imac g5 17 lcd panel pricelist

This is the Lcd display screen for the 17 Inch iMac G5. There are two types of screen for this model iMac. One is for the model with the iSight camera and the other is for the model without a camera. This display screen comes with the original brackets and is a pull from a working unit. The item is backed by our standard one year warranty.

This is the Lcd display screen for the 17 Inch iMac G5. There are two types of screen for this model iMac. One is for the model with the iSight camera and the other is for the model without a camera. This display screen comes with the original brackets and is a pull from a working unit. The item is backed by our standard one year warranty.

This is the Lcd display screen for the 17 Inch iMac G5. There are two types of screen for this model iMac. One is for the model with the iSight camera and the other is for the model without a camera. This display screen comes with the original brackets and is a pull from a working unit. The item is backed by our standard one year warranty.

Apple"s original iMac marked the beginning of a turnaround for the company, and despite the consumer-oriented nature of the product, iMacs have found a place in many a home studio over the years. With the iMac range finally inheriting a G5 processor, have Apple created the perfect entry-level machine for demanding Mac musicians on a budget?

While the iMac has always been given a consumer designation by Apple, alongside the iBook and the iPod, it has also been an attractive machine for Mac-based musicians looking for a low-cost machine. The later G3/CRT-based iMacs also had the bonus of requiring no internal fan, relying on convection cooling instead, which made them perfect for the studio environment.

The G4 iMac was released at the beginning of 2002 and became the first model to feature an LCD display, using the now infamous and instantly recognisable Anglepoise-styled design. I have a soft spot for this Mac because it was the machine I had on my desk at SOS during my full-time tenure, and while the floating screen never lost its novelty, the small footprint of this machine was particularly appealing. It"s also worth remembering that the G4 processor was originally released in 1999, so it actually took some time for this chip to be used in a consumer machine. By this time, there was much music software available to take advantage of the G4 and its Velocity Engine, so the iMac G4 wasn"t a bad entry-level, musician-friendly Mac.

However, the G4 iMac didn"t mean the end of the CRT-based Macs. Since these models were slightly more expensive than the previous generation of iMacs, Apple also introduced another all-in-one Mac with a 17-inch CRT known as the eMac (see box), which also featured a G4 processor. Although the eMac was originally intended for the education market (putting the "e" into eMac), Apple later introduced it as a publicly available model, since consumers were attracted to the lower cost.

While the iMac has always lagged technologically behind the professionally oriented Power Mac, with the introduction of the Power Mac G5 in June 2004, the iMac was beginning to seem a little dated, despite the introduction of a 20-inch model before last Christmas. Indeed, breaking with usual policy, when stocks of the iMac G4 ran out after Apple mistimed the introduction of its successor towards the end of the summer, the company were forced to admit that a newer model would be announced in September... which brings us neatly to the iMac G5, briefly discussed in last month"s Apple Notes.

The iMac I was sent for review was the high-end model, featuring a 20-inch screen, a 1.8GHz G5 processor with a 512k Level 2 cache and a 600MHz front side buss. The lower two iMac models both feature a 17-inch screen, with the mid-range model featuring the same processor and buss speed as the 20-inch model, and the entry-level machine offering a 1.6GHz G5 processor with 512k Level 2 cache and a slower 533MHz front side buss. One difference between the architecture of the dual-G5 Power Macs (though not the new single 1.8GHz model) and the iMac G5 is the former"s faster buss speeds: on the dual Power Macs each processor"s buss speed is half the clock frequency of the processor, which would equate to 800MHz for the 1.6GHz G5 and 900MHz for the 1.8GHz chip. This slower buss speed in the iMac should mean a slight performance dip when compared to the same speed chip in a dual Power Mac, but in practice, this didn"t seem too significant, as we"ll see later.

Memory is a little bit of a contentious issue because, while the iMac G5 uses PC3200 DDR RAM, all models only come with 256MB, which really isn"t enough for anything more than basic, domestic use, and is a little bit disappointing in a computer that costs £1350 (in the case of the 20-inch model). If you get an iMac, you should really make sure it comes with at least 512MB RAM — which is precisely the amount Apple had installed in the review model. There are two memory slots in the iMac G5 (compared to four or eight in the Power Mac G5), and consequently you can only install a maximum of 2GB RAM into the system (as opposed to 4 or 8 GB in the Power Macs). Still, 2GB of RAM should be enough for most users, especially until Tiger, the next major Mac OS X release, is available to let applications really take advantage of the 64-bit memory-addressing potential of the G5.

In terms of connectivity, the iMac"s ports are located on the back of the unit, which this is probably as good a place as any, and a fairly neat place to plug dongles in, for example. There are two Firewire 400 ports, three USB 2.0 ports (with an additional two USB 1.1 ports if you have the wired keyboard), 10/100 Ethernet, a video connection for outputting to a VGA monitor or S-Video, and a 56k modem. While Apple use Firewire and Ethernet to distinguish between professional and consumer product lines, I still think it"s a shame that the iMac doesn"t offer Gigabit Ethernet or Firewire 800, even in the high-end model. Firewire 800 is becoming more prevalent, and most networks are migrating towards Gigabit Ethernet infrastructures these days, even in the home where Gigabit switchers are perfectly affordable.

When it comes to wireless connectivity, the iMac G5 is like most of Apple"s products: it comes Bluetooth- and Airport Extreme-ready, but with neither installed as standard. The internal Bluetooth module is a build-to-order option, whereas the Airport Extreme card can obviously be installed at any time. I found it a bit surprising that at least the high-end model didn"t come with either pre-installed as standard, but it"s well worth adding both to your shopping list if you buy an iMac — not only does it help the aesthetic, but it is actually quite practical in reducing desk clutter.

In terms of audio, there"s a headphone output that doubles as an optical output and microphone input, and the iMac"s speakers, powered by a 12 Watt amplifier, are now located on the bottom of the unit so that the sound is output downwards and reflected off the desk on which the computer is standing. I was somewhat dubious about this, but the results sounded much better than I anticipated, with a reasonably well defined sound and adequate bass response — not that you"d want to do anything more than listen to iTunes with these, admittedly! Mind you, I still think the previous generation of iMac speakers sounded slightly better.

The screen was of a high quality, seeming consistent with that used on the previous 20-inch iMac, and I was pleased to find no dead pixels. Since the computer and screen are one and the same, the iMac G5 is presented on a stand that enables you to tilt the screen up and down. While this doesn"t offer quite the same cool flexibility as the Anglepoise-like arm of the iMac G4, it is perfectly fine, since most of the time you want to be able to stare straight at the computer screen. Interestingly, Apple will soon be offering a VESA mounting adaptor for the iMac, which means you"ll be able to mount the machine on any kind of wall or desk as you see fit — surely the iMac G5 is destined to become the darling of receptions in every post-production facility in Soho!

In terms of software, the iMac G5 is of course pre-loaded with Apple"s latest iLife software bundle, which includes Garage Band, and I have to confess that I"ve yet to speak to any professional who didn"t have something of a weakness for this simple yet surprisingly powerful music-making application. I don"t think SOS readers who purchase an iMac will just want to rely on Garage Band, but it has a habit of coming in useful on occasion and making us all wish we were 12 again.

One thing that"s worth pointing out is that noise generated by the fans inside the iMac G5 is noticeable in the general use of the computer, although not unbearable. The Superdrive tends to add to the general computer noise quite considerably when a disc spins up, although in fairness you"re hardly likely to have a disc spinning constantly when working the computer.

In order to test the relative power of the iMac G5, I decided to run the same tests in Logic as discussed in previous Apple Notes columns when looking at the dual-2GHz Power Mac back in February and March, and the 15-inch Powerbook G4 in last month"s column. Although Logic 7 is now available, I decided to continue using Logic 6 to keep things relatively fair, and once again used the inbuilt audio hardware with the default 512-sample buffer-size setting.

First of all, I experimented with how many Space Designer plug-ins I could run on the iMac G5, and managed a total of 17 instances using the "Large Hall 2.6 secs" preset across two Audio Busses, with a single instance of the ES P synth running to create a test signal on an Audio Instrument object. Logic "s Audio performance meter was well and truly maxed out and the User CPU parameter of the Activity Monitor (Applications / Utilities / Activity Monitor) showed 92 percent. Although I haven"t tried this on a dual-processor Power Mac G5 yet, I was only able to run four instances on a 1.5GHz G4 Powerbook, so the iMac already shows a pretty impressive performance improvement over G4-based Macs.

Moving on to the old stalwart of performance benchmarks, the somewhat dull "How many Platinumverbs?" test, I was able to run 46 instances across four Audio Buss objects, using the same single Audio Instrument object with ES P as a test signal, which gave a User CPU reading of approximately 88 percent, with Logic "s Audio performance meter again fully maxed. By way of a comparison, the 1.5GHz G4 Powerbook managed 20 instances and the dual-2GHz G5 ran 120. In this test, the single-processor G5 again proves itself over the G4 Powerbook — although it"s worth remembering that greater performance compromises are made in laptops over desktop machines — and the comparison with the dual-2GHz G5 system is about what you would expect if you crudely assumed that a single 2GHz G5 chip would be capable of running 60 instances.

As has been pointed out in previous EXS24 tests, setting the sample storage mode to 32-bit dramatically increases performance, although in the case of the iMac G5 tests I wasn"t able to use 32-bit storage mode on the usual harp instrument because it would have required nearly 800MB of free memory — clearly more than the 512MB installed in the iMac. So although a fair test in this case wasn"t possible, I switched to the stock Stereo Grand sound for curiosity, which required just 61.3MB memory using 32-bit storage, and I was able to get 704 voices with 92 percent User CPU use. If you"re not going to be doing huge orchestral arrangements, the iMac G5 with Logic and EXS24 is going to be a capable system.

An interesting point is that fan noise didn"t increase substantially when the CPU was being completely hammered, although there was an audible increase as you would expect, and it was quite amusing to hear the fans slow down again in between tests. I was also pleasantly surprised that the iMac enclosure itself remained fairly cool, with no part becoming particularly scalding. The only part of the case that seems to get a little warm is the top surface, just above the ventilation strip, which isn"t too shocking.

However, for only £50 more, albeit without a display, you can now get a Power Mac G5 with Gigabit Ethernet, Firewire 800, the ability to expand via three PCI slots and add a second SATA drive along with extra memory, and the flexibility of adding whatever display you like via DVI or ADC, which means you can also separate the computer from the display if fan noise becomes a problem. Since you effectively get all of these features for the cost of a monitor, it becomes slightly more difficult to recommend the iMac G5 to every musician looking to embrace the G5 processor on a budget.

On the other hand, with the continuing absence of a Powerbook G5, the iMac G5 perhaps still fills an interesting gap in Apple"s product line for a powerful, yet portable, G5-based computer. For not much more than the cost of an iBook G4 or entry-level Powerbook G4, the iMac G5 provides the same sized screen as Apple"s top-of-the-line 17-inch Powerbook model, and weighs in at 18.5 pounds (8.4kg) for the 17-inch models or 25.2 pounds (11.4kg) for the 20-inch, compared to 6.9 pounds (3.1kg) for the 17-inch Powerbook.

In conclusion, though, the new iMac G5 is a great Mac offering improvements over previous G4-based Macs, and it should appeal to anyone who wants a portable, all-in-one design for music-making.

Even in a single-processor configuration with slower front side buss compared to the more expensive Power Mac models, the iMac still offers a tremendous improvement over previous G4-based Macs.

While not as mobile as a laptop, the iMac G5 is still fairly portable compared to most desktop computers and significantly more powerful than Apple"s current Powerbook line-up.

Apple"s new pricing of the single-processor Power Mac G5 model takes away some of the iMac"s thunder as the most appropriate low-cost Mac for musicians.

The iMac G5 is a capable machine for musicians looking for a G5 Mac on a budget. While the new entry-level Power Mac might be more suitable for some users, the tidy and relatively portable all-in-one enclosure of the iMac will make it a popular choice.

Apple today announced that it has made its award-winning line of widescreen flat panel Cinema Displays more affordable by reducing the price of the 20-inch model to just $799 and the 23-inch HD model to just $1,499.

In addition, Apple"s new 2.7 GHz Power Mac G5s and 1.67 GHz 17-inch PowerBooks now feature built-in support to directly drive Apple"s 30-inch Cinema HD Display.

"Apple"s Cinema Displays now start at just $799, making widescreen flat displays affordable to even more people," said Philip Schiller, Apple"s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Even Apple"s groundbreaking 30-inch Cinema HD Display, with its over four million pixels, is now made more affordable with standard support built into some PowerMac G5 and PowerBook configurations."

Apple"s flat panel display line, comprising the 20-inch Cinema Display, the 23-inch Cinema HD Display and revolutionary 30-inch Cinema HD Display, is designed to work with DVI-equipped Power Mac G5 desktops, PowerBook G4 notebooks and Windows-based computers, and offers the widescreen design (16:10 ratio) coveted by creative professionals who want access to more screen real estate. The 30-inch Cinema HD Display has a 2560-by-1600 pixel resolution and the 23-inch Cinema HD Display has a 1920-by-1200 pixel resolution, ideal for editing High Definition Television (HDTV) content. The 20-inch Cinema Display flat panel offers a 1680-by-1050 pixel resolution, more than enough space to edit full size images with plenty of room for on-screen palettes.

Two systems now feature built-in support for Apple"s 30-inch Cinema HD Display: the new 2.7 GHz Power Mac G5 and the 1.67 GHz 17-inch PowerBook. Users can also add support for the 30-inch Cinema HD Display as a build-to-order option on the new 2.0 GHz and 2.3 GHz Power Mac G5 systems, as well as the 1.67 GHz 15-inch PowerBook.

Apple flat panel displays provide a broad color gamut and maximum color quality using the industry"s best wide-viewing angle technology of up to 170 degrees even when viewing images off-axis.

The 20-inch Cinema Display, 23-inch Cinema HD Display and the 30-inch Cinema HD Display are available through the Apple Store and at Apple"s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $799 (US), $1,499 (US) and $2,999 (US), respectively. Power Mac G5 build-to-order options for the Cinema Display line include the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL with 256MB DDR SDRAM for an additional $350 (US) as well as a standalone kit for a suggested retail price of $599 (US) through the Apple Store.

The iMac G5 monitor arm is nothing short of fantastic, as well as very stylish. It is super easy to install, providing that you actually follow the directions included, I also took the initiative of watching the various videos they have available on the site that helped the most. I installed my G5 without any problems at all thanks to the videos. I suggest that you do not attempt to balance the arm without the monitor installed (it will not work) , also turn the springs power down all the way at the base mount, then attach the monitor (it will drop to the desk) slowly increase the springs tension periodically checking the monitor to see if it will stay in a fixed position as well as move about rather easily. Get the tension to where you are comfortable and enjoy. Anyone saying that they had trouble installing the G5 most likely did not follow the directions correctly.

The latest iMacs are the slimmest and slickest yet, but, stylistically, they’re the most conservative. Gone are the bulging curves and florid colors that made the original 1998 design such a sensation; gone, too, are the igloo-shaped base and the amazing flexible neck that supported the first flat-panel version.

This time around, Apple has gone minimalist, to the point that the new machine appears at first glance not to be a computer at all, but just another flat-panel display, distinguished only by the snow-white color of its plastic bezel. The drives and chips that filled the old iMac’s dome are now built into the back of the display, spread out behind 17- or 20-inch LCD panels.

Apple is hardly the first computer manufacturer to adopt this approach—NEC, Gateway, and others first tried it years ago. But their designs sacrificed the trim lines and easy adjustability that make flat-panel displays so appealing—to one degree or another, they all looked like flat-panel displays. To cool their tightly packed innards, most of them had noisy fans, and they all carried premium price tags.

Apple’s design team solved nearly all of these problems. The iMac G5 is only a couple of inches thick—not quite as svelte as the latest LCD monitors, but close enough to pass for one. At least on the front of the machine, the only indication that it might be something more is that the bottom section of the bezel is four inches high, creating a large expanse of white plastic. (On the back, there are a couple of giveaways: a big iMac label and, along the left side, 10 neatly stacked ports, as well as the power button.) Even though the machine includes three fans—the PowerPC G5 processor inside isn’t exactly known for running cool—they’re rarely audible during normal use. And considering the cost of stand-alone flat-panel monitors that are equivalent in size and quality, the new iMacs are genuine bargains.

The new entry-level iMac has a 17-inch screen; a 1.6GHz G5 processor; 256MB of memory; an 80GB, 7,200-rpm Serial ATA (read: fast) hard drive; and, built into the upper-right side of the system, a slot-loading DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive—all for $1,299.

Finally, the top-of-the-line iMac G5, featuring the same 1.8GHz processor and SuperDrive as the midrange model, has a 160GB hard drive and a huge 20-inch display. This model goes for $1,899.

If you’re wondering whether Silicon Valley continues to deliver more bang for the buck every year, just compare these systems to their predecessors, the last of the iMac G4s. At the low end, you’ll need as many bucks as before, but you’ll get a lot more bang today: $1,299 used to buy only a 15-inch screen and a mere 1GHz G4 processor. In the middle and at the top of the line, Apple hasn’t just beefed up its offerings—its aggressively cut prices: At $1,499 and $1,899, the top two configurations cost $300 less than the G4 models they replace.

Of course, you’ll want to budget for additional memory. All three new configurations, like their predecessors, come with just 256MB of RAM. To take full advantage of OS X and the iLife applications that come with it—iTunes, iPhoto, GarageBand, iMovie, and, with SuperDrive configurations, iDVD—we recommend adding at least another 256MB, and preferably more. If you order from Apple’s online store, you can upgrade to 512MB for $75, to 1GB for $225, or to the new iMacs’ maximum, 2GB, for $1,125. (If you’re willing to open the iMac and install memory yourself—a task that’s extremely easy with Apple’s new design—you can save considerably by buying your RAM from third-party discounters.)

We’re always frustrated when Apple fails to provide adequate memory in its entry-level systems, mainly because there are always users who don’t know to add more, and they end up grousing—with some justification—that their systems are sluggish. The good news in this case is that the iMacs have two DIMM slots, and the factory-installed 256MB fill only one of them. So you can boost your system to as much as 1.25GB—plenty for most people—without having to unload memory you’ve already paid for.

Equipped with sufficient RAM, the new iMacs’ G5 processors deliver impressive performance. In our Speedmark 3.3 tests, the new entry-level iMac, with a 1.6GHz G5 processor, scored 24 percent higher than its top-of-the-line predecessor, a 1.25GHz G4; the 1.8GHz G5 processor bested the same G4 system by nearly 35 percent.

On some common tasks, the improvement is even more dramatic: encoding a 45-minute audio CD track into MP3 format took 3 minutes and 20 seconds on the old 1.25MHz iMac G4, but the same task took only 2 minutes and 6 seconds and 1 minute and 53 seconds, respectively, on the new 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz G5s.

Twin speakers are built into the bottom of the iMacs, pointing down at your desk for extra resonance. We found the sound surprisingly good—certainly better than built-in computer speakers usually deliver—but it’s not as good as external Apple Pro speakers hooked up to the iMac G4; audiophiles or anyone who likes a strong bass sound may want to add speakers.

The ports on the back of the iMac include an ample array of connectivity options: three USB 2.0 ports (not to mention the two USB 1.1 ports in the keyboard); two FireWire 400 connectors; an audio line-in connector; an output jack that delivers analog sound when headphones are plugged in or digital audio (in S/PDIF, the Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format, used for transferring stereo digital audio signals between various devices and stereo components) when an optical cable is connected; a 10/100Base-T Ethernet jack; a 56K V.92 modem; and a video-out port that, with the addition of an Apple VGA or a Composite and/or S-Video adapter ($19 each), can drive an external monitor in mirror mode.

Internally, the only expansion options are AirPort Extreme ($79; installable at any time) and Bluetooth wireless cards ($50; available only in build-to-order configurations). Among other advantages, there’s an aesthetic argument for going wireless with the new iMacs: the more cables you plug into the ports on the back—even if you route them through the hole in the systems’ aluminum stand, where the power cable goes—the more you mar the new design’s sleekness.

In fact, port placement is our one real gripe about these new machines: we wish Apple had followed the example it set with the Power Mac G5 and put headphone, USB 2.0, and FireWire jacks in front, where they’re readily accessible.

The new iMacs don’t deliver the same floating-in-thin-air, adjust-it-any-way-you-want experience that Apple rightly made so much of when it introduced the iMac G4 models. But in every other respect—elegance, performance, and price—the G5 generation represents a big step forward. All three new models are appealing, but for those who can afford it, and particularly those who plan to work with video, our choice is the 20-inch model: its extra screen space, hard-drive capacity, and SuperDrive make it well worth its $1,899 price.

The iMac Legacy: After the G3, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2008.08.15. The G3 iMac influenced the whole industry, but Apple continued to move forward with innovative designs using G4, G5, and Intel processors.

Unreliable Macs, future Apple CPUs, replacing a Mac Plus mouse, and more, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag, 2008.08.12. Also Windows Media Player content that doesn’t work on Macs, Leopard on a 700 MHz iMac G4, Apple’s $99 Pro Care service, and CPU options.

PowerPC’s last chance: The Mac’s history with the G5 CPU, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2008.06.24. The introduction of the G5 Power Mac in June 2003 promised a bright 3 GHz future, and failure to achieve that paved the way to today’s Intel Macs.

Virtual PC works with Leopard, Intel vs. PowerPC performance, beyond the Mac mini, and more, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag, 2008.05.20. Also upgrading Intel iMacs, Compact Flash in a PowerBook 2400, and thoughts on low-end Macs.

New Macs expected August 7, Apple keyboard repair tutorial, Linux vs. Mac vs. Widows, and more, Mac News Review, 2007.08.03. Also new Apple keyboard inspired by MacBook?, Logitech’s new Wave keyboard, iNeck lets G5 and Intel iMacs pivot, TechTool Pro updated for latest Macs, and more.

Software to darken iMac display, columnist returns iPhone, Logitech introduces air mouse, and more, Mac News Review, 2007.07.20. Also a USB turntable for turning your record albums into MP3s, a retractable flash drive, iPhone: The Missing Manual, Parallels Desktop 3 a major update, and more.

The annoying white iMac, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job, 2007.02.15. From a design standpoint, the iMac is brilliant, but the massive amounts of white plastic can distract you from what’s on the display.

Macs take away Microsoft pain, Macs revive James Bond, iMac king of all media, iWoofer, and more, Mac News Review, 2006.06.16. Also Windows users guide to switching to the Mac, Bluetooth firmware update for PPC Macs, universal USB 2.0 drive adapter, waterproof case for video iPod, and more.

iMac G5: Nice system, but at a nice price?, Alan Zisman, Low End Mac Reviews, 2004.11.01. The iMac G5 sports some impressive improvements, but the question remains the market. Is it too expensive for the low end yet too compromised for the high end?

Do matching pairs of memory make the iMac G5 go faster?, Bare Feats, 2004.10.27. Although matching pairs benchmark up to 29% faster, real world tests show no significant difference in performance.

iMac G5 versus “the rest of the family”, Bare Feats, 2004.09.23. How do the new 1.6 GHz and 1.8 GHz iMacs compare with Power Macs, PowerBooks, and eMacs?

The iMac G5: iPod success or Cube fiasco?, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2004.09.01. The iMac G5 is undeniably cool and seems to be a good value, but will consumers flock to it or ignore it?

Continuing a string of hardware and software rollouts, Apple Computer Inc. today updated its iMac G5 all-in-one desktop computer, bumping the processor speed in the midrange and top-end models to 2 GHz and building in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0 wireless networking in all three versions.

"We have a very exciting update to the iMacs today," Tom Boger, senior director Desktop Product Marketing at Apple, said in an interview. "We"ve added hundreds of dollars of value to [them], and we ended up with the most feature-rich consumer product line we"ve offered."

In addition to getting faster G5 processors, the iMac now includes an ATI Radeon 9600 video card that features 128MB video memory -- twice the video RAM available before -- a new 8X SuperDrive that provides double-layer burn support, built-in Gigabit Ethernet and 512MB of RAM across the line.

The announcement comes less than a week after Apple updated its Power Mac line of computers and cut prices on some of its LCD monitors (see story), and follows the release Friday of its latest operating system, Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" (see story)The new iMacs and eMacs will come with Tiger installed, Boger said.

Although the iMacs have been generally aimed at home users, Boger claimed that the iMac G5 "is appealing to a wide variety of customers. It"s appealing to consumers and the education market and business as well." He said the popular desktop model, first unveiled late last August, would appeal to "anyone looking for a compact, all-in-one system that gives you a brilliant display, graphics performance great networking."

The new iMacs are available now, with the entry-level 17-in., 1.8-GHz model priced at $1,299; the midrange model, with a 17-in. screen, 2-GHz G5 processor and SuperDrive, priced at $1,499; and the high-end 20-in. iMac 2-GHz model priced at $1,799. That represents a $100 price drop for the most expensive model.

According to Boger, iMac buyers have "really taken to using wireless connectivity," which is why Apple decided to add its 802.11g-based Airport Extreme cards to the iMacs, as well as Bluetooth 2.0. "We think this is going to be an extremely important enhancement for a lot of people."

He noted that hard drive space on all three iMac models was also increased. The entry and midrange models now have 160GB hard drives; the top model now has a 250GB hard drive. And a 400GB hard drive is available as a build-to-order option on all three.

The eMac (short for education Mac) is a discontinued all-in-one Mac desktop computer that was produced and designed by Apple Computer Released in 2002, it was originally aimed at the education market, but was later made available as a cheaper mass-market alternative to Apple"s second-generation LCD iMac G4. The eMac was pulled from retail on October 12, 2005, and was again sold exclusively to educational institutions thereafter. It was discontinued by Apple on July 5, 2006, and replaced by a cheaper, low-end iMac G5 that, like the eMac, was exclusively sold to educational institutions.

The eMac design closely resembles the first-generation iMac, though the eMac is white, slightly larger in size, and heavier than the preceding G3, weighing 50 lb (23 kg).The unique shape of the computer was also similar to the 17-inch CRT Studio Display from 2000 (the last standalone CRT monitor Apple made). The Apple eMac features a PowerPC 7450 (G4e) processor that is significantly faster than the previous-generation PowerPC 750 (G3) processor, as well as a 17-inch flat CRT display, which was aimed at the education market, as LCD screens would be expensive.

In 1998, Apple released the iMac G3, an all-in-one computer built around a cathode-ray tube display. The iMac was a major success for Apple, selling more than five million units; it also sold for as low as US$799, making it the most affordable Mac model Apple offered. In January 2002, Apple announced a successor to the iMac G3, the iMac G4. This iMac was built around a floating flat-panel display, and started at a higher price than the previous generation. While a few models of the iMac G3 remained at lower price points, they lacked power for educational tasks like video. Education customers made up nearly a quarter of Apple"s sales,

Apple announced the eMac on April 29, 2002, to be sold only to education markets. Apple had previously created education-only computer models, including the iMac predecessor Power Macintosh G3 All-In-One. The machine"s CRT screen made it cheaper than the iMac (the most expensive configuration was still cheaper than the cheapest iMac G4), and its bulk was intended to make it more resilient to wear and tear in a school setting than the fragile hinge and flat screen of the iMac.

The eMac had a substantially similar design to the iMac G3, but featured a larger 17-inch (430 mm) (16-inch viewable) flat-screen CRT monitor. The larger screen offered 40percent more viewing area than the iMac.

The eMac generally catered to the mass market, eventually taking over the entry-level (previously held by the iMac G3) Macintosh from 2003 to 2005, while the iMac G4 was positioned as a premium offering throughout the lifetime of the eMac line.iMac G5 in 2005 to 2006.

On October 12, 2005, Apple once again restricted sales of the eMac to educational institutions and returned to its "E is for Education" marketing plan that had been attached to the product from the original restriction to education buyers. The company re-implemented this restrictive measure for unspecified reasons. Some analysts believe Apple wanted to force the general public to purchase the more expensive Mac Mini or iMac which had higher profit margins. Also, the eMac was the only CRT display product left in Apple"s lineup which made it somewhat bulky compared to new offerings which had compact form factors due to their LCD screens. The falling cost of LCD displays would also gradually bring down the prices of the iMac G5. However, the eMac was still available for sale to the general public through some third-party retailer websites.

On July 5, 2006, the entire eMac line was discontinued. An "educational configuration" of the iMac Core Duo was introduced that same day, which has a Combo drive rather than a SuperDrive and a smaller hard disk of 80 GB.

The Apple iMac G5/1.9 17-Inch (iSight) comes equipped with a 1.9 GHz PowerPC 970fx (G5) processor with an optimized AltiVec "Velocity Engine" vector processing unit and a 512k on chip level 2 cache, 633 MHz frontside bus, 512 MB of 533 MHz PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM, a 160.0 GB (7200 RPM) Serial ATA hard drive, a vertically-mounted slot-loading 8X "SuperDrive", ATI Radeon X600 Pro graphics with 128 MB of DDR SDRAM (PCI-Express), and a 17" TFT Active Matrix LCD (1440x900 native) display. Connectivity includes USB 2.0, Firewire "400", built-in AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and Gigabit Ethernet. This model was bundled with the programmable Apple Mighty Mouse and a new six-button Apple Remote.

Despite the age of this system, site sponsor Other World Computing has RAM, hard drives, SSDs, and other upgrades available for this specific iMac while supplies last.

*The "Introduction Date" refers to the date this model was introduced via press release. On January 10, 2006, Apple introduced the iMac "Core Duo" 1.83 17-Inch as a replacement, but continued to sell this model until February 2, 2006, when supplies were exhausted.

The PowerPC 970 "G5" has 64-bit data paths and registers with native support for 32-bit application code. It additionally includes the AltiVec "Velocity Engine" vector processor and "two independent double-precision floating-point units".

*RAM manufacturers and quality resellers that have tested their RAM with this specific Mac for reliability do not guarantee that this system can support more than 2.5 GB of memory. However, this iMac is so old that demand for upgrades is low. A diligent reader more recently discovered that it will work with a 4 GB Samsung 2Rx4 PC2-6400U-666 memory module, passes Memtest, and is properly recognized by the operating system.

In the US (and many other countries), site sponsor Other World Computing sells memory -- as well as other upgrades -- that are guaranteed to work with this iMac.

This model has a 17.0" TFT active matrix display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a native resolution of 1440x900. In the 16:10 aspect ratio, it also supports 1152x720, 1024x640, and 800x500, and in the 4:3 aspect ratio it supports 1024x768, 800x600, and 640x480. Apple additionally reports a "typical" brightness of 250 cd/m, contrast ratio of 500:1, and viewing angle of 140 degrees horizontal and 120 degrees vertical.