The Cynic Says……

So along with their new video ipod, apple has released new and updated versions of the iMac G5. For $1299, it’s quite the good deal if you ask me. Granted, Apple still sucks for gaming but if you’re using it as a home computer to watch movies, listen to music, chat online, browse the web, burn CD’s & DVD’s, it’s a really nice computer. Take a look at the specs:

• 17-inch widescreen LCD
• 1.9GHz PowerPC G5
• 512MB memory (533MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
• 160GB Serial ATA hard drive
• 8x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD+RW/CD-RW)
• Built-in iSight camera
• ATI Radeon X600 Pro with 128MB DDR SDRAM; PCI-Express
• Two FireWire 400 ports; three USB 2.0 ports, two USB 1.1 ports (on keyboard); VGA output; S-video and composite video output
• Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) ethernet
• Built-in 54 Mbps AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi (802.11g)
• built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) module
• Apple Remote, Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse
• Built-in stereo speakers, built-in microphone, headphone/optical digital audio output, audio line in

Basically it looks as though this sucker has nearly every form of connectivity imaginable. It also comes with a nice little remote to control your computer from a distance if you’re listening to music or watching movies. You can get it in a 17″ version (specs listed above @ $1299) or an upgraded 20″ model for $1699 that adds a bigger hard drive (250GB), faster CPU (2.1Ghz), better graphics (X600XT vs Pro) and of course the bigger and better screen. I must say I’m pretty impressed with the 17″ version, not so much the 20″ version as it’s a pretty big price jump. Apple is obviously trying to get into the lower-end market with the 17″, most likely due to constantly losing sales to Dell. Admittedly, a similarly configured Dell may be a bit cheaper but no way will it be better looking and pack quite as much stuff all in such a small, sleek package. Definitely a good choice if you’ve got the coin to drop. I’d buy one if I wasn’t such a PC geek and if I had $1500 (figuring tax and stuff) to blow. Anyway, here’s apple’s site with more info and a ton of pics.