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iMac vs. The World: Round 1

By Nick, February 14, 2006

We’ve all heard how Macs are supposedly so much more expensive than PCs, but now that Apple is going Intel, is this still the truth? Some may ask if this was ever even true in the first place. Now that the playing field has been leveled some, we’ll be able to get a better idea of where Apple stands in terms of price.

This is the first of a “whenever I damn well feel like it” series comparing the price and specifications of the iMac to various Windows PC counterparts, mostly to satisfy my own curiosity and maybe crush some myths. This comparison does not take into account more subjective factors such as design. Also, this comparison only take into account initial cost of purchase, not total cost of ownership.

For this comparison, I took a 17” Gateway Profile 5.5C and a 17” iMac Core Duo. I went with the stock iMac and a customized Profile, since the base Profile was rather stripped down. The results were somewhat surprising.

[scroll down; sorry for the layout b0rkedness] [Layout fixed by Arden]

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Gateway Profile 5.5iMac Core Duo 17”
3.2 GHz Pentium 4 640 with Hyperthreading1.83 GHz Core Duo (dual core)
160 GB 7200 RPM SATA hard drive160 GB 7200 RPM SATA hard drive
512 MB DDR SDRAM512 MB DDR2 SDRAM
17” LCD display, 1280x1024 resolution17” LCD display, 1440x900 resolution
DVD+/-RW CD-RW driveDual-layer DVD+/-RW CD-RW drive
Integrated Intel Graphics 900, up to 128 MB Shared VRAMATI Radeon X1600, 128 MB GDDR3 VRAM
gigabit ethernet, no modem, no 802.11 a/b/g, no Bluetoothgigabit


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Apple hasn’t impressed me lately

By moreApple, February 9, 2006

I have a new iMac Core Duo, two iPods (one a shuffle), lots of free time to play with new toys, and yet I don’t want to.  In fact, I just want to get Sogudi and some other programs working and for the iPod to start having better playlist creation tools, like Party Shuffle and resume from what iTunes was playing. 

Lately, I’ve cared more about finding the coolest beer and a girlfriend than how much RAM I have (512) even though I can buy a bigger stick (I wish I could do that...in bed---an upgrade is an upgrade). 

Lately, I’ve been less and less interested in reading on the computer because my school wants me to read as a full-time job.

Lately, I’ve not found anything new but I’ve still taken advantage of the amazing show Front Row puts on even though it is laggy otherwise.  Nothing new doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with what is (except Rosetta’s sluggishness sad ).

As of late, things have been more about finding a compelling reason to do anything I don’t agree with.  It’s always hard to do what you think is not ideal.  I search and search within myself and hundreds of people I talk to for the reason why I’m here, in Stony Brook, yet my heart is elsewhere but in the end it’s simple.

When you have to think too hard you’re just doing that for practice.  W = UH.  See “FaceBook”. 

The simple thing is that when you argue a…
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iMac G5 Hard Drive Replacement

By Arden, February 3, 2006

Storage is a requirement for everybody, but one problem that constantly arises for geeks is running out of hard drive space.  We go from small 20 MB hard drives to 200 MB, up to 2 GB, then 20 GB, then 200 GB and beyond.  Eventually, computers will have holographic hard drives with terabytes and terabytes of data in them.

Until that happens, I’m content with upgrading a reasonable amount for what the storage trends say I should have right now.  My iMac shipped with an 80 GB hard drive (the lowest size — it’s the lowest in its class for processor and graphics card, the smallest screen size, etc.), and for a while I’ve been feeling constrained by this.  In December, I ordered a new 250 GB hard drive that was dead on arrival, so I had to ship it back and wait for a new one.  Well, I’m happy to announce that my hard drive finally arrived (and worked), so I did the switch, and I can now show everyone the process.  This will be a tutorial for replacing the drive on a 17”, pre-iSight iMac G5 only.  The 20” pre-iSight iMac and the iMacs with iSights, both G5 and Intel Core Duo, have different internal configurations and take different steps.

Note: If you plan to follow this tutorial, please read the entire article before you start.  I am not responsible for your data loss if you follow my directions improperly, or hell, even if you follow them correctly and…
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Ambulance Chasing: Apple sued over iPod volume

By Nick, February 1, 2006

This just in from the “Court TV Watchers Club” department…

Get your popcorn, Judge Judy fans; the fun’s about to begin! Again. The Associated Press reports that a Louisiana man is suing Apple because the iPod can cause hearing loss if listened to at high volumes over extended periods of time. Plaintiff John Kiel Patterson hopes the suit gains class-action status, potentially giving iPod owners the chance to be compensated for any possible hearing loss caused by their iPods. The claim states that the iPod is “inhenerntly defective in design and are not sufficiently adorned with adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss.”

Apple specifically mentions the following on page 62 of the iPod 5G documentation:

Set your iPod volume to a safe level. If you experience ringing in
your ears, reduce the volume or discontinue use of your iPod.
Warning:  Permanent hearing loss may occur if earbuds or
headphones are used at high volume. You can adapt over time
to a higher volume of sound that may sound normal but can be
damaging to your hearing. If you experience ringing in your ears or
muffled speech, stop listening and have your hearing checked.
The louder the volume, the less time is required before your
hearing could be affected. Hearing experts suggest that to
protect your hearing:

  • Limit the amount of time you use earbuds or headphones at
    high volume.
  • Avoid turning up the volume to block out noisy surroundings.
  • Turn the volume down if you can’t hear people speaking…
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Homestar Runner: Coming to an iPod near you

By Nick, January 31, 2006

The Brothers Chaps, creators of homestarrunner.com, have made a number of Strong Bad emails available for download in iPoddable H.264 MPEG-4 video. More are on their way.

This alone gives me a reason to buy a video iPod. Sweet!


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