Apple eMac Desktop 17" M8950LL/A

The PowerPC G4 with Velocity Engine makes complex multimedia processing tasks like ripping CDs and making movies faster and easier. The 17-inch (16-inch viewable) flat CRT display delivers a large viewing area and crisp, clear images. The compact, all-in-one design lets you conserve desk space - the entire computer is smaller than most 17-inch displays.

Built-in FireWire, USB, modem, and Ethernet make connecting to digital cameras, camcorders, iPod, printers, and the Internet a snap. eMac comes with digital lifestyle software for work and play.Startup in Mac OS 9 is available only with CD-ROM and Combo drive configurations. All configurations can run Mac OS 9 applications in Mac OS X Classic mode.

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.