[nek]

In reply to:

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I wonder why Apple dropped the XT on their towers then... doesn't seem right. Using a graphics card that doesn't require a fan does make sense, I suppose, on the iMac.

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The only mac still with the 9600XT as an option is the unwanted 1.8GHz PowerMac. I would guess the only reason for Apple to make the 9600 their new default graphics card is so they can charge extra for the 9650, which is basically a 9600XT with 256MB vram and a dual link DVI.

[prajna]

Congratulations GH! That must be a good feeling. If only everybody could have a story like that...
"Good news! I called my local Apple store. It was exactly 14 days since I bought it so they are going to swap a new one for my 2 week old one and rebate me the difference in cost for the bluetooth I paid for. Sweet!"

not really a stranger

[bigpics]

Re:

In reply to:

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"why do they persist in shipping memory-crippled supercomputers in their power rigs and calling them ready to go?? "

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And....

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Since when do they call them "ready to go"? They don't include a monitor, do they? I still wish they'd offer the option of no memory or hard drive so you could buy cheaper elsewhere.

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Whatever on the Apple mouse and keyboard, it's like arguing about the American League having the DH while the NL doesn't, which will never be "settled," but even if people know they need a monitor and printer, et al for their powermac, the less techie among them don't suspect the box they're being sold is still missing parts (RAM) that it needs to function anywhere near its peak.
And since adding more memory is the single best machine mod you can make on nearly any computer, face it, once you've admitted that even your eMacs need 512 MB as stock memory, well, Dual 2.7 GHZ G5's with the same 512 is like a Funny Car running on skateboard wheels.
I want to hear from anyone out there with enough engineering background out there to confirm or deny that the new 2.3, also with slower bus speed, but equipped with 2.0 GB of RAM will outbenchmark the 2.7 part with 512 MB on a standard suite of tasks.
(Frankly I don't know the contribution of the different video cards, if anyone cares to comment on the whole issue of video cards and overall system throughput on tasks like photoshop and iPhoto...... ...I get this feeling that video card specs really come to the fore only when you're constantly redrawing the screen, i.e., playing games, editing video, etc. and isn't that signigicant in productivity software, even Photoshop -- but it's something you never hear addressed.)
But my point is, that Apple's competing on having the best machines out there and there are plenty of Wintel boxes that come with gobs of RAM -- so why are they failing to put their best foot forward?? They're already at a price premium. Throw in another DIMM at their cost and create real envy in PC users..... ....when people see what's happening out of the box.....
/forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Bryan]

The article says that the new iMacs have 80GB HDs on the low end and and 160GB HDs on the high-end, but the Apple website shows that these new iMacs come with 160GB HD on the low end and 250 GB HDs on the high end. An even better deal!

[Machound]

"I wonder what people will complain about now."
Here's one feature of the higher end PowerBooks and towers that's truly great: separate Firewire 400 & 800 busses. For anyone doing video work or duplicating hard drives it makes all the difference. Video recording from a DV or HD source to an external HD on the same FW bus risks dropped frames. Separate FW busses smooths video wrinkles out nicely.
Now if we could just get MPEG2 transport streams (HDTV) to play back on a single G5 without dropping frames... but that will have to wait for hardware based TS decoding (10.4.2 or 10.4.3).

[montgomery_burns]

In reply to:

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Aren't you glad that Apple upgraded the machines w better video card and more RAM. Two important fact that we have been complaining about for a while? Well, I'll tell you what you should say: thanks to everybody who complained.

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Thank you everybody who complained!

[Grapho]

Thats very cool of them. I bought a ipod photo and the first day my wife scratched the screen accidentally, I took it over to the Apple Store and explained that I hadn't even owned it for more than 24 hours and that if there was anything they could do, they exchanged it for a brand new one. I had to pay a restocking fee, but I did not mind. I did not have the invoice with me and this was no problem for them. I was very courteously treated and I even got advice against buying an item from them that according to the Apple attendant, did not work as advertised (a product not made by Apple). I did get a cover for the new ipod and it is very well protected now. No wonder these retail stores are doing so good. I am not sure if this is everywhere, but at least in the Houston Apple Store in Galleria, I have always gotten top notch service.

[mdawson]

In reply to:

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The article says that the new iMacs have 80GB HDs on the low end and and 160GB HDs on the high-end, but the Apple website shows that these new iMacs come with 160GB HD on the low end and 250 GB HDs on the high end. An even better deal!

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Yes, and a BTO option for a 400GB HDD for $200 more. Not bad.
Now if Apple could just offer memory upgrade prices that were comparable to that of 3rd-party vendors. I could understand this price discrepancy at the turn of the millennium when Apple entered into a price locking contract due to RAM prices increasing after the earthquake in Taiwan. At the time it put Apple in a better position than other OEMs whose prices reflected what the market was doing. Of course things turned for the better quickly and Apple was still locked into that contract. Fast forward some four years and Apple still has ridiculously high RAM prices.
There contract must have expired by now. It is one thing to charge a premium for Mac products to compensate for the fact that unlike other PC OEMs, Apple actually has to finance the R&D on every aspect of the Mac platform, but Apple is not manufacturing DIMMs. Perhaps the fact that Apple is now starting to offer 512MB in nearly all of its systems is a sign of things to come in terms of RAM. Meanwhile, I just get deals at MemoryToGo.

[Machound]

I wish Apple would be more specific about the 9600's ability to do hardware decoding of Core Image and Core Video. Will it be able to play back 1080i or 1080p content without dropping frames?
Apple's new ad makes a lot of hoopla about "The new iMac G5. The ideal habitat for Tiger." Well, is it or isn't it really built for Tiger? There's lots of discussion about 9600 Core Graphics decoding going on over at the Apple forums.
The bottom line is... nobody knows for sure how well it will work.

[Uhooru]

I hope this is a good place to ask. I'm currently a PC user (self built), but I love the idea of the Imac, its look (really liked the last one) and the nice small footprint as well as not having the upgrade hassles, the constant virus protection issues etc. Now with the speed updates, it looks like a real viable option. My question is, my main use for the computer besides, web surfing and office type stuff, is photo scanning and manipulation in photo shop. With possibly some video editing for work, but mostly photography related. I would be getting the Imac w/2 gigs of ram, do any of you guys actually use the Imac for this. Can it handle P.S. I often have files getting up from 40 to 200 and more with layers etc. Secondly, is the screen that looks so appealing, capable of accurate color rendition (in the sense of calibrating with a printer)? Or should I consider instead getting a power mac and using my CRT. I would really love to reclaim my desk and use this lovely jewel. I guess another question would be where I could look on the web to get some feed back on these issues if this isn't the best place. Thanx for any help you can give me.

[Machound]

You ask many good questions. If you do professional color proofing I doubt you would be very satisfied with any LCD display. You would probably be better off with a well calibrated CRT for that purpose. Otherwise, any of the currently shipping Macs (excluding the iBook because of memory constraints) ought to meet your needs with 2 GB RAM installed.
Why not take a stroll over to an Apple Store and find out for yourself how the new iMacs work? Bring a CD with some of your big files and see if the performance is good enough. Seeing is believing.

[Uhooru]

Good idea and so I did. Although the machine there was marked as a 2.0, the system info showed it as a 1.8 and the salesperson confirmed that. He said they havn't had time to put them out yet and though they have stock they're just about out. So I played w/the 1.8 20 inch. I brought a DVD with a bunch of photos, some with layers etc and played around a bit. I don't like the mouse, but the machine seemed to do ok, about the same as what mine does. I can't really compare because I have 1 plug in on my pc that takes forever to run, and it won't be on the demo in the store. But basically it was pretty nice. This only had 512. I think with 2 gig of ram it should be fine. Maybe not a huge increase over what I'm using now, but the idea of freeing my desktop is so attractive and for comparable or a little better performance, it would be a big plus. The other thing I might consider is keeping my box and buying a 23" Cinema display, really nice displays. Or get a pm and keep my crt until I can afford a Cinema display. Such tough choices. I'll have to play with a 2.0 when it gets put up at the store. Thanx for your help.

[Uhooru]

After talking with the digital photo professor at school who also runs one of the real high-end digital photographic printing company's in Orange County I've ordered a new 20" G5 w/the 400gb HD. He said the screen is really very good, the thing is fast enough and strong enough to do Photoshop well, and the new package is so attractive he's thinking of getting one himself. He says with a Spyder the 20" screen is very usable, maybe a hair less than the 23 inch Cinema, but you would have to have a lot of experience and knowledge to be able to get that extra color calibration. So, ordered Fri. evening, hope it gets here soon:_)