Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

The iMac Channel

iMac 2001. A Better Value?

Dan Knight - 2001.02.22

Simplify

Where once there was model chaos, Steve Jobs brought the four-product matrix. Where once there were many Performas and entry-level models, Apple gave birth to the singular iMac.

From one model in any color you wanted (as long as it was Bondi blue) to one model in five colors to four models in five colors, confusion replaced simplicity.

The confusion isn't completely gone, but the 2001 iMac models do simplify the product line. There is no more confusion: "Doesn't the iMac DV have DVD? The old DV did." Instead we have the iMac 2001 in three speeds: 400, 500, and 600 MHz.

Apple promotes them as fast, faster, and fastest.

Fast

The 400 MHz iMac 2001 replaces the 350 MHz iMac and 400 MHz iMac DV (the DV without DVD), essentially offering everything the iMac DV had with a $100 price reduction. It comes in indigo - period. The new 400 MHz iMac is an excellent value, but there is no longer a $799 iMac. That's a shame.

The 400 MHz model uses the same old PowerPC 750 (G3) processor as all earlier iMacs. The CPU has a 512 KB backside cache running at 160 MHz. This model also has a 24x CD-ROM drive and the same ATI Rage Pro graphics as the 2000 iMacs.

Apple is right: 400 MHz is plenty fast for most people. Avid gamers might crave more horsepower, and graphic types will want bigger screens, but for many users, this machine has lots of power and an attractive price.

FastNew iMacser

The faster models us the PowerPC 750CX, an enhanced G3 processor with a smaller, faster cache. The 256 KB cache runs at full CPU speed, providing very impressive performance compared with the older PPC 750 and an external cache.

The 500 MHz iMac 2001 not only uses this more advanced processor, it also runs at at the same clock speed as last year's fastest iMac. Beyond that, it replaces the ATI Rage Pro with the newer Rage Ultra and doubles video memory. This should be a very attractive machine for gamers.

The 500 MHz iMac 2001 is Apple's least expensive computer with built-in CD-RW. The drive burns CD-R at up to 8x, CD-RW at 4x, and provides playback at up to 24x. Unlike the iMac DV+, which it replaces, it doesn't play DVDs.

As for value, it has every feature of the DV+ except a DVD drive, adds CD-RW to the equation, improves graphics, and has a faster CPU - all at US$1,199, a $100 reduction from the DV+ price. This is another excellent value.

And you have your choice of indigo, flower power, and blue dalmation - really.

Fastest

How can you improve on that? How about another 100 MHz of performance and an absolutely huge 40 GB hard drive? Or replacing indigo with graphite?

That describes the top of the line 600 MHz iMac 2001 SE, which has the same US$1,499 price tag as last year's 500 MHz iMac DV SE. Again, you give up watching DVDs, but you can burn your own CDs.

At 600 MHz, this is the one serious Mac gamers will be most interested in. Like the other two iMac 2001 models, this one also improves the value equation.

The Power to Burn

With iTunes 1.1, Apple brings the power to burn not only to the Power Mac G4 and faster iMac 2001 models, but also to over 25 popular CD-RW mechanisms already on the market. I'll be trying the new iTunes with my SmartDisk's VST FireWire CD-R/W Drive later today. (The old iTunes caused problems with Toast, the most popular CD burning software for the Mac. iTunes 1.1 is supposed to address that conflict. We'll see.)

And iTunes remains the best value in MP3 creation, management, and burning - free is a hard price to beat. LEM /p>

Links for the Day

Recent Content

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2010 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Low End Mac's Amazon.com store

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.