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© St. Petersburg Times, published July 15, 2002
Company: Apple Computer
Price: $1,099
The eMac began life as a value proposition for the educational market. Sandwiched between the entry level iMac and its higher-end, glitzy flat-screen sibling, it was positioned as a good deal for computer labs and classrooms.
I couldn't figure out why it wasn't available to the public. And it turns out I wasn't alone. After numerous requests from consumers and an eye on the bottom line, Apple Computer released a version of the eMac for all to buy.
It has a respectable 700-megahertz G4 processor as its brain and comes with 128 megabytes of random access memory. It has a 17-inch standard monitor, not a flat-panel display. The keyboard and mouse are the new style bright white.
I found only one problem: The monitor was misaligned. Three corners of the desktop were fine, but the bottom left was about half an inch off. The eMac has a control panel that allows you to adjust various settings, but half an hour of fiddling couldn't get the thing just right.
However, the bottom line is this is a great way to get a reasonably priced, nicely powered Mac that should last you for a while. Screen real estate is important to me and I'd take this over the lower-end iMac any day.
It has three USB ports, which might negate the need to buy a USB hub if you've got, say, a printer, scanner and need to plug the keyboard in. That plus two FireWire ports and you can add all of the peripherals you're ever likely to need.
Get one if you don't have the dough for an LCD iMac.