1998.11: The iMac isn’t the perfect computer for me – but I still want to buy one!

I’m content with my Umax SuperMac J700/180, 2.1 GB hard drive, 8x CD-ROM, and Nokia 447z 17″ monitor. I run the video at 1024 x 768, which is the highest setting that gives me a relatively crisp screen. It’s not quite the 1280 x 1024 I’m used to on the 20″ Sony display at work, but I get by.

The main reason the iMac isn’t perfect for me is its 15″ screen. It’s rock solid and tack sharp at 640 x 480 and 800 x 600, but each one I’ve seen is fuzzy enough at 1024 x 768 that I couldn’t live with it.

Sure, I could buy an iPort and connect my 17″ screen, but that’s a $1,370 solution to what isn’t really a problem. Yes, the iMac runs faster than my SuperMac. Sure, it has a lot more storage space. Granted, it looks a lot cooler.

But my SuperMac is fast enough. If I want faster, that $1,370 would buy one heck of a G3 accelerator card – far beyond the 233 MHz the iMac offers. And if games were important enough, I could drop in a 32x CD-ROM and Rage Pro video card for about $300.

What I wouldn’t be buying with the accelerator, CD-ROM, and graphics card is another computer.

We already have more Macs than people at home. The kids are still entranced by The Bard’s Tale on the Mac SE, SimCity 2000 on the accelerated LC II, and Realmz on the Centris 610.

But they’d rather use my SuperMac for games and homework. So would my wife.

In short, despite an abundance of Macs, everyone in the family wants to use my computer.

I think an iMac would solve that problem.

It’s definitely on my short list for Christmas. An iMac for the family – leaving my computer for me – and a DVD player for movies.

This will also be the final incentive I need to get the Macs on ethernet at home. I’ve got the hub. Half of my Macs have ethernet ports, so I’ll need a LocalTalk bridge for the rest. One of my older Macs (Mac II, IIcx, IIfx) will make a great server.

Even without a 17″ monitor or an iPort card, an iMac would solve a lot of my computing problems by leaving my poky old J700 for me.

I don’t know that it can happen this Christmas (no, I won’t finance an iMac for six years), but I’m hoping we can swing it.

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