new appple products

[*DAMN Elandrion]

Well I had the time to watch Steve Jobs' keynote today on quicktime, and although the image quality was like **** I am quite pleased with what he showed us! Adobe Products coming to OS X, iPicture, the new iMac, wow! What do you think?

*DAMN Elandrion

[SiGmA_X]

Heh.. Im watching is just now. I hope that we get a new proc tho.. The iMac is okay, but nothing new - no new equipemnt. its all been used before, but never like this.

[Grifter]

Well, I see the good and the bad, all it's missing is the ugly.....
The Good

The new iMac.  It's hot.  No doubt about it.  Everyone knew that the flat screen was coming... but not the depth of features or the very cool styling.  I think Mr. Jobs said it best when he told that the low end iMac (700mhz G4 with DVD, G-Force 2 32meg DDR video card and all the right connections for $1299) would have cost $3500 last year at Macworld for the PowerMac with those features.  For the top end model (800mhz G4, 60gig HD, same video card, 256megs of RAM, SUPERDRIVE DVDRW, for $1799) would have cost $4500 last year at this time.

The Bad

The Hype.  Let's face it, with all the hype, I was expecting more.  There are the G4+ and G5 chips out there.... there is usb2 and firewire 2 (aka gigawire).  Speed bumps for the PowerMacs were missing.  I was also expecting to hear about MORE companies that have apps READY for OS X.  Not about the same old promises of development under way (like GameRanger... hehe, sorry, had to get that dig in too).  

So, while I think the new iMac is one of the coolest machines I've seen, and has as much power as almost the top of the line PowerMac (for now)... it's a killer.  And priced right.  But it doesn't live up to the "go where no PC has gone before" hype....

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[SiGmA_X]

True. True. But maybe they were talking about the look. This thing looks GREAT. I am not suprised by the look, but it DOES look GREAT.  I had hoped they would have a new proc (Faster then the 'new' 700 proc). Oh well. I think MWNY will kickass this year, tho.

Grifter, would you reccomend this computer over a 867 G4 SP Tower?

[jn.wrath]

Uh.. I for one am getting a new iMac. They are ?bersexy and.. it would be a very nice replacement for this.. uh.. 300 mhz G3.. smaller footprint too.

Rom, if you have money, get a nice 867, don't settle for an iMac, but if you have a limited budget like me and everyone besides you and Grift (bastards), then get an iMac..

Grift, I never even *knew* about the Time Canada photo until afterwards.. so, I can't claim I'm faithful.

That Geforce 2 in all models, big HDs, enough RAM to get started..(I'd definitely plop another 256 meg chip onto it) and that damn sexy SuperDrive?.. ahhhh.. I'd be in heaven..

ULTRA ROGUE SPEAR HERE I COME!!

[Bondo]

I wonder what they are charging for the upgrade to GeForce 3 like the one I have here in my trusty 400 Mhz G4.  Cost me a pretty penny, I don't mind telling you.

[jn.wrath]

I don't  believe they're offering an upgrade to a Geforce 3... at least when I went to the online Apple store, there sure wasn't a category for upgrading the video card..

[Grifter]

Looking at the size of that little base (10.4 inches) I'm going to guess that things are shoe-horned into that little dome tigeter then the G4 Cube.  That being the case, I'd also bet that it uses a very unique video card (like the Cube does; you can't use any AGP2 videocard on the Cube, only 2 models are the right size to fit the enclosure).

But think about it.  32 megs of DDR on a 15 inch 1024x768.... that's going to have great frame rates.  I'ts not like you can increase the resolution any more, even on a second monitor (I checked the specs).  So, as I sit here with my 8 megs of video memory in this one month old iBook, I know that the graphics on the new iMac are going to rock.

As for buying a new mac today, only two things would make me pick a powermac over an iMac right now...

1) if I were doing serious video work and wanted to add 2 more 100 gig HD's.  The internal HD's on a Powermac will cost much less then external FW drives for the iMac.

and...

2) if I were doing serious graphics art design, where I'm using the PCI slots for extra monitors, and other input.  Or dual processors.

Other then that, I don't worry too much about expanding / upgrading.  By the time I have a computer that really needs updating, I have the bug way too bad over something shiny and new and just buy the new one.  So, if I were buying a new computer this month, it would be the new iMac 800, hands down, no contest.  Not only would it look great and do everything I wanted (ummy, supperdrive) but it's almost as powerful as any mac out there today (I don't think that many of you would ever notice the difference of 66mhz or going from 100mhz to 133mhz system bus).  Even the dual processors aren't that big of deal if you aren't running photoshop all day or a database and web farm on you mac (going from 26 seconds to run a photoshop filter down to 19 seconds isn't worth the jump to a tower if you don't do it 100 times a day).

It's priced right, it's sexy and it does it all.  Oh, and it's 800mhz on the top end Rom, not 700.  I'd buy one in a heartbeat if I didn't just get this iBook.  Now, I can wait for the G5's...  (and Wrath, just because consulting pays very well, don't ever compare me to Romulus again... remember, I know where you live, I would be forced to hunt you down and kill everything you ever loved =P.  Bigest difference.... I have it and don't talk about it.... Rom doesn't and does)

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[?{RiP}? Vapor]

I, for one, would definietly consider buying the new iMac. It as such a sweet, sleek design and not to mention some nice specs. It is at a very reasonable price. I will be looking into getting one later in the year. As for now, the only model of them apple is shipping is the most expensive one. The middle model ships in Feb. and the cheapest model ships in March.

However, I did expect more companies to announce programs that are OS X compatible. Hopefully, more programs will come soon for X. Which will make X even more enjoyable on my iBook, 300mhz, 288mb RAM, 4mb vid card, and a 3gig HD. Damn I love this computer.

[SiGmA_X]

Grifter - I know about the proc. I just meant that I thought they would have a new proc speed, faster, not slower. They have the 700 (new), 733, 800, 867 now. I thought they would have like a 900 or 1GHz in the high end, and a 733-867 in the low-end model.

I would get a iMac, because I personally don?t have the money to get a G4 MP 800, or a decent SP 867. If only parents cared about MY computers. They have the latest Dell Inspiron 8000 laptop, and I have a iMac (400 DV)... I think I will settle for a high end PC (custom) and get the iMac in the summer (once I make some more money )... Oh well. It looks awesome, and I think it is way worth it.

Only drawback - no GeForce3 Ti500, only 60GB's oh HD space, and no DDR ram yet. I love the design though! Display looks awesome!!! I don?t think that a DVD burner is needed really, but Apple wants to sell them, and I think that in about a year, maybe two, CDRW's will be obsolete.

[fotogeek]

Well I had the time to watch Steve Jobs' keynote today on quicktime, and although the image quality was like **** I am quite pleased with what he showed us! Adobe Products coming to OS X, iPicture, the new iMac, wow! What do you think?

*DAMN Elandrion

What I still want:

1. ?Photoshop running native under X.

2. ?iPhoto to synch automatically to my Minolta Dimage 7. ?Why the hell dosen't one of the more popular 5 MP digital cameras synch? ?Dammit!

After these two little gems work their way out, this little iBook I just bought is going to be sweet. ?Think about it: ?do a shoot, drop the images in through iPhoto, play around with anything in Photoshop, and rip a CD. ?I could literally do everything on-site, with only the final printing being done later at work on the Fuji Frontier 390.
This is going to save HOURS that I used to spend in the darkroom, at least for the cookie-cutter stuff.

Woowooo, photo toys RULE! ?=)

[Grifter]

Photo,
I'd like to hear more about how you feel about iPhoto...  It's crashed on me 3 times while importing (ok, it was a large batch though, about 300 images).  And I had one major problem, where the window went off frame and I couldn't move it back (ended up killing the prefs and reinstalling, since it wouldn't then work without the prefs...)  I'm still iffy on iPhoto myself.

Rom,

How many things can I disagree with.....

First, let us first discuss that no matter the hype, the new iMac was the sole star of the show (and meant to be that way!!).  They took the iMac, redesigned it and reengineered it and turned it into something that will overshadow the first iMac launch.  This MacWorld was ALL ABOUT THE iMAC.

Second, The iMac is meant to be a CONSUMER computer.  Now, who dies this mean that Apple is marketing this to.... hmmmm.  Will the AVERAGE CONSUMER ever notice the difference between MS Word running on an iMac 800 and a Powermac Duel 800??  (The answer here is NO, btw).  While iMac's are being marketed as the hub of your digital world, the average user will use iTunes and iPhoto and iMovie, not Photoshop and Illustrator and Final Cut Pro.... so the performance that you are looking for will not be noticed (or worth the cost).

Third, SUPERDRIVE and CDRW being obsolete...... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  Bringing digital video to the normal consumer is one of the big advantages that Apple has over PC companies.  The Superdrive is meant to bring digital video to the masses, ringing the bell to announce the digital era once more.  As for CDRW's going the way of the dodo...... let me think, NOT.  Did floptical drives make floppy drives obsolete, not even close.  Even Zip drives never made floppy's obsolete.  To take CD's off the map, there will have to be a need for larger standard media (and I've never had to copy so many files that I FILLED a CD...)  Also, blank DVD's are still ten times the cost of CD's, and that was with the price drop down to $5 per DVD.

Last, Looking for DDR RAM and a state of the art video card??  Apple isn't going to make an iBook or iMac that is faster then it's professional line.  That G-Force 2 with 32megs DDR is much more then needed to push that 15 inch flat screen.  As for a faster processor.... They've probably taken the iMacs to be about twice as fast as they were last month.  So, with this MacWorld being all about the iMac (and I can understand why they would want to focus on it), they wouldn't want to detract from it with an announcement of faster PowerMacs as well... now would they?  

Now, with all the reports of the faster G3's and G4+'s and G5's going around (even reports from inside Adobe that they have a 2ghz prototype to play with), I'm sure that new, faster PowerMacs will be announced by the time the cheapest iMac ships.  Or, if they wait until MWNY, I'd bet that not only do they announce faster PowerMacs, but that they may even bump all their lines (depending on how fast the powermac bump is and how iMac sales are doing).  iMacs are not meant to be the top of the line Mac... expecting it to be is just ignorant.  However, it is a very cool and sexy little machine that would do even many professional's just fine (I work with more computers then you would believe every day, and for my personal use, an iMac would be just as good as any PowerMac.  For an average user, the performance that you are talking about is just a waste....  Let's face it Rom, you have yet to do anything on a computer that overtaxed it's ability to accomplish the task at hand.

As for anyone else reading this.... has anyone heard of someone trying to run Oracle on OS X yet??  I'm thinking of trying a little experiment to prove some things to the anti-mac biggots.

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[Destructo]

Grift..want some forum with your novel there champ?

[Grifter]

What can I say, when I rant, I rant. ?

Also, someone has to make up for those excessivly wordy posts that Wrath makes =P

Also, to be fair, I can only claim second place.  I had to split a post into three once to make it fit, but Bander has done that a few times, even having to split it into four posts once.  Yes, there is a character limit that you run into when posting. =O

[SiGmA_X]

Photo - The Minolta Dimage 7. How do you like it? I am going to get my dad a digital camera for his birthday (in like 3 weeks) and I am looking at the Minolta Dimage 7, a Nikon CoolPics 5000 and a Sony (Cant remember model name). Do you recommend the Minolta Dimage 7?

Grifter - I rather like iPhoto. Never had a problem with it... I think you are right on. But I personally think that eventually the only drive on the computer will be a DVD-R because it can read and write CD-ROMs and can read and write DVD-ROMs also. I think it is by far the best move on Apples behalf to make the iMac have a DVD-R. I was just hoping that Apple would release a G5 (or what ever it will be called). I am not saying that the iMac2 (as I call it, since it is sort of the Series 2) is bad. I love it. I am considering getting it because its good priced and hella powerful. I think that it can handle all my PhotoShop and Bryce needs. And then some. The look is awesome. I think it may be a new style of computers. Where no PC has gone before! Do you think that the G5/New Proc will be released before MWNY/MWT?? I think it will be released at MWNY...

Laterz

[Grifter]

Rom changes opinions faster then Dest's RX7.....

[fotogeek]

Photo,
I'd like to hear more about how you feel about iPhoto... ?It's crashed on me 3 times while importing (ok, it was a large batch though, about 300 images). ?And I had one major problem, where the window went off frame and I couldn't move it back (ended up killing the prefs and reinstalling, since it wouldn't then work without the prefs...) ?I'm still iffy on iPhoto myself.

I'll let you know after Sunday- I'm taking the gear out for a test drive to see how things work. ?All I've really done so far is get X upgraded to the point I could install iPhoto, installed iPhoto, and then got annoyed that Minolta digitals don't synch with iPhoto.

Bear with me, the iBook's new (got it Sunday), the Dimage 7's new (last Tuesday), and I'm dealing with my G4 tower that's still running OS 8.6 (whose HD houses most of my working images). ?Still doing a bit of juggling at this point.

So I may just pick up a USB compact flash card reader that's compatible with iPhoto, or just reboot to OS 9 and do things the way I've always done them. ?Or use ACDSee.

Too many toys, not enough time....=) ?I know I'll be able to figure something out, I just need to go out and use it first. ?I'll letchaknow.

[SiGmA_X]

Okay. I really want to know. That cam looks awsome, and I want a 5MP+ and SOON!

[jn.wrath]

Rom, now you use Bryce? A real mountain photo owns anything Bryce can generate.. those plastic bump maps just don't cut it.

Grift, I would use Photoshop extensively if I had a new iMac, hell, I use it quite a lot with this stilly that passes as a computer.. I wouldn't be using it to make large posters for high-budget films or anything complex.. just 800x600 layout canvases..

BTW: foto's name is spelled "foto", not "photo"..

foto, I never knew you actually were a photographer.. I thought your name was just for show.. and in the words of a wise man.. "d'oh!".. Shows you can learn a lot about certain persons through INTELLIGENT posts to the forum..

[Ace]

Well after classes, I'm too lazy to think of anything intelligent to say, so I'll just start assing...

Anyone else realize that Rom has his quote set at that yet doesn't even have his license.