Wow... It’s expensive.

The Apple iMac has always been Apple’s less expensive, fully configured and ready-to-go complete computer system since the original iMac’s, which, according to Apple’s own advertising, “Came in colors.”

Well, the colors are gone, but the iMac lives on.

…How does this Mac differ from any other Mac?
This is a tough question. The iMac is Apple’s “general purpose” Mac computer. The iMac was supposed to be as simple as possible for computing novices, as stylish as possible for people who associate “Apple” with “hip”, as well as powerful enough for media pro’s, enthusiasts, and video gamers alike.

The iMac does all of these tasks with grace, finesse, and at a price which is… well… we can address that later.

How it looks
The iMac G5 looks sharp, even when the screen is off. This iMac continues the trend of a “computer in a box” meaning that the entire computer, and all its critical hardware (except the mouse and keyboard) are in one single unit. There is no “separate monitor” to be purchased, hooked up, lost or dropped.

New to the iMac however, is the 17” digital widescreen display that makes up the iMac’s display. This is one spectacular and sharp display that a graphics professional or enthusiast would find very attractive, though the display is by far visibly superior even for people not working with a bunch of multimedia programs.

The display isn’t just big and clear; it also supports very high resolution, which technically results from the display being so big and clear, but doesn’t hurt people interested in working with photos or video. Apple’s software make working with “the visual” as in pictures, digital video, etc. really shine when looking at your work through this spectacular screen.

Part of the experience of a crystal clear display is aided by the onboard video card. Although discussing hardware specs on something like a Mac is pointless, the integrated ATI Radeon is no slouch despite being integrated. Onboard this unit is one of ATI’s highest quality 3D accelerator video cards.

Though gaming on a Mac leaves a lot to be desired, at least the hardware support is there.

How it sounds
The iMac sounds as terrific as it looks. The iMac G5 has built in combination headphone and fiber-optic audio output, as well as a set of built in stereo speakers.

Unlike the speakers in other Mac’s, the iMac G5’s speakers really roar with clarity and depth. Because the speakers are built into the chassis (along with the monitor your supposed to be looking at,) there’s no need to buy separate speakers, or worry about “aiming them right” at your head.

However, the built-in speakers, although technically amplified, are not as powerful as external amplified speakers. People who want to take the paint off the walls with their music will find they might prefer a nice set of pure digital, amplified speakers would set the neighbors on fire with music.

Like all Mac’s on the market, this computer comes out of the box with Apple’s iTunes software to help you play, manage and (legally) expand your digital music collection.

How it works
The iMac G5 comes out of the box with Apple’s “high end” CPU, the IBM Power PC “G5”. There is really no comparison with the more popular “Intel” line of CPU’s when it comes to comparing a Mac to a Windows PC, so comparing specifications is kind of irrelevant.

Suffice to say; the G5 works over virtually any computing task with ease. A person can very easily surf the web, create a video DVD, chat with friends, and listen to music simultaneously and without noticeable performance decreases.

The G5 is a 64-bit Power PC chip, which means essentially nothing since most Macintosh software never really utilized this feature. Just a technical note.

Mac programs thrive off a lot of physical RAM being installed, which is can be a kind of a problem considering the default model of iMac comes with only 512MB of RAM. Although Apple will gladly retail a unit with upgraded RAM, they will also gladly charge you for this extra.

The unit really works best with a Gigabyte of RAM, 2.5 are technically supported, and more is always better, but 512 works for the most mediocre of tasks. With 512MB of RAM, expect to be able to do one task very well, and the more tasks you ask your computer to do at once, the slower things will begin to get.

Standard on iMac’s now is the Apple SuperDrive; DVD burner. Apple recently changed their SuperDrive’s to support DVD+R and DVD+RW discs as well as the older DVD-R and DVD-RW’s, due to heavy criticism, now making the Apple SuperDrive a downright fantastic DVD burner. It’s an 8x DVD burner with CD burning ability. The iMac comes with Apple’s iLife suite of software, which includes iDVD to make video DVD’s, iTunes which makes audio CD’s, and Mac OS 10.4 which supports slightly more intuitive data disc creation, which gives you all the tools you’ll need to start making your own DVD’s and CD’s.

The new iMac comes with two features I’ll detail later, one is the iSight digital camera built into the front of the computer, the other is a little infrared remote control allowing you to control your iMac like a multimedia player.

The iMac comes with a very nice 160GB S-ATA (Serial ATA) hard drive. This new type of hard disk drive is one of the fastest commercially available, this makes working with videos and multitasking a cleaner and faster experience, and the sheer size of the disk makes storing lots of videos, pictures and music a non-issue; there’s plenty of space.

Until you run out, but then hey, nothing lasts forever.

To get on the Internet, you have two choices on the iMac. Use a wirelesss network (because the computer has a built in wireless adaptor,) or use the built in Ethernet socket. Both of these present on a desktop computer are somewhat unique, and a tad redundant (more on that later.)

Totally ubiquitous on Mac’s, and every other modern computer are USB 2 ports, and Firewire ports. The iMac has two Firewire ports, and three USB2 ports built into the screen/computer.

Although the iMac features a built in monitor, you can also add your own monitor to the mix, because the iMac features a VGA out so you can hook up your own monitor to the iMac. For those times when 17” is just too small, or… something.


Brilliant…Exorbitance?
The iMac is a powerful machine all right, but it also features a bunch of technologies most people wouldn’t care about in a million years.

First of all, the remote is a toy. It’s nice you can control movies and such with your remote on your computer like the thing was a real household appliance, but the 17” screen being clear is not an excuse to set it on a TV stand and watch it in your living room. You will be sitting right in front of the thing whenever you use it, so having a remote to control it is kind of redundant.

The G5 CPU is Apple’s fastest CPU, but it’s nicest feature, being a 64-bit CPU, is totally useless to most home users. Although some programs can make use of the 64-bit CPU, most consumer software doesn’t, and if you just want to surf the internet, occasionally work with digital pictures, and maybe an office or “productivity” program once in awhile, this is a costly extra you can’t just “not get”.

The iMac features, of the box, wireless technologies traditionally reserved for laptops, the Apple AirPort wireless adaptor. This device is built into the computer, and gives the iMac the ability to use 802.11G wireless Ethernet, as well as a Bluetooth wireless adaptor allowing your iMac to use Bluetooth hardware devices, as well as serve as a Bluetooth file storage device.

It makes getting on the Internet a bit easier, if you already have wireless in your household, otherwise, it’s totally useless too, and if you don’t know what Bluetooth is, you’re not alone, and realistically; you never really need to know. It’s another interesting feature you probably have no use for.

The built in Ethernet adaptor has to be, by far, the most exorbitant waste in a computer. It’s a Gigabit Ethernet adaptor, providing users with 1,000 megabits per second of data transmission through the Ethernet port.

The Internet can’t work that fast.

So the only thing that can are other computers on your local area network. If you have no idea what that means, then the Gigabit Ethernet adaptor is another extra that drives up the price of the computer. However, computer enthusiasts with a high speed LAN at home will find a workstation with a gigabit adaptor to be a nice addition.

Pricey
The iMac G5 is a great all around computer, and features everything, and I do mean everything you need to get great enjoyment out of the thing. However, the computer, which is apple’s “mid range”, that is to say; not cheapest, nor most expensive unit, comes in at a whopping $1,299.

Dell’s “midrange” isn’t quite as expensive. For what this is worth however, I’ve found Apple’s AppleCare to be considerably better than Dell’s.

Except they don’t cover that glorious LCD screen. If it breaks; you will cry.

Summary
People who want a Mac that doesn’t drag, but isn’t a professional workstation will probably want the iMac G5. It’s loaded with cute features, it’s fast, and it’s Mac easy to use, even if it is pricier than a Windows PC with similar features.

Although it features the best and latest hardware built right in, it’s completely non-expandable except for the RAM. The “all-in-one” design means that if you want a new video card, new CPU, or a better monitor, these all are quite permanently built in.

Hardware aside, the computer is still a Mac. It has limited software availability that includes games, productivity software and support for certain hardware peripherals. Being a PPC based Mac; this might also hinder what software you can use in the future.

But I tell ya; it still is one hell of a computer.