Serendipit-eMac
Written: Jul 23 '02 (Updated Mar 20 '03)
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Pros: Hardware: G4 | 17" Flat Screen | EtherNet
Software: OSX | iPhoto | iTunes
Cons: Some care needed in loading older Applications, configuring peripheral devices.
The Bottom Line: The eMac is a solid machine on a solid Unix platform, that looks like a box, but moves like a very stable rocket, with OSX Jaguar at the controls.
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| Syd_Kick's Full Review: Apple eMac 17 in. (M8894LL/B) Mac Desktop |
I was VERY disappointed and VERY upset, but it was my own fault. I had waited and waited to upgrade to a "classic" iMac, hoping to get a great deal on a close-out, since the new iMac (flat panel on a dome) was bound to be the rage. I placed my order with the Apple online store in mid-March and waited... And waited...
Finally, at the end of April, came the bad news: "We are unable to fill your order." I wailed, fumed, moped and considered my options: basically I was reduced to accepting "refurbished", rather than new, if I insisted on a Classic iMac.
I logged on to the Apple Store each day, dreaming, longing, searching for alternatives. On April 30, a new model appeared I had only heard rumors of: eMac. The "e" was supposedly because these were designed specifically for and only to be sold to the "education" market, rather than general consumers... Well? I DO teach at the college parttime...
I checked out the specs: 700MHz PowerPC G4 processor; 256MB SDRAM (128MB standard on newer models, is upgradeable); 10/100 Tbase EtherNet (new models come with a built-in 56K modem as well); 17" flat CRT screen; 3 USB ports (besides the 2 taken by keyboard and mouse) & 2 FireWire; Sys 9.2 OSX -- I couldn't place my order fast enough! Here was everything I wanted in an iMac and, for only $100 over my previously-allocated expenditure, a double-bonus: G4 and 17" Flat Screen!
The base model only came with CD-ROM (newer base models include CD-RW as standard), but I figured a peripheral FireWire CD-RW would give me two drives, with more speed and flexibility besides.
My eMac arrived in late May. It was heavier than I expected (50 lbs.), but otherwise very easy to set up. One recommendation: get the $45 acrylic tilt-and-swivel stand - don't even think otherwise. Also, if you enjoy music or are a gamer, the Harmon-Kardon iSub, at $80 is quite a sound investment (hee-haw, git it?).
Anxious to get going and test drive, I had to force myself to go slow, follow the directions and the online Help screens. OSX is a little different from the Mac operating systems I had gotten familiar and comfortable with. Built on UNIX, it's touted as rock-solid and it feels that way, but with some new, slick and graceful moves. Extensions are gone (good riddance!); Control Panels are replaced with a new System Preferences Application (!); the Dock, transparent, animated and customizable, replaces the old Apple Menu, which now acts as master control. (Macs built and shipped after July ??, 2002, will have OSX Jaguar 10.2 [www.apple.com/macosx/], with even more and further improved features... )
Since I had installed an EtherNet card on my old Performa, transferring all my old files meant attaching a cable, turning on File Sharing and dragging the files I wanted to save onto the eMac icon on the old desk top. Simple. Try THAT on a Windoze PeeSea! System 9.2 works as a default on the eMac, for non-OSX-savvy Apps, starting up in emulation whenever an old file is opened.
I ran into a little boggler in configuring the printer. Files in the older Apps, those running on Sys 9.2, wouldn't print. A GoogleMac search (www.google.com/mac.html) led me into aftermarket OSX manuals, so I took a break to drive to the local Borders bookstore to browse hands-on. The best answers to my test questions were found in "Mac OSX - The Missing Manual" by David Pogue (Pogue Press/O'Reilly & Associates: $25) -- it's another OSX must-have (web site: http://www.missingmanuals.com/). The solution is that outboard devices, printers, scanners, etc., need to have their drivers loaded separately into both OSX and System 9.
Much as I had originally thought I would leave my old Performa set up and relegate some tasks to it, there's no way. The eMac rules, screams, blazes and smokes. Even non-native, OSX-impaired Apps run faster on the eMac. And, side-by-side with my old 17" monitor, the eMac flat screen has more viewing area and crispness, with the additional 3-D depth of OSX.
I've now had Explorer, Mail (the new custom Mac email client), iTunes and MS Office (all OSX), along with FileMaker 4.1, HomePage and PhotoShop Elements (all Sys 9) running at the same time and the eMac seems unfazed and unintimidated. (I was trying to test the reported new feature that prevents freezes and allows quitting of individual crashed Apps, rather than re-booting the system, but I couldn't make the darn things crash!)
I have yet to discover all its tricks, have barely tried out iTunes and only peeked at iPhoto, but I AM impressed with this latest Mac. By the way, it is now e-veryone's-Mac, available to the public at large, not just us nutty professors...
UPDATE 8/26/02: I have now played extensively with iPhoto - this program has so many great features for organizing and displaying photos that its inclusion alone should be enough to lure many folks to OSX.
On the DOWN side, I have experienced "Kernel Panic" on half a dozen occasions. This happens when the system becomes overtaxed by the operator attempting too many simultaneous operations in different apps (yes, I've finally managed it). Unix pops up from the background, halts everything and fills the screen with a lot of command-line protestations that overlap the screen.
Each time, I've simply shut down, paused 60 seconds and rebooted to discover no apparent damage to System or Apps. Some data is lost, but I've gotten in the habit of saving my work every three or four minutes in Apps that don't have built-in interval auto-saves. I expect this to be less of a problem, as I replace more Apps with versions that are updated to OSX nativity.
UPDATE 9/20/02: I took the plunge and upgraded to OSX 10.2 "Jaguar" two weeks ago. At best, I'm ambivalent. Is familiarity breeding contempt? ...
The Good: No more Kernel Panics; "Find" has returned to the Finder; now that I've had a chance to play with it, iTunes Rocks.
The Bad: Although it shows up as a device in System Profiler, my USB CompactFlash card reader goes unrecognized. When I plug in a CF card, a message pops up saying "You may now safely remove the media."!!! There are no drivers available yet from ZiO! and, although a 10.2.1 upgrade came out yesterday, improved card recognition was apparently not part of the package, which is invisible to me so far. Until remedied, this situation renders my digital Nikon a very expensive paperweight and dampens my Mac attitude.
The Ugly: I'd still sooner revert to analog (lined paper, carbon paper, #2 pencils, duplicator stencils - with their lovely aroma! - etc.), than be forced back onto a Windoze PeeSea.
UPDATE 1/3/03: Okay, another four months have passed.
Since the upgrade to Jaguar (OS X 10.2), I have not had a single Kernel Panic, so Jaguar is proving to be more stable than earlier versions of X. I also discovered that "Classic" applications act more stable if "Classic" is automatically started when the machine is booted (easily configured by checking an option in SystemPreferences>System>Classic>Start/Stop).
I solved the CompactFlash problem by getting a new reader ($15) that has worked perfectly from the beginning and provided a bonus of being able to erase the entire contents after uploading (apparently not an option with the ZiO!).
I am extremely pleased and comfortable with my eMac and confident that my daily computer adventures and chores won't be interrupted by equipment problems.
UPDATE 3/20/03: Things eMac are still going swimmingly. No system crashes or Kernel Panics since upgrading to "Jaguar". MS Word has crashed a few times (so what's new?) but re-starting the App is a lot easier and less time-consuming than re-starting the machine and no files have been damaged or lost. I sincerely believe MS "builds-in" occasional crashes to force more frequent up-grades (remember "planned obsolescence" from 1970s American autos?).
I upgraded PhotoShop Elements to version 2.0 (OSX native) and am on the verge of upgrading FileMaker to version 6 (also OSX native). This will leave me with only one much-used Application that requires System 9 and I will replace it as soon as I learn Adobe GoLive (any tutors out there?).
I've made some small but useful discoveries. USB-powered outboard devices, such as scanners, CD burners, Zip drives, etc. require plugging either directly into the computer or into a powered USB hub. Hot-swapping these devices may require re-starting the system in order to get them recognized and / or functioning.
eMac prices are coming down; a 700 MHz machine like mine, but upgraded to a Combo drive (CD-RW/DVD) and the latest system version of OSX "Jaguar" installed can be had for under $860 with a little shopping around on the web.
By the way, those old Schticks about "not enough software available for Mac" and "too hard to learn a new computer system" are total bunk.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1150.
Operating System: Macintosh
Processor speed: 601-700
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
Syd_Kick
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Location: Fresno, CA (very close to Nowhere...)
Reviews written: 32
Trusted by: 13 members
About Me:
Moderation In All Things: You can kiss a nun, but don't get into the habit...
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