Let’s pick up the tale of Nemo’s free SmallDog.com “My Mac iMac,” which began last month in issue #65. (publishers note: the “free” iMac is free only for John and other My Mac staff members, Small Dog Electronics is simply who I buy them from. Please don’t contact Small Dog hoping for free iMac’s.)
Tangerine Girl
Barbara and I spent the final hour of our California summer vacation at the splendid outdoor farmers market in affluent Santa Monica, just north of Los Angeles. Surrounded by endless carts of fresh, organic produce, our only complaint was not being able to buy enough fruit and veggies for another eleven months. Oh, well. We’ll be back next August.
My right foot was as heavy as my end-of-vacation heart. Aside from a little fender bender traffic in LA, we maintained cruise control all the way home: 540 miles in nine hours. Desert vistas and cacti welcomed us to our neighborhood at 7:00 p.m. I unpacked the car in record time, made sure our pool water wasn’t too yucky, and dashed next door to collect my mystery iMac.
It was “Tangerine Girl,” a 333 MHz model. I set it up and did a few basic things to make sure it worked. Then I had a little food, a shower, and went to bed. Early next day I called Pat at Small Dog Electronics. He agreed to my proposal: exchange the “old” tangerine computer for a brand new model, to benefit from a timing coincidence of the recently-introduced iMacs. I gladly agreed to pay the difference in cost. I packed up the 333 and made arrangements for UPS to take it away the following day.
DV or Not DV?
I was in a quandary. Which of the four new iMacs should I get?
I dismissed the basic $799 unit, and was leaning toward one of the
top two, each with DVD player. Tim Robertson, our illustrious
publisher, happened to call on a different matter, and he proposed the so-called “DV” $999 computer, with FireWire and a CD player, but no DVD player.
I discussed this option with several other helpful friends, and the vote was unanimous. I don’t play games, and I don’t intend to watch DVD movies on my computer, so the $999 unit is a lot of iMac for the money.
A week later Pat confirmed Tangerine Girl arrived safely, and he processed the order for a Ruby DV iMac. “You can’t have too much RAM” resonated in my mind during our conversation, so I paid Small Dog to install a supplementary 128 MB memory module, for a grand total of 192 MB. (I know I could have saved some money by purchasing the RAM separately and installing it myself, but I wanted the out-of-box experience to be fully equipped.)
Does anybody wish we were in the bad old days when RAM was priced at $50 per MB? Good riddance.
On the Periphery
I began doing research on USB hardware for the iMac. David Weeks invited Barbara and me to examine his new Epson Stylus Scan 2500 multi-function printer. We were impressed! Printing quality and speed are more than adequate for our usage. The scanner does a fine job, and the copier is much better than we anticipated. David tried to convince me to purchase a FireWire hard drive for archiving my files, but I wasn’t ready for that decision yet.
I hope to sample one or more FW-HDs. My reports will be posted in our My Mac Online hardware reviews area.
I knew I needed a USB Zip Drive, and decided the 250 MB model is a better choice on a per-MB basis. Calling Outpost.com to check on Epson and Iomega prices, I learned the $299 Stylus Scan 2500 comes with a $100 manufacturer rebate, and the $250 Zip 250 bundle includes four extra 250 MB disks. Exciting!
The Stylus Scan doesn’t ship with any cables, so I ordered one along with the other peripherals, plus a Belkin 6-foot USB keyboard extension cable for reaching the keyboard drawer via the back of my desk. An Ethernet crossover patch cable (MUCH more on this topic later) completed the order, all of which was to arrive a few days before my iMac.
Did you know USB devices have performance limitations based on the length of cable extensions? I sure didn’t.
We Have a Copier!
I had a hunch the copier on the Epson 2500 would prove to be a real bonus. I placed the Stylus Scan in its designated spot near the missing iMac, and waited patiently (don’t you believe it).
I was heading over to Kinko’s to copy a crucial document, and Barbara said, “Hey, John, isn’t that new printer thing also a copier? Will it work even without being attached to a computer?” Bravo. She was correct, and all of a sudden we have a versatile home office copier.
Why Ruby?
Let’s back up a moment. Did you ask yourself “Why did Nemo go to all that trouble to pay for two-way shipping plus hundreds more upgrade $$$ when he had a totally free tangerine iMac, no strings attached?” Tim wondered also, but I convinced myself I needed the following:
Welcome, RubiMac
At 4:23 p.m. on that fateful Monday, Trent, our reliable UPS delivery man, knocked with gusto on the door of my home office. Ruby was here! I spent the rest of the day (and much of the night) and most of the following day setting up and configuring the iMac. It was beautiful, and it worked … perfectly. Hurray!
The new Apple setup and registration software is almost effortless, and gives priority to the Earthlink ISP. I tested most of the bundled software and Internet connections, then set my application and Finder preferences. I played around with AppleWorks 6, decided I didn’t like it very much (as I had anticipated), and installed old favorite AppleWorks 5.0.3. Next, I pulled a bunch of software off recent MacHome and MacAddict CDs.
AOL kept disconnecting, so I switched local modem dialup phone numbers and solved the problem. I downloaded the free RealPlayer installer, and soon was listening to archived programs from National Public Radio’s NPR.org. The iMac’s speakers are pretty good, but I prefer my powered Umax speakers.
See an interesting iMac speaker review in our Hardware Reviews section.
Both the Epson and Iomega Zip installations went smoothly. (I plan to evaluate their hardware and software in future My Mac Online reviews.) I copied some crucial software and files from my old PowerMac 7200, using “shuttle net” Zip disks.
From VersionTracker.com, I obtained a Norton Utilities updater, and ran Norton Disk Doctor to locate and fix a few problems. I URGE YOU TO DO IT, EVEN WITH A TOTALLY NEW COMPUTER, PLUS AFTER EVERY SOFTWARE INSTALLATION. YOU WILL THANK ME.
Then, with help from sysop Kenn Gordon, I was soon using FirstClass client to access our local Tucson MUG bulletin board. Next I installed old faithful Claris Organizer 2.0.3, which happens to be very similar to new Palm Desktop software, which I’ll try eventually.
Strengths and Weaknesses
I’m glad my iMac has a slot-loading CD drive. The new full-size Apple keyboard is a winner, with a soft, responsive touch. Apple’s new Pro mouse is excellent, but its cord is too short. I just ordered another USB mouse extension cable to give me more mousing room on my physical desktop.
I’m gradually getting used to the tilted viewing position alignment using the iMac on a desk with the front support in place. More on ergonomics in a future issue.
(WHOA, THERE NEMO: STOP THE PRESSES TO EVALUATE A COZO iMAC STAND, WHICH YOU JUST ATTACHED TO RubiMac.)
Having so much RAM is a real bonus, and I strongly recommend it. The “sound of silence” is a tiny hum emanating from the iMac, which is much quieter than fan noise in earlier models. (The Cube, BTW, has a similar hum, FWIW.)
Monitor quality on all iMacs is middle-of-the-road, especially when compared to high-end graphics displays and Apple’s flat Cinema Displays. Tough luck, Nemo: what do you expect for such an affordable one-piece computer? My old Sony 17″ monitor is somewhat sharper than the iMac screen, but the iMac’s improvement in brightness makes the comparison irrelevant. For the record, both Cinema Displays and PowerBook screens have native 1024 x 768 resolution, meaning users who prefer 800 x 600 or 640 x 480 are unable to take advantage of the sensational sharpness offered in such bright and sharp TFT displays.
The QuickStart iMac setup instructions are fine, but the lack of written manuals is unforgivable. I plan to discuss this “manual free zone” problem in a future column, along with the pleasures and perils of using AppleTalk File Sharing with a crossover patch cable to exchange files from my old 7200 to the iMac.
I’m currently using the following apps in addition to the ones bundled with my computer: Graphic Converter, Tome Viewer, ZTerm, JPEGview, DocMaker, plus the others mentioned previously. I have review copies on order for Retrospect Express 4.3 and TechTool Pro 3. TexEdit Plus and free SoundJam MP are awaiting my installation and frequent usage
Stranger Than Fiction
From the fantasy of seeing Ruby on billboards in San Francisco last summer to having RubiMac here in front of me, the experience has been better than I ever could have imagined. I welcome your comments. Thanks for reading the Nemo Memo. See you next time.
See John’s latest picture in front of an iMac Bus!
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