MacSpeedZone's
G4 Cube "Winter 2001" Information Page
3-1-01
The most eye grabbing (some would say gaudy) new product At
the recent Tokyo Macworld was, without a doubt, the new
iMacs. With less fanfare, Apple also revealed the latest
revision to the Cube line. The speed remains unchanged, 450MHz
and 500MHz, with the latter available only through Apple, but
there are other significant changes worth noting.
Apple admitted that they "missed the boat" by
not including CD-RW drives in their machines. Like the new
iMacs, both of the new Cubes sport slot loading CD-RW drives.
The original G4/450, which is still available, but will probably
be phased out, has a DVD-ROM drive. The cube stands less than
10" high and under 8" wide and deep but still manages
to pack most (but not all) of the features found in its tall
Graphite brother.
Features - What's New, What's Not: The widely available
G4/450 continues to make use of ATI's RAGE 128 Pro graphics
card with 16MB SDRAM residing on a 2x AGP slot. The G4/500
reflects Apple's growing relationship with nVIDIA with a GeForce2
MX which has 32MB SDRAM. ATI's RADEON is a BTO option for
both of the CD-RW Cubes, but not the older DVD-ROM Cube.
In spite of the compact design, the Apple engineers have
managed once again to make use of convection cooling and do
away with the cooling fan. This helps the cube run with a
minimum of noise. Apple has once again teamed up with Harman/Kardon
to deliver the system's sound. Harman/Kardon developed a pairs
of round speakers with a design that compliments the cube
quite nicely. The 20 watt speakers (10 per channel) have a
range of 80Hz to 20KHz and, like the iSub, connect via USB.
The speakers also draw all necessary power from the USB bus,
eliminating the need for an external power supply.
Continuing its commitment to wireless technology, Apple
has made both cubes AirPort ready. Instead of the wire antenna
found on Apple's other AirPort ready machines, the cubes use
a less obtrusive ceramic patch antenna. Ground based connections
are covered as well with the built in 56k, V.90 modem and
10/100BaseT Ethernet connections.
Below we provide you with a quick comparison of the two
cubes features along with links to reviews and other information
available around the web. Feel free to post your thoughts
on the cube below on our
discussion board. If you are thinking of picking a cube up,
be sure to visit MacReviewZone's G4
Cube Buyers' Guide which is updated every Tuesday with
low price and bundle information.
Model/Mhz
Bus
Speed
RAM
& Graphics
Expansion
Slots
Storage
Networking
Modem
Aditional
Features
Price
Information
G4/500
"Cube"
February, 2001
100 MHz
256MB PC100 SDRAM
(1.5GB Max)
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX graphics controller
in 2x AGP slot. with 32MB SDRAM
Copyright 1996-2007 by Cider Press Publishing LLC all rights reserved.
MacSpeedZone is not authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple
Computer. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPod, iBook, iMac, eMac, and
PowerBook are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Additional
company
and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby
acknowledged.
