Merits and Demerits - Apple's New Machines
Today, Apple released two upgraded products and one new one. The long-rumored video enabled iPod, an iSight equipped iMac and a new remote control for it are now available from the Apple Store. Am I looking at purchasing any of these? Maybe.
My wife gave me a new 30GB iPod Photo for my birthday this year. I use it constantly to play my music and really like it, but I haven’t had the opportunity to use it for slideshows or showing photos to a friend. Before today’s announcement, I really had little interest in a video-capable iPod. Today, well, that feeling hasn’t changed much.
The video-equipped iPod does have a 2.5 inch color screen, and that is half and inch larger than the one on my iPod. That makes me feel a little better about watching a video for a couple of hours on such a tiny thing, but not much. Frankly, I’m not into music videos (though I might be if they are free) and could get interested in downloading TV shows the night after they air, if the shows might be the one I routinely watch. The only TV show I make time for every week (when there is a new episode on) is SciFi’s “Battlestar Gallactica”. The list I saw this afternoon of the iPod downloadable shows are only from ABC and a couple from Disney; I had no interest in any of those. Would I be interested in downloading movies and watching them in the future? Not unless it was the only way of viewing them. I would prefer to get a DVD and watch in using my 12 inch PowerBook before succumbing to the cramped confines of the video iPod. I did think of one place where the video iPod might be ideal: on my recumbent exercise bike.
The iMac line also was revamped, though the changes were evolutionary vice revolutionary. The biggest changes were the inclusion of an internal iSight camera, the replacement of the AGP video interface with PCI Express, and the inclusion of Gigabit Ethernet. CPU speed was ever-so-slighty bumped up from 1.8 GHz to 1.9 GHz for the 17 inch model and from 2.0 GHz to 2.1 GHz for the 20 inch model. By the way, there are only two models; the 17 inch 2.0 GHz iMac has gone the way of the do-do, as has the iMac’s internal modem. If the deletion of the modem was an attempt to force people to get broadband, it stinks. Apple has forgotten that even if one doesn’t use dial-up (and broadband does not stay up all the time), many businesses still receive data electronically by fax. To get a modem, you have to buy a $49 USB modem Apple is now selling. It’s an example of Apple cutting prices in one area but making it back in another. The 17 inch iMac is still at $1299, but the 20 inch model is only $1699.
Will I upgrade my older 1.8 GHz 20 inch iMac? Maybe. I had hoped this iMac upgrade would introduce noticeably faster CPU’s, perhaps in the 2.5 GHz range. So, the speed bump is disappointing. However, the inclusion of the iSight, Gigabit Ethernet, and the move to PCI Express with 128 MB of video ram is making me take a look at what the cost might be. (And I do have to add in the cost of a USB modem as well giving up a USB port for that.) I will contact a company I know takes trades and get a quote on what an upgrade would cost me. Then, I’ll decide whether I want to take the plunge.
Complicating that decision is Apple’s transition to Intel next year. When that occurs, I would like to combine the functions of my iMac and my Windows XP/98SE PC. Whether with an iMac or a PowerMac, I’d be tempted to buy one if I could dual boot it between OS X and Windows XP. I will probably keep one desktop strictly for video editing; but if I could combine my “every day” functions into one machine, I could maintain one less set of hardware and free up space in my office currently sacrificed to my PC set up. If I buy now, I probably would not buy again next year. On the other hand, I have absolutely no desire to replace all my current software with Intel versions and don’t trust that Rosetta will run those apps satisfactorily; that argues for staying with PowerPC.
On an auxiliary note, several Mac related websites noted the absence of the CRT e-Mac from the Apple Store after today’s update. Indeed, they are not available. If you’ve been thinking about buying one, better pick one up at the Apple Store or out of some other retailer’s inventory.
My wife gave me a new 30GB iPod Photo for my birthday this year. I use it constantly to play my music and really like it, but I haven’t had the opportunity to use it for slideshows or showing photos to a friend. Before today’s announcement, I really had little interest in a video-capable iPod. Today, well, that feeling hasn’t changed much.
The video-equipped iPod does have a 2.5 inch color screen, and that is half and inch larger than the one on my iPod. That makes me feel a little better about watching a video for a couple of hours on such a tiny thing, but not much. Frankly, I’m not into music videos (though I might be if they are free) and could get interested in downloading TV shows the night after they air, if the shows might be the one I routinely watch. The only TV show I make time for every week (when there is a new episode on) is SciFi’s “Battlestar Gallactica”. The list I saw this afternoon of the iPod downloadable shows are only from ABC and a couple from Disney; I had no interest in any of those. Would I be interested in downloading movies and watching them in the future? Not unless it was the only way of viewing them. I would prefer to get a DVD and watch in using my 12 inch PowerBook before succumbing to the cramped confines of the video iPod. I did think of one place where the video iPod might be ideal: on my recumbent exercise bike.
The iMac line also was revamped, though the changes were evolutionary vice revolutionary. The biggest changes were the inclusion of an internal iSight camera, the replacement of the AGP video interface with PCI Express, and the inclusion of Gigabit Ethernet. CPU speed was ever-so-slighty bumped up from 1.8 GHz to 1.9 GHz for the 17 inch model and from 2.0 GHz to 2.1 GHz for the 20 inch model. By the way, there are only two models; the 17 inch 2.0 GHz iMac has gone the way of the do-do, as has the iMac’s internal modem. If the deletion of the modem was an attempt to force people to get broadband, it stinks. Apple has forgotten that even if one doesn’t use dial-up (and broadband does not stay up all the time), many businesses still receive data electronically by fax. To get a modem, you have to buy a $49 USB modem Apple is now selling. It’s an example of Apple cutting prices in one area but making it back in another. The 17 inch iMac is still at $1299, but the 20 inch model is only $1699.
Will I upgrade my older 1.8 GHz 20 inch iMac? Maybe. I had hoped this iMac upgrade would introduce noticeably faster CPU’s, perhaps in the 2.5 GHz range. So, the speed bump is disappointing. However, the inclusion of the iSight, Gigabit Ethernet, and the move to PCI Express with 128 MB of video ram is making me take a look at what the cost might be. (And I do have to add in the cost of a USB modem as well giving up a USB port for that.) I will contact a company I know takes trades and get a quote on what an upgrade would cost me. Then, I’ll decide whether I want to take the plunge.
Complicating that decision is Apple’s transition to Intel next year. When that occurs, I would like to combine the functions of my iMac and my Windows XP/98SE PC. Whether with an iMac or a PowerMac, I’d be tempted to buy one if I could dual boot it between OS X and Windows XP. I will probably keep one desktop strictly for video editing; but if I could combine my “every day” functions into one machine, I could maintain one less set of hardware and free up space in my office currently sacrificed to my PC set up. If I buy now, I probably would not buy again next year. On the other hand, I have absolutely no desire to replace all my current software with Intel versions and don’t trust that Rosetta will run those apps satisfactorily; that argues for staying with PowerPC.
On an auxiliary note, several Mac related websites noted the absence of the CRT e-Mac from the Apple Store after today’s update. Indeed, they are not available. If you’ve been thinking about buying one, better pick one up at the Apple Store or out of some other retailer’s inventory.
posted by Andy Foster at
9:17 PM
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