Jack-in-the-Box
Written: Sep 14 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The most stylish computer available, with enough power to satisfy anyone
Cons: Expensive, not enough RAM in standard configuration
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| ErgoPropterHoc's Full Review: Apple Power Macintosh G4 Cube 15 in. (B5073LL/A) M... |
The new Cube from Apple offers style unparalleled in any other personal computer, along with enough power to satisfy all but the most advanced computer users. With built-in support for industry standards like OpenGL, USB, Firewire and 10/100BASE-T, the Cube can fit into nearly any environment, and compete with the best anyone else has to offer.
Coherent Style Across your Desk
The Cube itself is a silver box, just under eight inches square, which hangs suspended in a clear shell above your desk. The outer shell is a single, smooth piece, interrupted on the top only by the exhaust vents and a slot for the DVD drive. Even the power button is behind the shell, triggered by a touch-sensitive switch. While the computer is on, it glows softly; when you put the computer to sleep, it throbs. If you have a new Apple monitor attached to your computer, the touch-sensitive button is mirrored on the monitor panel, and the two button throbs in sync while in sleep mode.
The mouse that comes with the computer is the "Apple Pro Mouse," and it's pretty slick. It's a clear plastic oblong bubble, just about the right size and shape for a mouse. But instead of the usual mouse buttons, the entire thing acts as a single button; you just push down to click. Unless you're expecting this, it might seem a little weird at first, but you'll soon learn to like it. The optical tracking mechanism emits a soft red glow, which shines through the clear enclosure. In a dark room, this can create an interesting effect on your desk.
The keyboard is also styled to mach the computer, with a clear plastic enclosure and black keys with white letters on them. But unlike similar looking keyboard that came with other recent Mac's, this keyboard has a full sized set of extended keys, just like you'd expect on a regular computer.
It should be a crime to purchase the Cube and use it with anything except one of Apple's new flat panel monitors, either the extra-large and extra-pricey Cinema Display, or the eminently reasonable Studio Display. The styling of these two displays seems designed specifically to compliment the Cube; they even both float suspended in clear shells the same height above your desk. The flat panel display is somewhat more expensive than a CRT alternative, but a side by side comparison with monitor from my old computer showed that the CRT lagged significantly in brightness, sharpness, and color intensity. Granted, my old CRT is pretty old, but I still believe that the extra money for the flat panel display was wholly worthwhile.
From Sight, to Sound
The Cube is supposed to be "almost silent," because it lacks a cooling fan. (Instead, the unit is cooled by natural air convection, as long as you keep the vents clear of obstruction.) I've found that this is generally the case, as long as you're not using the DVD drive. When it's spinning, the drive makes a reasonable amount of noise; much less than a cooling fan, but certainly noticeable, especially without the masking drone that a fan creates. To a lesser extent, the hard disk creates some noise as well, but I've found that to only be really noticeable if you're really listening closely.
Since eight inches cubed leaves little room for high fidelity speakers, Apple had to think "outside the box" for a premium sound solution. Included with the computer are a pair of USB-powered, all-digital stereo speakers, about softball sized clear eyeball-like globes that deliver better sound than any installed speakers ever could. They deliver 20 watts of power and crystal clear music—and use more power than a regular USB port generally provides, so you have to plug them directly into the port on the computer. You're also supposed to be able to plug them into the USB hub built into an ADC monitor (any monitor you buy today from Apple), but I found that when I do that and turn the volume up, they draw too much power and the keyboard and mouse (also on the USB chain) seize up. To solve this problem, I just plugged them into a port right on the computer, which could handle the load.
Out of the Box and onto the Internet in 15 Minutes
Apple's highly vaunted claim that they can get you on the Internet in less than fifteen minutes from the time you open the box is no boast. The illustrated guide shows you how to plug in the various accessories that come with the computer (keyboard, mouse, speakers, power supply). Most of the jacks are clearly labeled and come in different shapes and sizes; if you mastered the round peg—round hole concept back in kindergarten, you should have no issues with most of the hardware installation. The only thing that you could mess up is plugging your phone line into the Ethernet jack instead (not that I, uh, did this myself).
One thing that can make the setup even easier is purchasing an Apple monitor (preferably a flat panel) to accompany your computer. All the current Apple monitors feature the Apple Display Connector, which handles digital video, analog video, power and USB all in one cable. A single cable from the monitor to your computer replaces multiple cables on older monitors. (Of course, the Cube still has a VGA monitor port, so it's compatible with other monitors. It even comes included with an angle adapter, so you don't have to fit the older monitor's connector under the Cube to the port itself.)
When you first boot the computer, instead of loading to the regular Finder, it jumps to a sign in screen where you can register your computer, and then set it up for 'net access. If you don't have an ISP already, it will sign you up with Earthlink and give you a free month; or you can tell it the phone number and login info for whichever ISP you already use.
My new Cube was trying to dial in to the 'net (through my usual ISP, and not through the pre-installed provider, no less) with a minute or two to spare (even including the, uh, slight delay I had in correcting a hardware installation error). Unfortunately, it turned out that I had no dial-tone that afternoon, thanks in part to the Verizon strike, but that's not Apple's fault. Later that day, when the dial tone was back, it successfully connected on the first try.
A Perfect Package (Almost)
The base configuration for this computer only comes with 64 megabytes of memory. This is enough to get the computer turned on, and that's about it, since OS 9 that comes pre-installed uses about 40 megabytes for itself. It's not difficult to turn on the virtual memory, though, and so you can quickly allocate a gigabyte or so from the amply sized 20 gigabyte hard disk. Most users will probably want to add more actual memory, though, to increase performance. Doing so is pretty easy; the computer core slides out of the case like Jell-O, allowing easy access to the ram slots, a slot for an Airport card, and pretty much nothing else. Inside the eight-inch cube, there's no room for anything else.
All this style and performance comes at a price: just a shade under $3,000 for the base configuration Cube, the 15 inch flat panel monitor, and a little more RAM to give it some kick. While you can shop around to find a deal on industry standard PC-100 DIMMs, prices for the computer and monitor generally don't vary by more than about $5 across various vendors. What you can do is make sure you don't pay more than that, either in sales taxes or shipping charges. If you buy direct from Apple, you'll pay both. Instead, look for a vendor with free shipping, and not in your state, so you'll avoid the sales tax. I recommend Outpost.com, which offers free overnight shipping. If you have a FirstUSA e*card enabled credit card (such as the E*Trade or Net Bank branded cards), you can even get a 5% rebate on your purchase—ensuring that you can pick up this stylish and powerful computer at a price that cannot be beat.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ErgoPropterHoc
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Location: Evanston, IL
Reviews written: 71
Trusted by: 66 members
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