The next step...

Okay, so I'm in a stage of transition now. I've gotten the iBook and love it. I mean... I dunno, I can't describe it really. I felt as if I've woken from a long slumber. Anyway, I want to switch completely. Or just get away from Microsoft products in general rather since I like using my Debian system. So here's the question, as a desktop system wot advantages does the iMac hold over the eMac? There's quite a price difference, and I see that the iMac has better specs and the luxury of a pannel monitor.... okay, I guess I just answered my own question...

Ragardless, as far as the "average" computer user's needs I don't see the need to spend the additional $500, do you? Granted the iMac looks far nicer then the eMac not to mention better specs. Please, I want to hear your opinions.

Thanks again. :mac:

Well, you didn't mention if you're comparing the eMac with the iMac G4 (white dome with flat panel attached) or the iMac G5 (thick white flat panel with everything inside).
The last iMac G4 has the same specs than the eMac, and thus performance whise they are equal. The flat panel image is of better quality than the eMac's CRT, that's the only advantage.

The iMac G5 technically is far ahead of the eMac, and the better performance, better screen and more space on your desk is definitely worth the additional money.
The eMac's hardware is kind of "old generation" hardware, while the iMac G5 is new generation... ;-)

Of course, for the average user, the eMac is enough, as it's still quite powerfull...but personnally, I would go for the iMac G5, for the reasons I mentioned above.

Just my 2cents :mac:

Ahhhh, I do apologize. Yes I guess the compairison it's a bit off since it's two different generations. That's all I had on Apple's site to look at!

In thinking about it though I think the space-saving design would be most helpfull. There's limited space on my desk plus it looks wicked sweet!

Thanks for the input!

I just bought an iBook 12" and after a few weeks I wanted to convert totally to mac. So I started looking into the eMac. I hate to say this but I find the eMac ugly. I hate the way it looks yet when i was using it I started to like it more.

After fooling with the eMac for a week at the store (and getting comments from an eMac owner) I started looking at the 17" iMac G5. Not only does the iMac G5 look killer and runs a lot faster and smoother than the eMac IMO and the grahics are awesome. I don't know if the looks of the iMac G5 made me buy or what. My brain shifted, it just kept telling me "iMac G5 17" i couldn't get it out of my head. So i paid $1000 cash and the rest on the evil credit card to get it the iMac G5, I am very very very happy. The thing is awesome. A girl i know bought an eMac a few months ago and she was telling me the thing works like a champ and its plenty of power for her as she surfs the 'net 99% of the time on it and she is very happy. Depending on your needs an eMac might be the way to go but I wanted to do stuff with dvds and i just like "fast". Plus the design is so killer. I don't know, what are your needs? Granted looks are not that important, evaluate your needs for another mac.

Granted I don't "need" yet another computer in the house (****, I should take some pics for you guys!) but as you I want to switch completely. I think the cost effective way would be to get a wireless KB and mouse and use the iBook as a desktop replacement, which I've also been considering.

At the moment I don't do many power-intensive tasks, but they come and go, ei: play w/ Photoshop, make some tracks in Reason, hope to play w/ GarageBand as well. So it's nice to know the power is there even though I wont use it all the time.

Looking at the specs of your iBook, it's quite a recent one (1.2GHz isn't too bad). But you only seem to have 256MB of RAM...

The cheapest for you would be: Wireless KB+mouse, as you already mentionned to use it as desktop replacement, and an additional 512MB module, giving you 768MB (or max it out with a 1GB module to 1.25GB, if you can afford it).
Mac OS X is very memory hungry, and unlike Windows, you'll notice a big performance increase, just by adding more memory.
When I bought my PowerMac G4 1.25 it also had only 256MB, which I found out is the bare minimum for OS X. After adding an additional 512MB module, I was very surprised by the new speed and smoothness my Mac had. Running several apps together isn't slowing it down anymore. And I think I'll give it some more soon...I want to play a little more seriously with GarageBand, which also likes memory a lot. :mac:

And once budget isn't an issue anymore, get a G5, witha s much memory as you can get.
If you're working with music, the G5 makes a big difference...

Indeed it is a pretty new system and a gig stick of RAM is at the top of the list of things to get the iBook. I do notice when I have a few windows open at once I see a lot of the "beach ball", so that's something I don't want to see anymore! From wot I understand Crucial seems to be one of the better companys Apple users buy from so I've been keeping up on their prices.

Another thing I was thinking about, dual monitor setup. Does the iBook support this feature? I've seen the in-store demos w/ PowerBooks, but not the iBook. I think it would be nice to have 2 monitors (iBook as well as my 17" CRT) for my desktop. Oh the space!

The dual display feature is reserved for the Power line of Apple hardware (PowerMac, PowerBook).
The eMac, iMac and iBook can only mirror it's display contents to a second monitor.
Nevertheless, this simply seems to be a restriction put in by Apple, not the hardware. There is a little hack to allow display spanning on e/i-models, I don't have the link though.

But you should find it easily by google-ing a bit...

Sweet! Thanks again for all the input. You guys are great!

what external moniter would you get? just curious as a friend of mine wants to use his iBook 12" as a desktop since he can not afford to buy an eMac or iMac at this time.

Yes 512MB should be the bare min for Macs. If you plan on using Garageband a lot and other programs that eat up memory then go for as much as you can afford. I too thought that RAM was not as important for my PC's but with the iBook I notice the difference with 256 vs 512. I guess I could pull out a 256 and pop a 512 making it 768 but for what I do that would be kinda overkill (main use is surfin and appleworks and watching DVDs) I do the major stuff on my new iMac G5 but that only has 512 total. Again I don't use Photoshop and the such...

Well if I do decide to go w/ a dual monitor setup I'd attempt to use my existing Micron 17". However after actually thinking about it I don't think I have the space for that. I mean I'm trying to save space and keeping the monitor on the desk would defeat the purpose. Besides I think CRT monitors are "so 10 years ago".

Avalon said:

The dual display feature is reserved for the Power line of Apple hardware (PowerMac, PowerBook).
The eMac, iMac and iBook can only mirror it's display contents to a second monitor.
Nevertheless, this simply seems to be a restriction put in by Apple, not the hardware. There is a little hack to allow display spanning on e/i-models, I don't have the link though.

But you should find it easily by google-ing a bit...

Click to expand...

I thought the PowerBook could only mirror displays as well... It can extend?
If so, then why haven't I been using that spare 17in flat panel LCD!

xwonderboy85x said:

I thought the PowerBook could only mirror displays as well... It can extend?
If so, then why haven't I been using that spare 17in flat panel LCD!

Click to expand...

Yah, one of the Apple sales guy was showing me on one of their disply PowerBook models. Pretty sweet indeed!