Apple Talk Thread

[Joe']

It's not the first hack. The first hack is this.
Apparently, some English kid got an iPhone to work with a Vodafone SIM. There's some controversy but people reported it actually works.
Now that's something I should try if I had 500 bucks.

[Joe']

I just found out how crappy my current PC is and that I can't wait until Leopard comes out.

But my parents say I'm too lazy and won't buy me a Mac, so I decided to buy it myself (via my sister, since I'm underage).

Since I don't have €1500 cash, I decided to buy a 17" iMac instead of a 20" (that will save me about €300) through a financial program (ie. leasing), paying €120/month for ten months (0% interest rate).

I already have half the total amount. The other half is on my sister (I translated a few books from English to Italian for her and she never paid me so she agreed to pay for the other half) so I won't even have to work at the PC store to pay for it .

Here are the specs:

iMac, 17-inch, Intel Core 2 Duo
2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 667 MHz - 2x512MB (I'm also putting an extra 512MB stick that I already have)
250GB Serial ATA drive
ATI Radeon X1600 128MB GDDR3 VRAM
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±RW DL, CD-RW)
Airport Extreme
Bluetooth 2.0

I think it's a solid machine for €1200. The only weak point IMO is the graphic card, but as soon as I collect the money I'm getting a new one.
I will also expand the HD once I have some extra money, so I can finally fit my entire music library on my computer.

I'm too excited

[magius]

correct me if i am wrong, but the imac is due for an update VERY soon (presumably a week or two). so wait! apparently a new case design is coming, with surely hardware updgrades as well (perhaps more ram, surely a processor bump, and a better video card! i would gamble a system something like the current mbp 2.2)..... and i doubt there will be a price rise. if you like the current machine regardless, by waiting you may be able to save some money. the last update was september 2006! an update is coming soon, i would definitely personally would wait on fear of very viable buyers remorse.

cheers!

apparently this is an early version of the coming keyboard, and people are saying the new design will be brushed aluminum.

[Joe']

A week?!!? OMG! I better wait!
But then again, it'll be at least two months until the upgrade becomes available here in Europe.

[cyanide]

Congrats Joe! I'd wait too, because that keyboard suggests something really, really cool! By then, you should have more money and better financial security to get that iMac!

[ixcuincle]

Any of you have a video ipod? Someone on another forum asked a question.

I have never owned an iPod, but have been looking at them recently and have a few questions that all pertain to the 30 GB iPod Video.....

1.) Can I rip DVD'd to it with iTunes? (you know, and watch movies on it)
2.) Can I copy mp3's I already have over to it? (I am assuming you have to use iTunes to do this) or do I have to buy all my music through Apple?

Can anyone help with answering these questions?

[magius]

1. no, it has to be a certain format, i don't think itunes will rip it. use a program like roxio popcorn, there are free alternatives as well like handbrake. popcorn seems pretty foolproof, though handbrake shouldn't be too hard for said person (i presume) to learn hopefully.

2. yes you can move mp3s you already own to it, you do not have to buy from itunes. i don't think ipod supports wmv though... as if anyone uses it anyway.

(3. fyi an ipod update is coming in september probably, whether it will be a touch screen like the iphone is debatable, but something is gonna change)

4. joe, it looks pretty good that an imac update is coming on the 6th or 7th, cross your fingers, it may be swell.

[Joe']

Yeah, I read about it on AppleInsider. It's likely they'll reveal it as soon as next Tuesday, and it seems they're going to reveal the 6G iPod too. Can't wait!

There are also some other rumors that state Apple will reveal a new, smaller (2 to 4GB) and cheaper (as cheap as $299) iPhone, although I'm not sure it's gonna be next Tuesday, it's more likely to happen in Q4, some time in October.

[magius]

scratch the ipod update, apparently theirs proof that it will be all mac, meaning that the chances of the imac being real nice are high.

[Joe']

All Mac? Wow, this has not happened years. Although it's not likely they call the media just for the new iMac, so I'm expecting something else too (Mac Mini? Macbook? Power Mac?).

[CERVANTES]

I think they'll show the new iMac and MacBooks. Maybe nothing more. Enough for me, afther the last WWDC.

[Joe']

The new iMac, ladies and gentleman:



They discontinued the 17" model, keeping the 20" and 24" models. Prices have been cut; The basic 20" model now starts at $1199 (the same model was $1499).

iLife and iWork also updated and shipping with the new iMacs!

[magius]

aren't you glad you waited?

the new keyboard is similar, if not the same, to the one posted.

looks like the iphone-ish style is their new identity.... or i guess mbp with black shiny.

[maceo24]

Dont like the look really, All white fit them well, this much black and white makes me think penguin.

Decent pricepoint though. What is the gpu included in the imac? I stay away from these types of machines (both PC and Mac) because of the power most of them are lacking.

[Jing]

My university bought like a couple hundred of the 24" ones I think just several months ago... I love them... but I still hate the Apple Mouse.

[cyanide]

Beat me to it, Joe! It's looking like what I expected it to look. It matches the entire Mac line.

Here's an image gallery if anyone's interested.

Dont like the look really, All white fit them well, this much black and white makes me think penguin.

It's actually silver

[Joe']

aren't you glad you waited?

You can't imagine!

the new keyboard is similar, if not the same, to the one posted.

The keyboard is the exact same as the one you posted, with the exception that, if I'm not wrong, the Apple Remote now goes into the keyboard.
I'm not sure about that though.

Dont like the look really, All white fit them well, this much black and white makes me think penguin.

I'm not a fan of all that black either but I love the new aluminum cases. I was hoping they looked more like their cinema displays or like the G4 lamp iMac though.
Either way I think they look better than the G5 iMacs.

What is the gpu included in the imac?

The GPU included with the base 20" model is the ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB VRAM. The other models come with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB VRAM.
I think you can upgrade the VRAM from 128MB to 256MB and from 256MB to 512MB though (it was possible with the previous iMac).

[maceo24]

I love the architecture of the new radeon cards but not having anything over 128 bit (save for the 2900) is kinda off. I thought the 2600xt should have a 256 bit interface.

Will they ever have one of these that can really kick some ass? performance wise these things are useless to enything but the casual user. Price is decent (for a mac) but isn't commiserate of of the performance you should get for that kind of money.

[cyanide]

Will they ever have one of these that can really kick some ass? performance wise these things are useless to enything but the casual user. Price is decent (for a mac) but isn't commiserate of of the performance you should get for that kind of money.

The iMac is marketed to the casual user. The Mac Pro is catered to industry professionals. Are you basing performance off the GPU?

[Joe']

Actually, the Mac Pro comes with the NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT (256MB VRAM) which is also 128-bits..

I don't see the reason behind the desperate need of a 256-bit GPU. It's not like you're gonna produce a Hollywood movie, or run games or AutoCAD 24/7 on the computer.

I think 128-bits is just fine. The max right now is 512-bit, I believe, and those are only used by real pros. So yeah, 128-bits is just fine.

[maceo24]

No not totally, but if they are using that gpu, it will probably mean the rest of the parts aren't that high end either. Not saying low quality, but we all know the performance of computer hardware differs greatly according to how much youve paid for it. I.E. - 2 sticks of corsair ddr2 800 ram, the value one with timings of 6-6-6-18 is cheaper than the XMS Dominator at 4-4-4-12. Anyone who has switched to higher quality ram can attest to the world of difference in performance.

I just don't understand why macs are so expensive, you can buy a similarly built "casual user" PC for 650-700 bucks. They basically use the same hardware now, why the premium? Where is the extra money going? It cant be advertising, two people in front of a white screen is as simple as it gets nowadays.

-edit- Joe, I understand your point about the 256 bit bus, but I also think that a jump from 128 to 512 is too much, its like Ferrari or Honda. A card with 256 bit (Audi, lol) would present a better, true midrange solution.

[Joe']

The "extra-money" goes to the software; While, PC's come with NO software at all (other than IE and WMP), Macs come with the iLife suite, iTunes, iChat, etc. Not to mention an OS that is IMO ten times better than Windoze.

[maceo24]

The "extra-money" goes to the software; While, PC's come with NO software at all (other than IE and WMP), Macs come with the iLife suite, iTunes, iChat, etc. Not to mention an OS that is IMO ten times better than Windoze.

But no true power button? Priorities, priorities...

And all those programs mac "includes" in there OS, a non retarded PC user would have them after 15 minutes of internet work, without paying a cent.

[cyanide]

No not totally, but if they are using that gpu, it will probably mean the rest of the parts aren't that high end either.

Not necessarily true. The highest CPU on a Mac Pro you can get right now is a dual 3GHz quad-core Xeon, and the RAM they use is a DDR2 667MHz ECC that can hold up to 16GB (has been tested and confirmed at 32 GB using 4 GB modules). Depending on what you configure it to be, it can be a very powerful computer. Sure, the low-end GPU isn't amazing, but then again, I don't really need a powerful GPU to do graphic design work. 3D animation and video, maybe.

[magius]

building a pc will always be cheaper than buying a product from ANY company. Period. If you compare an apple computer to another simularly spec'ed brand named pc the price differential is really not that vast. As well, pc's cannot run osx, which is a very big difference from my pov. Also, for the imac, you have to take into consideration the price of the screen as well. 256 mb would be useful for 3d rendering programs, etc. i think, as well as running off a bigger screen or three.

if you want to run some powerhouse pc and don't care about osx or design and just want power to play games or need to do really large rendering, etc., then by all means build your own pc. (though for things for actual work, I personally would still use a mac pro). Though, you can pretty much save money if you know how to build anything, not just computers, rather than buy it.