Apple Products Reviews

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When the iPhone came out in June, many people (including me) loved it, but wanted it without the phone—and that pesky two-year contract with AT&T Wireless. I'm no Luddite, but I don't want my personal media player to ring in the middle of a song.
That said, the multitouch glass display was beautiful, Cover Flow was a great way to navigate tracks, and the Web browser was better than any other portable player's before it. Apple could have delivered a player with just these features and nothing more and I would have been thrilled. But it didn't. Instead, the company, in the new iPod touch, has added a Wi-Fi version of the iTunes Music Store so you can buy songs on the go—now, if you have Wi-Fi access, you can download tracks anywhere. Apple has also announced a partnership with Starbucks that enables iPhone and touch owners to purchase songs they hear in Starbucks stores via Wi-Fi. Okay, maybe I'm not in love with that last feature (I'm not a Starbucks addict). It would also be nice if the Wi-Fi store offered video purchases, too—it's currently music only. And, yes, the earbuds still suck. But those are my only complaints, and they are minor. The relatively hefty $300 and $400 price tags for 8GB and 16GB, respectively, don't bug me either. Why? This is probably the best portable media player ever made.

The touch is a thing of beauty. It's much skinnier than the iPhone (which, for those who haven't held one, is the same depth as the old 30GB iPod Video), and it's also a bit shorter and a hair wider, with dimensions of 4.3 by 2.4 by 0.3 inches. The touch weighs a manageable 4.2 ounces (compared with the iPhone's 4.8 ounces). Are you going to slip this thing into your pocket? Depends. Cargo pants? Sure. Skinny jeans? No. The 3.5-inch multitouch widescreen has a resolution of 480-by-320, with 163 pixels per inch—identical to the iPhone's. The only button on the device is the same button you'll find on the face of the iPhone. The touch's rear panel is shiny stainless steel like that of iPods past, not the brushed metallic look that iPhones have. In the upper left-hand corner of the rear panel, you'll find the black patch of plastic that houses the Wi-Fi antenna. The proprietary 30-pin iPod connection and headphone jack (which isn't recessed like the iPhone's) rest on the bottom panel, and the sleep switch rests on the top left edge of the player (when held vertically). There's no camera on the iPod touch, but that's doesn't detract much from it, since the iPhone's camera is more toy than tool. Like the iPhone, the touch has a built-in accelerometer to make possible all those view changes when the player is held horizontally.

Navigation of the music, video, and photo menus is identical on the touch and the iPhone. Similarly, the players load and sync with iTunes in much the same way. You can scroll down lists of artists, albums, and playlists when in vertical mode, or turn the player horizontally to view the excellent Cover Flow feature. For those who haven't seen it before (it's now part of iTunes and was featured on the iPhone), Cover Flow orders records alphabetically in a horizontal array, but visually, using album art. Drag your finger through the display to move the covers, as if thumbing through a virtual vinyl collection, and click on the central cover to flip the graphic over and reveal a track list. From here, you can simply click on a song and start playing. This is the coolest way to navigate a music menu I have ever seen—and it's much more effective here than it is on the new nano, which lacks the sexy multitouch screen and is less graceful in its movement of the album art. The Now Playing screen makes the album cover the main focus, filling most of the screen when vertical, and is identical to the same screen on the iPhone. When your iPod touch has finished syncing to your PC's library, you can just unplug it—none of the ejecting business that other iPods make you do (and that you inevitably forget to do once in awhile, prompting an ugly error screen on your computer).

Possibly the best new feature is a subtle one: the double click. Pressing the only tactile button on the player twice makes music controls appear over whatever screen mode you happen to be in—Safari, YouTube, or whatever. Even if the player is locked, double-clicking will bring up a set of music controls that features track information, play/pause, forward and backward within a playlist or album, a Music button to take you directly to the Now Playing screen, and a Close button to escape. This function works even if the screen has timed out and gone black, and it's a great quick way to skip that song you hate (or pump up the volume on the one you love).

File compatibility for the touch will not surprise those familiar with iPods. For music, MP3 files (all bit rates, including VBR) load and play, as do AAC (both Apple's DRM tracks or iTunes Plus, obviously), Apple Lossless, Audible, AIFF, and WAV files. Video support is limited to H.264 and MPEG-4; photo support is for JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIF, PSD (for Macs only), and PNG. All songs, videos, contacts, photos (which are pulled from iPhoto via iTunes), podcasts are loaded via iTunes when the player is synced.

The audio performance of the touch is excellent, as long as you chuck those lame earbuds and get a real pair—try Shure's SE210 earphones if you want to actually hear the low end and would like the earphones to stay in place. One complaint I've always had about iPods is the lack of user-programmable EQ. Apple allows you to change EQ settings only in iTunes, and then the settings, for each song, will carry over onto the player. That's a solution for folks who really want to micromanage, but most people would be happy with a standard adjustable EQ, such as the Sony Walkman, Samsung, and Sansa players all have. You might get lucky with some of the standard EQ presets, such as Dance or Jazz, but I suggest just leaving the EQ off and finding the right pair of earphones.—next: Wireless iTunes.

By Michael Kobrin

Once again, Apple has come up with a design that turns heads. Enter the iPod nano. But this was a relatively easy one for the designers, if not the engineers: They took the full-size iPod and made it really, really slim. We measured it at just 80 cents thick—that's 3 quarters and a nickel, or 0.27 inches for you traditionalists—by 5 dimes long (3.5 inches) by 2 pennies wide (1.6 inches). According to Apple, that's 62 percent smaller than the now-discontinued iPod mini the nano is replacing. It weighs just 1.5 ounces, and it really does fit in the smaller front pocket of your blue jeans without the slightest bulge. A few things changed—some compromises in the name of miniaturization and some actual improvements—but the end result is a spectacular product. Sure, it doesn't have an FM tuner or voice recording, but it does have an unsurpassed interface, a color screen, excellent sound quality, and an undeniable cool factor. Plus, it's flash-based, so you don't have to worry about skipping or dead hard drives.

We received the black model for testing, but we were slightly disappointed to find that the included stock Apple earbuds have retained their distinctive "mug-me" white. A nice touch is that the icon that showed up on our desktop was black. The iPod nano doesn't support syncing via FireWire; instead, a message comes up telling you to please use the included USB cable. It still charges via FireWire, though. Upon first connection, our 4GB model had 3.7GB available for storage, with the remaining space being used for system files. It took us only 1 minute 6 seconds to transfer 512MB of MP3 files via USB 2.0.

One of the biggest additions for Microsoft Windows users is that the iPod nano syncs with Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express contacts and calendars (in addition to those from iCal, of course). We had absolutely no trouble doing so, and contacts are sortable by first or last name. Games include the same old Brick, Music Quiz, Parachute, and Solitaire. The stopwatch, however, is a very cool new feature, especially considering that the nano is ultratiny and flash-based—ideal for working out. It can record lap times as well, and then saves them along with a date and time stamp. When you go back and view your recorded times, it also shows you your shortest, longest, and average lap in addition to your total time and individual lap times. The iPod nano also boasts a world clock which displays the time in analog or digital. Another handy feature is being able to adjust the audiobook reading speed.

Apple added a security measure called Screen Lock, which is a graphical combination lock for which you create a 4-digit code. The click wheel provides just the right amount of sensitivity so you don't scroll through the numbers too fast. After you set the lock, you can still use the Play/Pause button but nothing else. Your code pops up on the screen each time you choose Turn Screen Lock On from the menu as a reminder; this is handy but doesn't provide particularly robust security.

Subjective sound quality is nearly identical to that of the final-generation iPod mini, which is to say, excellent. Music is clear, with very solid bass and crisp highs. The stock Apple earbuds perform adequately, though the player can definitely handle high-end headphones with aplomb (the plug of our Etymotic ER4P canalphones, however, is actually slightly wider than the player itself!). There are 22 preset listening modes, so we think most users won't miss a customizable equalizer. The bass booster provides enough extra depth for thundering bass such as that found in some electronic music, though we heard significant harmonic distortion on the low end that noticeably altered the music. But the sound is plenty good enough with the EQ off.

On our formal tests, the iPod nano actually outperformed the 6GB iPod mini, with a slightly cleaner signal and better response in the lowest octave than its predecessor. Our square-wave test also showed that the output stage is significantly stronger than the mini's when loaded with Apple's stock earbuds but not as strong as that of the iPod shuffle, which has a different type of output. Apple rates the battery life at 14 hours of continuous audio playback, and it can fast-charge to 80 percent in 1.5 hours.

Photos sync easily and quickly via iTunes; just select the iPod tab in Preferences, and then choose Photos. The 176-by-132-pixel 1.5-inch screen is about 0.2 inches smaller than the iPod mini's, but it gains color; photos look sharp and vivid, though we're still wishing for pan and zoom capabilities. Format support is still admirably broad, encompassing JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only), and PNG. It can do slide shows with music, customizable slide times, and several different transitions.

Naturally, there are already a few accessories for the nano, including lanyard headphones (yes, it's wearable, via the headphone jack on the bottom of the device), a nano Dock, nano armbands, and nano Tubes (silicone cases). The cases are a good idea, as we've already covered our shiny new nano in fingerprints. And we're sure third parties will begin shipping other add-ons soon. Thankfully, the nano retains other iPod models' standard 30-pin dock connector, so it'll work with many existing accessories. It also ships with a plastic insert so you can use the nano with your existing iPod docks. Apple did not include any voice-recording features, however, so you won't be able to plug in third-party microphones. Nor will you be able to use add-ons that use the other iPods' 4-pin remote control connector, which is missing on the nano. (That means no remote, either.)

At $199 for the 2GB version and $249 for the 4GB version (both available in black or white), we feel that Apple has made an incredibly satisfying product. We were so impressed that we're awarding it our Editors' Choice award. Sure you can get a 20GB full-size iPod for $299, but the benefits of an extremely small size and no moving internal parts easily justify the price.

Review provided by http://www.pcmag.com

By Clint Ecker

The new iPod was announced by Steve Jobs last week at a highly anticipated "special event" in San Jose, California. In the days leading up to the announcement, a number of rumors had circulated about the possibility of iPods with video capabilities being announced as well as some sort of accompanying video store to feed the new devices. Others speculated that a whole other range of devices were in the pipeline, from new G5 desktops to speed bumped PowerBooks. What we got on the 12th was an updated iMac, the aforementioned video iPod, and a video store to accompany the world's most popular online music outlet.

The introduction of this video iPod resulted in a few changes in Apple's offerings as well. Out is the iPod photo and the U2 iPod (which was really just a black and red iPod photo). Apple has effectively reigned in their product lineup right before Christmas, possibly hoping to entice customers with a simple, easy to understand selection with clearly defined price point and feature delineation.

Now we're looking at the low-end Shuffle for true minimalists, the iPod nano for low storage but some of the premium features (photos, color LCD) and the iPod (large storage space, photos, videos).

A lot of questions were raised by the tech crowd about the new iPod: what types of video would it play? What happened to the iPod photo? Why release a new iPod so soon after the nano? What's the battery life? What does the video output look like on a TV? Are TV shows really watchable on such a tiny screen? Does it scratch as easily as the iPod nano? Those were just a few of the questions I was barraged with when I told people I had gotten my hands on the new iPod, and were more than enough to warrant a discussion on the topic.

I hope to answer as many questions as possible in this article. I'm first going to explain just what exactly is different between these new fifth-generation iPods and their predecessors and then move into how the device performs at its new task, playing video content.

Review provided by http://www.pcmag.com

I just spent a few days with the Apple iPod Shuffle and this came within a few weeks of receiving the Creative Labs MuVo N200. As I mentioned in another epinion, the N200 is a very good MP3 player. I am a big fan and think that very few people will be disappointed in the performance that they get from the N200. The thing is, Apple may have gone and one upped them once again.

The one huge advantage that the N200 had over the iPod was the size. The N200 is much smaller. Alas, along comes Apple with the Shuffle and suddenly that one advantage is gone. Suddenly the Shuffle is about the same size as the N200. At any rate, the two MP3 players are a little different for reasons other than the size, as I will get into in a moment.

THE SPECIFICS:

* $99.00
* Size 3.3" x .98 x .33
* .78 ounces weight
* 1GB storage
* Up to 12 hours battery life
* Four hours to charge
* USB Connection 1.1 and 2.0
* Package includes: iTunes software, earbuds, lanyards,
USB cap

WHAT I LIKE:

1. As I mentioned with the N200, I like the small size. The Shuffle is about the same size as the N200 and that is a good thing. Anything smaller and you will find it difficult to find the thing when you put it down. Both are about the size of a stick of gum. I find this is the perfect size to use when working out or wandering around. It is small enough that it will not get in the way, yet large enough that you can operate it.

2. The performance is quite good. The sound is crystal clear and has a skip free playback mechanism that assures you will hear your tunes the way you want to. I think the Shuffle has a little better sound than the N200, but the difference is so little that I would not really even mention it.

3. I find the Shuffle to be easy to use, but also a little different to use. The controls are thoughtfully placed and easy to use as there are not many to concern yourself with. They are big enough that you can use them without a struggle and that is always a plus. Virtually everything that you do is done via a small circular button or wheel. From it, you can control pause, play, skip, repeat, or hold. It could not be any easier.

The one thing that is different and a little of a negative is that the Shuffle does not have a screen. Not a huge negative, as I usually know who sings what if I downloaded the tune, but at the same time. The N200 does have a small LCD screen.

4. The autofill function is the real deal. The autofill function allows you to tailor playlists to your activity. For instance, if you are jogging you may want something that is upbeat in order to keep up with your pace. You can simply autofill a playlist that you have previously set up and you will hear nothing but upbeat tunes. If you are trying to fall asleep, you can do the same with elevator tunes. You can also set up the autofill to be random or have the tunes played in a prearranged order. I like this function a lot and the N200 does not offer it.

5. The iPod, in general, is a fashion statement. I am not sure how or why it happened, but there is a certain style that is associated with the iPod that does not come with the competition. I do not know if it is the cool colors, the earbuds, or the lanyard (The thing you wear around your neck like a lifeguard whistle.), but the iPod is very cool right now.

6. The memory is more than enough than I will ever need. Like I mentioned with the N200, I do not need enough memory to store a lifetime of tunes. I simply need enough to have my favorite 50 or so tunes available. The Shuffle provides you with enough memory for 240 tunes. More than enough for most people.

7. Downloading all those songs could not be any easier. You simply plug the Shuffle into one of your USB ports and you are on your way. You can drop and drag your favorite songs. You can also autofill your playlists. I find this to be very easy to use and when you consider the songs on the iTunes web site, you have an even bigger psositive. The web site is very easy to use and navigate and contains virtually every song you could ever want to hear. A big plus for any iPod fan.

8. The cost is palatable. I know that many people saw the price of the initial iPod and were not real big fans. They did not see the need to pay somewhere north of $200 for a glorified Sony Walkman. Well, we found out that the iPod's are much more than glorified Walkman's and they also now have a price that is about the same as some of the competition. The N200 runs just under $100. So does the Shuffle. Apple has managed to remove one of the main objections to purchasing an iPod.


WHAT I DO NOT LIKE:

1. The battery provides just 12 hours of usage. Actually, that is the maximum you will get. The N200 provides three more hours. Hmmm, I am not sure why the Shuffle got the short end of the battery stick, but it did and by a pretty significant margin. The Shuffle can be 80% charged in two hours, but if you want the full charge you will need four hours. I am amazed that some electronics manufacturer has not managed to come up with a small, lightweight battery that can last for much longer time periods.

2. I am not a fan of the earbuds. The "buds" may be the cool thing and provide better sound, but I am just not a fan. I do not like things sticking in my ears. I prefer the earphones that I grew up a decade ago. Fortunately, Apple does provide them as an alternative option.

3. The Shuffle idea is very overrated. The thought is that everytime you "boot up" your Shuffle, the tunes that are on your playlist can be "shuffled" to appear in a different play order. Ok, who cares? If I have 50 songs on a playlist, there are probably 25 that I very much favor. Those are also likely to be the ones that I want to hear and know where they are. Hence, for my needs, the "shuffle" has little use.

4. There is no screen. While not a big negative, I am accustomed to having something to view. I mean ever since I was born there was at least a bandwidth indicator on a Walkman or an LCD screen over the past few years. This is more odd than anything else.


THE BOTTOM LINE:

I am a big fan of the Shuffle and feel that it I am fortunate to be able to compare two MP3 players that I have gotten in such close proximity to one another. I would place the two in the same space as far as I my rankings. In other words, I like them both. They each have their plusses and minuses, but they both come out looking good.

I like the style of the Shuffle more and the Shuffle is probably a little easier to use. The Shuffle provides the iTunes software and this is a big deal. The web site is a great site. The N200 has a little more flexibility and that is a big plus. You can record memos with the N200, for instance. They both have more than adequate memory for my needs, great sound, and are small in size.

Yes, they are both very good, but I would probably go with the Shuffle for the simple reason that the iTunes site is so good. I also like how easy it is to get your playlists together and the ability to match the list up with your activity.

The bottom line is that they are both very good MP3 players, but the Apple has "it" right now.

Review provided by http://www.epinions.com

Background
I did a lot of research on www.apple.com (among other places) before buying my my first new Mac, an iMac, from one of the online mega-resellers (MacMall, I believ). I did so for the purpose of saving a few bucks by getting 512MB of extra RAM, some other freebies, and no sales tax. That experience went OK, but the salesguy was high-pressure and, the more reviews on MacMall and similar dealers I read, the less comfortable I feel.

So now, I was in the market for a laptop. After looking around a lot, I decided on an iBook G4 12.1" (review will come later, once I have some time to gain experience). This is my first personal laptop (though I've had several models owned by my office), and knowing that they're more prone to problems than desktops, I wanted to make sure that support would be a given, not an unknown. So I decided to buy from the source and go with Apple.com, squandering a few extra bucks for the peace of mind. So far, a wise decision, I think.

Selection
Obviously, anything Apple makes, you can buy at the Apple Store. A bonus is that you can get custom configurations without any hassle. In this case, I wanted a bigger hard drive installed. No problem, just added it in the configuration page. More memory - not a problem. Accessories - they're there as well.

Price
Here's where I thought I'd be taking a hit. The base iBook at the time I was shopping went for $1099 from Apple. For $1094, MacMall was offering it with some extras:
- "free" 384MB extra RAM (they take the second 128MB unit out and replace it with a 512MB unit - charge you $140 for the swap and rebate $100 back, the remaining $40 serving as an "installation" charge - pretty steep for 5 minutes of work max).
- "free" carrying case ($30 minus a $30 rebate) - but not a very good one, and a bit large for a 12" iBook. I was planning to buy a new one anyhow.
- Other "free" or "rebate" deals I wasn't going to take anyhow.
- No sales tax to TX.

But, if you're affiliated with a school (I am taking courses on the side), you may be eligible to shop in the "Education" store on Apple. Checking there, I found the same iBook for $999. Even though Apple charged me 7.25% TX state tax, the total price ended up under MacMall's offerings. Plus, I was able to put in a 40MB hard drive for a mere $22 extra.

The upgrade to 640MB total RAM runs $135, but for $99 you can find a brand name 512MB unit online and sell your 128MB for a few bucks on half.com.

Special offers
Check out the "Special Offers" section on the store webpage (lower left side). There, I was able to get a refurbished (with full new warranty) AirPort Extreme wireless module for $72! Lots of other good stuff there including discontinued and refurbished laptops, deskstops, and accessories.

Shipping
Shipping by FedEx ground currently is free for anything over $50 at the apple store. iBooks are made in Taiwan, so they go FedEx air (also free). Mine was shipped on a Tuesday night and arrived Friday morning.

Pre-order Customer Service
I was very impressed by the knowledge and courtesy of the Apple phone sales department. They answered my questions quickly and thoroughly, without any hint of "hard sell" like MacMall. Once your'e ready to buy, you can do so over the phone or via their secure website.

Post-order Customer Service
Something I thought that was really nice (and really easy to do - wish more stores did it) was that, in addition to the ability to track my shipments online, I received lots of e-mail info on the order as it progressed:
- Initial e-mail with estimate of shipping dates.
- Notices when each portion of the order shipped (no extra charge for shipping as soon as each item is available).
- Notices of when my account was billed (they bill separately for each portion of the order, after it is shipped)
- A note of apology, believe it or not, when one item (OS X) shipped a day later than expected. The note included an offer to cancel the shipment if the lateness would cause problems. By the way, even though it shipped late, it arrived before it was promised.

Delivery speed
Everything shipped on or before the estimated shipping date (except OS X software as noted above), and everything including the late shipment, arrived before the promised delivery time. I made my order on a Friday. I had all the accessories by that Thursday. My custom configured iBook shipped the following Tuesday and arrived Friday. Not bad at all.

Overall Satisfaction
So far, I'm pleased as punch with the Apple store, and will do business with them again. The prices are nearly the same as the "discount" mega-resellers, and I have more confidence in the follow-on care. I plan to update this as I have more opportunities to interact with them.

Review provided by http://www.arstechnica.com

Review provided by http://www.epinions.com

By Eric Bangeman

Introduction

In early June, Apple finally announced the long-awaited upgrade to its PowerMac G5 line. The original lineup, announced in July 2003, consisted of single-CPU 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz models, and a dual 2.0GHz model. During the keynote address in which he unveiled the original PowerMacintosh G5, Apple CEO Steve Jobs made the now-infamous promise that they would be shipping a tower with a 3.0GHz PowerPC 970 CPU by the end of the following summer. As the winter of 2003 ended, Mac users who were reluctant to buy Rev. A products from Apple or wanted a 3.0GHz machine were wondering where the new towers were.

At the same time IBM, manufacturer of the PowerPC 970 which powered the G5, was making the transition from a 130nm CPU fabrication process to 90nm. As has been well documented, the transition to 90nm was a lot more difficult than IBM (or Intel) anticipated. As a result, the debut of the Rev. B Power Mac G5s was delayed... and delayed... and delayed. Finally, on June 9 — just two weeks shy of an entire year since the launch of the Power Mac G5 — Apple announced a new lineup of G5s. The few who were still expecting 3.0GHz machines were disappointed, as the refreshed line topped out at 2.5GHz.

Product: PowerMacintosh G5 Dual 2.5GHz (product page)
Manufacturer: Apple Computer (site)
Price as configured: US$3,428 — Shop for this computer
Processor: 2 x PowerPC 970FX @ 2.5GHz
Video: ATI Radeon 9800XT w/256MB DDR
Operating system: Mac OS X 10.3.5

While they were announced on June 9, 2004, the first Dual 2.5GHz did not ship until July 30. Supplies on these remain tight as of this review, due to poor yields of the 2.5GHz CPUs at IBM.

Configuration

Apple splits their products into three buckets: Good, Better, and Best. Within those three categories, the machines can be custom configured to some extent. Buyers can choose to upgrade (or even downgrade in some cases) the hard drive, optical drive, built-in RAM, video card, and add various networking options such as AirPort Extreme (802.11g) and Bluetooth.

With the latest revision of the G5, Apple has gone to an all dual-CPU line-up. The "Good" machine has dual 1.8GHz PowerPC 970FX CPUs, an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra video card, and three 33MHz PCI slots. The "Better" tower sports two 2.0GHz CPUs, the same video card, and three PCI-X slots. The "Best" configuration comes with an ATI Radeon 9600XT and three PCI-X slots.

The review machine was configured as follows:

Dual 2.5GHz PowerPC 970FX
512K L2 cache per CPU
1.25GHz frontside bus
512MB PC3200 DDR RAM (supports up to 8GB in 8 memory slots)
160GB 7200rpm SATA hard drive (supports up to two SATA hard drives)
8x DVD-RW/CD-RW optical drive (one optical drive bay)
PCI slots: 3 full-length PCI-X slots. One 133MHz, 64-bit slot and two 100MHz, 32-bit slots
AGP graphics: 8x AGP slot with ATI Radeon 9800XT with 256MB DDR
Built-in 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet
Built-in 56K V.92 modem
AirPort Extreme card
Bluetooth card
Audio: optical digital audio input, optical digital audio output, analog audio input, analog audio output, front headphone minijack and speaker

The Revision B Power Mac G5 is laid out similarly to the first revision. The primary difference is the processor speed (duh) and the liquid cooling system which keeps the CPUs running at a cool (!) 75-80°C under normal usage (more on the cooling system later).

Review provided by http://www.arstechnica.com

By Troy Dreier

Design

To tell the truth, we're not sure why the iMac needed this redesign. The move from the first-generation iMac to the second made sense because the machine became more compact and, with its swiveling screen, more versatile. But this iMac is actually less flexible than the last, since the screen can swivel only up and down (from -5 degrees to 25 degrees). Sure, you can move the whole machine for side to side, but that's not very elegant. Still, the iMac G5 is slimmer and lighter than its desk-lamp predecessor.

The guts of the computer are hidden behind the 17-inch wide-screen display, so the body of the iMac is only 2 inches thick--amazingly slender for a desktop computer. And the 17-inch model is 5 pounds lighter than the last-generation 17-inch iMac. It rests on a gently curving aluminum stand, and the ports--three USB 2.0 and two FireWire 400, as well as audio line-in, optical audio out, and video out--line up on the back of the iMac, along with the power button.

With no buttons or ports on the front of the iMac, the machine has a lovely uninterrupted appearance, which should come as no surprise since Apple's iPod design team had a hand in creating the iMac G5. (In contrast to ads we've seen, an Apple product specialist told us that the similarities are only a coincidence and that there was no effort to mimic the iPod's appeal.) Unlike the iPod, however, the iMac G5 sacrifices functionality for beauty--it's a pain to keep reaching around to plug things in. And if you opt for the iMac G5 VESA wall mount, which the Apple Store states will go on sale later this month, getting to the back-panel ports and the power button becomes an even trickier chore.

The case is easy to take apart, but there isn't much to upgrade once you've done so. To open it, lay the iMac on its front, and loosen the three Philips-head screws that hold the back on (these are captive screws, which means you can't lose them). With the iMac's back off, you can install an AirPort Extreme card or add more RAM into the lone free slot, but that's it. This is nothing new; iMacs and other all-in-one computers have always had limited upgradability.

The interior is a model of efficient design, with no cables to tangle--not even a power brick. The fans that cool the iMac are so quiet, you'll need to hold your ear to the machine to hear it working

Features

The new Apple iMac G5 comes in three models (we tested the middle one), selling for $1,899, $1,499, and $1,299. The top model has a 20-inch wide-screen display, while the others are 17-inchers. Beyond a larger display, the extra $400 for the top model gets you only a 160GB hard drive; the other two have 80GB drives. The top two models have SuperDrives (DVD-R/CD-RW), while the bottom iMac G5 includes a combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW). If you are completely sold on any of the three preconfigured models, Apple gives you a handful of options to customize your iMac online.

As its name implies, the iMac G5 gets the PowerPC G5 chip with this release, which means faster processing that will be more noticeable for people running video or photo-editing apps or processor-intensive games. The top two iMacs have 1.8GHz processors, and the bottom runs at 1.6GHz. We had no complaints in our real-world testing, where the iMac was perfectly fast and able to run several apps at once. (Go here to see how the iMac G5 performed on our benchmarks, including our new Photoshop test.) Our iMac came with 512MB of RAM, which is a built-to-order option.

Apple has a history of providing too little RAM, and that's certainly true here, where the standard allotment for all three models is only 256MB. If Apple intends for the Mac to be the hub of your digital home, it should do better than that. We suggest you make the $75 upgrade for a total of 512MB of memory.

The iMac G5 includes built-in speakers and a microphone on the bottom of the screen. A nice surprise: the speakers produced clear audio, even at high volumes. We're accustomed to the included speakers on Macs being weak and tinny, but for a change, we got a pleasant sound from them. Audiophiles will still want external speakers; the integrated speakers are light on bass.

The iMac doesn't come with Wi-Fi (AirPort) or Bluetooth built in, but they're available as extras when ordering. Our system arrived with both. The AirPort card lets you connect to 802.11b or 802.11g wireless networks, and the Bluetooth option included both a wireless keyboard and mouse. Unfortunately, the wireless versions are identical (minus the cords, of course) to the standard lightweight keyboard and the ridiculous one-button mouse that accompany Macs.

The iMac comes with a nice bundle of software, one that we prefer to the PowerMac G5's because it has a few games. You'll get OS X 10.3; iLife, with iMovie, iTunes, iDVD, iPhoto, and GarageBand; AppleWorks; iChat AV; Quicken 2004; World Book 2004 (be sure to try the nifty World Book screensaver); and the games Marble Blast Gold and Nanosaur 2. We like that migration software is now included, helping you transfer files and settings from an older Mac

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