in a time when almost all Dell and Gateway tech support is in India. <snip>

Bzzt! Wrong, unfortunately. I have called AppleCare within the past 2 weeks and been transferring to India. And nothing against those folks, but let's be honest, it is very difficult to communicate with people for whom English is very obviously a second language, especially when you're trying to describe the kind of problem (a serious one) that someone with a lot of technical skill such as myself would need to call AppleCare about.

HP is NOTORIOUS for this and I will never buy another HP product because of it. I have had a lot of trouble with my OfficeJet d155xi and got to the point where when someone with an Indian accent comes on the line, I very calmly and politely say "Please do not take personal offense, but would you kindly transfer me to someone who speaks English as a first language." And they do it, but I still feel a bit guilty for asking.

[angelmb]

Originally posted by memory-minus:
HP is NOTORIOUS for this and I will never buy another HP product because of it.

I do remember speaking with the Neatherlands about an issue with a HP printer some years ago, how fooled I felt !

[Mafia]

this most likely has to do with region. becuz apple has a manufacturing plant in america american ordered computers are assembled there. other regions are probably in different plants around the world. either way i'm glad to see apple is atleast keeping jobs in america. I'm sick of all this outsourcing.


mafia

[bells0]

My G5 is assembled in Cork, Ireland. I think any G5 European order is made in the Emerald isle?

[Kenneth]

I have the last generation of PowerMac G4 (aka FW800)... I believe the "assembled in the USA" is labeled on the cardboard box, right?

[weazbert]

apple has a decent sized operation in ireland,as do quite a few tech firms but whats funny is the british complain about having their tech support call centers over there because they don't like the accent, where as we complain about india. its all relative i suppose.

[Zimphire]

Mine says "USA" as well.

[bells0]

Originally posted by weazbert:
apple has a decent sized operation in ireland,as do quite a few tech firms but whats funny is the british complain about having their tech support call centers over there because they don't like the accent, where as we complain about india. its all relative i suppose.

I personally love the Irish accent, but don't think us Brits don't get away without the Indian call centre thing, is happening more and more, and really winds me up when there is a complete lack of understanding, not just me not getting them, but the other way round. I really don't know what jobs will be left in Britain the way foreign outsourcing is going

[badidea]

Originally posted by bells0:
My G5 is assembled in Cork, Ireland. I think any G5 European order is made in the Emerald isle?

Yeah, all my Apple stuff is assembled in Ireland!

[Mafia]

Originally posted by bells0:
foreign outsourcing is going

same here man, i'm about to graduate and am very nervous about finding a good tech job.

[GORDYmac]

My iPod's (4G) Assembled in China.

[runejoha]

Apple is an unsusal product from USA. It has quality!!! (But at least Steve supports Kerry!)

Cheers from Europe!

[Mafia]

Originally posted by runejoha:
Kerry is an unsusal product from USA.(has But at least Steve supports quality!)

fixed...i think

[runejoha]

Originally posted by Mafia:
fixed...i think

Hehe, I dont understand how you can support Bush, but this is computers and not politics.

:-)

[Mafia]

Originally posted by runejoha:
Hehe, I dont understand how you can support Bush, but this is computers and not politics.

:-)

agreed, so i'll just end it by saying i don't support bush. even though my last name is bush heh. i don't really suppport either like a little of both but like you said lets stay on topic.

[errolbert]

Originally posted by memory-minus:
Bzzt! Wrong, unfortunately. I have called AppleCare within the past 2 weeks and been transferring to India.

Every time I have every called Apple (even 2 times this past week) I have spoken to someone in the states (usually Texas). I'm sure they have support folk elsewhere but my personal experience has been quite favorable.

[Drakino]

Originally posted by UnixMac:
in a time when almost all Dell and Gateway tech support is in India.

Dell does not outsource to India for support. They tried it for a time but quickly pulled out because it lowered customer satisifaction. I wish other companies would also get that hint, since even if I did live in a Mac only world, Apple doesn't currently make printers and other devices I use with my Mac.

[HighFolioLip]

Dell brought back only part of its customer service to the states; the rest stayed in India.
So, depending on what type of customer you are, you will either get the Indian or the US call center. I don't remember the criteria, but then again, I don't care!

[jamesa]

due to the weight and the bulk, it's probably cheaper to assemble the machine closer to the final market than assemble it in taiwan/china and ship it. i know that Apple are airfreighting every new iMac G5 to the US and it's costing them $50 a pop.

-- james

[gurman]

Originally posted by errolbert:
Every time I have every called Apple (even 2 times this past week) I have spoken to someone in the states (usually Texas). I'm sure they have support folk elsewhere but my personal experience has been quite favorable.

I believe Apple's using offshored phone support to reduce wait times when you've been on hold for a whole before speaking to a human being.

Last Xmas (day after, actually), I had to call Apple support and after a few minutes on hold (with rock and roll Xmas muzak), I heard several different ringtones, some different muzak, and then Cedric answered. Cedric spoke clearly and intelligibly, was clearly well educated, but just as clearly in India and had never fielded a question about the Power Mac G5 before; he thought there were more user-removable fans than there are in the single-processor version. He did excuse himself several times to check with a supervisor, who could have been in Austin for all I know. He finally concluded, as I had, that I need to bring the machine to an authorized dealer or Apple Store for service (bad video card).

End of our conversation:

Me: "Cedric, have you ever had your hands inside a G5?"

Cedric: "No."

Me: "Ok, thanks. One more question: what time is it in Mumbai?"

Cedric: "1:30 AM."

I don't think I could have done that well on the graveyard shift, but I do have a problem with offshoring all of any US company's tech support. Apple (and even that spawn of the devil Dell) may be trying to strike the right balance; hope so.

[jamesa]

Originally posted by gurman:

Me: "Ok, thanks. One more question: what time is it in Mumbai?"

Cedric: "1:30 AM."

You guessed this, I take it?

I don't think I could have done that well on the graveyard shift, but I do have a problem with offshoring all of any US company's tech support. Apple (and even that spawn of the devil Dell) may be trying to strike the right balance; hope so.

I don't care where my call is answered, as long as the person is easily understandable, helpful and knowledgeable. It could get re-routed to Santa Claus for all I care - I just want my problem diagnosed, then an appropriate solution decided upon, as soon as possible. That's the definition of good tech support, no matter what country you're in.

-- james

[UnixMac]

Job outsourcing is a big problem when we outsource to countries that don't participate in fair trade and therefore take our jobs and buy nothing from us in return... the net result is that (multinational) corporations are getting richer and the American family (us) are getting poorer. Now if China and India want so start buying American stuff in the same quantity that we buy their cheap crap... then I'm game.

As for politics...

Frankly... I don't like either one of them sons of bitches.. That communist pinko Kerry with his affirmative action loving, feminist agenda promoting, God hating "democratic" party OR that dumb ass Bush who thinks that God told him to kill all the Arabs ...he understands the middle east like I understand Cosmology. He thinks he can solve our terrorism problem by attacking sovereign countries, and pissing of the entire world.... meanwhile, back home he's doing everything he can to break apart organized labor unions and make his Oil business pals richer...

Both can kiss my voting ass! I'm voting for the constitutional party candidate.

(Damn right I'm politically incorrect... so get over it!)

Where's Mel Gibson when you need him!

[Mafia]

Originally posted by UnixMac:

Both can kiss my voting ass! I'm voting for the constitutional party candidate.

steve for president?

[UnixMac]

Steve is too much of a lib for me, which works for running a artsie computer company with great design and quality, but not for running a country filled with all walks of life..... Michael Anthony is getting my lousy vote.