Mac users have been clamoring for a 17" iMac almost since
the original Bondi
G3/233 iMac was launched. When Apple launched the radically
different flat
panel iMac last January, some folks were disappointed
that it didn't sport a 17" screen. This was in spite
of the fact that a 15" flat panel provides roughly the
same screen real estate as a 17" CRT. Hopefully bringing
the issue to a close is the new 17" flat panel iMac,
introduced at Steve Jobs' Macworld NY keynote presentation.
The most significant change, of course, is the screen. The
new 17" screen sports a 1440 x 900 native resolution
and a 16:10 aspect ratio. The 15" iMacs' native resolution
is 1024 x 768. In other words, you will get about
65% more screen space from the 17" iMac. Some may worry
that the larger screen may make the unit a little top heavy
as a whole. We are not concerned as the iMac base has a very
solid feel.
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The graphics subsystem has also seen a significant improvement.
While 15" iMacs make use of NVIDIA's GeForce2
MX, the 17" iMac sports the more powerful Geforce4
MX. The GeForce4, like the GeForce3, has 32MB of dedicated
Double Data Rate (DDR) video memory, more than enough to keep
the upcoming Quartz
Extreme happy.
For better of worse, there are also
several items that have not changed. The new 17' iMac includes
the popular "Super Drive" also found in the high
end 15" iMac. If, for some reason, you are not familiar
with the super drive, it's an optical drive that pretty much
does it all except DVD-RW. It can read and burn CD's and DVD's,
and can burn CD-RW disks as well. This tremendous flexibility
comes at a cost, the super drive is quite slow compared to
garden variety CD burners on the market.
The 17" iMac also continues to use the
G4/800 with a full speed 256K on-chip cache. This is the same
processor that is found on the high end 15" flat panel
iMac. Apple's G4 towers, by way of contrast, sport 256K on
chip at full processor speed as well as a hefty 2MB backside
cache.
In the port department, apple continues to promote
the iMac as having 5 USB port. Be aware, however, that they
are counting the 2 USB ports on the keyboard. The iMac base
has 3 USB ports which are shared on two 12-Mbps controllers.
Although OS X supports it, Apple has not adopted USB 2 yet,
sticking with the tried and true 1.1 instead. FireWire (2
ports), 10/100BASE-T Ethernet and 56K modem ports are all
still standard as is the popular, but unfilled, AirPort slot.
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX graphics processor with AGP 2X
support and 32MB of dedicated Double Data Rate (DDR)
video memory.
MSRP: $1,3999
G4/700/700/256K
256MB RAM (1 gig max)
40GB Ultra ATA hard drive
Tray loading "combination drive" DVD-ROM/CD-RW
Apple pro speakers
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX graphics processor with AGP 2X
support and 32MB of dedicated Double Data Rate (DDR)
video memory.
MSRP: $1,599
G4/800/800/256K
256MB RAM (1 gig max)
60GB Ultra ATA hard drive
Tray loading "super drive" DVD-R/CD-RW
Apple pro speakers
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX graphics processor with AGP 2X
support and 32MB of dedicated Double Data Rate (DDR)
video memory.
MSRP: $1,799
July 2002 iMac
G4/800/800/256K (17" screen)
256MB RAM (1 gig max)
80GB Ultra ATA hard drive
Tray loading "super drive" DVD-R/CD-RW
Apple pro speakers
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX graphics processor with AGP 2X
support and 32MB of dedicated Double Data Rate (DDR)
video memory.
MSRP: $1,999
Common Hardware Features
2 FireWire ports
3 USB 1.1 ports (shared on two 12-Mbps controllers)
plus 2 on keyboard.
Internal 56K V.90 modem
10/100BASE-T Ethernet
AirPort slot
Mini-VGA output port. Video mirroring only.
Common Software Bundle
QuickTime, iMovie 2, iPhoto, iTunes
2 or 3, iDVD 2 (SuperDrive-equipped system only),
DVD Player, AppleWorks, Mac OS X Mail, Microsoft Internet
Explorer, EarthLink (includes 30 days of free service),
AOL, Quicken 2002 Deluxe, World Book Mac OS X Edition,
Mac OS X Chess, Otto Matic, Deimos Rising, FaxSTF,
and Acrobat Reader
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7-18-02
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