Apple to drop sub-$500 Mac bomb at Expo

[imtoomuch]

sure you can, it'll come with a "PC Chips" MOBO build in one of those unknown asian countries a 200w power supply, a 20x CD-ROM drive, a 20gb HD, a combo of sound card/winmoden, one PCI slot, one AGP, two USB ports, no Firewire and nice set of drivers that are incompatible with Windows XP... ahhh, the 15" monitor will be powerful enough to keep warm your room at night... :p

585195655[/snapback]

I think I can do better than that. Check out this. Remember, it's an entry level comp, but so is this Mac and the Dell includes a monitor.

[Spartan_X]

I think I can do better than that.  Check out this.  Remember, it's an entry level comp, but so is this Mac and the Dell includes a monitor.

585195697[/snapback]

mehhh... thats nothing compared to this one... ;)

beat that! :p

[memNOC]

Honestly, that doesn't sound right at all. What stuttering? What slow downs? I just CMD-Tab'ed and F9'ed around my system with no delay. I've got BBEdit, Mail, Camino, Adium, Terminal, NetNewsWire, and Stickies open and it responded right away. Dragging a window? Responsive. Minimizing? Responsive. Where is this slowdown you're talking about?

I'm not saying I've never had a crash on a Mac, but it doesn't sound like we're working with the same system...

585195594[/snapback]

i could be working in Photoshop, and want to switch to iTunes to switch tracks, and just for the heck of it, i want to use the dock. i lower my cursor, and actually have to wait a second or two til it pops up, and it's usually in that dragging-stuttery way. anyways, i ignore it and go for the iTunes icon. again, the mouseover animation is completely lagging behind, and is displaying at a couple FPS. i stumble on where i think my cursor could land on the iTunes icon, and i click. and i wait. a couple of seconds later (maybe more than 5), sure enough, iTunes gets selected. after that, it's straight to File>Show window (if i'm not close to command+1), and wait a few secs til 'File' gets selected, and then to eventually click on 'Show window'. after that, the iTunes window slowly gets drawn on the screen, soon enough for me to pluck every last hair off my scalp.

maybe because i come from a Windows environment (i actually hate Linux because of this too.. GTK PROGRAMS SUCK), but i'm used to everything being on and popping. i click and i get immediate response. this is how i work on my painfully aged PC i have XP on now, so i should expect nothing less from state-of-the-art Macintoshes. but then again, maybe my beef is with OSX, because i don't have that unresponsive perception with OS9. either way, it's too much fluff for my liking. :/

[evo0o]

mehhh... thats nothing compared to this one... ;)

beat that! :p

http://images.tigerdirect.com/AOL/AOL_bg1.jpg

585195716[/snapback]

^ (sacarsm) omg! what a great pc, it even comes with spyware pre-installed so i don't have to install it myself with one of those 'free internet' cds!!!

[imtoomuch]

mehhh... thats nothing compared to this one... ;)

beat that! :p

http://images.tigerdirect.com/AOL/AOL_bg1.jpg

585195716[/snapback]

Well there you go. That one has obligations, though. The one I showed you did not and it is a quality low-end system.

[Spartan_X]

^ (sacarsm) omg! what a great pc, it even comes with spyware pre-installed so i don't have to install it myself with one of those 'free internet' cds!!!

585195726[/snapback]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

I want to cry! my dream of having a PC with all the worst BS of the world preinstalled and ready to crash came true! now I just need to run the recovery CDs every two days to make sure everyboby knows what the f#ck I'm doing with my PC!!!

Bite me RIAA! :p

BTW: I love when I get one of those emails asking me for my money... I feel soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo important, or when they want to know if I want a bigger dick they just show you how much they care about your personal life and happiness... I love them! :devil:

Edited December 30, 2004 by Spartan_X

[Senseotech]

i could be working in Photoshop, and want to switch to iTunes to switch tracks, and just for the heck of it, i want to use the dock. i lower my cursor, and actually have to wait a second or two til it pops up, and it's usually in that dragging-stuttery way. anyways, i ignore it and go for the iTunes icon. again, the mouseover animation is completely lagging behind, and is displaying at a couple FPS. i stumble on where i think my cursor could land on the iTunes icon, and i click. and i wait. a couple of seconds later (maybe more than 5), sure enough, iTunes gets selected. after that, it's straight to File>Show window (if i'm not close to command+1), and wait a few secs til 'File' gets selected, and then to eventually click on 'Show window'. after that, the iTunes window slowly gets drawn on the screen, soon enough for me to pluck every last hair off my scalp.

maybe because i come from a Windows environment (i actually hate Linux because of this too.. GTK PROGRAMS SUCK), but i'm used to everything being on and popping. i click and i get immediate response. this is how i work on my painfully aged PC i have XP on now, so i should expect nothing less from state-of-the-art Macintoshes. but then again, maybe my beef is with OSX, because i don't have that unresponsive perception with OS9. either way, it's too much fluff for my liking. :/

585195720[/snapback]

Ok, I call BS. Just for ****s and giggles, I made a random 35 meg photoshop document, with a bunch of layers at 2400x2400 px and 300 px res. Switched over to a playing iTunes following your method, and had no issues whatsoever. And to top it off, I had Mail running, Firefox, and Adium as well.

[a_witko]

I am going to buy this new mac. IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO.

Man this is going to be a hit... just like the iPod. It might take a while to catch on - people will wait till their mates have one, and after their mate and they approve they'll buy one.

Nothing was actually said about OSX on it... so perhaps thats the downfall... a media center styled OS.

Does this mac come with a Mac keyboard and mouse? Or do I have to BYO?

What if they do it in five colors like the iPod? I'll take the pink.

[neostyle]

you have no idea how much this will help my mom, who constantly is getting spyware, and alot of virus.

instead of waiting for an unreleased product ,install linux and u have the same effect :)

[Southern Patriot]

ahem...

anyway, i really doubt you can run OSX on 256mb RAM, at least not worthy enough of promotion.

however, i could understand it if you were just using the system for iChat, iTunes and Safari, not running together, of course.

585195514[/snapback]

Believe whatever you want, but I use these systems every day and I know what I see. I don't see this "stuttering" problem you describe, and I didn't even see it with the PowerBook G3/266 I had with only 192MB of RAM. If OS X couldn't run in 256MB of RAM, then why is that the standard amount that Apple supplies in current machines (the PowerMac G5 being the exception)? I was just playing with an iMac G5 in CompUSA the other day with just the standard 256MB and people had left all kinds of things running, and the machine still ran smooth as silk.

[Southern Patriot]

mehhh... thats nothing compared to this one... ;)

beat that! :p

http://images.tigerdirect.com/AOL/AOL_bg1.jpg

585195716[/snapback]

I saw these at CompUSA a few weeks ago. I guess they are fine for their intended purpose (just as this possible Mac would be). They honestly are a decent deal, considering what you get. I can say with certainty though that the Celeron 2Ghz in that machine would be slower in everyday use than the 1.25Ghz G4. I used to have a Celeron 1.7Ghz and it really didn't seem any more responsive than my Blue&White is (the B&W replaced it, actually). The Celeron was running XP Pro with 768MB of RAM.

[Southern Patriot]

i could be working in Photoshop, and want to switch to iTunes to switch tracks, and just for the heck of it, i want to use the dock. i lower my cursor, and actually have to wait a second or two til it pops up, and it's usually in that dragging-stuttery way. anyways, i ignore it and go for the iTunes icon. again, the mouseover animation is completely lagging behind, and is displaying at a couple FPS. i stumble on where i think my cursor could land on the iTunes icon, and i click. and i wait. a couple of seconds later (maybe more than 5), sure enough, iTunes gets selected. after that, it's straight to File>Show window (if i'm not close to command+1), and wait a few secs til 'File' gets selected, and then to eventually click on 'Show window'. after that, the iTunes window slowly gets drawn on the screen, soon enough for me to pluck every last hair off my scalp.

585195720[/snapback]

I honestly think there was something wrong with your system. Possibly a problem with the CPU cache. I don't even see the kind of problem you are describing with my iBook.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

It may be cheap... but it's still a Mac, and a such, it's whorthless

585193169[/snapback]

Wow, what a fantastic troll. It may be a Mac, and it might be worthless, but i'd rather have it over the PC in your signature bud.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

I honestly think there was something wrong with your system.  Possibly a problem with the CPU cache.  I don't even see the kind of problem you are describing with my iBook.

585197566[/snapback]

I second this MemNoc. It seriously sounds like something is up with your system itself.

I have a Dual G4 and a G4 powerbook, and neither of them have ever come close to doing what you described. I also have 3 windows comps in my apartment and the responsiveness time by the OS is not even a comparison, the Macs are by far speedier.

The only time I have any type of slowdown on OSX is if I am accessing files off of an external hard drive that I have not accessed for a few hours. Then it takes about 3 seconds for the hard drive itself to kick in and reveal its files.

I would definitely look into your problem, it does not sound right at all.

[threetonesun]

****. I just put together a $400 computer for a friend, they would be much happier with this... *sigh*

[jerry]

meh. wouldn't want one even if they paid me.

585195046[/snapback]

Wow, a wannabee troll. :rolleyes:

I second this MemNoc. It seriously sounds like something is up with your system itself.

585198200[/snapback]

Obviously he's trolling, lets just not feed him.

Ok, I call BS.  Just for ****s and giggles, I made a random 35 meg photoshop document, with a bunch of layers at 2400x2400 px and 300 px res.  Switched over to a playing iTunes following your method, and had no issues whatsoever.  And to top it off, I had Mail running, Firefox, and Adium as well.

585195861[/snapback]

Second that.

[TheLegendOfMart]

This is a great idea, ive always wanted a mac but the price being a bit steep has always put me off, this could really get Apple "out there"

[sfalcon]

instead of waiting for an unreleased product ,install linux and u have the same effect  :)

585197177[/snapback]

Linux is great. But let's be honest, a Mac is much more noob friendly than Linux.

[aristotle-dude]

mehhh... thats nothing compared to this one... ;)

beat that! :p

http://images.tigerdirect.com/AOL/AOL_bg1.jpg

585195716[/snapback]

It costs 586.79 if you count the 12 month AOL commitment and it comes with XP Home edition which is crippled in comparison to other OSes. What if you don't need/want AOL?

[sfalcon]

It costs 586.79 if you count the 12 month AOL commitment and it comes with XP Home edition which is crippled in comparison to other OSes. What if you don't need/want AOL?

585205723[/snapback]

I wouldn't exacty call XP Home crippled. Most things a typical home user will need to do don't require XP Pro.

[Tim Dorr Veteran]

after that, the iTunes window slowly gets drawn on the screen, soon enough for me to pluck every last hair off my scalp.

585195720[/snapback]

And that this point I knew you had to be kidding. OS X *never* "draws in" stuff. Every window is buffered offscreen and then drawn on in the graphics card (Quatrz Extreme). So, the drawing in always happens to an off-screen buffer that is then bitblt'ed in. And don't tell me it's slow on the bitblt'ing....

[Senseotech]

And that this point I knew you had to be kidding. OS X *never* "draws in" stuff. Every window is buffered offscreen and then drawn on in the graphics card (Quatrz Extreme). So, the drawing in always happens to an off-screen buffer that is then bitblt'ed in. And don't tell me it's slow on the bitblt'ing....

585206913[/snapback]

I also smelled BS when he mentioned getting iTunes to display its window via the File menu, which is an impossible thing to do, since there is no option there when the iTunes window is clsed that can pull it up.

[DudeMASTER]

that is good movement :D

but I live in Poland and hire price can be more than 800 usd. Apple Poland Sucks. Everything what is apple is too expensive. I see price in US or Germany or UK and I?ve be very angry:angry:y: when I see in ****ing Poland Apple Store the same mac in higher price.

When this mac can be In this price (about 600 usd / 700) (in Poland) maybe I can bay it.

:whistle:e:

[blik]

I think its a good move on Apple's part, Apple has their client base allready, and it's professionals. Graphic designers, movie editors and DTP etc. But many PC users who want a mac because they are "cool" can now get one. Whether they will have a practical use for them after playing around for a few weeks is doubtfull. But Apple sure wont care.

And all the trolls complaining about how slow this mac is really need a reality check. You need to undertsand Apple architecture is completely different. Work in Photoshop/Freehand on a PC and then on a mac. The macs are incredible, I can hamstring a "high end" PC within a few hours of work, and the mac just keeps going, gets slower but still very workable.

Anyway, good move Apple (Y)

[fukachu]

i am definately considering getting this headless mac if the aussie price isnt too bad.. i wouldnt be using it for anything else but usual home user things just like a PC but i've tried os x and it is very nice although a little strange at first and i just think it would be a nice media / work desktop to have thats nto too pricy and if the size is right doesnt take up much real estate on the desk.

looking forward to finding out how the MWSF goes..