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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Generally excellent home computer for family use, January 15, 2003
First off, I believe Apple has fixed the monitor problem. Mine has worked flawlessly since purchase a couple of weeks ago. In fact, the monitor is one of the best things this computer has going for it. Flat, sharp, clear, excellent color, and 17".The eMac is an excellent computer for home and family use. People may complain that this machine is underpowered -- I disagree. In my opinion, given the market this machine is supposed to address (home and education), the price/performance ratio can't be beat. This is good and plenty computer for the cost, even when compared to Windows machines intended to compete in that same market. The 700 mhz G4 is plenty fast for most uses -- most people don't do complicated Photoshop work, for example, and if you do, you wouldn't be looking at a low-end consumer machine anyway. My guess is that the speed compares roughly to a 1.5 ghz Pentium 4. The GeForce2 video card is probably out of date, and 32 megs VRAM is on the low end. However, the eMac handles all games currently released with aplomb. I've played Wolfenstein, Max Payne, Red Faction, Undying on it at high detail settings (but not maxed), with perfectly playable, reasonably fluid framerates. And the games look great on the flat-screen monitor. I suspect that this computer has at least six months to a year before gaming obsolescence. If gaming is your thing, check out the 17' flat-screen iMac at twice the price. The casual gamer will do just fine with an eMac. The existence of two firewire ports means that this machine will handle high-speed peripherals without problems. Apple's included applications for burning CD's and DVD's and putting together home movies are the easiest, most intuitive, and best available for home use. OS X lives up to its reputation for stability and ease of use. I have experienced almost no program crashes, but when I did, it didn't take the whole system with them. Quit the program and continue on your way. Downsides are that you are probably fixed where internal components are concerned (except RAM). Processor and videocard are soldered onto the motherboard and thus not upgradeable. Hard drive and optical drive are probably upgradeable, but the machine is [hard] to crack open. I've been inside many different macs, and I wouldn't risk opening this one if you paid me. You will also need to upgrade RAM out of the box. Get at least 256 megs extra. Luckily, RAM is cheap. ... RAM is user-installable through a special opening in the bottom of the computer. The specs on this machine are the equivalent of the two lower-end flat-screen iMacs. The only difference is price, monitor, the type of RAM accepted, and the ease with which you can upgrade RAM. I personally think the CRT monitor is better than the flat-screen, and bigger too, so I believe the eMac is the better value. The eMac is absolutely fine in every way, as far as I'm concerned. It is good but not outstanding for specialized purposes (gamers, media professionals may want more horsepower or upgradeable machines). But, it is PERFECT for the use for which it was intended. Families and students will be more than satisfied with price, performance, and appearance. I bought a tilt-swivel stand and iSub subwoofer too. Indispensible additions. The iSub does wonders for the sound, and the tilt-swivel stand does wonders for ergonomics.
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