Apple eMac Desktop M8577LL/A (700-MHz PowerPC G4, 128 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive)

Average customer rating: 4.0

This computer is great
Get an iMac
Perfect First Computer
Nice machine, tough choice
Very good value

Apple eMac Desktop M8577LL/A (700-MHz PowerPC G4, 128 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive)

Manufacturer: Apple Computer
Product Group: Personal Computer
Binding: Personal Computers
ASIN: B0000695EQ

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Power Mac G4 Desktops

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Product Description

The eMac comes packed with features and attributes that could easily make the dean's list. Come to think of it, you might say it is the dean's list made manifest. It's true that the eMac's design aesthetics are distinctly Apple-like. But the inspiration for the eMac came from you. For example, you asked for a 17-inch screen - while making it clear that you didn't want to have to buy new desks to accommodate a physically bigger computer. By the same token, you liked the idea of having a supercomputer in the classroom. You wanted your students to have the benefit of a PowerPC G4 processor, but it had to be affordable. You also wished for a computer with a space-saving design - and you insisted on not having to go out and buy new peripherals for it. To this last point, the good news is that thanks to Mac OS X, the eMac works with most of your existing printers and scanners. You can also use your Mac OS 9 applications in Classic mode. Macintosh listened, paid attention, and learned. The eMac is the result. The company addressed the concerns of educators right down to the tiniest detail. Take the placement of the serial number and Ethernet ID, for example. It may not be a big deal in the corporate world or in homes, but inventory management is an issue in schools and colleges. So to help schools manage inventory, the serial number and Ethernet ID are conveniently located on the inside of the optical drive door. And, thanks to the all-in-one design, you have fewer asset management tags to keep track of.The device is configured with Mac OS X startup.

Customer Reviews:

This computer is great.......2003-07-21

I have had my unit for several months now with zero problems. I easily upgraded my memoty to 1gb and that was well worth it. I run photoshop and illustrator as well as indesign for school and have no problems with the machine operating this software. I also purchased a kodak digital camera which works great with i-photo. This was a very positive purchase as well as being my first mac and I will definatly purchase a mac again.

Get an iMac.......2002-12-22

My Uncle bought an eMac and it never works right. He puts a lot of software on it which is probably the problem. It also won't work with his MP3 player. I wouldn't work with the scanner he bought until he called tech support for an hour. I have a friend in my Mac club who took his eMac back and bought an iMac for similiar reasons. His iMac works great. This model may be cheap but you get what you pay for. Save yourself the trouble.

Perfect First Computer.......2002-12-07

My girlfriend purchased an eMac as her first computer and has had a great time learning on it. For the past 5 months it has been rock solid. It has a beautiful screen, much like the 17" monitor that goes with my G4 Cube. We have had no monitor problems like some have reported. DVD playback(if you have it) is very clear and you can rip a CD in about 5 minutes. Spring for the stand, a subwoofer, and more memory if you can. 100% Satisfied.

Nice machine, tough choice.......2002-12-06

I thought I was reasonably happy with my little iMac at work until I was given this machine as a replacement. It has quickly spoiled me, and now I'm wondering if I want to pick up another for home. The large, flat-screen picture is both imposing and impressive, yet the machine requires no more desk space than the original iMac. In fact, unless you put it side-by-side with the much hyped flat panel screen, there's slim chance you'll find anything wanting in the graphics. But Apple has lowered the price of their bottom-level flat-panel iMac to be directly competitive with this eMac, so what's a Mac person to do?

At this point I'm leaning toward the eMac, thinking the flat-panel iMac looks too much like a halogen lamp or potential "period piece." Moreover, I hate the thought of paying for two external little speakers that I'll never use. Finally, the eMac has a "sound-in" input that has been omitted from the new iMac. If you digitalize analog sources, that could be a factor in your decision.

If you're attacted to DVD burning and the "Superdrive" (which I'll admit I am), you still have a tough decision to make because the eMac with SuperDrive is really the same price as the iMac with Superdrive. In fact, you may have noticed that DVD burners are getting faster and cheaper. So why not go with the entry-level Power Mac (which many users insist is the only machine to consider if you're serious about computing speed and memory requirements) and supplement it later with an external DVD burner?

In any case, why make my problem yours (though it irritates me that manufacturers so insistently assume the consumer requires the "illlusion," at least, of so many basically insignificant choices--I chose Macs, which should be enough).

If you purchase this eMac, you'll find it works considerably faster if you install at least an additional 256 MB of Ram (which takes all of 30 seconds--don't be conned into paying an installation fee). Also, as pleasing as OSX/Jaguar is to look at, it's not always intuitive, and Apple doesn't provide much in the way of instructions. Even locating a saved document in Word is an adventure, which was not the case in 0S9.

Very good value.......2002-08-21

After looking at several Mac options (I've been a heavy Mac user more than 15 years, put up with Windows at work, and continue to marvel at how well Apple keeps plugging along), we chose the eMac. And we have no regrets.

At about sixty pounds the eMac is heavy. The fan can be a little noisy but only for perfectionists. Add some extra memory and airport card and you have a great value. I don't see this as anything but fast, but I've not run side-by-side comparisons. The screen is very large (40% more than my original iMac) and quite crisp. We added the eMac easily to our home wireless network.

The sexier, flat-screen iMac is much more expensive. Even the salesman who wanted me to buy up could not argue that I could get more value from the iMac, just pay about a lot more. We passed.

Jaguar was not available when we purchased the eMac in late July; we received and easily installed Jaguar as soon as it became available. We received a free printer (cartridges make these "free" printers pretty poor freebies). And we installed the OS X Office suite upgrade. Although some Mac games crashed on my kids on my original iMac without explanation, they work fine on the eMac. And our three-year old can manage to install, launch and play them.

This is an affordable, reliable, solid, easy-to-use, work horse machine for a family.

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