Cheap iMacs for 2005?

[mattias]

Being that small there can´t be room for much air in there.

my ibook is about as small and it works fine on hot days, and my guess is this baby is built with the same components, i.e. scaled down low power versions. and it doesn't have an x86 processor, so you shouldn't have to worry. :-) that was a joke but it's in fact true. the difference is enormous.

/matt

[downix]

Being that small there can´t be room for much air in there.
I wonder how hot it gets when under pressure on a hot summer day...

You don't know the current crop of G4 CPU's do you? The CPU used is not a desktop G4 at all, but Motorola's embedded G4 series, the 9686 or the 9687, which run a hell of a lot cooler. What does this mean for performance? Well, I'd compare them roughly to the 600 or 700Mhz model for most performance needs, but with the 1Ghz for vectored operations (such as you'd use for FCP or Photoshop). All for a fraction of the heat. All in all, it's a great prospect, and I already spoke with the wife about buying one with our tax refund.

[Uppsala BildTeknik]

Yeah, It won´t boil for nothing, I´m sure they thought about heat.

But It is too small for me... I mean what´s the point of it not being like 2 or 3 times higher? It wouldn´t take up more space on the desk, wouldn´t bee too ugly either, it would still look small. And there would be more space in there, for more disks, better performance could be cooled down better, and so on...

I´m thinking about getting a computer to my living room and to throw out my stereo. It would be a computer, DVD player/whatever divx player, stereo, and surround sound connected to http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/produ ... ENTID=5048 I´m thinking about something like http://www.msicomputer.com/pressrelease/MEGAPC.asp but I will probably buy something like http://www.abit-usa.com/products/DiGiDice/ , or maybe a "real" computer and just hide it under the corner table?

Hmmm, so many options...... what will it be... :roll:

[S8 Booster]

RISC processors (PowerPCs) were known for having much less heat losses than CISC processors (Wintel) in the past. Guess this is still true.


R

[mattias]

could be cooled down better

*there's absolutely no need for that* but it's actually also easier to create a good airflow in a smaller unit. it's not the amount of stationary air in the machine that matters, it's how much that flows through it. as for extra disks and stuff, it just shows that you haven't quite understood the concept. the point of the excercise, and what creates hype and sales, is that it's really small, not that it's kind of small. and i'm sure the reason apple stopped making upgradable computers years ago (even the g5 isn't very flexible) is that they realized that 99% of all computer users don't or ever will or even know that you can.

/matt

[mattias]

intel et al have a huge problem with the compatibility bullshit. they should just take the plunge and forget about x86. if the g4 had to run 68k natively i'm sure it too would make a great sauna heater.

/matt

[Uppsala BildTeknik]

*there's absolutely no need for that*

OK, if they are not upgradable then there is definetly no need. I never had a apple and I definetly never will. Not upgradable?, lunatics! 8O Talk about having to throw away computers just because they are not upgradable 8O

But I agrre thet there are a lot of people that never has and never will upgrade a computer. I´m not one of them.

[Uppsala BildTeknik]

i'm sure it too would make a great sauna heater.

Ha ha! Thats fun!

Do you have any idea how much heat all my computers and stuff are giving? As long as it isn´t cooler than +0 degrees outside I have to cool down my house with AC 8O , because my house would turn to a sauna if I didn´t. :lol:

[S8 Booster]

MACs have allways had good 2nd hand value here and if upgrades are required it is a good deal to sell the old and buy a new(er) one.

The main factor for speed on my MACs has allways been the HD. Fast HD = fast MAC. Still seems so. And since HDs are pretty cheap these days...

For AV use a hot plug and play FW800 1TB can be bought for about $1000 here in el.expensivaro country. FW chains of 256 units can be plugged/hotswapped if I remember correctly.

Next is memory. Also pretty cheap these days.

R

[crimsonson]

Mattias you want to reconsider about x86 and increased heat.

G5 [PowerPC] right now have been hampered with move to 3 GHz 90nm CPU because of heat issues. Remember they had to move to liquid cooling or your G5 would sound a like 747 taking off. Mr Jobs wanted a 3 GHz CPU last year. Did not happen and may not happen until middle of this year.

The 3 main desktop CPU manufacturer [IBM, AMD and IMB] are all having heat issues at 90nm level - RISC or CISC.

Yeak the mini Mac look great. A keyboard and 3 button mouse would have been nice...

[mattias]

i've never said the new powerpc's didn't have heat problems. i said that the g4 doesn't, and that the x86 ones have more than the others. this i will stand by as long as it is true.

/matt

[DriveIn]

........God as soon as you plug in your printer, keyboard, mouse, scanner, moniter, Digital Camera, etc, your desk is gonna be a rats nest of wires!............

And this is different than what most people already have on their desks?! But then there's this option as well

Wireless Options Customize your Mac mini with an internal Bluetooth module for wireless access to printers, cell phones, PDAs, input devices and other peripherals.

So i dunno, great idea, but I think it would be messy, and if you add on the cost of a new moniter and keyboard and mouse, it pushes the price up to that near an eMac, so I thikn they should have made it cheaper.

It seems this little box is meant to compete with people looking to change or upgrade systems without having to replace the monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, ect. If it plugs into all the peripherals that most people already have, then it's a moot point to talk add on prices, as that doesn't seem to be the intent. Of course, the monitor prices at apple.com start higher than the cost of an emac.

We all have to remember this mac was not made so much for us to do our editing and video on, but to grap all the pc / ipod users, and get them using macs, .......

Exactly

Just couldn't help pricing one out with a few extras.
Monitor not included.
Summary
• 512MB DDR333 SDRAM - 1 DIMM
• 80GB Ultra ATA drive
• SuperDrive
• Internal Bluetooth + AirPort Extreme Card
• Wireless Keyboard & Mouse Set
• 56K v.92 Modem
• Mac OS X - U.S. English
• APP for Mac mini - Enrollment Kit
• 1.42GHz PowerPC G4
Estimated Ship:
Deliver by Jan 22nd
Free Shipping
Subtotal $1,151.00

Ouch :twisted:

[Angus]

I'm not a mac hater nor lover. I have used them from time to time and recognise that in some circumstances they are preferable over PCs.

I think there might be a market for this new machine but the spec seems too low. The thing will need upgrading as soon as you get it out of the box before it can do all the graphical and musical stuff the Mac is well known for.

Still...do like the idea of selling a bare bones system unit, that way PC users can swap between the two...*assuming* apple allow the Mac to plug into a standard PC keyboad, mouse and monitor...which is something apple are not known for - compatibility with any product sold by any other company.

[Uppsala BildTeknik]

I think there might be a market for this new machine but the spec seems too low. The thing will need upgrading as soon as you get it out of the box...

But it is NOT upgradable. :evil:

[Cine_Monkey]

The only thing that you need to upgrade is the RAM.

But people on here are missing the point, its not meant to be a mac for high end stuff, its meant to be so people can primarily use iTunes with there ipods as the pc version in crap. Also some web browsing, ichat and office applications, which it is more than capable of handling. Its a great student machine.
They should have named it "MyFirstMac", cos i rekon thats what it is, an introduction so people can see how great mac is then they can upgrade to a "Real" mac at a later date.