Steven Posted January 29, 2003 Share Posted January 29, 2003 Fresh LCDs from Apple, 23-inch wide down to $2000 Oh, and new PowerMacs also introduced. PPC 970 next Summer? By Matteo Fulgheri: Wednesday 29 January 2003, 10:29 I DON'T THINK I've ever felt so little excitement at the thought of writing about the latest hardware introduction from Apple. But then, life's always full of surprises. Apple yesterday very quietly introduced new Power Macintosh models. While their performance is still ridiculous compared to the AMD/Intel battlefront, they however do come at significantly reduced price points. This means it is a little less of a robbery than it was until yesterday. Except for the entry-level machine. In fact, while costing $ 200 less than its predecessor, it lacks a second CPU. Granted, this one starts at 1 GHz, but I'm sure anybody would have chosen the dual 867 MHz instead. Anyway, the entry-level comes with 256MB of DDR 226 memory, a 60GB ATA-100 disk, a combo drive and a GeForce 4 MX video card. Next in line, for $ 2,000, comes the dual 1.25 GHz, sporting 256MB of DDR 333 memory, an 80GB HD, a combo drive and an ATI Radeon 900 Pro. For $ 700 more you get a dual 1.42GHz sporting 2MB of L3 cache instead of just one, half a Giga of DDR 333, a 120GB disk and a SuperDrive. All the models sport 2 FireWire 400 ports and one FireWire 800. They're also all Bluetooth-ready. That is, if you're ready to spend $ 50 more to get Bluetooth capability. There's also an insanely-priced custom-built configuration: for $ 3,800 you get a total of 2GB of DDR 333 memory (don't worry, it's probably CL3), a GeForce 4 Ti and the $ 50 Bluetooth adapter. Is this dull enough for you? Far more interesting is the new LCD display lineup: as expected the 15" disappeared, leaving the entry-level spot to a nice 17", 1280 x 1024, $ 700 display. Higher up there's a brand-new 20", widescreen, 1680 x 1050 display, for $ 1,300 - not bad, but the best is at the top. The 22" is discontinued, leaving only the 23", which drops to an incredibly low $ 2,000! It sports a 1920 x 1200 resolution, and the huge price-drop it received makes it an excellent deal. As for the Power Macs, this late January intro makes me wonder. Given that the Pro desktops are updated circa once every six months, I think it's safe to expect the introduction of the new PowerPC 970-based Power Macs this Summer, possibly at MacWorld New York (or is it Boston, this time around? Personally I've a serious infatuation with steamed lobsters and Sam Adam's... Are you reading this Steve?). God willing, this will be the last incarnation of these pitiful desktop machines that will be pushed down our throats. I don't know about you, but I'm going to count the days until the next Expo comes. Stay tuned for more info on the state of Opera for Mac. Something's boiling up, and you'll read all about it here on the Inquirer. ? http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=7480 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spyder Veteran Posted January 29, 2003 Veteran Share Posted January 29, 2003 why are they pitiful? i dont know enough about this to understand. can someone in the know explain to me? i was of the understanding that even though they're 1.2ghz, they perform as 2+ ghz p4's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Posted January 29, 2003 Share Posted January 29, 2003 why are they pitiful? i dont know enough about this to understand. can someone in the know explain to me? i was of the understanding that even though they're 1.2ghz, they perform as 2+ ghz p4's? PC propaganda. Nothing more. Take the appropriate G4 prcoessor speed and double it. That's roughly the P4/Athlon equivalent when it comes to OS performance. You have your benchmarks etc, but they are always skewed one way or the other. Plus the G4 is a RISC while the P4/Athlon is CISC. Hard to compare. What the PC doesn't understand, is that while you may need a 2ghz processor to run windows and apps, you don't need that high of a processor to run OSX. It's a "lighter" os, if you will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrokat Posted January 29, 2003 Share Posted January 29, 2003 they discontinued the 22" :blink: :blink: that was stupid!!! :crazy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spyder Veteran Posted January 29, 2003 Veteran Share Posted January 29, 2003 PC propaganda. Nothing more. Take the appropriate G4 prcoessor speed and double it. That's roughly the P4/Athlon equivalent when it comes to OS performance. You have your benchmarks etc, but they are always skewed one way or the other. Plus the G4 is a RISC while the P4/Athlon is CISC. Hard to compare. What the PC doesn't understand, is that while you may need a 2ghz processor to run windows and apps, you don't need that high of a processor to run OSX. It's a "lighter" os, if you will. thx for the info superfula :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Posted January 29, 2003 Share Posted January 29, 2003 they discontinued the 22" :blink: :blink: that was stupid!!! :crazy: A lot of places are carrying the 22" for only a couple hundred more than the 20" No prob Spyder! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BxBoy Posted January 29, 2003 Share Posted January 29, 2003 Still can't afford it! :( :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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