Amazon Product Description

The VAIO W Series pioneers new territory in desktop PCs. The all-in-one design makes it ideal when space is hard to find. It covers your computing needs and knows how to entertain, with three different modes to choose from. You can be checking stock quotes on-line one minute, and be digitally recording a football game the next.

  The W700G comes with a 17.5-inch LCD WXGA screen in a compact, all-in-one design.

The Basics Sporting a distinctive style that liberates valuable desktop real estate from annoying cables and wires and clunky computer boxes, the Sony VAIO PCV-V700G is far removed from a typical PC. If space is an issue or you merely need a computer that doubles as a television recorder and multimedia center, you need look no further than this sleek and very unique machine. Unlike standard desktop computers, the VAIO PCV-V700G features an elegant all-in-one design that mates a large 17.5-inch DVD-friendly widescreen display, speakers, and internal components inside a single futuristic module. The system also includes a foldaway keyboard, thereby freeing your work surface from even more clutter. Whether used in the office or in other environments where its massive 200 GB hard disk, DVD burner, and built-in TV tuner might just make your home entertainment center dispensable, the VAIO PCV-V700G is ready for the job. Sound The VAIO PCV-W700G produces sound via an audio chip integrated on the motherboard and two speakers mounted on either side of its display. The system takes advantage of Sony's SRS WOW technology to simulate surround sound. However, if big, room-rattling audio and true surround sound is a requisite, you'll need to purchase a separate amplified speaker system.

Video CPUs are usually so busy doing basic calculations that they need help translating visual output to the screen. This is the duty of the video card (or video controller). The VAIO PCV-W700G features an SIS 651 graphics controller--a chipset that's integrated onto the unit's motherboard and shares 32 MB of the system's main memory. This is not an ideal setup for gamers, video artists, or anyone who needs smooth 3-D graphics. If you require top-level 3-D graphics support, you may be best served by investigating other Sony computers, such as the Media Center series. The built-in 17.5-inch display sports a comparatively large viewing area and a widescreen format well suited to the aspect ratio favored by Hollywood. As such, it's not only great for displaying standard computing tasks, but also for watching DVD movies. Performance The VAIO W Series is quite powerful. With an Intel Pentium 4 2.80 GHz processor and up to 512 MB of RAM, it's more than capable of handling the demands of digital video and Internet downloads. A large 160 GB hard drive comes standard and provides plenty of space for storing digital music and video files or working with multiple applications. This series was created to provide everything needed for home computing and entertainment.

With Giga Pocket software you can record, manage, and play your favorite TV shows anytime.

Hard Drive
The built-in 200 GB hard drive is considered generous in any price range, sporting enough storage space for a massive allotment of files and applications and a huge music or multimedia collection too. Most users will have a hard time ever filling this hard drive.

Optical Drive
An optical drive is essential in today’s computing environment. A CD-ROM drive allows you to install CD-based applications and play music CDs. A CD-RW drive adds CD burning, so you can also back up your important files to long-lasting discs and create personalized music CDs. With a DVD-ROM drive you can enjoy all of the above plus watch the same big-budget DVD movies you watch on your home entertainment system. And with a DVD-RW drive, you can also write home movies and archive files to durable DVDs, which boast more than seven times the storage capacity of CDs.

The VAIO PCV-W700G features a DVD+RW/-RW/CD-ROM drive that's ready for virtually any form of CD or DVD recording or playing.

Operating System and Software
The VAIO PCV-W700G features an impressive software package headed by Microsoft’s Windows XP Home Edition operating system. Sony will also preinstall Microsoft’s Works 7.0 word processing and productivity suite, Adobe's Photoshop Elements 2.0 photo- and graphic-editing application, Sony's Giga Pocket personal video recorder, and an array of multimedia utilities.

Accessories The VAIO PCV-W700G is wonderfully easy to operate via the foldaway VAIO keyboard, optical wired mouse and ultra-convenient infrared remote control. Connectivity and Expansion With four high-speed USB 2.0 ports at your disposal, you’ll have sufficient room for a small batch of plug-and-play gadgets such as printers, scanners, and joysticks. The system also includes an IEEE 1394 FireWire port (commonly used for fast data transfer from digital camcorders), a variety of high-end audio and video connections, and a convenient television tuner. Communication options include an integrated networking interface for Internet and network communication, a V.92 data/fax modem for low-speed dialup connections, and a Sony VAIO 802.11 a/b/g wireless card for wireless networking.

The W700G provides a number of ports for all your expansion and interface needs.

... Read more

Reviews (5)

Ease of use is finally affordable
I'm used both Wintel and Mac my whole life, I always kept a PC around because for basic stuff because they are soo cheap and the mac around for my high end work.

I finally ditched that idea with the new emac.

don't let the Mhz fool you, 1.25Ghz G4 is a fast machine, certainly faster than any Celeron at *any* Mhz. The addition of the 512kb backside cache, better video card and hack to allow video spanning makes the new $799.99 emac a great first computer or 2nd addition to the family. It's all-in-one but the USB 2.0, Firewire 400 and up to 1GB of memory will keep you busy adding accessories to entend it's use for years to come.

Just TRY getting him off it!
My 10-year-old, that is, off the eMac, which sits alongside a Windows PC.

Recently, my household has undergone a revolution, a computer revolution. This spring, I realized that I had not purchased a new computer for myself since the 80s (!). Oh, we had (and still have) plenty of computers around, as I work with and on them, but I had purchased none of them for myself.

It was time. Though I have more than 20 years of experience, professional and personal, in the PC world, I changed religions and bought Apple computers, one iBook and one eMac, and of course related products.

The iBook came first; happy with that, I started looking seriously at iMacs and eMacs. The iMac is a beautiful machine, but the eMac, configured as I would want the iMac to be, was $750 less, and there's a lot this single mom can do with $750. I love great and beautiful design, but in this case, I loved that $750 more, so decided on the eMac over the iMac.

I ordered the eMac with 1 GB RAM, 160 GB hard drive, SuperDrive, and an AirPort Extreme card. I also got AppleCare for the eMac. As the product information above mentions, set up was easy: unpack, plug in, turn on.

My 10-year-old son was skeptical at first, as he is well-versed with all flavors of Windows. It took him about 30 seconds to come around, when he saw that he could surf the Web on the eMac while I surfed on the iBook, thanks to the AirPort Extreme network in the house. If that hadn't convinced him, other opportunities abounded.

The eMac comes nicely configured with all the software one would need straight off: AppleWorks for word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing and painting, and database functions, Quicken for personal finance, Apple's Safari browser (with Microsoft's IE also available), an email package, encyclopedia, games, and iLife, Apple's suite of software for photos, movies, music, and more.

One big hit, for at least two days, was the speech recognition software which comes with the eMac. Like other programs on the eMac, the included chess game can be controlled with voice commands; this is fun to play with, but has not become the method of choice over these weeks we've had the eMac. (You can tell the computer "Tell me a joke" to have it tell you a knock-knock joke, but the performance of the speech recognition software is pretty spotty. Still, a cute diversion!)

Another big (and continuing) hit is iMovie. With some of that $750 I saved getting the eMac instead of the iMac, I bought a digital video camera. iMovie is totally slick; I plug the camera into the firewire port, and iMovie takes over, allowing me to control the camera for rewinding, forwarding, and playback. Pulling the information from the camera into the computer is a snap: click "Play" and "Capture," and that's it. Each clip from the camera is pulled into iMovie as an individual clip, the software watching the timestamp to detect when you stopped shooting one clip and started shooting another.

iMovie lets you sequence the clips, add photos, music and other sounds, text (including titles and credits), transition from one clip to another in a variety of ways, and add effects such as rain and fog to clips... as I said, totally slick. With Brood X cicadas abounding a few weeks ago, my tall child shot and edited a short documentary about them in just a couple of hours, complete with sound effects, music, interesting transitions between clips, titles, and credits.

With iDVD part of iLife and a SuperDrive on the eMac, another choice for distributing your work is available. iDVD lets you combine movies, iPhoto slide shows, music, and other files into one cool DVD. It comes with a number of templates to give your final DVD a very professional look; you WILL amaze friends and family with your final product, even with just a slide show of still photos (set to music, of course!). iPhoto and iDVD are *that* cool.

One thing which the eMac (and iBook) did not come with that would have been useful is a Web page development tool. It's possible to create a Web page with AppleWorks, but a simple WYSIWYG tool, such as that the Mozilla browser comes with (Composer), would have been a nice addition. (This may well be available with .Mac, which I did not spring for.) With Mozilla a free download, this omission was readily corrected.

Another recommended addition, especially for those making the move from Windows to PC, is the book "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition." We've used it a lot as we've explored the eMac and its software.

In the weeks we've had the eMac, it has become the computer of choice. Though the Windows PC right next to it on the desk has tons of software on it, including lots (and lots) of kid-friendly games and standard productivity tools, it just cannot hold a candle to the software that came with the eMac.

Good thing I have an iBook so I don't need to tell the tot to shove over and let me have my turn at the eMac.... more than once or twice a day, anyway.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants a fast, useful, well-engineered computer at a very reasonable price.

A great machine for the price.
I just bought this to replace an aging iMac and what a great computer. At hundreds less than the iMac, this is a Mac that everyone can love...and at 800 bucks you're not going to bust the bank to get it. The perfect machine for the home user, this machine is a great box at a really competative price. One suggestion, upgrade the ram...you won't regret the extra cost and the performance difference is amazing.

Faster but still very user friendly computer.
A recent user survey in PC magazine identified Apple computers as the most reliable and easiest to use computers currently available. Yes, most people use Windows-based PCs, but do you want to be just another member of the PC herd -- with all of the problems and frustrations presented by Windows-based PCs -- or are you looking for a computer which is user friendly and seldom crashes? If ease of use and reliability are more important to you than being one of the crowd, please seriously consider buying an Apple. The eMac is Apple's least expensive computer, so it's a terrific way to enter the user friendly world of Apple computers at a very reasonable price. Furthermore, this new eMac is a very fast computer; faster than the previous eMac because it now uses a 1.25 GHz G4 processor which is equivalent in processor speed to a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4. If you're looking for a fast, easy to use computer and are willing to try something off the beaten path, you'll love this new eMac.

suits anyone!
This computer is simply amazing for its price. Mac OS X Panther and iLife '04 make it worth maybe three hundred dollars more than sells for. It's much more for your money than a PC. The 1.25 GHz G4 model has been benchmarked and is comparative in speed to a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Great introduction model for switchers with a limited budget
I recently purchased the 1.25 ghz eMac SuperDrive model in May and it's a great all-in-one machine. If you want to switch to Apple but not pay two or even three months worth of your well-earned paycheck for a G5 or G4 Powermac then the eMac is the model to go for. I also upgraded the memory to its maximum 1 gig and got the very cool JBL Creature II 2.1 speakers. I have everything that I need right on the eMac: burn dvd's or cd's, download music & more, play games, surf the web, print or scan with no problems, have a bluetooth connection with my 6600 nokia or connect to my olympus digi cam with ease.

The only negative things I have to say is the loudness of the machine which can be really annoying especially when watching a dvd or listening to music. If you can't stand a loud fan then go for another model. I also wish Apple products or programs weren't so overpriced.

Overall I'm very happy with the eMac and Mac OS X Panther, now all I need to get is an iBook and an iPod.

Very good machine but noisy
Very fast. My only complain is the noise of the fans at the back. When i work at night its really annoying. Try listening music with itunes when you always hearing those big fans in background... Also the screen lack sharpeness. At night again its become very hard for the eyes to read words at the screen specially when you're doing desktop publishing. So im planning to buy an other flat screen (a PC one, bigger and scrisper) later. i find a patch on the internet where i can go in dual mode with 2 monitors. It works perfectly and make me really happy, i can't understand why apple did not included it in the machine.
Yes the noise is really the big annoying thing.

An Incredible Value!
I just bought one of these to use at home as a multimedia creation station. All I can say is, "Wow!" The performance and the feature set of this computer is just an amazing value for the price. It performs noticeably faster than the brand new Dell Dimension 2400 w/2.8 Ghz Pentium 4 I use at work! Don't let the "1.25 Ghz" processor speed scare you. This is a speedy machine. The screen is very bright and colors display quite well - which was a relief for me. I was tempted to buy the 17" flat-panel iMac instead, but the idea of keeping an extra $800.00 in my pocket won out. The iMac's flat panel *is* truly gorgeous, and I liked the desk space-saving aspect of the iMac, but with the money I saved buying this eMac I can buy a leftover or refurbished iBook and have both a desktop *and* a laptop! The only negative things I have to say about this computer is that the fan noise is somewhat loud (not ear-splitting LOUD! but a somewhat forceful "whoosh" sound that is definitely noticeable and can be distracting/annoying), and the speakers are pretty unimpressive. "Thunderous sound system" - yeah right! The speakers *sound* good enough but the bass frequencies start sounding like a paper bag way before the sound is turned up to full volume. Don't try to attempt to impress your friends by bumping your Snoop Dogg CDs unless you get some external speakers.

All in all, this machine should meet or exceed the needs of just about *any* consumer/"average joe" computer usage and also excels at video, photo, and music editing! A great value for the money!

Darned Apple!
I just bought my eMac in December for $$$ more! But with that aside, this is the first computer I bought that I've been thoroughly satisfied with since I bought my FIRST computer (a Windows 95-based PII)--and let me say that my computer savvy has grown a whole lot since then, so for me to be satisfied now is saying a lot.

And there's a lot to like about the eMac. First off, is price. You're paying less for more! The eMac is basically the iMac in a different shell, but it's several hundreds less. If you can live without a flat-panel LCD (and most people can), then get this computer!

With a 1.25 GHz G4, this beauty is as fast as a 2.4 GHz P4! And combined with the wonderful iLife suite, it makes multimedia work simple. From making movies and DVDs (iMovie + iDVD), digital photo slideshows (iPhoto) and playing music (iPhoto) everything is simple to use and fast, too. And with the new iLife '04, you can MAKE music, too, using GarageBand!

Heck, at this price, it's cheaper than any quality PC with similar specs: 17" flat screen monitor (16" viewable), 256 MB RAM, 1.25GHz G4 (2.4GHz P4 equiv.), 80 GB HD, 32 MB ATI Radeon graphics card, 8x DVD burner (w/32x CDR write), 2 USB + 2 Firewire and a great bundle of software in the iLife suite!

I was a long-time Windows user and worked rebuilding old PCs, but I just got so sick of the Windows clutter and the inherent problems with the OS that I decided to go with Apple and I have never been happier.

If you're thinking that you don't want to go Mac because you don't want to have to relearn how to use a computer, don't worry. Mac OS X is easy to use, as it uses almost the same GUI as Windows (although Apple came up with it first), and the only differences are that icons line up on the right on Macs and you can't just click on the button on the window to close the app--you have to select "Quit..." to close it. If you can make those adjustments, you can use a Mac! And, if you have any problems with the OS (eg. a "kernel panic"), you can restore the OS without deleting precious information on your HD! How convenient! Try doing that with Windows XP! Sure, XP can restore to a previous point, but that rarely works (I've had to do that about 30 times in two years until I went Mac)--I've had to restore Mac OS X once (four months ago--it was my fault for downloading the wrong version of a program), and everything was like brand-new again and I haven't had another problem since. Wonderful!

But, I can't only spout about the good. Some problems with Mac are that it can't natively play AVI files--a fairly common video file format. Software is expensive--up to as much as twice that of Windows. Sudden price changes/model releases--like when I bought my eMac in December, they released the new iLife in January--so I didn't get a free upgrade (I missed the cutoff date by a week), but had to BUY iLife for $$, even though I hadn't had my computer for a month! Had I known, I'd have waited the extra week and saved myself some money! Oh, and I also would've gotten Final Cut Express 2.0 for $$ instead of FCE 1.1!! Now if I want FCE 2.0, I'll have to shell out another $$!!! What a pain!

But that's more problems with Apple the company, rather than the computer. Hence, my giving this computer 5 stars. No computer I've owned up until now deserved it, but you won't find more bang for your buck.

Fast, versatile, and very user friendly computer.
A recent user survey in PC magazine identified Apple computers as the most reliable and easiest to use computers currently available. Yes, most people use Windows-based PCs, but do you want to be just another member of the PC herd -- with all of the problems and frustrations presented by Windows-based PCs -- or are you looking for a computer which is user friendly and seldom crashes? If ease of use and reliability are more important to you than being one of the crowd, please seriously consider buying an Apple. The eMac is Apple's least expensive computer, so it's a terrific way to enter the user friendly world of Apple computers at a very reasonable price. Furthermore, this new eMac is a very fast computer; faster than the previous eMac because it now uses a 1.25 GHz G4 processor which is equivalent in processor speed to a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4. This version of the eMac comes with a DVD burner plus a terrific software package for downloading, organizing and recording (on CDs and DVDs) music, photos, and movies. If you're looking for a fast, versatile, easy to use computer and are willing to try something off the beaten path, you'll love this new eMac. ... Read more

Features

• Capture your favorite screen shots with only one simple button!
• For use with DVD, Video and Music applications
• Plug and Play installation
• Suitable for use around the world
• Wireless signal range up to 30 feet

Product Description

ASUS M6Ne is a fusion of flexibility, style and performance. Customized for both business and entertainment, the M6NE¿s convertible modular design provides users more enhanced functionality and portability. It is an excellent solution for today's corporate users who demand mobility and after-work professionals relaxing at a coffee shop. ... Read more

Features

• 400FSB: Intel Pentium Centrino 725 with 2MB L2 Cache
• 15.4 WXGA/WSXGA+ 256K Color Max, Giga Ethernet, and 802.11b/g Super Fast Wireless Connection
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 / AC 97 S/W audio with 3D Effect & Full Duplex
• 512 DDR333 SO-DIMM; 2 X socket expandable to 2GB
• 40GB 5400RPM w/ 16MB extreme Cache w/ Dual Format 4X Slim DVD Burner

Product Description

The brand-new PUNDIT-R3000E is a space saving, cost-effective and exquisitely designed desktop solution. The Pundit-R supports the Pentium 4 CPU on 800MHz FSB (front side bus) and Dual Channel DDR 400 memory. Incorporating an all-in-one design, which includes support for PCMCIA, 4-in-1 card reader (MMC, SD, SM, MS), IEEE 1394 and S/ PDIF digital audio. In addition, the Pundit-R provides a high-quality multimedia experience with DVI out, TV out and 5.1-channel audio-out. ... Read more

Product Description

FOX-2200A supports (MAX) 333MHz FSB AMD Athlon XP/ Sempron 3000+ (2.25GHz) Thoroughbred/ Barton core processor with integrated on-board 2D/3D graphics, AC97 audio, and 10/100Mbps LAN controllers that altogether enhance your working productivity and multimedia experience. ... Read more

Features

• 333 MHz FSB: AMD Sempron 2200 with 256KB L2 Cache
• 64MB Video Share, 10/100 Ethernet, AC97 Audio
• PC2700: 256MB DDR 333 RAM
• 1.44 Floppy, 52X CD-ROM, 40GB/7200 RPM Hard Drive
• Keyboard, Mouse, Speaker

Product Description

Fully assembled w/ 1 year warranty & labor warranty and lifetime technical support. ... Read more

Product Description

Fully assembled w/ 1 year warranty & labor warranty and lifetime technical support. ... Read more

Product Description

Black: Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Keyboard/Mouse Set 17" CRT Monitor ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Sporting a distinctive style and a design that liberates valuable desktop real estate from annoying cables and wires and clunky computer boxes, the Sony VAIO PCV-V300G is far removed from the typical PC. The VAIO PCV-V300G features an elegant all-in-one design that combines a 15-inch flat-panel LCD viewing screen, speakers and all internal components inside a single futuristic module. The PCV-V300G also features a super-sized 200 GB hard drive, 512 MB of installed RAM, a DVD+/-RW drive, and a wide array of pre-installed multimedia software--including the Giga Pocket application, which enables you to watch and record TV programs right on your PC.

The Basics

• Hard Drive: The built-in 200 GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive (7200 RPM) is one of the largest installed drives found on the PC market. It will provide more than enough space to store your favorite TV shows as well as room for recording old VHS tapes.
• Processor: The 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 processor is one of the fastest processors currently available on the market--a definite plus for a video-centric PC. It also has a 512 KB L2 cache and a 533 MHz front-side bus speed.
• Memory: The 512 MB of built-in memory (PC-3200 400MHz DDR SDRAM) is a good start for power users. It has two memory slots in total, with a maximum memory expansion up to 1 GB (2 x 512 MB).
• CD/DVD Drive: It comes with a DVD+/-RW and CD-RW combo drive. The combo drive offers 4x write, 2x rewrite, and 5x read speeds for both +R/RW and -R/RW discs and a 16x write, 8x rewrite, and 24x read speeds for CD-R/RW discs.
• Keyboard & Mouse: The system also includes a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse, thereby freeing your working surface from even more clutter.

Connectivity and Expansion Slots
You get a decent (but not overpowering) range of external connectivity options with the PCV-V300G, including:

• 4 USB 2.0 ports (2 on side, 2 in rear) for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
• 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) ports for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
• 1 line in VHF/UHF
• 1 S-Video in
• 1 composite A/V in
• 1 VHF/UHF in
• PCMICA Type II PC card slot
• 1 headphone jack and 1 microphone jack

Preloaded System and Software
This PCV-300G comes with the Windows XP Home Edition operating system, and it features Microsoft Works 7.0 (for working with word processing and spreadsheet documents). Sony's Giga Pocket built-in software converts TV signals to digital MPEG2 format and lets you watch and record TV programs right on the PCV-300G, watch while you record with the Slip Playback feature, and burn shows directly to DVD. It's also loaded with Sony's Vaio Creative suite of multimedia applications, which includes PictureGear Studio (digital photo), SonicStage (digital music), Sony MovieShaker, DVGate Plus (digital video), VAIO Media (network file sharing), and Click to DVD (for burning DVD discs). Other preloaded titles include a 60-day trial of Microsoft Office, Quicken 2004, Norton Internet Security (with 90-day trial subscription), InterVideo WinDVD, and a 90-day trial of AOL.

Dimensions and Weight
The compact PCV-V300G measures 15 x 13 x 7 inches (W x H x D), making it the perfect desktop companion. It weighs 16.8 pounds.

What's in the Box
This package contains the Sony Vaio PCV-V300G desktop PC, wireless keyboard and mouse. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

When Sony first introduced its "W" series of VAIO desktop computers, it proved that PCs didn't have to be big, bulky and confusing. Sporting a sleek all-in-one fold-open design that more closely resembled a notebook than a traditional multi-component desktop, the W series represented a bright new look for stay-at-home computers. Unfortunately, the first W units weren't particularly powerful. Now, with the latest in the W series, the VAIO PCV-W500GN1, Sony's new-look desktop is as fast as it is fashionable and space efficient.

Driven by a 2.66 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor and 512 MB of fast PC-2700 DDR RAM (expandable to 1 GB), the VAIO PCV-W500GN1 offers enough top-end power for most any standard home, home office or business task. However, as in all other models in the W series to date, 3-D performance remains the weak spot. The unit's graphics chipset, an SiS 651 with 32 MB or shared (not dedicated) memory, will handle most common tasks but is not recommended for anyone who deals primarily with 3-D graphics or dabbles in 3-D games.

Included inside the VAIO PCV-W500GN1 is a combination CD-RW/DVD-RW drive through which users can burn and play music compilations, enjoy the latest Hollywood blockbusters, and create custom DVDs. Movie buffs in particular will appreciate the surprisingly spacious 17.5-inch LCD display, especially for its DVD-friendly 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. Music aficionados can store all their MP3s on the massive 120 GB hard drive and play CDs through the integrated stereo speakers even when the unit is closed.

Sony has enhanced the VAIO PCV-W500GN1 with a variety of welcome amenities, including a V.90 data/fax modem for low-speed e-communication, a 10Base-T/100Base-TX Fast Ethernet interface for high-speed LAN and Internet access, four lightning quick USB 2.0 ports for plug and play peripherals, an IEEE 1394 FireWire interface for outboard devices such as DV camcorders, and a hassle-free optical mouse. The keyboard is of particular interest, as it quickly folds up and out of the way to keep your desk free of clutter.

The exclusive bundled software package includes Microsoft's Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Works 7.0, Intuit Quicken 2003, Microsoft Age of Empire 2, and an impressive array of professional-quality music, video and image editing utilities. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

I feel like a proud mother :)
I've had this PC for several days and I can't say enough good things about it. Great value for the features you get. Easy to set up and use. The integrated TV tuner and recording functions are simple to use and picture quality is sufficient (haven't watched a DVD yet). Integrated keyboard is comfortable to use.

Not the best warranty or software, but you can't have everything...

For someone looking to upgrade to a faster computer with great entertainment features, look into this one. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Affordable, easy to use and surprisingly diminutive, Apple's new eMac series of desktop computers meshes well with situations where space is at a premium and the user is not necessarily a computing expert. It is therefore a particularly good fit in the elementary or high school classroom. In fact, Apple has designed the system with this function in mind. The mid-level model of the eMac roster is the eMac Desktop 17" M8950LL/A, a smartly priced yet capable unit that's ready for the unique conditions of a multi-user educational environment.

Driven by a 1 GHz PowerPC G4 processor and an ATI Radeon 7500 graphics chipset with 32 MB of dedicated DDR SDRAM memory, the eMac Desktop 17" M8950LL/A sports plenty of front-end speed and satisfactory 3D graphics capabilities. Its 128 MB allotment of RAM may be a bit light for some purposes but can be upgraded to one full GB. Surprisingly, Apple has managed to equip the system with a generous 17-inch flat CRT display screen while adhering to the space-efficient exterior dimensions of its popular 15-inch-CRT-based iMac.

The eMac Desktop 17" M8950LL/A features a variety of data handling options, including an ample 60 GB hard drive for file and data storage, a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive through which the user may burn audio and archival CDs and play DVD's (DVD writing is not supported), and a pair of high-speed FireWire 400 ports and five traditional USB 1.1 ports for interaction with peripheral devices such as scanners and digital cameras.

E-communication support includes a standard 56K modem, a 10/100BASE-T Ethernet port and an 802.11 wireless connection (with the addition of Apple's AirPort Extreme card). Prospective buyers should note that the eMac permits the operation of Mac OS 9 in Classic mode and integrates with most existing printers and scanners. Bundled software includes Mac OS X, World Book 2003, Quicken 2003 Deluxe, and a broad range of powerful multimedia utilities. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Switched and how!
My wife is a translator who works at home and I am a freelance writer, teacher, and programmer. We both have used PCs for a LONG time. Her Win 98SE machine was never great and between the lock-ups and random shutdowns never really let her work comfortably. She had even adapted a habit of saving after every line of translated text so as not to lose too much when it crashed. Anyway, her computer was getting on in age and we started thinking about a replacement. I had an XP Home machine but it wasn't too hot either with all it's nasty security bugs (I fought for 8 hours with some internet anonymous who was controlling my system with MS_Blast). I finally secretly settled on an eMac birthday gift. She didn't need the gaming power of some Wintel boxes and other than Word and the internet didn't need much at all. The eMac was nicely priced and once Office v.X was installed had everything she needed to go right on working. To be safe I also bought Virtual PC 6.1 and replicated her old Win 98SE system on her eMac right down to the installed software and quantity of RAM. It took me less than 4 hours to get everything setup (multi-OS network, digital camera, printer, ADSL line, etc.) and I didn't encounter a single problem through the entire process. I was stunned. After more than a decade of fighting with PCs to make them work it was shocking for a computer to just do what it was supposed to do when I wanted it to. Simply elegant. The eMac has worked perfectly with my PC and her old PC on the network and she has had no compatibility problems after having "switched". After 5 months of ownership she is delighted and I am converted. Regardless of the fact that my PC is only a year old I'm pitching it in the garbage where it belongs and buying a Mac. To be able to work with your computer instead of on it is a thing you can only expect from a Mac and so I'll never touch a PC again if I don't have too. If you're reading this you are probably considering "switching" and with the new Macs I'd highly recommend it. They work well with the Windows world but allow you to laugh at it's problems (which you'll never experience). Only caution is to be careful that your system is in good shape when you take it home. I had read that some of the early releases of the eMacs and PowerBooks had some glitches. They were fixed for free but it's still frustrating. We've had no such problems.

ditch your PC and get an emac
For the same standard features, you will pay a bit more for an Apple, but as any Mac user will tell you, you get what you pay for. Now you can get this great system for a budget price. Unless you need the absolute fastest processor, or have your heart set on a flat-panel display, this is the best deal around. You'll need to get a better mouse (true for any Mac), and it could use some extra RAM, but other than that, this has everything the average user needs.

Terrific user-friendly computer.
A recent user survey in PC magazine identified Apple computers as the most reliable and easiest to use computers currently available. Yes, most people use Windows-based PCs, but do you want to be another member of the PC herd -- with all of the problems and frustrations presented by Windows-based PCs -- or are you looking for a computer which is user friendly and seldom crashes? If ease of use and reliability are more important to you than being one of the crowd, please seriously consider buying an Apple. Since the eMac is Apple's least expensive computer, it's a terrific way to enter the user-friendly world of Apple computers at a very reasonable price. And don't be concerned about the processor speed, this is a very fast computer. The 1 GHz G4 processor is roughly equivalent to a 2 GHz Pentium processor. If you're willing to try something off the beaten path, you'll love this computer.

Perfect
The perfect computer for fresh PC converts, for computer beginners, for people on a budget. This computer has everything you'll need and will last you for years!

Amazing
I have been a fan of Apple my whole life and when this emac 1ghz came out I wanted one so bad.The emac 1ghz would roughly compare to a pentium 4 2.oghz.And they have also uped the graphics card and it's at a great price.So if you are looking for an inexpensive computer with great features and performance. Then the apple emac 1ghz is for you. ... Read more