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Education Businesses Technology (Apple) Apple Technology

Updated eMac Line Released Today 78

Posted by pudge from the mmmmm-emac dept.
TellarHK writes "Today, Apple's eMac line got a nice upgrade with all models getting a 32M Radeon 7500 video chipset, display capable of 1280x960 resolution on a 17" flat CRT, and price cuts across the board. $799 will get you a base model with 40GB of drive, 128M of RAM (continuing the rather odd stinginess on RAM configurations), and an 800Mhz G4. $999 will get you an extra 20GB of drive and a 1Ghz processor, while $1299 lands you a whopping (ahem) 256M of memory, 80G, and a SuperDrive at 4x."
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Updated eMac Line Released Today More

Updated eMac Line Released Today

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  • Nice (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Erect Horsecock ( 655858 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2003 @10:14AM (#5891229) Homepage Journal
    Not a bad update but 128MB of RAM on the lowest and middle configuration? C'Mon Apple! OS X needs at LEAST 256 MB to be useful and more is even better. The video card is also at the bare minimum for OS X with the ATI 7500, but thats understandable in a .edu machine. The Speed bump and the rest is a nice update and for the price its a pretty good deal.

    On another note Thinksecret nailed this one a month ago [thinksecret.com]. They also get the iBook update [thinksecret.com] on the nose too. Seems to be the only rumor site with a shit anymore...
    • Yeah, they always seem to give the shaft on RAM imo. Other then that, they are really nice machines.

      • Re:Nice (Score:2, Informative)

        by rastachops ( 543268 )
        Hmm but oddly they also are Airport Extreme compatible... so far its just been the Power Macs & PowerBooks that are AE compatible!

    • Re:Nice (Score:5, Informative)

      by MalleusEBHC ( 597600 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2003 @12:14PM (#5892590)
      The video card is also at the bare minimum for OS X with the ATI 7500

      I run OS X with either an AGP Rage 128 with 16 MB VRAM or a Rage 128 Mobility with 8 MB VRAM. It runs just fine on those without Quartz Extreme, so I'm sure that a Radeon 7500 running QE will be quite nice. It's not like a 17" CRT is that monstrous.

      I do agree that you need more RAM, but as another poster has already pointed out, it is nice to be forced to buy as little RAM as possible because of Apple's prices on memory. I would always spec out from the Apple store with the least memory and then go buy what RAM you need from somewhere else. It will save you a bundle.

    • Low RAM for a reason (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      It was always my understanding that Apple shipped with low quantities of RAM as a bone thrown to their retail distributors. If you buy from MacMall or MacWarehouse you get "free" RAM with your purchase. If customers thought they had enough then this offer wouldnn't have the apeal it now has.
  • They seemed to have made some nice updates. Too bad im so poor, id really like to get a mac desktop workstation soon.

    • Re:cool stuff (Score:2, Interesting)

      by foobar3149 ( 628047 )
      What I do not understand is why all their sub-1000 dollar models have built in mointors. I would love to see a powermac without a built in monitor in the sub-1000 dollar range i.e. an e-mac without the built in monitor.
      • yeah exactly. Ill probably end up buying a lower end G4 just because it doesnt come with a monitor. I have plenty of them and i dont want to waste any more money on them just because i want the tower that it comes with.

      • Re:cool stuff (Score:4, Informative)

        by TiMike ( 575912 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2003 @02:03PM (#5893712) Homepage
        The eMac (Education Mac) has it built in because according to Apple:

        " Schools have told us they really like an all-in-one design because it saves space in classrooms and computer labs." emac [apple.com]

  • Other upgrades (Score:4, Informative)

    by PKFC ( 580410 ) <pkfc@hotmaiDEBIANl.com minus distro> on Tuesday May 06, 2003 @10:27AM (#5891355)
    You also get an Airport Extreme wireless slot and iTunes 4 included along with the rest iLife. I think the bus speed has been bumped up to 133, but I could be wrong about that

    • Re:Other upgrades (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 06, 2003 @10:40AM (#5891501)
      You know, I was all set to go, "Aw, man, they're screwing the low-end customer! I should have the option of buying the cheaper, old-style AirPort if I want to, to save money!" Then, just one a whim, I went to the Store and checked.

      AirPort Extreme costs exactly the same as AirPort did.

      Bastards. Taking away my sense of righteous indignation like that.

      Apple used to be the company that I loved to hate. But for the last couple of years, it's been harder and harder to hate them. With this new Music Store thing, I'm starting to think that maybe I hate to hate Apple.

      Which means I'm starting to love Apple.

      Augh! Somebody hose me down, quick!

    • Re:Other upgrades (Score:3, Informative)

      by capmilk ( 604826 )
      You are perfectly right about the bus speed. Have a look at the eMac's tech specs page [apple.com].

  • Education Store prices (Score:4, Informative)

    by gadwale ( 46632 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2003 @10:34AM (#5891434) Homepage

    FYI, if you are a student you can get better prices at their online educational store:

    (For my school - University of Maryland at College Park)

    $749.00
    800MHz PowerPC G4
    128MB SDRAM
    40GB Ultra ATA drive
    CD-ROM drive
    Discounted from $799 retail price

    $949.00
    1GHz PowerPC G4
    128MB SDRAM
    60GB Ultra ATA drive
    Combo drive
    Discounted from $999 retail price

    $1,149.00
    1GHz PowerPC G4
    256MB SDRAM
    80GB Ultra ATA drive
    SuperDrive
    Discounted from $1,299 retail price

    $1,528.00
    Image
    1GHz PowerPC G4
    1GB SDRAM
    80GB Ultra ATA drive
    SuperDrive
    AirPort Extreme built-in
    Discounted from $1,698 retail price

    Even better deals can be had at Apple B&M stores in universities.

    You have to be a valid student to get these prices.

    There are also refurbished products that you can buy with Applecare over here [apple.com].

    Adi Gadwale.

  • They also have the new keyboards (Score:4, Informative)

    by Erect Horsecock ( 655858 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2003 @10:48AM (#5891606) Homepage Journal
    see here [apple.com]

  • Apple charges a lot for RAM (Score:3, Informative)

    by Dixie_Flatline ( 5077 ) <vincent...jan...goh@@@gmail...com> on Tuesday May 06, 2003 @11:22AM (#5891985) Homepage
    Oddly, I find the low RAM configurations something where it looks like Apple is trying to give me a break, since they sell RAM at INSANE prices, and you can buy it much more cheaply from someone like Crucial.

  • Quality of the monitor? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by angle_slam ( 623817 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2003 @12:34PM (#5892848)
    This seems like a bargain too good to pass up. But I wonder about the quality of the monitor. If I were to get a Mac, it would be for photo and video editing. Is the integrated monitor on the eMac of good quality?

    • Re:Quality of the monitor? (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Apple CRTs are usually made by Sony or Mitsubishi. I think the iMacs and eMacs are Mitsubishi. They make very good monitors. But it will get dimmer like any CRT over a period of years and you won't be able to just swap the monitor. But at $799, you're probably going to ditch the whole computer by then.

    • Re:Quality of the monitor? (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I have an eMac. The monitor is great in my opinion. I am not a graphics guy so I am not expert. It is nice and bright. Quite clear. I have absolutely no complaints.

      It is a good machine. I am loving it.

  • USB 1.1! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by angle_slam ( 623817 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2003 @12:38PM (#5892896)
    No USB 2.0 ports! Why not?

    • Re:USB 1.1! (Score:3, Informative)

      by Gropo ( 445879 )
      Because a mouse/keyboard/joystick only needs so much bandwitdh... And for every conceivable USB 2.0 peripheral that requires the bandwidth of USB 2.0 there's a non-CPU-dependant FirewWire alternative?

      Oddly enough, apparently Apple's actually using USB 2.0 controllers on the newer MoBo's, just hobbling it to 1.0 in the firmware. I guess it's hard to find supplies of new 1.0 parts nowadays :P
      • And for every conceivable USB 2.0 peripheral that requires the bandwidth of USB 2.0 there's a non-CPU-dependant FirewWire alternative?

        IT may have already changed, and will almost certainly change in the future, but I was looking for a Compact Flash card reader about a month ago and Firewire card readers were a lot more expensive than USB 2.0 card readers.

        • Well, compact flash is considerably slower than usb 1.1 anyway. So there's no real reason to bother with either firewire or usb2 for this application.

    • well, uh, it has 2 Firewire ports.... better than USB 2.0. Plain and simple.
    • If it's anything like their other machines, it's because they're morally opposed to USB 2.0: The hardware has support for USB 2.0, they just disable it in software. If you get drivers from the controller's manufacturer, you can get USB 2.0 on your powermac.

    • Re:USB 1.1! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by bpbond ( 246836 )
      1) FireWire
      2) If you need USB2-type speed, Apple wants you to buy a better machine anyway.
  • The market apple is strong in is the graphics market, and 128MB is like undermining themselves. They need firewire, USB2, 256MB starting RAM (possibly with 400FSB) and a good useable mouse, not a hockey puck. Both the radeon and 17" monitor are good choices there, but 128MB ram just doesnt go with it. DVD authoring would also be preferrable, but maybe not on the base model. I wonder if they should release a lower end than the basic eMac, with a 2d graphics card (or a Rive tnt2, or ati rage) 128MB ram, ~10
    • Psssst. Apple is also (still) strong in education. What do you think the e in eMac stands for?
    • "They need firewire,"

      Got it. 2 Firewire ports.

      "USB2"

      Why? They have Firewire.

      "256MB starting RAM"

      http://macseek.com

      Or you can just add it in their online store.

      "and a good useable mouse, not a hockey puck."

      Um, the Apple Mouse that comes with it ain't a hockey puck.

      " DVD authoring would also be preferrable, but maybe not on the base model."

      It is. Just not on the base model.

      Of course, if we are upgrading for the base model, the one that is automatically equipped with a Superdrive has 256MB of RAM.
    • I agree with the Anon. Coward. I do a fair bit of consulting work for architectural firms, and they simply can't buy Macs because AutoCAD -- and pretty much all of the top-end CAD packages -- are PC-only (with, in some cases, SPARC/Solaris and IRIX support).

      Apple would do itself a HUGE favor if it could get AutoDesk to port AutoCAD to the Macintosh. Vectorworks in ok, but its not AutoCAD...

    • USB2 is crap, but it might be the only choice soon for high speed external CDRW drives and the like. The 400mhz FSB can't be done with Motorola chips because they're being dinks about Apple. Apple is charging an arm and a leg for ram, so I'd rather add it myself. DVD authoring is there.

      I too would like to see a low end Mac, but that isn't Apple's business. Apple starts in mid-range, and it shows.

  • *IF* Apple has fixed the huge early-failure defect problem they were having with eMacs, then these look like nice econo-G4 systems. Base price is about where the much weaker G3/15" CRT iMac was until recently.

    They're really short on memory for most uses, but good 3rd party memory is so cheap that it's often thrown in free when you buy the system.

    Size & weight are what you pay for the eMac being a G4 at G3 prices - look, lift it, & measure your desk before you buy.
  • 10.2.6 has been released via Software Update:

    The 10.2.6 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications, services and technologies: Address Book, Graphics, Printing, OpenGL, and PC Card and USB hub device compatibility.


    For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n25448
  • I've heard apple sells refurb stuff, but every link i've seen goes to a page that says session timed out and i can't find the link to refurb on the store. Does anyone know how t get to the refurb apple products.

    • Re:Refurb (Score:3, Informative)

      by Mister Black ( 265849 )
      Go to the main store site ( http://store.apple.com ). Then scroll down and on the bottom left hand is a section labeled "Special deals" with a red tag labeled "SAVE". That's the refurb section.

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